Tag: theatricum-botanicum

Green grow the lilacs, all sparkling with dew,
It’s a familiar tale that you thought you knew,
What’s Oklahoma! now was once much more true,
Green Grow the Lilacs will win over you

Last May, Cabrillo Music Theatre announced its 2014-2015 season: Memphis, Company, Mary Poppins, and Oklahoma!. None of which I was interesting in seeing — especially yet another production of Oklahoma!.† I’ve seen Oklahoma! far too many times, both on the stage and on the screen. Yes, it was a seminal musical back in 1943, but today it seems tired. Yet when Theatricum Botanicum (FB) announced their season, I was excited to see Green Grow the Lilacs as part of the repertoire.  Oklahoma! you see with regularity. But Green Grow the Lilacs — the play with music upon which Oklahoma! was based — you don’t see that often (after all, it only had 64 performances on Broadway). So, after a little rain delay, and a week after Cabrillo closed their very successful production of Oklahoma!, we were back for a second show at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) — Lynn Riggs’ Green Grow the Lilacs.
[†: Luckily, Cabrillo redeemed themselves with the 2015-2016 season, and we’re back as subscribers]

If you are familiar with Oklahoma!, you’re familiar with the basic plot of Green Grow the Lilacs. The cowboy Curly McClain is interested in the farmgirl Laurey Williams, who is living with her Aunt Eller Murphy in Indian Territory (eventually Oklahoma) in 1900. She’s interested in him but doesn’t want to show it, because their farmhand, Jeeter Fry, a large and potentially violent man, is interested in her and she’s scared of what will happen if she breaks it off. She has accepted an invitation to a dance party with Jeeter, making Curly take Aunt Eller. There is a comic subplot involving Ado Annie Carnes and a Syrian peddler. At the party, Jeeter makes unwanted sexual advances towards Laurey, and she runs him off. Curly proposes, and they get married. That evening, their friends drag them to the barn for the wedding night, but Jeeter shows up and sets the barn on fire. He fights with Curly, and ends up landing on his own knife. Curly is still taken away for trial. He escapes jail to return to see Laurey, but promises to go back the next morning.

If you are familiar with Oklahoma!, you’ll see some significant similarities and differences (if not, read this and come back). Some of the language was translated almost verbatim into song and dialogue, particularly the dialogue about the surrey with the fringe. However, there are significant changes in plots and subplots. In the main plot, the biggest change is the timeline and the fact that the final verdict is never rendered. There are no other girls Curly flirts with; there’s no jealousy involved. There’s no bidding on baskets. However, there are scenes that are almost directly translated into songs in the musical. The Ado Annie subplot is completely different. She’s much more timid and unsure about sex; there’s no Will Parker onstage at all. She’s there primarily as a friend for Laurie — mirroring almost the same relationship as the one between Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It. My wife commented that the story is much less centered on Laurey and Curly, and much more centered on Aunt Eller and her strength in holding things together. I’d tend to agree.

The music, of course, is completely different. GGtL features much traditional folk music: songs like Get Along Little Doggies, Old Paint, Green Grow the Lilacs, Careless Love, Skip To My Lou, Down in the Valley, and another song to the same tune as Frozen Logger. These are accompanied by the actors on the stage, almost all of who play instruments. There were numerous guitars, a banjo, an accordion, a harmonica, and various percussion devices including a washtub bass. The rendition of Careless Love was particularly beautiful and harmonious. For someone like me who loves folk music, this was a delight. In fact, I tended to like the original folk music much much more than the material Rodgers and Hammerstein developed.

To me, knowing both shows, I actually preferred Green Grow the Lilacs. The indeterminate ending seemed to feel right, the characters had the right complications to their characters. R&H simplified things and upped the humor, but sometimes the more gentle humor works better. The dialogue had a very midwestern feel to it, with loads of folk aphorisms and sayings, and midwestern behavior. The directoral team was the same as for the previous day’s As You Like It  — director Ellen Geer (FB) assisted by Jonathan Blandino/FB, and they did a wonderful job of bringing out the folksy in the characters, as well as the realism. I particularly remember watching the faces of the actors, which were mesmerizing throughout.

The acting was top right — especially when you consider that the same lead actresses had leading roles in the previous day’s As You Like It, where they played Rosalind, Cellia, and Jaques. How they remember all the dialogue astounds me. Our lead couple was Willow Geer (FB) [Laurey Williams] and Jeff Wiesen (FB) [Curly McClain]. Geer had a lovely charm about her, a friendliness and folkishness that made her perfect for the character. Her performance was wonderful — she was one of the faces I couldn’t stop watching — and her singing was delightful. She also played the banjo very well (but there’s more money in acting 🙂 ). Wiesen had a lovely singing voice and created a great character as Curly — you could see why Laurey loved him.

Aunt Eller was portrayed by Melora Marshall (FB); yesterday’s Jaques. Here she changed from a grizzed war veteran to a grizzed farmer who was worldly wise from experience. Again, she gave a wonderful portray, and combined that with lovely singing and performance on a multitude of stringed instruments (I saw guitar and autoharp).

The subplot couple was portrayed by Elizabeth Tobias (FB) [Ado Annie] and Zachary Davidson (FB) as the Peddler. Tobias was wonderful comic relief — in some ways similar to her As You Like It role, and was fun to watch in the second act when she was working on sewing, or her comic walking with the garters. Davidson was similarly humorous, especially when he was hiding or jumping around trying to sell things.

The remaining major character was Steven B. Green (FB)’s Jeeter Fry.  Green gave Fry the appropriate menace the character required.

Rounding out the cast in smaller named roles and ensemble parts were: Leo Knudson [Old Man Peck], John Manahan [Man], Wendy Pigott/FB [Cory Elam], and in the ensemble: Dimitri Aleman Jones, Tate Ammons (FB), Olivia Buntaine (FB) , Carina Cherbosque (FB), Caitlin Durkin, Arielle Fodor (FB), Devin Holliman (FB), Kathleen Leary/FB, Kendall Linzee (FB), Victoria Yvonne Martinez (FB), Jay Sosnicki (FB), Schyler Tillett/FB, and Alexander Wauthier/FB. Understudies were Anahi Bustillos (FB) and Colin Simon (FB). I also think I saw Cameron Rose (FB) in the cast (I recognized him from As You Like It).

Turning to the technical side: there was much more scenic design than in As You Like It. There were numerous set pieces and properties, under the direction of property master Erin Walley. As her link shows she is a set designer, I’m guessing she did that as well. The Sound Design by Ian Flanders (FB) was much more noticeable, as there were numerous sound effects. In fact, I almost thought the noise of all the crickets was a sound effect as well — they were that good. Lighting was by Zach Moore/FB, and was mostly white. The costume designer was Randy Hozian, and was quite effective and seemingly appropriate for the period. Kim Cameron/FB was the stage manager, assisted by Jackie Nicole (FB).

Green Grow The Lilacs continues in repertory with As You Like It, A Midsummers Night Dream, To Kill a Mockingbird, and August:Osage County at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) through September 26. There appears to be two shows most weekend, usually at 7:30 PM (except 8/16 at 3:30 PM). Tickets are available through the Theatricum Box Office. Discount tickets appear to be available through Goldstar. This is well worth seeing — you don’t see the real Oklahoma every day. It is also wonderful if you love folk music.

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 is busy, with “The Fabulous Lipitones” at  The Colony Theatre (FB) on Friday, our summer Mus-ique show on Saturday, and Concerts on the Green in Warner Park (with a Neil Diamond cover band) on Sunday. The third weekend of August is calmer, but only because we moved theatre off the weekend because my wife is driving my daughter’s car back to the bay area. As for me, I might very well go back to see the revised “Jesus Christ Superstar” at REP East (FB) — they are returning to have live music and I expect that will make a significant difference. The third week of August may see us back at REP East (FB) for their “secret seventh show”, which has been revealed to be “A Company of Wayward Saints“. After that we’ll need a vacation … but then again we might squeeze in Evita at the Maui Cultural Center (FB) the last weekend of August. September starts with Tom Paxton’s last concert at McCabes (FB) on September 12, followed by right now is mostly open, with the only ticketed show being “The Diviners” at REP East (FB) and a hold-the-date for “First Date” at The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB). October will bring another Fringe Festival: the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB). October also has the following as ticketed or hold-the-dates: CSUN’s Urinetown (end of October – 10/30 or 11/1);  “The Best of Enemies” at The Colony Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/10); and  “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/17). 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.

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; and one man in his time plays many parts…”

These are the words of William Shakespeare (perhaps you’ve heard of him) in his play “As You Like It“. I actually hadn’t realized this play was the source, as I’m not a Shakespeare scholar. In fact, the only play I had ever walked out of was an incredibly bad production of As You Like It (titled As U Lyk It: A California Concoction) at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2006. The production of As You Like It at the Theatricum Botanicum (FB) [which I saw yesterday], on the other hand, redeemed this play for me. It is fun and delightful, well-performed and updated well by not attempting to update it. I had a few minor quibbles, but for the most part I enjoyed this production thoroughly.

If you are not familiar with the basic story of As You Like It, well… neither was I. Luckily, I was able to obtain a one page synopsis of the show and read it beforehand — this helped immensely as it is difficult for those unfamilar with iambic pentameter to pick out everything that is being said. You can find a reasonably good and understandable summary of the plot at No Sweat Shakespeare, the Cliff Notes summary is also good. For the TL;DR generation, the Shakespeare Resource Center has a short and sweet summary. This is one of Shakespeare’s comedies (like Two Gentlemen of Verona), meaning that there is lots of convolutions and humor, and everyone ends up married and happy in the end. In this case you have Rosalind and her close friend Celia disguising themselves and running off to the forest, and her love Orlando not recognizing her and pretending to woo her as if she was her. It may sound silly, but it was the convention of the time and well, umm, just go with it. If you don’t like it, you can always see the musical Omlette.

Shakespeare, unlike perhaps any other playwright, has this unique ability to have his plays translated in time (and not necessarily translated in word) to other places and times. Thus West Side Story is Romeo and Juliet translated to 1950s New York, and The Lion King is a translation of Hamlet. Translations don’t always work, as demonstrated by the 2006 translation of As You Like It to the Mojave Desert. This production does a very light translation of As You Like It to the days of the Civil War. A few words of the original are changed (primarily titles and the name of a character or two), and songs are sometimes replaced with songs from the Civil War era (I know I heard at least one Stephen Foster tune). Otherwise, times are suggested by a uniform here and there. For the most part this works, but in some areas it is quite distracting. For example, the couple of William and Audrey are presented as an interracial couple (something that would never have been permitted — at least out in public — in the South). Duke Senior is presented as the ostensible leader of a Confederate army band; again, the likelihood of mixed races there would have been low. Lastly, many of the costumes were not of the Civil War era — they were Renaissance costumes of the cotton weave and style  as would be found in Elizabethan era peasantwear. I don’t think any of these were fatal flaws; at worst, they were distractions that could have been easily corrected if there was awareness (hell, if William had been black, the suspension of disbelief to have a black couple as part of Senior’s band would have been much easier).  I truly like the notion of translating this to the Civil War timeframe — it is one of the reasons I wanted to see this production. I hope that future productions can figure out the way to explore the translation a bit more fully (even if that might mean doing a bit more adaption of the words).

The director, Ellen Geer (FB), assisted by Jonathan Blandino/FB, does a great job of making the production work in the specific natural space that is the Theatricum stage.  It is as if the director grew up in that space (oh, right, she did) in the way she utilizes the sides, the hills, and the natural setting to strong effect. She also helped the characters, who do not have much characterization in the Shakespeare original, figure out who they are and what their personalities are like. This appeared to help the actors to truly enjoy performing this play; I have long felt that an actor that enjoys the role translates and unconsciously broadcasts that joy to the audience. The audience, in turn, amplifies the joy and returns it to the actor. This creates a feedback loop that can turn a well known story into a spectacular performance, and I believe the production at Botanicum does just that.

In the main tier positions in this production were Willow Geer (FB) as Rosalind, Elizabeth Tobias (FB) as Celia, and Colin Simon (FB) as Orlando. Geer’s Rosalind/Ganymede was playful and joyous, believable as the character and just fun to watch. Particularly memorable was her playfulness in Act III, Scene II, where Silvius is chasing Pheobe, Phebe is chasing Ganymede (Rosalind), Orlando is chasing Rosalind, and Ganymede (Rosalind) is trying to disavow Phebe without revealing herself to be Rosalind. She had a great interplay with Tobias’ Celia/Aliena, who played the cover role as sister and friend well. Tobias showed the depth of the character more in the transition from the girlish Celia to the girlish (but in a different way) Aliena. Lastly, in this tier, was Simon’s Orlando as the outcast son of the de Boys family. He had the handsomeness and the brawn to be convincing in the wrestling match with Charles, but also had the playfulness to handle the interplay with Ganymede (Rosalind) in a believable fashion.

In the second tier roles were Gerald C. Rivers (FB) as Touchstone, the jester who accompanies Rosalind and Celia in their trek to the forest; Melora Marshall (FB) as Jaques, the melancholy officer loyal to General Senior (Duke Senior), and Earnestine Phillips (FB) as Aida, the faithful servant to Orlando.  River’s Touchstone was an interesting jester, who came into his own after the intermission in his interactions with Audrey. He also had some of the best commentary on lying and observations of people, and was in general quite fun to watch. Marshall’s Jaques (doing a common repertory gender-bending) got some of the more fun observational speeches; he interacted well with both General Senior as well as with Simon’s Orlando. Phillips’ Aida represented one of the more interesting character transformations in the story. Orlando’s traditional manservant, Adam, was transformed into a Mammy-ish characterization who accompanied Orlando. It wasn’t a Mammy characterization, and it wasn’t quite the expected slave portrayal due to independence and the relationship with Orlando, but it provided enough evocation through implication to work well. Whatever the intent, Phillips played it well.

In terms of the the third tier and supporting roles, there are a few worthy of special note. Cameron Rose (FB)’s Silvius and Christine Breihan (FB)’s Phebe had an interesting interplay. Rose (normally playing William) had an interesting look as Silvius and handled the apparent love for Phebe well; Phebe, in turn, had a wonderful puppy attraction to Ganymede (Rosalind) that worked well. Crystal Clark was an especially bubbly and endearing Audrey; her interplay during the opening announcements was extra funny. As I noted earlier, her relationship with William (Clint Blakely/FB at our performance) was unrealistic given the stated setting of the show; other than that, her performance was just fun to watch. Thad Geer‘s General Senior was suitably paternalistic and friendly; I didn’t even realize that it was the same actor playing the evil brother, General Frederick. That said something about how one man was able to do two distinct characters. As Orlando’s foil, Oliver, Frank Weidner (FB) gave a fine Southern portrayal, and had the look of a Southern gentleman. His turnaround at the end worked quite well. Lastly, as Le Beau, Robbie Allen (FB) (moving up from the Ensemble) laid on the French accent a bit thick, but worked well in a humorous fashion. His appearance, however, as part Senior’s band (with the tall stave) seemed out of place. Rounding out the cast in smaller and ensemble roles were: Tate Ammons (FB) [Lord 2, Ensemble]; Olivia Buntaine (FB) [Hesperia, Ensemble]; Steve Fisher (FB) [Charles, the wrestler]; Leo Knudson [Corin]; John Manahan [Sir Oliver Matext]; Jackie Nicole (FB) [Rebel Soldier, Ensemble]; Gray Schierholt/FB [Lord 1, Jaques deBoys]; Caitlin Stegemoller (FB) [Hyman]; Jason Whisman (FB) [Amiens], Clayton Cook (FB) [Ensemble], Vladimir Noel/FB [Ensemble], Michael Zachary Tunstill (FB) [Ensemble], and Michelle Wicklas/FB [Ensemble].

Period music was provided by the actors themselves, and no particular credit is in the program. I do remember that Melora Marshall (FB) was on guitar, and Gerald C. Rivers (FB) did some level of drumming (which isn’t a surprise if you look at his webpage). Additionally, I recall seeing a ukulele, harmonica, accordion/concertina, and a melodica on stage. There is no list of songs.

Turning to the technical side, well, there wasn’t that much of a technical side. The production utilized the Theatricum multilevel stage with no real set pieces, with any additional place established by props (Kristina Teves was Properties Master). Sound Design was by Ian Flanders (FB), but there were no obvious sound effects nor amplification, so I presume this was the period music. Lighting was by Zach Moore/FB, although our production had mostly natural light. The costume designer was Amy Mazzaferro; this area was my other quibble. Whereas some costumes worked well (the Generals, Jaques, Ganymede/Rosalind, Oliver, Orlando), many of the others looked more renaissance than antibellum. Elna Kordijan (FB) was the stage manager, assisted by Karen Osborne (FB).

“As You Like It” continues in repertory with four other productions (“To Kill a Mockingbird“, “A Midsummers Night Dream“, “August: Osage County“, and “Green Grow the Lilacs“) at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) throug September 27. It runs at selected Saturdays and Sundays at 3:30 PM. Tickets can be purchased through the Theatricum Website. Although Theatricum does have tickets on Goldstar, there are no current listings for As You Like It. Similarly, there are no discount tickets on LA Stage Tix.

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: This weekend’s double header at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) continues this evening with the rescheduled “Green Grow The Lilacs” on Sunday.  The second weekend of August is equally busy, with “The Fabulous Lipitones” at  The Colony Theatre (FB) on Friday, our summer Mus-ique show on Saturday, and Concerts on the Green in Warner Park (with a Neil Diamond cover band) on Sunday. The third weekend of August is calmer, but only because we moved theatre off the weekend because my wife is driving my daughter’s car back to the bay area. As for me, I might very well go back to see the revised “Jesus Christ Superstar” at REP East (FB) — they are returning to have live music and I expect that will make a significant difference. The third week of August may see us back at REP East (FB) for their “secret seventh show”, which has been revealed to be “A Company of Wayward Saints“. After that we’ll need a vacation … but then again we might squeeze in Evita at the Maui Cultural Center (FB) the last weekend of August. September right now is mostly open, with the only ticketed show being “The Diviners” at REP East (FB) and a hold-the-date for “First Date” at The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB). October will bring another Fringe Festival: the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB). October also has the following as ticketed or hold-the-dates: CSUN’s Urinetown (end of October – 10/30 or 11/1);  “The Best of Enemies” at The Colony Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/10); and  “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/17). 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.

 

Earlier today, I wrote of a theatre piece that focused on a woman with a behavior problem: she was bipolar, and couldn’t let go of her grief. But women with problems have been the focus of theatre for ages. This afternoon I saw a much older theatre piece about another problematic women: “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare. As is common with Shakespeare pieces during the summer, it was at an outdoor venue: Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanticum in Topanga Canyon.

First, a word about the venue. My wife had been to Botanicum back in the 1970s, shortly after it was founded by Will Geer and his wife, during the days he was on The Waltons. Botanicum is in a wooded canyon; the theatres are in little amphitheatres with outdoor stages and bench seating. Actors are anywhere and everywhere  — this is very much outdoor theatre of the 1970s, not the enclosed structures of today or the little black boxes. In many ways, this is theatre as it was meant to be: actors honing their craft, using their skill and not technology to tell a story. Batanicum is also very much a repertory company: the cast of actors are doing multiple plays concurrently over the summer — Shrew is just one of them. They are also doing Midsummers Night Dream, The Royal Family, Merlin, and Tone Clusters. It is a joy to watch, and we’ll likely be back for future productions.

Now, on to the show itself. If you are not familiar with Shrew, all I can say is go watch the “Atomic Shakespeare” episode of Moonlighting. You know — Bruce Willis, Cybil Shepard. Oh, right, you’re too young. Go rent Kiss Me Kate. As for me, the last time that I saw Shrew on stage was back in 2008 when it was part of Santa Clarita’s Shakespeare in the Park. I do love me a good production of Shrew, and this one was a fun one.

This production of Shrew established the mood early, with a madrigal group singing outside the line to the theatre. However, there was this annoying drunk wandering around trying to cage cadge a ticket and get someone to save him a seat. Somehow he succeeded, because as we came into the theatre, so did he. In fact, during the pre-show announcements he waltzed on stage and the house manager had to call security, but before they arrived, he collapsed on the steps. Just then, some hunters showed up (speaking the Bard’s good English), and decided to pull a trick on him. They would dress him as a king, and perform a comedy for him. And thus… the framing of The Taming of the Shrew.

As with much of Shakespeare, distinguishing all of the different characters is difficult (especially when there were some last minute substitutions). I’ll list them all in a minute. First, however, I’d like to highlight some particularly strong performances. In the lead positions were Willow Geer (FB) as Katharina and Aaron Hendry (FB) as Petruchio. You can see them pictured in the image above. These two leads were perfectly matched to each other. Hendry was athletic and charming, well built, and just fun to watch. Geer was a tiger-cat — able to pull out her claws and purr on demand. These two were just having fun with the role, and just a delight whenever they were on the stage.

Also strong, but not quite as stand-out-ish, were Christine Breihan (FB) as Bianca. She was charming, but didn’t seem to acquire a personality to the end. Also strong was the drunk, Christopher Sly (Gerald C. Rivers (FB)), who was doing a great job of fooling theatre patrons before the show, and was a delight to watch while he remained in character throughout the production.

As for the remainder — it was truly an ensemble. All were wonderful, but no particular actor stood out over another. Here’s a full listing of the rest of the cast, but some roles were substituted at our production: Liz Eldridge (FB) (Widow/Musician), Bill Gunther (Gremio), Charles M. Howell IV (FB) (Pedant); Christopher W. Jones (FB) (Hortensio); Leo Knudson (Joseph/Priest), Gabrielle Lamb/FB (Servant/Player), John Maidman/FB (Ludentio), Melora Marshall (FB) (Grumio), Timothy McCray/FB (Curtis), Marcelo Olivas (FB) (Biondello), Kila Packett (FB) (First Huntsman/Baartholomew), Chynna Skye Pozzessere (FB) (Third Huntsman), Franc Ross (Baptista), Taylor Jackson Ross (FB) (Stage Manager/Haberdasher), Evan Tamayo (FB) (Philip), Esdras Toussaint (Nathaniel), Paul Turbiak (FB) (Lord/Vincentio), Frank Weidner/FB (Tailor/Musician), Christopher Weir (FB) (Second Huntsman), Jeff Weisen (FB) (Tranio). Understudies were Jonathan Blandino/FB, Jessica Butenshon, Kevin M. Connolly, and Dane Oliver/FB.

The production was directed by Ellen Geer, who did a wonderful job of bringing out the fun in the production — these actors were having the time of their lives, and it showed. Stage management was by Kim Cameron/FB assisted by Brandi Martin. The costumes, which were very inventive, were designed by Val Miller/FB. Properties were mastered by Shen Heckel. Sound was by Ian Flanders, who likely coordinated the on-stage musicians that provided the sound effects. Lighting was by Zach Moore/FB, although our production had mostly natural light.

Taming of the Shrew continues in Repertory through September 29. It is well worth seeing. Tickets are available online; you might also be able to find them on Goldstar.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  The last weekend of June brings a Maria Muldaur concert at McCabes, as well as “Man of No Importance“ (Hollywood Fringe) at the Lillian.   July starts with a musical we had originally planned for Fathers Day weekend: “Ionescapade” at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. That will be followed by “9 to 5 – The Musical” at REP East in the middle of the month, and “Legally Blonde – The Musical” at Cabrillo at the end of the month. July will also (hopefully) see us as OperaWorks at CSUN. August is currently completely open due to vacation planning, although we may see a show at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido at the end of the month (depending on price), or at another venue in San Diego.

Continuing the look ahead: September may bring Sarah Ruhl’s “In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play“ at the Production Company/Secret Rose and “Blue Man Group” at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as “God of Carnage” at REP East. October is open, but should the Cabrillo production of “Kiss Me Kate” somewhere, as well as “Dirty Rotten Soundrels” at Actors Rep of Simi. November will bring “Play It Again Sam” at REP East as well as ARTS’s Nottingham Village (a one-weekend ren-faire-ish market). The fall should also bring a production of “Carrie – The Musical” by Transfer Theatre. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open as the various theatres start making their 2013/2014 season announcements. Lastly, what few dates we do have open may be filled by productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read (I particularly recommend Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times).