Each act of SWIWS presents 1½ stories. The first act begins with the story of Kesa and Morito told from Kesa’s point of view. Kesa and Morito were lovers having an extramarital affair, but each has decided to end it: he by strangling her, her by stabbing him. This opening story closes with a freeze of the two about to kill each other. The remainder of Act 1 is the story “R Shoman”, which is a telling of a story that occured after the premiere of the movie Rashomon (but the “a” fell off the marquee). “R Shoman” concerns a murder in Central Park, and comes across as a very dark SVU story told in a series of police interviews. The gist of the story is that the thief saw the husband and wife leaving Rashoman, and fell in lust with the wife. He followed them to a bar where she danced and he got the husband drunk. He convinced the couple to go with him to Central Park to dig up some hidden money, where later the theater’s janitor found the husband dead. But who killed the husband? The thief? The wife? The husband himself (we hear his story through The Medium)? The janitor? Each sings and describes what they did that night, and the audience is left to decide.
Act 2 also begins with the story of Kesa and Morito; this time the story is told from Morito’s point of view. Again, it closes with the freeze, creating the question: Who killed who? It is never actually stated: it depends on how you look at it. The remainder of Act II is the story “Glory Days”, which tells the story of a disillusioned priest in New York shortly after 9/11 (although the incident is never named). Although originally having a strong calling, he has lost his belief in God. He posts a sign in Central Park indicating a miracle will happen in three days as a joke, and sits back and watches the hysteria form (which to his mind demonstrates that religion is hokum). We see how the coming “miracle” affects others, including a CPA who has given everything up, an actress who has lost everything, a reporter questioning his beliefs, and even the priest’s Aunt Monica, who never believed, but who is now dying. When the time for the miracle comes, something happens, and we see that those who were expecting the miracle were transformed… but not by the miracle… and the priest is transformed back into believing and resuming his calling. So did a miracle happen?
The basic theme through out these stories is that of point of view and perception; that, in the words of the title, you see what you want to see. So in the first act, each party interpreted what happened differently and saw themselves as the killer. In the second act, each party had a different perception of the miracle. We all perceive our realities differently, and with these different perceptions, can truth and experience actually be objective?
This was an interesting play and an interesting musical. Although I had heard the music before, this really helped place it in context. The music is atypical (which is typical for LaChiusa), ranging from some very jazzy and upbeat numbers (such as Glory Days or See What I Wanna See ) to some very dark sungthrough stories. These leave you down by the end of the first act, but lift you up by the end of the second. Quite a good and interesting musical.
The musical was performed by a cast of five extremely talented players: Lesli Margheritaæ (Kesa, The Wife, An Actress); Doug Carpenteræ (Morito, The Theif, A Reporter); Jason Graaeæ (The Janitor, The Priest); æ; Perry Ojedaæ (The Husband, A CPA); and Suzan Solomonæ (The Medium, Aunt Monica). Of these, my favorites were Carpenter and Graae. Doug Carpenter (who we have seen previously in “Life Could Be A Dream” across the street at the Hudson) was a supurb singer and a menacing actor, and just fun to watch. Jason Graae (who we have also seen previously in “The Grand Tour” at The Colony in Burbank) just gave mesmerizing and colorful performances, especially as the priest in Act II. As I say sometimes, he inhabited the characters, which is what you want to have happen. I was also impressed with Lesli Margherita, who was a very good singer.
[æ denotes members of 
The staging of the show was simple and effective (set design was by Ginnie Ann Held). The first act had a simple table and some Japanese screens. The second was a smaller table. But this was enough: the cast (under the excellent direction of Daniel Henning) made you see what you needed to see. The lighting (design by Jeremy Pivnick) made use of a number of gobos (projections) to create various scenic areas such as windows or the park, and used a number of mirrored moving lights to provide spots and draw attention. There was one minor problem with the lighting: the scrollers in the second act were loud when they changed colors. Costumes (by Dana Peterson) and hair design (by Butch Belo) were excellent—in particular, the wife’s dress in the first act and the CPA’s destroyed suit in the second. The music was provided by a very effective 5-piece on-stage band, under the musical direction of David O. Stage management was by Ramon Valdez, assisted by Michael Geniac. The production was directed by Daniel Henning, assisted by June Carryl. SWIWS was produced by Stacy Reed, Jon VanMiddlesworth, and Noah Wyle; Michelle Appezzato, Daniel C. Garcia, Jen Husczaq, Stephen Moffatt, and Sam Rowley were associate producers.
“See What I Wanna See” continues at The Blank’s Second Stage until May 23. Tickets are available through The Blank; discount tickets are usually available through Goldstar and LA Stage Tix.
Upcoming Theatre. As for us, what’s upcoming on the theatre calendar? Next weekend brings three productions: “Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris” at the Colony Theatre on Friday, April 16; “Damn Yankees” at Van Nuys HS on April 17, and the April installment of “Meeting of Minds” at the Steve Allen Theatre on April 18. The following weekend takes me to “12 Angry Men” on April 24 (the rest of the family sees it on May 2). May looks to be equally busy, with “Little Shop of Horrors at Cabrillo Music Theatre (May 1), and “12 Angry Men” for Karen and Erin on May 2 @ 2pm (while I get ready for a Games Night at Temple that I’m running). The weekend of May 8 sees Karen and me at the So Cal Ren Faire on Saturday. The weekend of May 15 sees the CDF Conference for Karen and Erin, followed by “The 39 Steps” at the Ahmanson at 8pm. The next weekend takes Erin to the Ren Faire, while we see the May installment of “Meeting of Minds” at the Steve Allen Theatre (May 16). The fourth weekend in May brings the Spring Dance Show at Van Nuys HS (May 20-22). The last weekend in May brings the Bat Mitzvah of a family friend, as well as “The Wedding Singer” at Repertory East Playhouse in Newhall (May 30 @ 2pm). June so far is mostly open, although I’m expecting that we’ll see “South Pacific” at the Ahmanson some weekend that month, and potentially the June “Meeting of Minds”. Also of interest is “It’s Top Secret”, a musical that is part of the Festival of New American Musicals, running Jun 19-July 18 at the NoHo Arts Center. July brings “In The Heights” at the Pantages on July 3; “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” at REP East on July 10 (pending ticketing); a possible July “Meeting of Minds, and “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on July 31.
As always: live theatre is a gift and a unique experience, unlike a movie. It is vitally important in these times that you support your local arts institutions. If you can afford to go to the movies, you can afford to go to theatre. If you need help finding ways, just drop me a note and I’ll teach you some tricks. Lastly, I’ll note that nobody paid me anything to write this review. In fact, I receive no remuneration for any reviews I write.
