This afternoon we escaped the heat to see another entry in The Festival of New American Musicals: “Songs From An Unmade Bed” at The Celebration Theatre in West Hollywood. The location was very appropriate, because the mission of Celebration Theatre is creating a dynamic outlet for progressive gay and lesbian voices in contemporary theater and performance in Los Angeles… and “Songs from an Unmade Bed” is a song-cycle exploring various aspects of gay relationships. There really is no plot; the songs are linked by through the notion of exploring such relationships.
As such, one can only judge this musical by the songs. The songs all share a common lyricist, Mark Campbell, although they have a variety of composers, including Debra Barsha, Mark Bennett, Peter Foley, Jenny Giering, Peter Golub, Jake Heggie, Stephen Hoffman, Lance Horne, Gihieh Lee, Steve Marzullo, Brendan Milburn, Chris Miller, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Jeffrey Stock, Steven Lutvak, Kim Sherman and Joseph Thalken. Some songs are upbeat and quite funny, such as “The Other Other Woman” or “He Never Did That Before”, where others are much slower. Still, they all are enjoyable, especially when sung by a strong singer.
Luckily, Celebration did provide a strong singer in the person of Frank Lawsonæ. He had a strong and clear voice, which combined with a playful style made him a delight to watch. Also on stage were Jake Anthony on Piano and Stephen Green on Cello, with Dylan Campbell hiding in back on percussion.
[æ denotes member of Actors Equity]
Technically, the production was simple. A bed, a footlocker, a piano, and a cello. This stage design was by Kurt Boetcher, with lighting by Tim Swiss. Costumers were by Mizzy Matches. Stage Management was by Devid Reynolds. The production was directed by Patrick Pearson, and choreographed by Robin Ray Eller. The artistic director of Celebration Theatre is Michael Matthews.
The production continues at the Celebration Theatre until August 10.
Dining Notes: For lunch (before the show), we hit Zeke’s Smokehouse just down the street on Santa Monica. It is owned by the parents of one of my daughter’s friends. Yummy BBQ, but more California Southern than real Southern. After the show, we hit Mashti Malone’s Ice Cream, a Persian Ice Cream palace (I still remember it’s predecessor, Clancy Malone’s). I had a yummy Rosewater Saffron ice cream, nsshere had Lavender and Creamy Saffron, and I forget what gf_guruilla had, but I think it was Orange Blossom. Highly recommended.
Next up on our theatre calendar is “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Ahmanson Theatre (Sun 7/13 @ 1pm), “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy” at the Hollywood Bowl ((Wed 7/16 @ 8pm), “Parade” at Neighborhood Playhouse, Palos Verdes (Sat 7/19 @ 8pm), “Looped” at Pasadena Playhouse (Sat 7/26 @ 8pm), “Singing in the Rain” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (Sat 8/2 @ 2pm), and “Assassins” at West Coast Ensemble (Sun 8/10 @ 2pm).