Tag: theatre-2015

Who Dunnit?

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Deathtrap (Repertory East)userpic=repeastBack when I was in college, there was some homegrown text adventure game (neither “Zork” nor “Advent”) that I used to play. I always wanted to have that game have an elevator that could could find. The doors would open, and it would say, “There is a sign saying “You are on Level 3″, a keyboard mounted into the wall, and a door.”. You could then walk up to that keyboard, enter your door password, and go into the graduate terminal room. You could then log in, and thus get a real system shell.

This was a very “meta” concept: You could go into the game, walk into a terminal room, and log into a fresh instance of the game. It was self-descriptive, self-referential. In fact, in its adjectival form, “meta” is defined as something that refers to to itself or to the conventions of its genre — that is, something self-referential.  A good example would be someone writing a book about writing the book that is being written about writing a book.

Or, for another example, what about a murder mystery called “Deathtrap”, that starts out with a famous but writer-blocked playwright receiving a play from a student, called “Deathtrap”, a comedic whodunnit in 2 acts, 6 scenes, with only 5 characters, set in a Connecticut city. A play so good that the playwright wonders if he could entice the student to come to work with him, and then kill him and publish the play as his own. That, in fact, is the starting premise of the very clever whodunnit “Deathtrap”, by Ira Levin (of “Rosemary’s Baby” fame), that we saw last night at Repertory East Playhouse (“the REP”) (FB).

“Deathtrap” is about… well, I don’t want to spoil the surprises in the story, so suffice it to say that “Deathtrap” is about the writing of the comedic thriller “Deathtrap”. It is a one set, two act, five actor, six scene play. It has the distinction of being the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway. Although I can’t tell you the plot (if you really want to know, there is always “Wikipedia”), I can tell you the players: Sidney Bruhl, a successful Broadway playwright whose specialty is thrillers, currently suffering from writers blog; Myra Bruhl, his beautiful and wealthy wife; Clifford Anderson, a student of Bruhl’s who has mailed him a carbon-copy of a one-set, two-act, five-character thriller called “Deathtrap”; Helga Ten Dorp, a Swedish author with ESP who helps the police solve crimes and who is on vacation in the area; and Porter Milgrim, the Bruhl family lawyer.

Director Mark Kaplan (FB) (assisted by Kimbyrly M. Valis (FB)) has executed the production well (one might say he did a “killer job”) with the production. I was mostly unfamiliar with the show — I think I’ve seen the movie version years ago, and all I had remembered is that an affable Chistopher Reeve was in the cast. Kaplan did a great job of not telegraphic what was to come through the behavior of the actors themselves, and kept the pacing and movement realistic and crisp. Although, as is said in the opening scene about this play, even “A gifted director couldn’t even hurt it.”

In the lead position was Derrel Maury (FB) as Sidney Bruhl. Maury created a believable playwright, seemingly friendly and creative. He gave off the aura of someone who had been writing for years. His student / mentee, Clifford Anderson, was played by Curtis Crawford/FB. Crawford, again, brought a youthful believability to the character. Reading the bios of both of these men, I believe it is because each is similar to their characters. Not speaking to whether they are capable of murder, but with respect to theatrical experience. Maury, like Bruhl, has been working in the theatre for a long time, joining SAG/AFTRA in 1967 and working onstage since the age of 12. Crawford is really a newcomer, currently studying acting at USC with only a few roles — including REP’s recent The Diviners — on his resume.

Supporting these characters were Kimberly Patterson (FB) as Myra Bruhl, Sidney’s wife; Georgan George (FB) as Helga Ten Dorp, the neighboring author with ESP; and Barry Agin (FB) as Porter Milgrim, Sidney’s lawyer. The lovely Patterson was great as Myra — realistic in her actions, and just a delight to watch. George provided some great comic relief with her movements. It is hard to call anyone portraying ESP as realistic, but George did a great job of making the character fun to watch and enjoyable offstage. Agin had a much smaller role, but worked well in the scenes that he was in.

In fact, my only comments on the show were truly at the level of nits — all easily corrected. For example, only I would notice that when Sydney called Clifford the first time, he dialed 8 digits. In those days, he would have either dialed 7 digits (555-1212) or 11 digits (1-203-555-1212); I also notice that Sydney forgot to zip his fly for the first act (which, admittedly, is something hard to correct in character while onstage once you realize it). Another in our party noted that Clifford was doing carriage return on the typewriter wrong, and that an accent was slightly off for the area. As I said: nits. None of these are significant problems that hindered enjoyment, and only an obsessive compulsive like me would pick up on them.

Turning to the production and technical side: The scenic and prop design was by artistic director of REP, Mikee Schwinn (FB). Mikee indicated that he was working on the set up until the night before opening. I’m pleased to say that the set doesn’t look like it; in fact, the set looks like the excellent sets REP had in the days of Jeff Hyde — and it is a wonderful demonstration of how Mikee is steering REP in the right direction after a rocky year. Sound design was by the always effective Steven “Nanook” Burkholder (FB). Lighting design was by Jeffrey Hampton, who I see is now listed as the REP’s Resident Lighting Designer. Congratulations, Jeff, for restoring the balance of “Jeff” in the Resident Production Artists of the REP.  Costume design was by Cory Logston (FB), and was believable. Laurie Morgan/FB was the production stage manager, assisted by Reed-Ashley Matheson/FB. REP is under the artistic direction of Mikee Schwinn (FB).

“Deathtrap” continues at Repertory East Playhouse (“the REP”) (FB) through December 12. It is an excellent production and well worth seeing. REP has moved to Vendini for ticketing, and the new ticketing website allows you to select your own seats. Tickets may also be available on Goldstar.

Normally, this would be the time and space where I would announce the REP 2016 season. Alas, it hasn’t been announced — or even leaked — to me yet. I spent sometime last night talking to Mikee about where REP is moving in 2016, and I’m excited about the plans we discussed. I don’t want to spoil the details about Mikee’s announcements, but suffice it to say there are plans in the work for greater use of the Playhouse, a return to REP as the flagship professional theatre for actors in the northern San Fernando Valley/Santa Clarita area, and an extremely busy production schedule that will broaden the opportunities for audiences and theatre lovers. I should also note, in the spirit of “full disclosure”, that Mikee has asked me to be on the advisory board of REP. In that capacity, I plan to advise in the same manner I do at work: with a focus on unbiased advice that results in mission success.

An Afternoon Note. Before we went to the REP, we were at Archway Studio Theatre (FB) for a student performance of Dracula.  I’m not doing a full review of the show here for a number of reasons (including the fact that there was no program listing all the names) — and, another “full disclosure” — my niece and nephew were in the cast. I’ll note that the kids did a very good job, especially given extremely limited rehearsal time and the fact that they had never worked with the props before. In the short time before the show, I got to see how the director, Steven Sabel (FB) worked on staging and blocking the students. After the show was a very interesting workshop, where the student actors got to play their roles against the adult actors doing the same show. It was an interesting contrast, and I’m sure it informed the students by seeing how the trained actors came at their roles. As for the student performances: in general, they were good. My only advice might be to remember to project a bit more (some had it down, some didn’t), and remember to slow down when speaking (a common problem I’ve seen at Science Festivals with students that are nervous). But I think the notion of getting kids up on stage is a great one — it provides self confidence, it improves speaking abilities, and it allows exploration of emotions and feelings in a safe environment. Archway’s adult production of Dracula (tickets also available on Goldstar) looks interesting. It has one more weekend of performances.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: Next weekend I’m on my own. I picked up a postcard for “Timeshare”  at Eclectic Theatre Company (FB) while at the Colony for Best of Enemies, and it sounded so interesting I booked a ticket for November 21. The last weekend of November sees us back at Zombie Joes Underground (FB) for the intriguingly-titled “The Jew That Saved Christmas“. December starts with High School Musical at Nobel Middle School (FB) (running December 1-4), followed by “El Grande Circus de Coca-Cola” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on December 5. During the week I become a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). The weekend after the conference is open. The third weekend of December brings the touring company of “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). The last weekend of December is held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). I’m just starting to plan 2016 — I’ve been waiting on the REP schedule. So far, January shows “Bullets Over Broadway” at the Pantages (FB) on January 9, and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on January 30. There is currently nothing on the schedule for February. 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 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves.

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Dah Dah Dah Dum (Snap Snap)

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Addams Family (Simi ARTS)userpic=theatre_musicalsTheatre is an interesting beast. You can take a single show, and present it in various size productions and interpretations. For example, you can take a musical and see it in a 4000 seat auditorium where you can barely see the actors, and remount it in a 300 seat theatre with different nuances, and then remount it in a 99 seat black box. Each venue requires the creative team to adapt to different actors, different capacities in terms of wings and scenery fly space, and drastically different budgets. These differences can totally change a show: I recall seeing an intimate theatre version of Gypsy that was just astounding, and that provided insight into different nuances of the story and the character. There are also different qualities of the actors, from AEA-trained touring actors, to non-AEA SAG/AFTRA actors (i.e., TV or movie), to community players, to students. Sometimes the AEA actors can be so-so, and the community actors can surprise you. Lastly (and this is important) a show that gets lukewarm — or even negative — reception on Broadway and in New York can be a hit out in the rest of the country, and have a long long life (and continue to make money for its authors).

We saw a show to which all of the above applies. The Addams Family: The Musical didn’t do spectacular on Broadway. It’s story was reworked to solve a number of problems, and the reworked show went out on tour. This is when we saw it, back in 2012, at the Pantages Theatre. A very large auditorium.  We enjoyed it quite a bit. When we learned that Actors Rep Theatre of Simi (Simi ARTS) (FB) was doing a production of Addams Family, we were intrigued. Simi ARTS is an interesting company: it is a community theatre, but often gets actors that have worked in TV, film, and in other smaller professional theatres. We have seen spectacular shows there; we’ve seen some that were a bit more clunky. But they all have their heart in the right place.

I’m pleased to say that this production of Addams Family is one of the best productions I’ve seen out of Simi ARTS. The cast was almost uniformly strong, with some spectacular voices and performances. If you stop reading here, just remember that this is a production that is worth seeing. Go to their website and get tickets (or go to Goldstar, as we did).

Here’s a quick synopsis of the show, from my 2012 review: The musical version of The Addams Family was not based on the television or the movies, although given that they drew upon the same characters, there are some commonalities. The musical, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music/lyrics by Andrew Lippa, was based on characters from the original Charles Addams cartoons: Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Lurch, and Grandma (these characters were named for the TV show; they were unnamed in the cartoons). Now Addams stories usually take one of two forms: normal family visits the Addams and is shocked by the family, or the Addams have to appear normal to another family. In the original Broadway production, this was roughly the form of the story: Normal family of Wednesday’s boyfriend comes to visit, so the family needs to behave normally. Meanwhile, Morticia thinks she is getting old, family is shocked by the Addams, and Wednesday is pulled in different directions by love. You can read the original synopsis on Wikipedia. On Broadway, this didn’t work. The show was popular, but eviscerated by critics. Before the Broadway tour, the creative team decided to rework and tweak the story (ok, they decided to fix the show). They did, and I’m pleased to say is it much stronger. This entailed cutting some songs, a squid, and adding some new ones, so if you saw the show on Broadway, you should see it again.

When the show opens, the ghoulish Addams family is visiting the graveyard for an annual gathering of all family members (living, dead, and undecided) to celebrate what it is to be an Addams. Uncle Fester stops the Ancestors’ return to their graves to enlist their help: he knows that Wednesday is in love, and he wants love to conquer all. She has invited the boy’s family for dinner, and Fester wants it to be a success. We then learn that Gomez has built his relationship with Morticia on a foundation of never keeping secrets… after which Wednesday comes  and asks Gomez to keep a secret: she is engaged to this boy (Lucas Beineke). She doesn’t want her mother to know, so he must not tell her. This sets up the rest of the show: what is the effect of keeping this secret. While torturing Pugsley on a rack, Wednesday admits that love is pulling her in a new direction. As the Beinekes arrive, Wednesday and Lucas instruct their families to act normal so they can all enjoy a simple dinner. But the moment Lurch ushers the Beinekes into the mansion, tensions begin to mount. Mal wants to tear down the old house, Alice begins to spout happy poems at random, Pugsley, Fester, and Grandma fail at acting normal, and Wednesday, after wearing black for eighteen years, appears in a bright yellow dress. Morticia, realizing something is happening, believes Gomez is hiding a secret from him. Meanwhile, Pugsley is worried that Wednesday’s lovelife means she won’t torture him anymore. He steals a potion from Grandma after she reveals it will bring out someone’s dark nature. Pugsley plans to slip it to Wednesday at dinner. At dinner, “The Game” is played, where each person at the table confesses something. Gomez tells a story about not opening secrets in a box, while Uncle Fester admits he’s in love with the moon. In a mix-up, Alice drinks Pugsley’s potion and in front of everyone declares her marriage to Mal a loveless mess as she reveals her misery and woe. As Mal, humiliated, attempts to leave with his family, Wednesday announces that she and Lucas are engaged. Chaos engulfs both families, and Uncle Fester, trying to be helpful, instructs the Ancestors to create a sudden, terrible storm, trapping everyone in the mansion for the night. This is where the first act ends; I’ll leave the second act to you (noting that, after all, this is a musical).

As I pointed out in 2012, the reworked story worked a lot better. The musical numbers were, for the most part, quite entertaining (the music is still stuck in my head this morning–a good sign). A few numbers were a little bit slow, but most did a great job of moving along the plot, illustrating characters, and explaining motivations. Again, this was improved by the rework. It does appear that a few jokes were tweaked for current events, and they worked well. Rewatching it in 2015, about the only number that really doesn’t work is Fester’s love song to the moon. It is an excuse for special effects, but the entire sequence about Fester and the moon does nothing for the plot.

As I stated above, the cast (with one exception) was outstanding. In the lead positions were George Chavez II/FB as Gomez Addams and Kayla Bailey (FB (Music), FB) as Morticia Addams.  We’ve known George Chavez (and thus, he gets a first name reference 🙂 ) for years from his work at REP, and we have seen him grow in performance skills over the years. In many ways this is a perfect role for him, both for the humor, the attitude, and the way it exploits his singing and dancing skills. I thought he was great; my wife’s only comment was that his performance went down a notch when he was seemingly channeling Raul Julia — he was at his best when he was just being George and playing to George’s talents.  He was just great in all of his numbers. As for Bailey, she was a surprise. Just watch her face and listen to her voice on “Just Around The Corner” and you’ll be sold. I’ll note she was head and shoulders above the actress performing this role on the Broadway Tour, who had an odd vocal affectation.

The Addams children were portrayed by Natalia Vivino (FB) as Wednesday Addams and Bryce Phillips as Pugsley Addams. Vivino was a complete surprise, with a powerhouse voice and great performance skills. She just blew us away from her first notes in “Pulled”. Phillips was perhaps the one weak note: his acting skills were just fine, but the power of his voice just could not compete with the rest of the cast, turning what is likely a great voice in other situations to an also ran. Luckily, this is not a major problem in the show. [Edited to add: A comment from the actor clarified this may have been more an aspect of the direction of the song.]

Rounding out the Addams clan — at least the live ones — were Andrew Metzger (FB) as Uncle Fester, Carla Lombardo Bambo (FB) as Grandma, and Kevin Ellis/FB as Lurch.  Metzger was spectacular as Fester. Wild and crazy and playful and fun, completely unexpected and just great. He had a wonderful singing voice which he showed off in the one number I wasn’t crazy about (it was more how it slowed the show, not his performance, which was great).  Bambo has a much smaller role as Grandma, but her playfulness comes out in her “What If” number with Pugsley. As for Lurch, well, he doesn’t have that much to say or do until the end. When he does his thing,  it is unexpected and demonstrates a voice and a talent that is completely… wow.

The Beineke Family is portrayed by Colin Robert/FB as Lucas, and Lori Lee Gordon (FB) and Randle Rankin (FB) as Lucas’ parents, Alice and Mal.  Robert was a surprise, with some lovely performances with Vivino’s Wednesday. Gordon was a complete surprise, with a powerhouse voice and great stage presence, which came out in “Waiting” and “Crazier Than You”. She played well off of Rankin’s Mal.

Rounding out the players on stage were the ancestors: Constance Addams (FB) (Courtesan Ancestor); Oliver Skye Earley Anderson (Newsie Ancestor); Sage Ceilidh Earley Anderson (Child Star Ancestor, Cousin Itt); Augusto Guardado/FB (Dance Captain, Ancestor); Alissa Horner/FB (Ancestor); Caeli Molina (FB) (Saloon Girl Ancestor); Kelsey Nisbett (FB) (Ancestor); Ryan Schultze/FB (Soldier Ancestor); Emilie Schwarz (Sacagawea Ancestor); and Alexandra Vann (FB) (Ancestor Bride). This was an ensemble that was having fun: you can tell they were into their roles, they were having fun watching and being with the other actors on the stage, they were enjoying their songs. I love it when an ensemble has fun: this fun becomes contageous and just amplifies the audience. It is hard to single out particular ancestors for comments, but I liked the look of Horner, and I remember some good interplay and emotions from Molina and Vann.

The production was directed by David Daniels (FB), with choreography by Becky Castells (FB). The direction worked well to bring out the characters, and was particularly noticable in the ensemble, and the dampening of the emotion that would normally show (except if you are an Addams). The choreography worked reasonably well: one aspect of community theatre is that you have a much larger mix of dancing skills, and so some of the fancier stuff you might see with Broadway dancers you don’t see. This is not to say anything was bad — the dancing was quite enjoyable and did a great job of using the skills, talent, and space well.

The music was provided by a large orchestra under the music direction of Matt Park (FB), who was also on keyboards. Other orchestra members were: Richard Nevarez [Keyboard II]; Monica Minden (FB), Judy Garf (FB) [Violin]; Chris McCarty, Nancy Perillo/FB [Cello]; Mike Munson, Ron Munn [Reed I]; Paul Knaack, Janet Stuhr [Reed II]; Mel Bator, Rob Sack [Trumpet]; Keith Murphy, Brennan Park [Guitar]; Kevin Hart/FB [Bass]; Julene Jessel [Percussion]; Matt Jamele/FB [Drums]; Dave Uebersax/FB, Mark Baskin, Michael Vaughn, Larry Friedrich [Trombone].

Turning to the production and technical side. The set design was by David Daniels (FB) and Chris Slack/FB, and it worked reasonably well given the space constraints they are forced to live with. It was supplemented by projections (uncredited) and a wide variety of clever props (specialty prop design by Richard Hernandez/FB and Brenda Miller/FB; Miller and Jan Glasband (FB) are credited for the props themselves). The costumes, designed by Ken Patton (FB) and Genevieve Levin (FB) worked well for the characters, but basic black goes with everything. Morticia’s dress was spectacular. Sound design was by Seth Kamenow (FB), and I only have one complaint — and it is something you’ll rarely hear me say: the performers were a tad over-amplified for the space. Other than that, the sound was clear and the special effects were good. The lighting design by Julien Reux (FB) didn’t stand out, which was a good thing. Other significant production credits are: Megan Tisler (FB) [Stage Manager]; Brenda Goldstein/FB [Rehearsal Stage Manager]; Jan Glasband (FB) [Producer].

The Addams Family continues at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center (FB) through December 6. It is well worth seeing. Tickets are available through Actors Rep Theatre of Simi (Simi ARTS) (FB); discount tickets are available on Goldstar. You should also be aware of another concurrent activity of Actors Rep of Simi: the Nottingham Festival (FB), which brings a traditional Renaissance Faire back to Ventura County (where it all started). Nottingham runs two weekends: November 7-8 and November 14-15.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: Next weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The following week brings Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14. The weekend before Thanksgiving I’m on my own. I picked up a postcard for “Timeshare”  at Eclectic Theatre Company (FB) while at the Colony for Best of Enemies, and it sounded so interesting I booked a ticket for November 21. The last weekend of November is currently open and will likely remain that way. December starts with High School Musical at Nobel Middle School (FB) (running December 1-4), followed by “El Grande Circus de Coca-Cola” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on December 5. During the week I become a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). The weekend after the conference is open. The third weekend of December brings the touring company of “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). The last weekend of December is held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (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.

 

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But The Title…

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Urinetown (CSUN)userpic=ucla-csunI first saw the musical Urinetown back in 2004 at the Wilshire Theatre (now called the Saban Theatre). This was one of the first reviews I had written (I started my Livejournal back in February 2004, and this was May), and it was relatively terse. My opinion about the show then was: “Ignore the bad name, and go see Urinetown while you can. It is one of the funniest musicals I’ve seen in ages, with obvious parodies of other musicals, great acting, and one of the most satirical and sardonic books I’ve seen in ages.” The good news is that, over 10 years later, the musical still holds the humor it held then. In the student-acted, faculty-directed production I saw last night at CSUN, the acting help up very well, despite the plethora of minor technical glitches.

For those that are unfamiliar with “Urinetown: The Musical” (Book by Greg Kotis (FB), Music by Mark Hollmann, and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis (FB)), you can find a detailed synopsis on the Wikipedia page. I won’t repeat all the details; here’s the executive summary: The central conceit of the show is that the world has been living over 20 years with a horrible drought. The situation has gotten so bad that a private company, “Urine Good Company”, has engineered the situation to make it illegal to urinate or defecate in anything other than a public amenity. No private toilets. No peeing in the bushes. The amenities are not free: you must pay to pee. If you break the law, you get sent to the mythicial Urinetown … a place to which people go but never return from.

Our main characters in the show are Caldwell B. Cladwell who owns and operates UGC; his daughter Hope; Penelope Pennywise, who operates Public Amenity #9; Bobby Strong, her assistant custodian; Officer Lockstop, who enforces the law and narrates the story; and Little Sally, a street urchin. The story starts at the public amenity, and after the initial exposition, we see Bobby Strong’s father get sent to Urinetown for peeing in the bushes because he didn’t have the fee, and Bobby refused to give it to him. An encounter with Hope encourages Bobby to listen to his heart and rebel. He opens the urinal for all to pee free. There is a battle with UGC, and Bobby and the people take Hope hostage, while UGC and the cops cannot capture them due to incredibly slow choreography. The rebels want to kill the girl, but they are convinced to keep her alive for leverage. Cladwell offers to meet with Bobby and attempts to bribe him, but Bobby refuses and is sent to Urinetown. Little Sally hears Bobby’s last words and tells the rebels and Hope. Hope goes on to lead the rebels to victory. They open all the urinals and get rid of the fee, but the water runs out and Hope eventually meets the same fate as her father. The world is revealed to be Urinetown. Oh, and the river is in you.

There are a lot of ways to look at this story. The surface story is a commentary on megacorporations as a power for good in the word — or, in reality, an opportunity for unchecked greed. As such, this become an allegory on rich vs. poor, and how the way in which the rich treat the poor can lead to rebellion. But it also points out that the poor may not be able to govern in a far-sighted way, and that short term reward is no substitute for long-term planning.

Yes, I guess it could mean that.

But to me, this musical tells a different story. It tells the same type of story that was later told by shows like “Drowsy Chaperone“, “[title of show]” and the currently running “Something Rotten“. Urinetown is (to me) a commentary on the theatrical form: its structure, its conventions, and the common theatrical tropes that evoke memories of other shows. This is consistent throughout Urinetown through the self-awareness that it is, indeed, a stage musical bound by illogical stage conventions (such as incredibly slow choreography, or the limitations of the ensemble size). It is also consistent through the references and parodies of other shows, such as the bottle dance at the top of Act II, the pastiche of West Side Story gang movements, the Les Misérables style mobs, the sudden choral numbers, the interjection of gospel, and the continual catchphrase of “Whaaaaat”?

But this type of show is not for everyone. You have to be open to its type of humor. You need to be able to suspend disbelief in the non-sensical plot, and just let the parody wash over you like a warm and golden shower. Oh, right, too soon.

This production of Urinetown was a product of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication (FB) at CSUN’s Theatre Arts Department. This means this was primarily a student production, with faculty direction. This production was directed by Kari Hayter (FB), who has directed numerous musicals production that we have seen at The Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. She has also worked with students both as CSU Fullerton and CSU Northridge (CSUN, if you hadn’t figured it out already). In fact, she directed the excellent Drowsy Chaperone that we saw on the VPAC (FB) stage earlier this year. I’ve commented many times that I sometimes have trouble seeing the contribution of the director, but here there were glimpses of how she molded the students into actors. This was evident heavily in the pre-show, where the actors wandered onto stage in costumes and just kept doing little activities in character. It was evident in the early-audience policing of cell-phones by Officers Lockstock and Barrel. It was also evident in the behavior of those characters in the background. Hayter (FB) also was a co-choreographer with Christopher M. Albrecht (FB), and the two worked together to provide good movement across the stage. Urinetown is actually a production that benefits a little from overacting and over-stylized movements; both serve to amplify the comedy in this case. Hayter and Albrecht recognized this and clearly worked with the cast to bring it out.

The cast itself was excellent, especially considering that this was a student cast. I’d like to single out Jessamyn Arnstein (FB)’s Little Sally for special notice. I’ve seen Jessamyn before in both Bat Boy and Drowsy; she was just a knockout here. Strong voice (even with the technical problems), strong performance, strong dance, strong interactions, strong characterization. She took what was clearly a fun satirical role and ran with it. Brava!

Also worthy of special highlight was Daniel Bellusci (FB)’s Cladwell B. Cladwell. We also saw Bellusci in Drowsy as the Man in Chair (when I noted he was the product of Nobel Middle School in the years after my daughter matriculated from that fine institution). Bellusci had an evil aura that was perfect for the role, and had a surprisingly strong singing voice. Again, he got the mannerisms and characterizations down pat (and reminded me of another Nobel actor, Quest Zeidler, all grown up). A great example of this was Cladwell’s “Don’t Be The Bunny” number.

Dahlia Yablon (FB) ‘s Hope Cladwell had just the right sense of spunk and verve for the role, and she had a lovely high singing voice that brought something special to their songs. Yablon spends much of the second act tied to a chair with a gag on her mouth, yet still succeeds in successfully singing and dancing.

John Bernos (FB)’s Bobby Strong was unfortunately plagued with a microphone that kept going in and out, and kept producing a load of static.  He clearly had a great voice, but needed the extra amplification in a room of that size. His performance was strong (and continued in the vein of strong performances — we also saw him in Drowsy), and he captured the gung-ho nature of the character well. He played off of Yablon’s Hope very well, as demonstrated in the number “Follow Your Heart”, but also showed great comic timing in “Run Freedom Run”.

One of the first characters we meet is Robert Collins/FB‘s Officer Lockstock. He captured the tone of the character just right, but needed just a tad more strength in the voice to bring out the satire. But that’s really a minor quibble; I enjoyed his performance quite a bit. I discovered writing this up that Collins was Coalhouse Walker Jr. in a 2013 CSUN production of Ragtime. This shows he had the strength in the voice; my conclusion (therefore) is that he needed a bit more amplification. My only question regarding Collins is one of casting intent. Both Collin’s Officer Lockstock and Robert Stroud/FB‘s Officer Barrel were black, and most of the other cast and ensemble (except for two ensemble members) were white or white-ish. I didn’t know if this was a conscious decision of the director to make a commentary on all the recent police interactions between black and white, or if there was some other message. In the end, I decided that to think about that question was to overthink the question. I opted to accept the performance for what they were: very good, and fun. I’ll note that Lockstock is one of the those roles that actually benefits from a bit of overplay, and I think Collins captured that overplay very well and had fun with the role. I loved his opening speech before the show started, but he needs to remind people not just to not take videos, but to turn off the devices during a show (in fact, to turn off anything that emits light).

The last of the major roles was Valerie Gould/FB‘s Penelope Pennywise. As she did with Mrs. Tottendale in Drowsy, Gould plays older comedy well. She had great over exaggerated mannerisms (in the manner of Three Penny Opera) and style, and played the humor very well. She also handled her one major number, “It’s a Privilege to Pee”, with aplomb. This number had a number of very high notes and odd timing; it was great to see her nail it.

As for the remainder of the cast, who had smaller named and ensemble roles, there are a few worthy of special note. Sarah Kline (FB)’s Josephine Strong shines in her few highlighted moments, and has a great singing voice. Matthew Kesner/FB was appropriately menacing when he was leading the mob in “Snuff That Girl”. Robert Stroud/FB‘s Officer Barrel was a nice contrast to Collins’ Lockstock (almost in a Kenan and Kel fashion). Rounding out the smaller roles and ensemble were: Lance Amann/FB [Mr. McQueen], William Goldstein/FB [Senator Fipp]; Robert Murray/FB [Old Man Strong], Josh Cooper/FB [Tiny Tom]; Kate Graham/FB [Little Becky Two Shoes], Ethan Barker/FB [Robby the Stockfish], Elliott Maynes/FB [Billy Boy Bill]; Lulu Mack/FB [Mrs. Millennium], Nia Bernstine (FB) [Ensemble], Hyungwoo Jang/FB [Ensemble], JayCee Porter/FB [Ensemble], Darian Ramirez/FB [Ensemble], Cade Stedman (FB) [Ensemble], and Jin Villanueva (FB) [Ensemble].

Music was provided by the Urinetown Town Band, under the direction of David Aks (FB). The band consisted of Leon Thomasian (FB) on Piano, Isaac Green (FB) on Bass, Joe Martone (FB) on Drums and Percussion, Sean Harrison (FB) on Saxophones and Clarinets, and Ryan Ruder/FB on Trombone and Euphonium. The band had a real good sound; this was especially noticeable if you hang around for the playout after the bows — the band is just smoking and having fun with the music.

Finally, we turn to the technical and production aspects. This is where this show had the most difficulties; but on the upside, it is also an area that is easy to correct. The scenic design by Christopher Scott Murillo (FB), assisted by Ilana Molina/FB, was mostly a series of scaffolds and structures, with a few drop down signs to suggest locations. The big problem was that the back door of the stage was open, esposing the backstage area. This was never used or incorporated into the design, and so served to distract. At minimum (i.e., if the door could not be closed), put a backdrop over it during the show. Another problematic area was sound, which was designed by Kenji Kang/FB, assisted by Sierra McDuffee/FB. Here the problem was less design, and more technical: the mics were extremely staticky, and kept going in and out during the production. Part of the sound designer’s job is to teach the actors how to move without creating mic problems, and where to place the mic for best effect. Those are the two areas that need to be reexamined. Other than that, the sound was good — especially the background noises in the pre-opening. For the most part, the lighting design of Glen Howes/FB, assisted by Josh Legget/FB, worked well to establish the mood. I particularly liked the use of uplighting to create menace. However, the follow-spot requires a bit more work, as often it played catchup with the actors. The last of the problem areas related to the costumes designed by Paula Higgins (FB), assisted by Diego Arias/FB. Again, the problem wasn’t in the costumes themselves (which were fine), but in the execution. In this case, it was execution with respect to the ensemble’s quick changes: one actor came back in an early scene with the blouse puffing out of the zipper in the back of her skirt; in another ensemble number, a police officers blouse was visible through her unzipped zipper. These are distractions that just didn’t need to be there. One positive credit goes to the Prop Masters, Taylor Anderson/FB and Eric White/FB for engineering quite a few clever props, including the bunny slippers and the Bobby Strong Memorial Mannekin used in Act II. Other significant technical/production credits (there are far too many to list and link all the crew members, supervisors, operators, etc.): Scott McKim/FB [Technical Director], Meg Imamoto (FB) [Production Manager], Corey Sorenson (FB) [Vocal Coach], Jihee Jenny Park/FB [Stage Manager]; Beth Kalish/FB [House Manager], Ah-Jeong Kim [Department Chair/Producer].

Urinetown: The Musical continues at CSUN through November 8, 2015. Tickets and information are available at (818) 677-2488. They are also available online ($20) through Ticketmaster and other outlets. They are not on Goldstar.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: Sunday sees us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The following week brings Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14. The weekend before Thanksgiving I’m on my own. I picked up a postcard for “Timeshare”  at Eclectic Theatre Company (FB) while at the Colony for Best of Enemies, and it sounded so interesting I booked a ticket for November 21. The last weekend of November is currently open. December brings “El Grande Circus de Coca-Cola” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (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.

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All This Desperate Boredom

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Uncle Vanya (Anteaus)userpic=yorickUntil last night, the only Chekov play I had seen was “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike“.

I’ll wait for that to sink in. If you don’t understand it, look at the linked Wikipedia page for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. I’ll wait.

Get it. Got it. Good.

Now that my unfamiliarity with Chekov has sunk in, you’ll understand why a production of Chekov’s Uncle Vanya piqued my interest when it came across my theatrical RADAR. Combine that with the fact that it was being done by one of the best small theatre companies in Los Angeles, and it was almost a certainty I’d go. But it wasn’t up on Goldstar. Luckily, their publicist contacted me and arranged for comp tickets… which I paid for when I got to the box office (remember: I don’t take comps).

So, last night, with our tummies full of wonderful Russian food (see Dining Notes below), we journeyed to Russia in North Hollywood with the Anteaus Theatre Company (FB)’s production of Uncle Vanya. I should note that the production was not super-Russian: the adaptation used was by Annie Baker, based on a literal translation of the original Russian text by Margarita Shalina and the original Russian text. This updated the language of the play to modern vernacular, although the play was not updated in any other way (including the Russian names, places, love of vodka, or tolerance of peasants).

As I indicated above, my only familiarity with the play coming in was superficial, based on a play that combined various Chekov notions into a single story. I knew that it was a slice of life story; and I had a vague notion that it emphasized the dreary side of life. But that’s it. As I watched the story, I found that I kept drawing parallels to Vasha and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and it turned out that Durang’s modern play had actually kept many of the notions in the original Uncle Vanya story.

Uncle Vanya tells the story of life on a Russian estate in pre-revolutionary times (probably the turn of the 20th century). Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky (Vanya) has been living on and maintaining the estate together with his younger unmarried niece, Sofia Alexandrovna Serebryakov (Sonya), his mother (and Sonya’s grandmother) Maria Vasilyevna Voynitsky, Sonya’s old nurse Marina Timofeevna, and their right-hand-man, Ilya Ilych Telegin (Waffles). Into this mundane existence comes a retired university professor, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov, who was married to Sonya’s late mother. With him is his significantly younger second wife, Helena Andreyevna Serebryakov (Yelena). Lastly, to this mix is added Mikhail Lvovich Astrov, a middle-aged country doctor and environmentalist (well, he cares about saving the forests). The professor is old, bitter, and curmudgeonly. The doctor has the hots for Yelena, as does Vanya. Sonya has the hots for the doctor. Yelena wants none of them. Almost all the characters feel their life has been pointless, making no impact.

The first two acts are a long (but interesting) introduction to the various characters and the interactions I’ve noted above. We learn who they are, what they desire, how they feel about each other, and so forth. You can find a detailed summary of what happens on the Wikipedia page; I won’t repeat it here. Essentially, it is Explain, Mix together, Shake, Stir.

Post-intermission (which is logically Act II, but is really Act III), a catalyst is introduced when Aleksandr announces he wants to sell the estate, invest the proceeds, and live off the interest. This provokes Vanya into action, protesting that he and Sonya have essentially set aside any hope of happiness (and, by implication, family) by maintaining the estate and sending him money to live on. He notes that the estate is really Sonya’s, as she inherited it from her mother, Aleksandr’s first wife. Tensions mount, a gun comes out, and … boom … no one is hurt. The play concludes by everyone expressing their general disappointments, going on their separate ways, and life going on a dreary and boring as before.

This may sound not all that exciting. The characters really don’t grow and change that much, although they do learn about themselves. Lives don’t significantly change. But that’s how life is sometimes, and the exploration of the story proves to be interesting, with spots of humor and drama. Chekov’s story is really everyman’s story, providing a commentary on despair and the futility of life, where it can take us, and how we just have to accept that life is what life is, and that it is sometimes boring and depressing. In other words, it is a very Russian story :-).

[Hmmm, that just made me realize how Chekovian Avenue Q really is.]

Annie Baker’s adaptation brings the language to modern usage (for the most part), and makes the characters seem realistic and accessible. You don’t get a strong sense that this is a story that took place over 100 years ago, other than the lack of electronic gadgets and the references to horses for transportation.  Robin Larsen (FB)’s direction aids in this by making the characters seem real, casual, and accessible. I’ve often wondered how to separate out the contribution of the director (although this article helped a little), but here I think the director helped the characters find the naturalism inside the people they portray, and it worked quite well.

Uncle Vanya Production Photos (Mermaid Cast, Ph. by Karianne Flaathen)Anteaus Theatre Company (FB) double casts (excuse me, “partner casts”) each show (something they couldn’t afford to do under AEA’s proposals for LA Theatre, which is why I’m pro99 and proud). For our production, we had most of the “Mermaid” cast (all of whom were Equity members). In the lead positions were Rebekah Tripp (FB) as Sonya and Don R. McManus (FB) as Vanya.  I really liked Tripp’s portrayal of Sonia. There was just something about the character she inhabited that was accessible and likable and weary and hopeful and just magical, and there were points in her performance where she was wordless but just conveying so much. Her interactions with Linda Park (FB)’s Yelena were just great. Truly a fun performance to watch. McManus’s Vanya was more weary with age, but equally passionate about what his life was lacking. He reached his real fire in the second half of the show, both in his response to the proposal to sell the estate and the subsequent incident with the gun.

The other main pair of characters in the story were Lawrence Pressman (FB)’s Aleksander Serebryakov (Professor) and Linda Park (FB)’s Yelena. When the story began, I wasn’t sure what to make of either character: Aleksander was an enigma, and Park seemed just to be eye candy. But as the story went on, their characters (and the actor’s portrayal thereof) grew really interesting. Pressman imbued his character with an age-appropriate weariness and view of life: he was old, and he was angry about being old and about his life not having amounted to much. Park’s Yelena proved to be much more interesting. Despite the first impression of the character, she came into her own in her interactions with the other characters — in particular, Tripp’s Sonya in the latter part of the first half and throughout the second half. She was also great in her interactions with Jeffrey Nordling (FB)’s Astrov and McManus’ Vanya. I was familiar with Park only through Enterprise, and it was really nice to see her on stage — a pleasant and unexpected surprise of a nuanced powerhouse performance.

For much of the action, Jeffrey Nordling (FB)’s Astrov was the catalyst. Nordling captured the mid-life crisis of the doctor well: he felt his life hadn’t amounted to all that much, and he was much happier with his vodka and with his trees. He thought he had found a new passion in Yelena, but she really didn’t want anything to do with him (or perhaps she did, but she didn’t want to destroy her marriage or deal with all the ramifications of giving into that passion, so she was settling for the boredom instead). Nordling made Astrov come off as an affable character, but also captured the underlying anger in the character that came out when he was drunk.

In supporting roles were Mimi Cozzens (FB) as Maria, Lynn Milgrim as Marina, Morlan Higgins (FB) as Telegin, and Paul Baird as Yefim. All captured their characters well. Milgrim made a nice Marina in her interactions with Astrov in the beginning of the piece, and I enjoyed seeing her character knit (one wonders if it was in the casting sheet that she could knit). Cozzens’ role as Maria (Sonya’s grandmother, Vanya’s mother) was smaller, but I did enjoy her reactions during the scenes where Vanya starts to break down and hugs here. I particularly enjoyed Molan Higgins’ music as Telegin — well performed on the mandolin and quite tuneful (and luckily, the composer and music director, Marvin Etzioni (FB)  made it available to patrons of the show during the run, once they get the links fixed). According to the credits, he’s part of a band called Staggering Jack (FB) — I’ll need to look into that as I like Celtic music. In addition to Higgins music, his portrayal of the right-hand-man Telegin was quite good. Baird had a much smaller role, but was great on the accordian. I look forward to seeing him later next month if he continues in El Grande Circus de Coca Cola at The Colony Theatre (FB).

As I noted above, Anteaus double casts each role; you find out which cast you have at each performance. The cast we didn’t see (the “Vixen” cast — so named because Yelena is referred to as both a Mermaid and a Vixen) is Harry Groener (FB) [Aleksander Serebryakov]; Rebecca Mozo (FB) [Yelena], Shannon Lee Clair (FB) [Sonya], Anne Gee Byrd (FB) [Maria], Arye Gross (FB) [Vanya], Andrew Borba (FB) [Astrov], Clay Wilcox [Telegin], Dawn Didawick (FB) [Marina], and John Allee (FB) [Yefim].

Turning to the technical: The scenic design by Michael B. Raiford (FB), complimented with the scenic art of Colony regular Orlando de la Paz, established a convincing estate with nice little touches (such as the samovar). The lighting design of Leigh Allen (FB) worked quite well, especially for the storm scenes. Similarly for the sound design of Christopher Moscatiello (FB), which was very convincing during the storm. Jocelyn Hublau Parker‘s costume designs weren’t particularly Russian (which was fine), and some (especially for Yelena) were clearly very modern and elegant. Rounding out the production credits: Mallin Alter (FB) [Assistant Director], Christopher Breyer (FB) [Dramaturg], Bill Brochtrup (FB) [Co-Artistic Director], Emyli Gudmundson (FB) [Rehearsal Stage Manager], Emily Lehrer (FB) [Rehearsal Stage Manager], Adam Meyer (FB) [Production Manager / Props Design], Rob Nagle (FB) [Co-Artistic Director], Matthew Sanchez [Assistant Stage Manager], John Sloan (FB) [Co-Artistic Director], Kristin Weber/FB [Production State Manager / Wardrobe Mistress]. Lastly, one of the more interesting credits buried in the progam: Ned Mochel [Violence Designer].

Uncle Vanya continues at the Anteaus Theatre Company (FB) through Dec. 6 on Thursdays and Fridays at 8p, Saturdays at 2p and 8p; and Sundays at 2 p. Tickets are $30 on Thursdays and Fridays (except Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 which are $34 and include a post-performance reception), and $34 on Saturdays and Sundays. The Antaeus Theatre Company is located at 5112 Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood, CA 91601. Parking is available for $8 in the lot at 5125 Lankershim Blvd. (west side of the street), just south of Magnolia. The theater is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. For reservations and information, call 818-506-1983 or go to www.antaeus.org. I did not see discount tickets on Goldstar or LA Stage Tix.

Dining Notes. Given we saw a Russian play, we decided to go get Russian food before the show. Luckily, there’s a great Russian restaurant not that far from the theatre: Russian Dacha (FB) over on Laurel Canyon, just N of Magnolia. It looks to be a great restaurant for groups, but is BYOB. My wife had a delightful borscht, and we shared a great combo kabob. We plan to go back there.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: Halloween weekend sees me at CSUN for Urinetown, and then both of us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The following week brings Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14. The weekend before Thanksgiving I’m on my own. I picked up a postcard for “Timeshare”  at Eclectic Theatre Company (FB) while at the Colony for Best of Enemies, and it sounded so interesting I booked a ticket for November 21. The last weekend of November is currently open. December brings “El Grande Circus de Coca-Cola” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). There are also a few other interesting productions I’m keeping my eyes open for. The first is the Fall show at The Blank Theatre (FB), “Something Truly Monstrous”, sounds wonderful — however, it runs through November 8, so squeezing it in would mean a double weekend. The show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) also sounds like an interesting exploration of clutter —  but “The Object Lesson” only runs through October 4, and I’m not sure we can squeeze it in. 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.

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Skin in the Game

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Damn Yankees (Cabrillo)Cabrillo UserpicYou gotta have skin.
All you really need is skin.
Skin’s the thing that if you got it outside,
It helps keep your insides in.
It covers your nose,
And it’s wrapped around your toes.
And inside it you put lemon meringue,
And outside ya hang your clothes.

Whoops. Right song. Wrong lyrics.

Those of you who are old enough will remember that parody song on Allan Sherman‘s album “Allan in Wonderland”. The underlying tune was from the song “Heart”, written for the musical Damn Yankees back in 1955 by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. I bring this all up because last night we saw the Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) production of “Damn Yankees“, and about my only complaint with the production had to do with skin. More on that later.

If you recall, we had decided to drop our Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) subscription when the 2014-2015 season was announced: Memphis, Company, Oklahoma, and Mary Poppins. None of which I had a strong desire to see again. So I was pleasantly surprised when the 2015-2016 season was announced: Damn Yankees, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Children of Eden, and The Little Mermaid. These were all shows that I had seen only in amateur productions (high school, middle school, church), or only in the movie version. So we rejoined as subscribers, and it felt good to be back. The Cabrillo organization is a great one — doing a helluva lot in the community and for the community — and it is one we are glad to be able to support. They also help a lot of theatre people get started in the industry — I still remember when we saw Katherine McPhee in Annie Get Your Gun.

As I noted, our only exposure to Damn Yankees was a high school production. Luckily it was a good one — the Van Nuys HS production back in 2010. In many ways, no one can top Quest as Applegate. But I did want to see a professional production, and the Cabrillo one was a very good one.

For those unfamilar with this 1955 show (which starred such folks as Gwen Verdon as Lola and Ray Walston as Applegate)… or its late 1990s revival (with Bebe Neuwirth as Lola and either Victor Garber or Jerry Lewis as Applegate), “Damn Yankees” is a sports-oriented retelling of the Faustian legend. It is set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball. The story is set in motion when a long-time baseball fan, real estate agent Joe Boyd, offers to sell his soul to see his team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant away from those damn Yankees. Be careful what you say, for the Devil (in the form of Mr. Applegate) shows up and offers Joe the chance to leave his long-suffering baseball widow Meg and become the long-ball hitter the Senators need. Joe agrees, but insists on an escape clause: he can decide the evening before the last game to get out and return to his wife. Applegate waves his hands, and Joe Boyd disappears and young Joe Hardy replaces him. Joe shows up at the Senators locker room, and convinces the manager to add him to the team. Everyone is won over by this man, except for a young reporter who is suspicious. While she investigates his background, Joe begins longing for his wife. Joe’s visits back to his old home get under the skin of Applegate, who plots what he can do to get Joe away from his wife. He sends a skilled homewrecker, Lola, after him, but she fails to seduce him. Applegate decides to switch tactics to ensure Joe’s failure. He releases false information about Joe Hardy’s true identity being “Shifty McCoy”, an escaped criminal and con artist. When Gloria discovers this information, she presses charges, and Joe is forced into court. As the Senators prepare for the final game against the Yankees for the pennant, Joe goes on trial. Joe tells the Applegate he wants out, and Applegate says he has to confirm this at 5 minutes before midnight. But the trial has various delays, and at the magic mark, just as Joe is proven innocent, the delays prevent him from exercising the clause. Joe heads into the final game, but Lola has drugged Applegate, and he doesn’t show until the very end. In order to have the Senators lose (the plan all along, for then there will be loads of suicides and anguish from the fans), Applegate does the only thing he can do: turns Joe back as he is catching the final run. Joe Hardy disappears, and Joe Boyd returns to his wife. Applegate tries to convince Joe Boyd to go back to being Joe Hardy, but the older Joe prefers the love of his wife. I’ll note there’s a longer synopsis (alas, of the 1994 version) on Wikipedia; the primary difference appears to be the setting of the novelty number, “Whos Got The Pain” and the setting for “Two Lost Souls”. Cabrillo appears to have done the 1955 version, with the “Pain” number as part of the Talent Show, and the “Souls” number done in a nightclub. That must be what they are licensing.

The story, by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop based on Wallop’s novel “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant“, is a little bit creaky in this age of instant sports stats and online research. However, if you transport yourself to the 1950s, you’re fine. The music, by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, also mostly stills shines. The major problem is the number “Who’s Got the Pain?”, which to this day has nothing to do with the plot and makes absolutely no sense — a dance number inserted to accomodate the conventions of the day and not move the plot one iota. I enjoy the dance of “Whatever Lola Wants”, although I find the number itself a bit odd. Hands down, however, I love the number “Those Were The Good Old Days”.  But the plot is what the plot is: this is a 1955 classic that made the careers of a number of actors, and it still has wonderful roles that actors yearn to do.

The Cabrillo production was directed by Kirsten Chandler (FB). Chandler did a good job of bringing out good performances given the wide mix of skills in the cast. The choreography by John Todd (FB) was extremely energetic — I particularly recall the dance sequence in “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO” and, of course, “Whatever Lola Wants”.  In general all the dance was quite fun to watch.

Leading off on the side of good were John Atkins (FB) as Joe Boyd, Sarah Tattersall (FB) as Meg Boyd, and Travis Leland (FB) as Joe Hardy. Atkins, as the senior Joe, projected the requisite old and creaky, and had a lovely singing voice (used to good effect in “Goodbye Old Girl”. Tattersall brought a youth, vitality, and lovelyness to Meg that I hadn’t seen before, which together with a wonderful singing voice was quite magical. The only problem was that, from the mezzanine, she seemed quite younger than Atkin’s Joe — making the statement that he married her when she was in her 20s a bit odd. She needs to somehow come across as a bit more 50ish, lovely as she is. But, overall, in the scheme of things, that is really a minor problem. Leland (who we saw before in Adding Machine) was a wonderful young Joe — nice voice, nice stage presence, and giving off the aura of the good guy that Joe is. He seemed to fit better with Tattersall’s Meg than did old Joe; this was demonstrated in their lovely ballad “A Man Doesn’t Know”.

Leading off on the side of evil were John Sloman (FB) as Applegate and Renèe Marino (FB) as Lola. Although he could have projected just a touch more malevolence, I enjoyed Sloman’s Applegate. He had slight-of-hand magic down pat, and did a wonderful job on “Good Old Days”, which requires a spectacular song and dance man. Marino’s Lola was a knockout. Spunky, sexy, and playful. She did a wonderful job with her two big numbers in the first act, “A Little Brains, A Little Talent” and “Whatever Lola Wants”, and she was very touching with Leland in the second act’s “Two Lost Souls”. Just fun to watch.

In the second tier of roles, I’d like to highlight Katheryne Penny (FB)’s Gloria Tharpe. Her performance in “Shoeless Joe” was breath-taking — literally, as she must have been out of breath when she was done. Her performance there dancing, singing, and acting made me think of the prior Katherine on the stage (and I hope she has as much success).

Providing mostly comic support as Sister and Doris, respectively, were Farley Cadena (FB) [a Cabrillo regular] and Tara McGrath (FB). Both provided that well, and were fun to watch in their reprise of “Heart”.

The Washington Senators consisted of Ray Mastrovito (FB) (Mr. Welch – Owner); Tom G. McMahon (FB) (Van Buren – Manager); J. Bailey Burcham (FB) (Smokey – Catcher); Timothy Joshua Hearl (FB) (Vernon); Michael Mittman (FB) (Rocky); Tyler Matthew Burk (FB) (Lynch, Sohovik), Ramiro Garcia Jr. (FB) (Micky); Jotapè Lockwood (FB) (Del); Dylan MacDonald (FB) (Ozzie); Rile Reavis (FB) (Henry, Postmaster); Joshua Rivera (FB) (Buster); Brance William Souza (Bouley); Julian Xavier (Bubba). They worked together as a team, and were particularly hilarious to watch during the opening practice prior to “Heart” (and they did a good job on “Heart” as well). The lead members of the team (Van Buren, Rocky, Smokey, Vernon) were particularly good in “Heart” in terms of performance, movement, and voice. Alas, it was during “Heart” that the skin issue mentioned in the beginning occurred. Suffice it to say that I saw some things that might have been better unseen — and the problem was not a performance one, but a directoral or choreographical choice. It didn’t detract from the show, but it stuck in my head.

Rounding out the adult ensemble were Nichole Beeks (FB), Bernadette Bentley (FB), Jenny Hoffman (FB), Janelle Loren, and Alysa Perry (FB). They were very good rounding out the dance in “Six Months Out of Every Year” and in the background of “Two Lost Souls”.  The Children’s Ensemble consisted of Addie Chandler, Calista Loter, Micah Meyers, Drew Rosen, and Marcello Silva. They were cute in their performance of the reprise of Heart, and even cuter leading the audience in “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch.

The music was under the direction of Cassie Nickols (FB), who also served as conductor. In addition to Nickols, the orchestra consisted of Gary Rautenberg (FB) [Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Alto Sax]; Darryl Tanikawa (FB) [Clarinet, Alto Sax]; Ian Dahlberg (FB) [Oboe, English-Horn, Tenor Sax, Clarinet]; Matt Germaine/FB [Bass Clarinet, Tenor Sax, Clarinet]; Darrin Smith [Bassoon, Baritone Sax, Clarinet]; Bill Barrett [Trumpet I]; Chris Maurer [Trumpet II]; June Satton (FB) [Trombone I]; Robert Coomber [Trombone II]; Sharon Cooper [Violin I, Concertmaster]; Sally Berman [Violin II]; Marisa McLeod (FB) [Viola]; Stephen Green [Cello]; Ben Gisberg/FB [Keyboard Synthesizer]; Shane Harry/FB [Double String Bass]; and Tyler Smith/FB [Set Drums, Percussion]. Darryl Tanikawa (FB) was the Orchestra Contractor, and Darryl Archibald (FB) was the Music Supervisor.

Turning to the technical side: There was no credit for set design; the program notes that scenery was provided by FCLO Music Theatre (FB). The set was pretty straightforward, with sets that rolled in for the Boyd home and the dugout, and a basic multilevel structure that served as the stadium and other purposes. Prop Design was by Alex Choate (FB). Costume design was by Christine Gibson (FB), with costumes provided by FCLO Music Theatre (FB), The Theatre Company (FB) in Upland, and Costume World Theatrical (FB). The costumes worked pretty well; I particuarly appreciated the choice of uniform number 42 for the one black dancer. About my only costume quibble was that it kept looking like Katheryne Penny’s sweater would burst during the “Shoeless Joe” number.  Hair and makeup design was by Cassie Russek (FB); it worked pretty well, although I might have worked a tad more grey into Meg’s hair. Sound design was by CMT regular Jonathan Burke (FB); my only comment here was that the balanced needed to be reworked to either increase the amplification of the actors, or decrease the amplification of the orchestra. Lighting was by Rand Ryan, and exhibited the usual Cabrillo over-dependence on follow-spots (which in this case were occasionally late or off position slightly). Other than the spots, it worked well. A few of the buried credits that deserve highlighting. Ray Mastrovito (FB), who played Mr. Welch, is also credited for Applegate’s Magic Effects — this was one thing I particularly liked about this Applegate, so kudos to him. The preshow and intermission video design was by David Engel, and I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of “Who’s On First“.  Rounding out the credits: Gary Mintz was the Technical Director. David Elzer/Demand PR (Public Relations). John W. Calder III (FB) and Chris Warren Murry (FB) were the Production Stage Managers. Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) is under the artistic direction of Lewis Wilkenfeld (FB).

Damn Yankees has one more weekend at Cabrillo. Tickets are available through the Cabrillo web site; discount tickets are available through Goldstar. It’s an enjoyable production.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: October was being held for the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB); they’ve finally announced some shows but nothing yet is of interest. Given their delays, I started booking weekends with non-fringe shows. The fourth weekend of October brings “Uncle Vanya” at Antaeus Theatre Company (FB) in North Hollywood. Halloween weekend sees me at CSUN for Urinetown, and then both of us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The bookings for November conclude with Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14; the rest of the month is currently open. December brings “El Grande Circus de Coca-Cola” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). There are also a few other interesting productions I’m keeping my eyes open for. The first is the Fall show at The Blank Theatre (FB), “Something Truly Monstrous”, sounds wonderful — however, it runs through November 8, so squeezing it in would mean a double weekend. The show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) also sounds like an interesting exploration of clutter —  but “The Object Lesson” only runs through October 4, and I’m not sure we can squeeze it in. 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.

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The Real Battle

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

The Best of Enemies (Colony Theatre)userpic=colonyMany people go to the theatre simply to be entertained. They want some brainless musical, lots of leggy girls and guys kicking and dancing. The same phenomenon occurs at the movies — the popcorn flick, the meaningless comedy or action adventure film.  These are, to use the expression from [title of show], donuts for breakfast. They are filling at the time, but leave you hungry an hour later.

But at other times … at other times … theatre soars. It takes you to some other place, some other time, and leaves you talking and questioning. You leave not only entertained, but educated. You’ve thought critically. You’ve learned about an issue. You engaged your brain. Shows such as these are memorable, from 1955’s Inherit the Wind to 2004’s Doubt to the recent Gospel according to Jefferson, Dickens, and Tolstoy: all demonstrate the power of theatre to engage and make you think.

Last night at the The Colony Theatre (FB), we saw another play to add to that list: The Best of Enemies by Mark St. Germain. The Best of Enemies tells the true story of C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater. C.P.  Ellis, at the time of the start of the play, was the Exaulted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Durham NC. Atwater was a prominent black civil rights leader in the same community. As 1971 started, Bill Riddick was sent by the Federal Government* to handle the long-delayed desegregation of Durham schools. To do this, he organized a series of charettes to bring the entire community together to solve the problem.
(* The play said “Department of Education”, but ED didn’t start until 1979; it had to have been Health, Education, and Welfare)

Riddick realized that the charettes could not succeed if the entire community was not behind them — meaning not only the black community or those in favor of civil rights, but those — such as the KKK and its factions — that opposed segregation. He therefore worked to get Ellis and Atwater to chair the Durham Charette — called Save Our Schools. He had no idea of whether it would succeed or fail.

This play is the story of that effort. In the opening scenes we get to know both Ellis and Atwater, and see Riddick wooing them to get them to co-chair the group. Eventually they agree, and the middle of the play is that effort: the early days of the charette, the fights, and how they slowly learned to work together. The end of the play is perhaps the most unlikely: it shows how Atwater and Ellis became strong friends, there for each other.

Yes, this is a true story.

There were a number of points made in the play — all of which are quite important. First, there is the personal transformation of Ellis and Atwater. Let me give an analogue. On the way to the theatre, we were listening to a recent Gastropod on Cilantro Hatred. As you know, some people love cilatro. Others hate it. There is a theory that with enough exposure, you can learn to tolerate it. One thing this played showed is how — with exposure to each other from the committee — Ellis and Atwater got to know each other as people, to see their circumstances and their family, so see how they had quite a bit in common. I believe it was this unconscious effort of moving past the hate — eating the Cilantro Pesto, so to speak — that enabled them to become friends.

The second point in the play — which is relevant today — was the revelation that the problem in the schools really wasn’t black vs. white. The problem was that the poorer kids — black or white — got a significantly worse education than the wealthy kids — black or white. Both Ellis and Atwater came from poor upbringings, and this revelation showed how the wealthy were exploiting the race hatred to distract from the class distinction. This was 1971 folks. It could never happen today. People exploiting race hatred to distract from class abuse. C’mon.

I think this is why the play resonated in the way that it did: this historical true story of people coming together demonstrated that the problems are still there to be fought, and we have learn how to do with Ellis and Atwater did: move past the hatred (which is now based on political divisions) and work together to address problems.

In short, this is a play that everyone should see. But be quick. It only has a few performances left.

And speaking of performances (how’s that for a segue): the performances at this show were uniformly excellent. Under the direction of David Rose (FB), the performances were sharp and believable. In fact, they were so good I found myself being absorbed into the characters, and not mentally taking notes about what I particularly liked about the performance.

In the lead positions were Larry Cedar (FB) as C.P. Ellis and Tiffany Rebecca Royale (FB) as Ann Atwater. As I said, both were uniformly excellent and believable in their characters. In fact, my only quibble is a very small one: in Cedar’s bio, he lists “Discord: The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy” (FB) and talks about it’s world premiere at the Geffen. However, we saw him in it in the production before the Geffen: back in 2014 when it was at the NoHo Arts Center — which was the real world premiere. LA’s intimate theatre strikes again!  But performance-wise, there are none. From the first time you see Cedar in his red KKK robes to the first time you see Royale taking off her shoes, to the last time at the funeral — these actors embody these characters with a strong spark and life.

Rounding out the leads was Shon Fuller (FB) as Bill Riddick. This was a different level of lead. He was the catalyst of the story, although it is unclear to what extent he was a true catalyst (which are unchanged by the reactions). His was the voice of reason that introduced, tampered the reaction when necessary, managed the distance, and enabled the result to come across. We had the chance to talk to Mr. Fuller after the show, and you could just get the sense that this was a role he loved — that the message and story that came across in this play was one he wanted to get out there.

In a smaller, but still critical, role was Holly Hawkins (FB) as Mary Ellis. Hawkin’s performance as C.P.’s wife humanized him — it got to show the family side and the family problems, and it also demonstrated how there could often be caring from that community as well. A small performance, but a critical one.

At times, there were voices in crowd scenes and voice-overs. Crowd and choir sounds were from: Ben Hawkins, John Favreau, Taylor M. Hartsfield, Elyssa Alexander, Madeline Ellingson, Matthew G Wicks, Dylan David Farrs, Katie Lee, Connie J Kim, Jesus Manuael R., Lacey Beegun, and Joshua Johnson. Voice-overs were by Wyn Mareno and Sarah Ripper. I’m not going to link them as I usually do.

The technical side of the staging was simple. The scenic design by David Potts was simple: an area for projects against a wooden structure providing a central area and two side entrances, with simple tables and chairs that could be moved around. These were augmented by properties by Colony regular John McElveney (FB) which established the sense of place and time. Sense of place was also established by the excellent projection designs of Dave Mickey (FB) and the scenic art of Colony regular Orlando de la Paz.  The sound, also by Dave Mickey (FB), provided the necessary effects (including the necessary reverb from the podium microphones, when they were used). The lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) conveyed the mood well. Much of the lighting was stark, but I did notice the mood lighting behind the projection, and the heavy use of red lighting in some of the KKK scenes to create the appropriate sense of horror and foreboding. The costume design by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) combined with the wigs and hair of Rhonda O’Neal to support the place and time well. Remaining technical credits: Leesa Freed (FB) was the production stage manager. Casting by Patricia Cullen. David Elzer/Demand PR (Public Relations). The Colony is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

The Best of Enemies continues at The Colony Theatre (FB) through October 18. Tickets are available through the Colony website. It does not appear that the Colony has listed discount tickets through Goldstar for this show. Similarly, although they are listed on LAStageTix, discount tickets are not available.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: October was being held for the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB); they’ve finally announced some shows but nothing yet is of interest. Given their delays, I started booking weekends with non-fringe shows. Next weekend takes us to Thousand Oaks for “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The fourth weekend of October brings “Uncle Vanya” at Antaeus Theatre Company (FB) in North Hollywood. Halloween weekend sees me at CSUN for Urinetown, and then both of us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The bookings for November conclude with Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14; the rest of the month is currently open. December brings “Humble Boy” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). There are also a few other interesting productions I’m keeping my eyes open for. The first is the Fall show at The Blank Theatre (FB), “Something Truly Monstrous”, sounds wonderful — however, it runs through November 8, so squeezing it in would mean a double weekend. The show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) also sounds like an interesting exploration of clutter —  but “The Object Lesson” only runs through October 4, and I’m not sure we can squeeze it in. 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.

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Baked Into Every Loaf is Love

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

The Baker's Wife (Actors Co-Op)userpic=theatre_musicalsMusicals are interesting beasts. Some get to be very well known through success on Broadway — either by the awards they win, the tours they produce, their financial success, or their performances at the Tonys. Some (especially parody musicals) get to be well known through their off-Broadway success and their cast recordings. Some just produce great cast recordings and stay small and popular in the regional markets. Then there’s that fourth class: the class that becomes well known precisely because of their failure; their creation stories having become the stuff of legend. These musicals get revived more as curiosity pieces. Occasionally, the revival overcomes whatever the reason was for the original failure; sometimes these revivals go on to great success.

One of these “notable failure” musicals was Steven Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Joseph Stein (book)’s “The Baker’s Wife“, based off the movie ” La Femme du Boulanger“. Schwartz was coming off the successes of Godspell and Pippin; Stein was the book writer of Fiddler on the Roof. They developed Baker’s Wife and did a tour of the US with Topol and Carole Demas, who were eventually replaced by Paul Sorvino and Patti LuPone as the leads. The show played Los Angeles in May 1976 (alas, I didn’t see it (or if I did, I don’t remember it) — I was still in high school at the time, and not part of my parent’s LACLO subscription), and the Kennedy Center in November 1976. But the producer’s pulled it before Broadway, with never a good explanation. A studio cast album was made with some excerpts that preserved about 60% of the score; thank’s to this, awareness of the show never died. This album was primarily excerpts; it didn’t give the full score, and was not necessarily in order. But there were some songs that still became staples; most notably, “Meadowlark“. The show became, like Bock/Harnick’s She Loves Me, a show more appreciated because of its score than people having seen the show. Attempts to remount the show would happen occasionally, but it has never made it to Broadway. Last night we saw one such revival at The Actor’s Co-Op (FB) in Hollywood. I’m very glad we did.

The story is a fable, with an unstated moral. It is 1935 in a very small rural village in Provence, France. This is a village where nothing ever changes beyond the occasionally birth and deaths. There are quarrels — but they are never resolved. The bickering provides too much entertainment. The married men (Claude and Barnaby) bicker and put down their wives (Denise and Hortense, respectively), partially because they are pointedly not speaking with each other.  Doumergue bickers with Pierre because Pierre’s oak tree shades the sun from Antoine’s spinach. The priest (M. Le Cure) argues with the town teacher (M. Martine) for his embrace of logic and reason, and with the mayor (M. Marquis) for his embrace of passion with his three “neices”, Nicole, Inez, and Simone). The town drunk, Antoine, argues with everyone, and unmarried Therese watches on disapprovingly. The town is eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new baker: their previously one having died 7 weeks ago, having not arranged for a replacement in advance. Eventually, the baker (Aimable Castagnet) arrives, with his significantly younger and lovely wife, Genevieve. The town cannot understand why the two are together, but loves the resulting bread. One of Marquis’ men, his handyman Dominique, becomes smitten with Genevieve. With the help of his friend Philippe, he woos her and eventually convinces her to leave her husband, the baker. When she does, the baker initially doesn’t believe her — she has gone off to visit her mother. But with her gone, he can’t bake — and the town suffers. He goes on a drunk, and the men try to convince him he is better off without a wife. But he doesn’t believe them, so they organize to hunt for her. Most of the men don’t find her, but eventually she is found and convinced to come back. In the process, the various bickering in the town starts to resolve itself. She returns, and the baker refuses to hear her confession, telling her she has just gone to her mother. The baker’s cat Pom Pom, who had also run away, returned: the baker publicly scolds the cat summarizing everything the wife has done, but forgives her… and she forgives him, and the town has bread again.

I probably didn’t do this synopsis justice — you can also find one on Wikipedia, at MTI, or at the Guide to Musical Theatre … or you could read the libretto.

Watching the show, I tried to figure out how and why it failed. Initially, I thought it might just be a predictable plot. After all, from the minute you mean Genevieve, you know she is going to leave, and that it will destroy the Baker. Very predictable. Very unpleasant. But the show by the end redeemed itself and gave across a good message.

For a time, I thought it might have been Schwartz’ equivalent of Cy Coleman’s Welcome to the Club.  The way the men treat their wives is abhorrent, and the attitude towards woman (especially in the song “The Word’s Luckiest Man”) is horrible. It seemed to be a commentary from the authors about woman, and thus doomed to failure just like Coleman’s Welcome to the Club. Club was an extremely bitter musical about divorce and divorce jail. But as the show went on, this attitude turned around. Women started standing up for themselves, and there began to be reconciliation.

Eventually, I decided the problems was more the time and place of the show. This is not a show for a very large Broadway house, yet with the cast size it needs such a house for financial success. It was best in a small to mid-size house. The story — focusing on love and forgiveness — may also not have fit well in the cynical 1970s when the country was in the mood for neither. This show could come back with a successful production, if handled right.

So how, in the end, do I assess the story? I think ultimately this show is about love, and how love grows and does its magic when it moves from selfish to selfless love. Consider that the villagers learn how to move past their quarreling only when they move from their selfish focus to a selfless focus of finding Genevieve. Genevieve is initially with the Baker to get away from an affair with a married man; she separates easily when thinking only of herself and her pleasures. She finds real love and happiness when she comes back to the relationship and discovers the selfless love of being there for the Baker. The Baker finds the long-term love he needs through forgiveness (which, by definition, is putting someone else before you). The show also demonstrates the power of forgiveness and understanding, and of actually listening. Great messages.

One additional note: This musical makes one other statement about baked goods: they taste better when they are baked with love.

In short, I went in expecting to find a weak book was what doomed this show, and came out loving the underlying story.

I think part of the success is attributable to the director, Richard Israel (FB). Israel has a knack for coming up with great treatments of musicals that are either not well known or problematic. I loved his approaches on local versions of shows such as The Burnt Part Boys, Big, Assassains, Having It All,  Once Upon a Mattress, Kiss Me Kate, Falsettos, or an intimate version of Gypsy.   Israel handled the small space well, transitioning from the cafe to the bakery easily. I also noticed what I guess were the little touches: the expression on a face in the background, the reaction of a town member to a statement. The body language. As I’ve noted many times, I’m not an actor and have never been on a stage without a Powerpoint behind me. I have trouble separating where the actor’s experience ends and the director’s guidance starts. But I just have the sense here of a strong collaborative effort: Israel bringing ideas and vision, and working with the actors to realize them. However, the division, it worked well.

In a musical, the choreography and movement goes along closely with the direction. Julie Hall (FB), the choreographer, worked the small space well. This show doesn’t have a lot of large production numbers, but the ones they had worked well — I particularly enjoyed the movement and dance in “Bread”, “Mercie Madame”, and “The World’s Luckiest Man”.

In the lead acting positions were Greg Baldwin (FB) [Aimable Castagnet] and Chelle Denton (FB) [Genevieve Castagnet]. Baldwin’s Baker was a great everyman — middle aged, average looks, an easygoing personality. Denton’s Genevieve, in contrast, was a knockout. She didn’t have the build of the typical starting actress, but had a lovely and touching form and face — and particularly smile — that just made you melt. You agreed with the townspeople: how could this lovely thing end up with the everyman? In pondering this, I thought about my post yesterday, with an article on how it is life experiences that shape what people find attractive. Denton’s Genevieve was a woman who didn’t know what love was, and how it was distinguished from attraction and lust. Baldwin’s Baker was safe, and that safety was what was attractive. Genevieve brought this across well in her two key songs: “Meadowlark” in the Act I and “Where is the Warmth?” in Act II. In the first, she makes the decision to run off — to have the pleasure while she could, not thinking about the consequences; in the second, she sings of the realization that the physical may provide the heat but not the warmth of safety. Denton’s ability to convey this through the songs we create. The Baker, Aimable, was less of a solo singing role, although he did impart his message well in “If I Have to Live Alone” — he’d been alone before, and the memory of a love is sometime enough. What was best about Baldwin’s Aimable was his face and reaction, best seen in his reactions to “The World’s Luckiest Man” and “Feminine Companionship”… and in his final monologue as part of the Finale. Sitcom cinematographers understand this: humor often comes from the reaction; Baldwin had his reactions down pat.

The earworm of the show belongs to Treva Tegtmeire (FB)’s Denise. In addition to getting to sing the lovely ballad “Chanson” that keeps repeating throughout the show, Tegtmeiere has some great reaction shots as the wife of Jeffrey Markle (FB)’s Claude, particularly when Markle makes some of his more offensive lines about his wife.

Nick Echols (FB)’s Dominique has the right handsome looks to be attractive to Genevieve, and demonstrated he had a lovely singing voice in his “Serenade”, as well as in “Proud Lady”. It was nice to see Echols again — it is always great when we see actors from Repertory East Playhouse [REP] (FB) in Newhall (we saw Nick in Avenue Q back in January 2015) getting wonderful exposure to the rest of the LA Theatre community.

The remainder of the townspeople generally formed an ensemble that makes it difficult to single out any particular characters. Difficult, but not impossible. Jeffrey Markle (FB)’s Claude was not only Denise’s husband, but in a perpetual argument with Michael Worden (FB)’s Barnaby. The two portrayed this argument well — you truly believed they weren’t talking to each other for reasons they didn’t understand (which made the second act transformation work well). Worden was also strong in his interaction with Tracey Bunka’s Hortense — his wife. Worden’s Barnaby continually wouldn’t let her speak; Bunka captured the frustration quite well, which served her second act transition. Another arguing pair were Brian Dyer (FB)’s Pierre and Michael Riney (FB)’s Dourmergue. For these two, the argument was over spinach and trees, and it also came off believable (supporting their second act transition). Brandon Parrish (FB)’s Antoine was also notable in his comic portrayals of a headstrong man with no filter: I particularly enjoyed his “cuckold” imagery.

The Teacher, Kelly Brighton (FB) [M. Martine] had an interesting look and facial expression that drew the eye, and handled the rationality of the role well. Contrasting and conflicting with him was Tim Hodgin (FB)’s priest, M. LeCure, who gave off the correct amount of self-righteous authority and religious babble (and whose pronouncements were particularly interesting considering this came from the author of Godspell). The third element in opposition of M. Martine and M. LeCure was the hedonistic M. le Marquis (which the program lists as being portrayed by two actors: Christopher Maikish (FB) and Stephen Van Dorn (FB) — so I have no idea who we saw). Maikish or VanDorn was fun to watch with the role — it was clear he was having fun with the teasing and the presentation of that point of view. His “nieces” (where a niece is defined as the daughter of a brother, and aren’t all men brothers?) were Lindsey Schuberth (FB) [Simone], Greyson Chadwick (FB) [Inez], and Rachel Hirshee (FB) [Nicole]. These roles were written more as eye candy — and as such, I expected a little more unison is movement and action for some reason. They were provided the opportunity to break out of the undifferentiated eye candy in the song “Feminine Companionship” — which they did quite well — and in the scene where it was just the women. As Therese, Natalie Hope MacMillan (FB) was the town spinster, with predictable reactions to all that was going on. Lastly, Larray Grimes (FB) portrayed Philippe, Domininique’s friend and guitar player for Chanson.

Music direction was provided Jake Anthony (FB), who also conducted the on-stage band and played piano. Rachel Fastenow (FB) was next to him on flute and recorder, with Shaun Valentine (FB) on the other side on percussion (which included drums, washboards, triangles and bells). On the other side of the stage were Jay Rubottom (FB) on bass and Brian Manchen (FB) on accordian. About my only musical complaint is something out of control of the musicians: the volume on the flute tended to overwhelm the voices on stage, particularly Chelle Denton’s. As you can’t lower the volume of the flute, Denton needs to work on upping her volume at tad.

Finally, we turn to the technical and miscellaneous credits. The scenic design of Rich Rose (FB) worked well: tables in front to establish the place of the cafe, some sliding panels with French town scenes,  and the back with the bakery tables and bakery prices (in French ₣). These integrated with the properties of Hanna Mitchell/FB well. I’ll note that the properties include a lot of different styles of bread — if they are using actual bread, they must go through a fair amount of it! The sound of Warren Davis (FB) worked well — there wasn’t any amplification, but I did notice occasional background noises.  Bill E. Kickbush‘s lighting design worked well to establish mood and mostly blended in; however, the LED lights facing the audience at the back were overly noticeable. Wendell C. Carmichael/FB‘s costumes combined with Krys Fehervari (FB)’s hair and makeup design to create a believable town of the era; Chelle Denton’s dress was particularly lovely.  Rounding out the credits were: Heather Chesley (FB) [Artistic Chairperson], David Elzer/Demand PR (FB) [Publicity]; Kate Harmon/FB [Stage Manager]; Rory Patterson (FB) [Production Manager]; Michael D. H. Phillips/FB [Assistant Director]; Hanna Mitchell/FB [Assistant Stage Manager]; and Kimi Walker (FB) [Producer].

One additional note: This production has available for purchase as snacks the typical soda, water, chips, and candy. This is a missed opportunity. This show makes the audience hungry for fresh baked goodies for purchase. They could make some funds easily by having available for sale some fresh tarts, sweet-stuffed croissants, and brioche.

The Baker’s Wife continues at The Actor’s Co-Op (FB) in Hollywood through October 25, 2015. More information on the Actors Co-Op Page. Tickets are available online. It is sold out on Goldstar; discount tickets are no longer available through LA Stage Tix. What this says are: most shows are sold out, so get your tickets now while you can.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: October was being held for the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB); they’ve finally announced some shows but nothing yet is of interest. Given their delays, I started booking weekends with non-fringe shows. Next weekend brings “The Best of Enemies” at The Colony Theatre (FB). The third weekend of October takes us to Thousand Oaks for “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The fourth weekend of October brings “Uncle Vanya” at Antaeus Theatre Company (FB) in North Hollywood. Halloween weekend sees me at CSUN for Urinetown, and then both of us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The bookings for November conclude with Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14; the rest of the month is currently open. December brings “Humble Boy” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). There are also a few other interesting productions I’m keeping my eyes open for. The first is the Fall show at The Blank Theatre (FB), “Something Truly Monstrous”, sounds wonderful — however, it runs through November 8, so squeezing it in would mean a double weekend. The show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) also sounds like an interesting exploration of clutter —  but “The Object Lesson” only runs through October 4, and I’m not sure we can squeeze it in. 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.

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It’s All In Your Head

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

First Date (La Mirada)userpic=theatre_ticketsRecently, I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts on theatre. One of these, the excellent Producers Perspective podcast, has been focusing on the musical Spring Awakening, and its transfer back to Broadway. The composer and lyricist both said the same thing about the music and lyrics: their goal was not to move the story forward through the music and lyrics, but to use the music and lyrics to illuminate the inner thoughts and turmoil of the characters — to get inside the head. Such a use of music requires much less suspension of disbelief. This approach to music and lyrics was evident last night in the musical we saw last night at  The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) — “First Date”, with book by Austin Winsberg (FB) and music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (FB).

I first became aware of the musical First Date when Amazon recommended the cast album. I picked it up shortly after it came out (in February 2014), and found that I liked the music. The story sounded interesting, and so when I learned that La Mirada was doing the first Southern California production of the show, I set the tickler on Goldstar to let me know when tickets were available. We blocked off a date, picked up tickets, and braved the traffic (is the traffic between the San Fernando Valley and La Mirada ever clear on a Saturday afternoon?) . I’m glad we did.

First Date ostensibly tells the story of Aaron and Casey. It is Aaron’s first blind date, and one of far too many for Casey. They meet at some fancy New York bar and restaurant, because (of course) New York has the only interesting dating scene. The one-act, no-intermission show is the story of that date, and most of the songs are visualizations of inner dialogues occurring in the head of either Aaron or Casey. In fact, only about three songs are performed by actual characters in the real world. You can find a fuller synopsis on the Wikipedia page.

The songs themselves are reasonably cute and funny. From listening to the CD, I was aware ahead of time of “The Girl for You”, and I found it equally funny on the stage — although the Jewish stereotypes were a bit too heavy-handed for me (but then again, this is on the border of Orange County, so they might not recognize Jews without the stereotypes, but then again, Temple Beth Ohr is just up the street). All three “Bailout” songs were cute and well executed. I was particularly taken with the song “Forever Online” (which, alas, is not on the original cast album and does not appear to have been recorded separately). This song tells the perils of dating in a world of Google, where everything you’ve ever said or posted online lives forever to embarrass you — it makes a great (and humorous) warning songs. Also cute was the song “In Love With You”, where Aaron confronts some issues from his past (I’d say more, but it would destroy the surprise of that song).

Although the music and story is good, there are a few weaker points. The interlude of the Waiter’s song was (to me) a bit pointless and left you wondering why it was there: it wasn’t from a principal character, and it wasn’t illuminating the background of why the characters were what they were. I would have preferred another song of illumination instead.

But on the whole, the show was funny and well executed. The direction of Nick Degruccio (FB) worked well, making the characters reasonably believable, and handling the various costume and character changes of the ensemble well. The shouldn’t come as a surprise: the presence of Mr. Degruccio as the director of a musical pretty much guarantees you’re going to be seeing something of high quality.

In the lead positions as the couple on the date were Marc Ginsburg (FB) as Aaron, and Erica Lustig (FB)  as Casey. Both were new to us; we haven’t had the opportunity to see them before on Southern California stages (although they’ve done some shows). They both came across as cute, and they had believable chemistry together — a good thing for a first date :-). Both had strong voices and used them well — particularlyMarc in “In Love with You” and Erica in “Safer”.

The remainder of the cast played multiple characters as well as background restaurant patrons. Alas, the song credits only provide the character at the time, whereas the cast credits are the generic ensemble names, so it is difficult to map performers to songs.  Combining information from the Broadway World Photo Coverage and cast allocations from Broadway gives: Justin Michael Wilcox (FB) [Man #1: Gabe/Edgy British Guy/Gilberto]; Leigh Wakeford (FB) [Man #2: Reggie/Aaron’s Future Son/Edgy Rocker Guy]; Scott Dreier (FB) [Man #3: Waiter/Casey’s Father/Blaze/Friendly Therapist]; Stacey Oristano (FB) [Woman #1: Grandma Ida/Lauren/Aaron’s Mother]; Kelley Dorney (FB) [Woman #2: Allison/Google Girl/Reggie’s Mom]. Now that we have the mapping, I can note some particular highlights: Dorney was particularly strong as Allison (especially on the performance and reaction side) and as the Google Girl in “Forever Online”. Wilcox was fun in his characterization of Gabe, the friend of Aaron, particularly in Allison’s Theme and his reactions in “In Love With You”. Wakeford was funny as Reggie in the various Bailout songs and in the final scenes — it was a character my wife particularly enjoyed. Dreier was funny performance-wise as the waiter; although I wasn’t particularly crazy about “I’d Order Love”, he performed it well. Lastly, Oristano had a great characterization as Casey’s sister Lauren.

The choreography by Lee Martino (FB) worked well given the stage and the set; Leigh Wakeford (FB) served as dance captain. The show was under the musical direction of Brent Crayon (FB), and featured orchestrations by August Eriksmoen (FB) and vocal and incidental music arrangements by Dominick Amendum (FB). Brent Crayon (FB) also served as conductor and keyboard 1 for the First Date Band; additional members of the band were: Mike Abraham (FB) [Guitar 1]; John Ballinger (FB) [Guitar 2 / Keyboard 2]; Sean Franz (FB) [Reeds / Keyboard 3]; Jonathan Ahrens [Bass]; and Eric Heinly (FB) [Drums]. In general, the music was played well and sounded great. However, for the first few scenes, the music sounded a bit muffled and overpowered the lyrics. This was corrected as time went on, so it was more of a sound issue.

On the technical side, the scenic design by Stephen Gifford (FB) was a modernist restaurant that was reasonably realistic; a greater sense of the scenes and place came from the properties design of Terry Hanrahan (FB). The costume design of Thomas G. Marquez (FB) worked very well, especially considering the last minute changes that had to occur onstage. The lighting by Steven Young (FB) worked well; in particular I noted the use of the lighting during the “Bad Boys” song. The sound design by Josh Bessom (FB) was initially a little off — the vocals were a bit muffled and the orchestra overpowering, but that was adjusted 2-3 songs in  and was great for the rest of the show. Remaining technical credits: Katie McCoy (FB) [Hair Design]; Julia Flores (FB) [Casting]; Buck Mason (FB) [General Manager]; David Cruise (FB) [Technical Director]; David Elzer/Demand PR (FB) [Publicity]; Amy Ramsdell (FB) [Assistant Stage Manager]; Jill Gold (FB) [Production Stage Manager]. “First Date” was produced by The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) and McCoy Rigby Entertainment (FB).

First Date continues at The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) through October 11. Tickets are available through La Mirada; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar. It’s a fun show and worth seeing.

P.S. to the person sitting two seats to the left of me: When they say turn off your cell phones, that means “turn it off and put it away”. The light from your phone is not only distracting to the actors, it is distracting to the audience — especially when you periodically hold it up to (I guess) take a picture or record (which I’m sure you’re not doing, as it usually isn’t permitted). I didn’t like having to remind you to put it away.

Dining Notes: Before shows at La Mirada, we like to go to Mario’s Peruvian for dinner. They aren’t that far away (Imperial Highway and Santa Gertrude), their food is great, and they aren’t that expensive. Finish up, a right onto Santa Gertrude, and a right onto Rosecrans, and a left onto La Mirada and you’re done.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. 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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  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 Shows: October was being held for the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB), but they haven’t announced the Fringe shows yet, so I’ve started booking weekends. The first weekend of October brings “The Baker’s Wife” at Actors Co-op (FB) in Hollywood. The second weekend of October brings “The Best of Enemies” at The Colony Theatre (FB). The third weekend of October takes us to Thousand Oaks for “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The fourth weekend of October brings “Uncle Vanya” at Antaeus Theatre Company (FB) in North Hollywood. Halloween weekend sees me at CSUN for Urinetown, and then both of us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The bookings for November conclude with Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14; the rest of the month is currently open. December brings “Humble Boy” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). There are also a few other interesting productions I’m keeping my eyes open for. The first is the Fall show at The Blank Theatre (FB), “Something Truly Monstrous”, sounds wonderful — however, it runs through November 8, so squeezing it in would mean a double weekend. The show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) also sounds like an interesting exploration of clutter —  but “The Object Lesson” only runs through October 4, and I’m not sure we can squeeze it in. 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.

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