If you read my blog at all, you know I like things that come in threes (such as news chum). If you read my theatre reviews, you know I like to see musicals I’ve only heard but never seen. Recently, I discovered that a local theatre group was mounting Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick‘s three act musical “The Apple Tree“. I’ve had the music for years, but it’s one I’ve never seen. You know the read. It was instantly added to my watch list, and last night saw us in the basement of a church in North Hollywood watching ELATE (FB)’s production of “The Apple Tree“.
ELATE is an interesting theatrical group. A ministry of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, ELATE has been around for many years (since either 1991 or 1984). They have a full theatre (73 seats) in the basement of the parish hall, and use a mix of amateur, regional, and professional actors (being in North Hollywood, they’re plentiful). They advertise for auditions in trade publications (i.e., not just within their church), and in general, put on good shows. We’ve seen one of their shows before — “Songs for a New World“ — in fact, “Apple Tree” had one actor from that show. In general, they do good productions.
“The Apple Tree“ is collection of three one-act musicals adapted from the original short stories by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Jerome Coopersmith. The show was Bock/Harnick’s first show after their success “Fiddler on the Roof“, and it is a very different show both in size and scope. I’ve seen reviews indicating they were connected by a theme — which I’ve either seen described as “the results of temptation” or “love”, but this connection is very very loose. Rather, it seems these are three stories the team wanted to musicalize, and they collected them together in a show.
Act I is based on Mark Twain‘s The Diary of Adam and Eve, and tells the story (duh) of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. You can find the synopsis at Wikipedia, but in short: We start out with Adam creating the animals. Eve appears, and we see how the start of their relationship, with stereotypical implications that made me think of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“. The snake comes along and tempts Eve. After eating the apple, the two leave the garden and start a real relationship. It is at this point the love between the two of them starts to grow, and we see how children affected their lives.
This act was very simple, and it made me realize how differently this must have been staged on Broadway. ELATE’s staging was very simple, and emphasized the acting to create the environs and mood. The performances were reasonably good. I enjoyed the performance and voice of their Eve, Catherine Rahm (FB) — who was also the director, although she came across as a little older than I expected that part to be. Also strong was their snake, Jeff Thorsen (FB), who sang well and looked wonderfully evil in his suit. Adam was played by Joseph Bell, and Henry Parke (FB) provided the voice of God. The set was simple — a large tree in the center, and a few benches. Costumes for this act were … a little odd. Eve was in a simple white dress; Adam in white shirt and shorts; the Snake in a full-on lawyer suit. In some ways, I would have expected more skin (or something skin-looking) — the dress made the modesty post-apple quite odd.
Act II is based on Frank R. Stockton‘s The Lady or the Tiger? This is a simple story. It takes place in a “Kingdom” (although ELATE changed it from “King Arik” to “Queen Erin”) with a simple trial system: the accused is placed in an arena, and must choose between two doors. Behind one is a starving and vicious tiger. Behind other is a maiden appropriate to the accused’s station. They choose a door — behind one is certain death, and behind the other the tiger eats them. Actually, that’s close: if they choose the maiden, they are married on the spot; if they choose the tiger… death. The problem in this story is that the Queen’s daughter, Princess Barbara, is in love with a man, Sanjar, who is beneath her station. The queen finds out, and sentences Sanjar to the arena. Barbara finds out which door has the tiger so she can save Sanjar, but then learns that behinds the other will be her servant, Najira, who she does not want to marry Sanjar. Essentially, if she’s can’t have Sanjar, she doesn’t want anyone else to. However, she also loves Sanjar and doesn’t want to be the cause of his death. At the time of the trial, Sanjar pleeds to Barbara to tell him which door to pick. She motions to one of them. He starts to open it and… fade to black. Which one did he choose?
This act was very well performed, and I was very impressed with Renee Laramore (FB) as the Balladeer. Not only did she sing well, but she was having great fun with the part and had this very playful air about her. Also strong was Maria Sermonia (FB) as Barbara — also strong in the singing department, and having fun with the role (plus I enjoyed her costume). Lastly, as Najira, Sydney Berk (FB) caught my eye — more on her in a minute. On the male side, Matthew Elszy (FB) as Sanjar had a very nice singing voice and performed quite well. Rounding out the cast in this act were Debbie Lowe/FB (Queen Erin), Henry Parke (FB) (Prisoner), Therese Hawes (Bride), Carol Bratcher/FB (Barbarian Woman), Tyler Guilorry (FB) (Guard), and Sharon McDowell/FB (Barbarian Woman). The actress that played the tiger was not credited. The sets again were simple — two doors, and a little statuary on the walls. Costumes were reasonable, with the balladeer’s being the most elaborate.
Act III was Jules Feiffer‘s Passionella. Passionella tells the story of Ella, a chimney sweep who wants to be a beautiful glamorous movie star (but not necessarily a rich beautiful glamorous movie star, or a well-likes beautiful glamorous movie star). Every day she sweeps chimneys, and every night she falls asleep to the TV and dreams of the movies. One night, after getting fired from her chimney sweeping job, her fairy TV godmother comes to her and grants her wish — she’s a beautiful glamorous movie star (Passionella) … but only between the 6 o’clock news and the late-late show (which ELATE changed to the “last infomercial”). She goes to Hollywood and instantly finds fame… and work in the movies… but only between 6pm and 4am. She discovers she has everything she wants… except love. One day she meets Flip Charming, a hippie rock singer (which ELATE changed to a black rap singer with dreads). Flip doesn’t want the glamor — he wants a real woman (“the woman of my dreams is a slob”). So Ella agrees to film a new movie — “The Chimney Sweep” — during the day. She wins an Oscar for her realistic portrayal… and wins Flip. They return to Ella’s flat and make love in front of the TV. When the last infomercial goes off, not only does Passionella change back to Ella, but Flip… returns to the schlub Joe Brown. The two live happily ever after. I’ll note that ELATE updated a number of references in this — not only the “Late Late Show” into “Infomercial”, but the type of singer Flip was, as well as adding references to blogging, Facebook, and the web as well.
My impression of this act was especially colored by knowing the original cast album — Alan Alda as Flip and Barbara Harris as Passionella. I felt that Sydney Berk (FB) was very strong… when she was Passionella. Her Ella needed a bit more grunge and imperfection to make the transition stand out more. Tyler Guilorry (FB)’s Flip was weaker — he needed to come across both stronger and more nerd-ish in his main song “You Are Not Real” to get the point across, but otherwise his performance was good. Also strong was Henry Parke (FB) as the Narrator. Rounding out the cast for this act were Renee Laramore (FB) (Producer), Debbie Lowe/FB (Reporter), Maria Sermonia (FB) (Blogger), Therese Hawes (Stagehand), Carol Bratcher/FB (Godmother), Matthew Elszy (FB) (Director), and Sharon McDowell/FB (Mrs. Fallible). The set here retained the doors from Act II, brought back the bench from Act I, and added a chimney to sweep. Again, this would have been very different in a larger production. Costuming was more problematic here — Ella’s outfit wasn’t grungy enough (especially with the glamor dress peaking through), and the Passionella outfit needed to be properly hemmed (and needed something other than ballet flats). Other costumes were reasonable.
One other acting note: In the original Broadway production, there was one set of main leads common in all three acts (Alan Alda – Adam/Sanjar/Flip, Larry Blyden – Snake/Balladeer/Narrator, Barbara Harris – Eve/Barbara/Passionella). That wasn’t done here, which I feel hurt a little as it diluted what talent they had. My other observation is that this show demonstrated the divide between the professional or trained actor and the community player well. In writing this write-up, I note that all the actors that impressed me were the ones who turned out to be actively working as actors and doing lots of shows across lots of theatres. The other folks were good, but didn’t give the same strong impression.
Music was provided by a two-piece ensemble featuring Diana Brownson (FB) on Keyboards and Anita George/FB on Baritone Sax. Catherine Rahm (FB) was the musical director. Vicki Kirk/FB provided the choreography, which was relatively simple. The production was directed by Catherine Rahm (FB).
The simple set design was by Joseph Bell and worked well within the constraints of the ELATE space (as well as within their likely small budget). Lighting was designed by Michael Updegraff and was … bright. The set was lit mostly with leikos with no colors, which made the actors visible and focused attention, but didn’t work on establishing mood or emotion. Sound was by Mark Stegman/FB. No credit was given for costumes, although special wigs and hair were by Jon Sparks (FB). No credit was given for the stage manager.
The last performance of “The Apple Tree” at ELATE (FB) is today at 2pm. Tickets, I’m sure, are available at the door.
Dining Notes: For dinner, we tried a Greek restaurant recommended by Yelp – Olympus Tavern. Located on Laurel Canyon just S of Victory, it was very tasty and not overpriced. We’ll go back.
Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend is our wedding anniversary (evidently orchids are the “traditional” 28th anniversary gift)… and we’re celebrating it with theatre friends. That’s right, our daughter and one of her roommates will be joining us at REP East to see the final performance of “9 to 5 – The Musical” with our friends at REP. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box Office or through Goldstar — c’mon out and join us (and possibly surprise Karen). We may also 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 (I particularly noted a production of “Young Frankenstein” in the park). September may bring Sarah Ruhl’s “In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play“ at the Production Company/Secret Rose (FB) and “Blue Man Group” at the Hollywood Bowl. The middle of the month brings “The Vagina Monologues” at REP East (FB), and the end sees us back at REP East (FB) for “God of Carnage” (September 28). October 5th brings “Breath and Imagination” at the Colony Theatre (FB), as well as the Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) production of “Kiss Me Kate” at the end of the month (October 26). November will start (hopefully) with “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at Actors Rep of Simi (FB), as well as ARTS’s Nottingham Village (FB) (a one-weekend ren-faire-ish market — tickets are now on sale). November will conclude with “Play It Again Sam” at REP East (FB) at the end of the month (November 23), and “Miracle on S. Division Street” at the Colony Theatre (FB). The fall should also bring a production of “Carrie – The Musical” (FB) by Transfer Theatre, but the specific dates have not been announced. 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).
Music: Follies (2011 Broadway Revival Cast) (Elaine Paige): “I’m Still Here”
