Tag: taper-ahmanson

Last night, we saw Hamlet at the CTG/Mark Taper Forum. It was strange, and I haven’t yet decided if I fully like the approach it took to the piece. I do think that, instead of being a single two-hour no-intermission piece, it should have had an intermission between the distinctly different halves. We should have had an idea that something strange was going on: The pre-show setup had a large “Elsinore Pictures Corporation” display, and the show started with movie-like titles. Alas, I wasn’t familiar enough with Hamlet to realize that “Elsinore” was a reference to Kronborg Castle, located in Helsingør, Denmark, which serves as the setting for Shakespeare’s play.

I might not have been sufficiently versed in Hamlet to catch the Elsinore reference, but I am somewhat familiar with the piece. After all, I’ve seen The Lion King . More recently, we saw Fat Ham at the Geffen, which was a modern adaptation of the story. Most folks are familiar with the story (and there is a detailed synopsis on the Shakespeare.Org page). Hartford Stage also has a good short summary. The Google AI summarizes it as follows: “Hamlet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, follows Prince Hamlet of Denmark as he grapples with the murder of his father, the King, by his uncle Claudius, who then married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. The ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals Claudius’s treachery, prompting Hamlet to seek revenge. He feigns madness while investigating, leading to the accidental death of Polonius and Ophelia’s descent into madness and suicide. The play culminates in a duel where Hamlet, Claudius, Laertes, and Gertrude all die, leaving Horatio to tell the tale. “. Of course, this being an AI summary, it leaves out loads of plot points.

This play has, essentially, two parts. The first is a somewhat abridged, somewhat sexed-up retelling of the Shakespeare story in about an hour and twenty minutes. The show starts with Ophelia taking off her panties and Hamlet simulating going down on her, and there are numerous references to various characters paying homage to Hamlet’s rod or sword. Yes, the homo-erotic implications are there, and I’m pretty sure they weren’t in the original Shakespeare. As is common with Shakespeare, once you get used to the iambic pentameter and the oblique references, you follow the story pretty well.

The setting and staging of this first part is someone abstract: there are few parts, and the projections don’t really add a lot. We were warned by CTG numerous times that there would be blood, nudity, simulated sex, and violence, but they oversold it. The Lieutenant on Inishmore had so much blood, it had a splash zone. This had minimal blood, no nudity, and oblique references to sex. Still not for kids, but still not worthy of weekly email warnings.

But the first part was really just a slightly skewed retelling of Hamlet. It was in the second part that things got strange. It seemed to build upon the end of Hamlet, which Wikipedia summarized as “Horatio promises to recount the full story of what happened, and Fortinbras, seeing the entire Danish royal family dead, takes the crown for himself and orders a military funeral to honour Hamlet.”

In this version, Fortinbras becomes a Columbo-like detective, and starts interviewing the characters to find out what happened. It turns out that what we were seeing was a family drama of the Elsinore Picture Company, where someone killed the CEO, and the brother married the CEO’s wife, and Hamlet (a nepo-baby) started killing people, and everyone was doing cocaine and smoking pot. Rosencranz and Guildenstern are stupid college students; Hamlet is a 30-year old film student. The plot notes from the traditional Hamlet are transported to this film-noir approach. You get the idea.

However, the idea gets even more confused when they have projections that keep switching the time around: 30 years earlier, 200 years later. It makes it really hard to figure out the point they were trying to make.

The second part was fun, but was a jarring switch from the first part. Hamlet as a murder-mystery procedural is an interesting idea, and Shakespeare has shown that his stories are fluid and adaptable. If they wanted to do the procedural murder mystery approach, they needed to commit to it from the start. Don’t mislead people by presenting a traditional Hamlet; when we see such shows on TV, we know it is a flashback because we know the shows structure. There was no such structure here. For this conceit, it needed to be framed as murder mystery from the start. They didn’t need much, but as it is this play felt like two distinctly different shows. The two parts didn’t work together until you start thinking about them more about a half hour after the play. That’s not how a play should work.

Performances were strong, especially Patrick Ball as Hamlet, Coral Peña as Ophelia, and Jakeem Powell as Horatio.

Now for the key question: Should you see it? The answer is… well, you better work fast because it is closing today. I’m mixed on recommending this: It was interesting, but jarring. I think it needs more work to gel. So it is up to you. More information is available from the CTG Website; the show closes today, July 6, 2025.

Cast

Hamlet. Written by William Shakespeare. Adapted and directed by Robert O’Hara. This adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamledt was originally commissioned, developed, and produced by the Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum in 2025.

Cast: Patrick Ball Hamlet; Coral Peña Ophelia; James T. Alfred Head Attendant; Ariel Shafir Claudius; Gina Torres Gertrude; Ramiz Monsef Polonius; Ty Molbak Leartes / Rosencrantz; Jaime Lincoln Smith First Player / Attendant; Jakeem Powell Horatio; Joe Chrest Detective Fortinbras / Ghost; Danny Zuhike Guildenstern; Fidel Gomez Gravedigger. Understudies: Edward Hoke u/s Hamlet; Gabby Weitman u/s Ophelia; Inger Tudor u/s Head Attendant / Gertrude; Peter O’Connor u/s Claudius / Polonius; Miguel Angel Garcia u/s Horatio; Tim Frangos u/s Laertes / Rosencrantz; Tobin Mitnick u/s Guildenstern / First Player; Juan Francisco Villa u/s Gravedigger / Detective Fortinbras.

Production and Creative: Clint Ramos Scenic Design; Dede Ayite Costume Design; Lap Chi Chu Lighting Design; Lindsay Jones Original Music and Sound Design; Yee Eun Nam Projection Design; J. Jared Janas Wig, Hair, and Make-up Design; Teniece Divya Johnson Fight Direction; Nicholas Polonio Dramaturg and Assoc. Director; Henry Russell Bergstein CSA Casting Director; David S. Franklin Production Stage Manager; Camella Coopilton Stage Manager.

Thoughts on One CTG

The Center Theatre Groups likes to promote their subscription as “One CTG”, but that’s not how the treat it internally, and that creates problems. Internally, they treat the single subscription as an Ahmanson Subscription and a Taper Subscription.

This is significant because they don’t coordinate the two, and because of the size difference between the venues, the subscriptions have different weeks. In our case, we seem to have the first Saturday of Ahmanson shows, and the last Saturday of Taper shows. This isn’t a problem if they stagger the shows right, but in the upcoming 2025-2026 season, there are two conflicts. For two of the dates, our Taper shows and our Ahmanson shows are at the same time.

If this were truly One CTG, then CTG would resolve the differences. But this being really Two CTGs, we’re on our own. The first day you can exchange tickets, its up to you to resolve things with whatever seats are available to exchange.

CTG, this is poor form. If you want to want to be the best in customer service, you will work to resolve this. Broadway in Hollywood did, ensuring that Dolby Shows and Pantages Shows didn’t leave subscribers with conflicts. You can do better.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• July: ♦ A Beautiful Noise at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Puppet Up at CTG/Kirk Douglas; ♦ Frozen at 5-Star Theatricals
• August: ♦ Some Like It Hot at BIH/Pantages; ♦ & Juliet at CTG/Ahmanson
• September: ♦ Shucked at BIH/Pantages; ♣ ⊕The Limeliters at McCabes; ♦ Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at The Soraya
• October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals

Do you know where the modern KKK got its start? The answer is in the lynching of a Jewish businessman in Atlanta GA back in 1915. A little white girl had been murdered in his factory, and the prosecution felt that bringing a black man to justice wouldn’t satisfy the community. So they set their targets on a Jewish businessman from the North — a Yankee industrialist with an engineering degree from Cornell — who came to the South bringing industry and changing their rural and agrarian way of life. This incident is what also led to the creation of the ADL — the Anti-Defamation League — and was one of many incidents that exposed the antisemitic undercurrent existing in much of America.

The story of this lynching is timely today, as antisemitism and hatred of “the other” is growing in America. Antisemitism, which is getting all mixed up with anti-Zionism and hatred of Israel, is exploding these days (and isn’t helped by the situation in Israel today)

<ASIDE> It is important to understand the subtle distinctions here. Antisemitism (one word, no dashes) is the hatred of Jews because of their religion. Anti-ZIonism, seemingly, is the hatred of anything Zionist, although that term is ill-defined as the original notions of Zionism from folks like Theodor Hertz over 100 years ago — the desire of a homeland for Jews — has morphed into a hatred of anything the government of Israel does. It has then morphed into a hatred of anyone who supports Israel, failing to separate the notion of support for the Israeli state as a homeland for Jewish from the notion of support for the behavior of the current Israeli government. It is important to note that many Jews, while supporting and strongly defending Israel’s right to exist (something many Arab nations refuse to recognize), completely disagree with the actions of the Netanyahu government towards Gaza. Protesting the behavior of the Israeli government in Gaza is not antisemitic; taking action against Jews because they support Israel’s right to exist is, because the desire for a Jewish homeland is part of the religion. “Death to Israel” is antisemitic; “Israel out of Gaza” is not. </ASIDE>

Additionally, we are seeing the railroading of people through false accusations, through behavior and looks such as tattoos. These items are treated as factual proof without investigations, and used to deprive people of their liberty, and in some cases, their lives. The behaviors we saw in the case in 1913-1915 aren’t far from the behaviors we are seeing today, and it serves as a timely lesson we must remember.

Luckily, back in the 1990s, author Alfred Uhry identified this story as one that might be good for the stage. Producer Harold Prince convince him it would be good as a musical, and after being rejected by Stephen Sondheim, Uhry started to work with composer Jason Robert Brown. The result, which hit Broadway in 1997, was the musical Parade, which tells the story of Leo Frank: starting with the murder of Mary Phagan and the eventual lynching of Frank. It is a dark musical with dark themes. Even though I’m well familiar with the material of this musical (having seen it twice before, the Donmar production at the Taper in 2009, and the Neighborhood Playhouse production in 2008), I still started to tear up as Leo started the Shema at the end. Be prepared.

Parade tells the story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-born Jew who moved to Atlanta Georgia in 1913 to marry Lucille Selig and to be supervisor of the National Pencil Company. Leo was like many people today: bright, focused on his work, uncomfortable around other people and trusting only in himself, and just preferring to be left alone with his habits. The play opens on Confederate Memorial Day, and everyone but Leo is celebrating (Leo is asking himself why there is such a celebration for a war that was lost). Leo goes to work to work on his books. A 13 year old white girl stops by his office to collect her pay. Leo doesn’t recognize her, but upon getting her employee number, pays her for the week: $1.20. Later that day, she is found crumpled in the factory basement, dead. Leo and Newt Lee, the night watchman, are brought in as suspects. The governor tells the DA they must have a swift verdict in this case. Not being able to find any evidence for the night watchman, and thinking the hanging of a black man wins few points in George, the DA lets Newt go. That leaves him with the man who must be the culprit: Leo Frank. The DA builds a case of coached stories to convince the jury, including the testimony of Jim Conley, a janitor at the factory who was an escaped convict with violent tendencies. He presents this case, and Leo’s lawyer doesn’t refute it: he just surprises Leo by having him make a statement, and then resting his case. Leo is found Guilty, and sentenced to death That’s the end of Act I. In Act II, the focus moves from Leo to his wife Lucille, who is surprising Leo with her strength and tenacity in defending his innocence. Lucille convinces the governor to commute Leo’s sentence; he does, although it is only to a life sentence. Leo is moved to an undisclosed prison, and Leo and Lucille’s love story grows. However some people in Atlanta are incensed about this “Jew” getting off, and the mob goes to the prison, drags Leo out, and hangs him. They then go off to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.

The particular production at the Ahmanson is the tour of the recent Broadway revival. They have some interesting staging techniques. The stage is set up as a raised platform, with judicial bench seating on either side. The main action takes place on the platform, with projections behind to establish place (although some action takes place in front of the platform). The projection establish place through images; there are also projections with the names and faces of the real-life people, as well as dates and times. This was very effective — it grounded the story in reality, making clear that this is something that really happened, and not historical fiction.

The performances were extremely strong, especially Max Chernin as Leo Frank, and Talia Suskauer as Lucille Frank. Also notable was Olivia Goosman’s Mary Phagan, who established her as a lovable, flirty, flighty young girl. As a whole, the ensemble was extremely strong.

At our performance, there was a talkback with Steve Oney, author of a 2003 book titled “And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank“, and two of the actors in the show: Evan Harrington and Brian Vaughn. The actors noted how audience behavior in this show is different than many: In other shows, they will be checking their phones and being distracted; with this show, the audience is drawn in and raptly following the story. Oney noted how this was a pivotal time of change in the South: The rural economy was disappearing, and being replaced by an industrial economy from the North, with concurrent job losses. He noted the parallels to today, where the industrial economy of the US is being replaced by the technology economy, often with job losses to offshore. Similar resentments exist in previously-industrial and agrarian areas today as existed in 1913, and there is equivalent hatred of the current “other”. He noted how we have similar injustices today: the guilty often get away with it, while the innocents often pay the price for things they didn’t do. The talkback only emphasized the timeliness of this musical. Alas, I was unable to ask the question I wanted: Whether there is a different in reaction of the audience depending on the city?

This is a very strong production of an extremely moving show. Everyone should go and see it, because the lesson of the Leo Frank lynching and the travesty of justice continues to echo today (indeed, the case of Leo Frank, as of April 2025, was still under review by Fulton County DA Fani Williams, and as the article notes, there are still those who believe Frank’s guilt). Consider that it wasn’t until April 2025 that the musical Parade was performed in the city in which it takes place: Atlanta GA. The subject is timely, the performances are excellent, and it does what theatre should do: Make you think.

Parade continues at the Ahmanson through July 12. Tickets are available through the CTG/Ahmanson website. Go see it.

Credits

Parade. Book by Alfred Uhry. Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Co-conceived by Harold Prince. Directed by Michael Arden. Choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant. Incorporates reworking from Rob Ashford and the 2007 Donmar Warehouse production.

Cast: [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”]: Max Chernin Leo Frank; Talia Suskauer Lucille Frank; Griffin Binnicker Tom Watson; Evan Harrington Old Soldier / Judge Roan; Ramone Nelson Jim Conley; Jack Roden Trevor James Frankie Epps; Andrew Samonsky Hugh Dorsey; Chris Shyer Governor Slaton; Michael Tacconi Britt Craig; Alison Ewing Sally Slaton; Olivia Goosman Mary Phagan; Danielle Lee Greaves Minnie McKnight; Jenny Hickman Mrs. Phagan; Robert Knight Jerquintez A. Gipson Newt Lee; Prentiss E. Mouton Riley; Oluchi Nwaokorie Angela; Ben Cherington Officer Ivey, Thomas Blackstock & others; Emily Rose DeMartino Essie & others; Bailee Endebrock Monteen & others; Caroline Fairweather Nurse, Daisy Hopkins & others; Trevor James Jake Ziman Young Soldier & others; Sophia Manicone Iola Stover; Trista Moldovan Jodi Snyder Nina Formby & others; Ethan Riordan Mr. Turner & others; Jason Simon Det. Starnes, James Gantt,  & others; Brian Vaughn Luther Rosser / Mr. Peavy.  Swings (↑ indicates “swung up into our performance”): William Bishop; ↑ Jerquintez A. Gipson;  Brianna Javis; Benjamin Magnuson; ↑ Jodi Snyder; Eden Witvoet; ↑ Jake Ziman.

Music Department: Charlie Alterman Music Direction & Conductor; Daniel Felsenfeld Orchestrations; Tom Murray Music Supervisor; Kimberlee Wertz Music Coordinator; John Plane Music Preparation; Austin Davy Assoc. Conductor / Keyboard 2; Thomas Michaels Keyboard 1; Anthony Scandora Drums / Percussion;  Mark O’Kain Percussion; Jen Choi Fischer Violin 1; Adrianne Pope Violin 2; Linnea Powell Viola; David Mergen Cello; Kaveh Rastegar Bass; Tom Griep Keyboard 2 Sub; Dan Fornero Center Theatre Group Music Contractor; BIlly Jay Stein  and Hiro Iida for Strange Cranium Electronic Music Design.

Creatives and Production: Dane Laffrey Scenic Design; Susan Hilferty & Mark Koss Costume Design; Heather Gilbert Lighting Design; Jon Weston Sound Design; Sven Ortel Projection Design; Tom Watson Hair, Wig, & Makeup Design; Emilio Ramos Assoc. Director; Justin Scribner Production Supervision; Veronica Aglow Production Stage Manager; T. J. Kearney Stage Manager; Egypt Dixon Asst. Stage Manager; Caroline Fairweather Dance Captain; Stacy Myers Company Manager; The Telsey Office Casting; Juniper Street Productions Production Management; Ray Wetmore & JR Goodman Props Supervisor; Marathon Digital Social Media; Ann C. James Sensitivity Specialist.

Support Your Local Theatres

One last note: Under the 47 administration, arts are in peril. We’re seeing cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. Many theatres are seeing NEA grants pulled, putting at risk productions already budgeted and started, and also putting at risk future seasons and potentially the existence of companies. Pleading emails have gone out to supporters, for without government support is it up to us, the audience, to support the theatres. And before you say government shouldn’t be involved, remember that Queen Elizabeth was a patron of William Shakespeare, and enabled his art to be produced. The Theatre Communications Group had a nice article on this titled “Unkindest Cuts: How Theatres Are Managing the Loss of NEA Funds“, in which they note the importance of supporting your local theatres, writing your congress critters, and making donations. They also stress the importance of spreading the word when you attend local arts productions. They write

If you can’t donate yourself, encourage others to do so. Post about a theatre company on social media. Encourage businesses to back theatre. Local businesses have recently been turning away from the arts, but if they know how important the arts are to their community, they might change course. It’s good business. I plan to go to Columbus in the fall, and I’m totally going to see if The Kitchen has a public event during that time.

[…]

Every little thing is a step in the right direction. Some terminated Institute for Museum and Library Services were already reinstated. That is because of some type of pressure.

Theatre will always happen, with or without federal money. But we’ve already seen tremendous downsizing in recent years, as a substantial number of theatres have shuttered since the pandemic. In just the last week, two theatres in major cities have announced “do or die” campaigns, and everywhere companies are doing fewer shows—and that hurts the creative landscape. Each blow stings. Just because one show or program can continue without a specific NEA grant doesn’t mean that funding isn’t necessary. We all need to work together to make sure theatre remains plentiful and accessible. Funding is needed.

Consider this message my part. Donate to your local theatres. Buy tickets. Attend shows. Spread the word about the fact you attend live theatre on all of your social media. Demonstrate that attending live performance is not a Democratic or a Republican thing. It is something that we as human beings need to nourish our souls, and that theatre artists must be free to express themselves, even if it puts itching powders in the clothing of the leadership. Theatre has long served as a commentary on society, whether it be Showboat in the 1920s, South Pacific in the 1960s, Chicago in the 1970s, Hairspray in the 2000s, or Hamilton in the 2010s.  Mr. President, theatre is much more than Cats.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• July: ♦ Hamlet at CTG/Taper; ♦ A Beautiful Noise at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Puppet Up at CTG/Kirk Douglas; ♦ Frozen at 5-Star Theatricals
• August: ♦ Some Like It Hot at BIH/Pantages; ♦ & Juliet at CTG/Ahmanson
• September: ♦ Shucked at BIH/Pantages; ♣ ⊕The Limeliters at McCabes; ♦ Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at The Soraya
• October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals

Astounding.

That was what I turned and said to my wife at the conclusion of Life of Pi, which we just saw at the Ahmanson Theatre. That was an astounding production.

Life of Pi gets to the heart of what makes theatre both special and different from the cinema. The cinema is by definition realistic (unless you are dealing with animation). You see people and things in the real world, and often the conceits of the theatrical worse (such as people that sing their feelings or burst into dancing) just seem odd on the silver screen. Adapting a stage production for film often involves figuring out how transfer the limited stage elements into the real world.

Moving from film to the stage is a harder transition. You have to figure out what elements of the story translate. It is harder to establish settings, and to do transitions. The stage, moreso than any medium, requires imagination. It requires the audience to fill in the details, to translate from the limited physics available to the stage technician to the fully realized image.\

This brings us to Life of Pi.

Now, I’ve never seen the movie upon which this is based (well, that’s not true—I caught about 20 minutes of it, near the end, on TV recently). All I knew was that it was about a tiger and an Indian boy stranded on a boat together. The movie depended on cinema magic: creation of the boat, creation of the animals, creation of the magic. All this was doable for the screen with animation and green screens. Animation makes many things possible on the screen that can’t be done in real life. But how do you move that magic to the stage?

The answer was a combination of puppetry, projection, and choreography. Puppetry created the animals: from butterflies to fish to turtles to hyenas to zebras to giraffes to organatans to goats, and of course, to Richard Parker, a Bengal Tiger. Teams of puppeteers brought these creatures to life. The movement and the images brought the audience about 85% to the point of realism, and the mind filled in the rest. This included scenes like the evisceration of the zebra, which was done through sufficiently suggestive ribbons of red (and none of the wet gore that was seen in the Lt. of Inishmore). The second tool was projection: not just projections of the background, which is now common in theatre. There were projections on to the stage floor, which created the illusion of the ocean and the waves without a single drop of water.  This was combined with an almost poetic choreography that was constantly moving, pacing, flowing, with people raising things up and moving them down. Adding to this, unseen, was the work of the sound designers: the sounds of the ocean, the crack of the bones when the tigers and hyenas ate their prey, the breaths and the huffs of the animals. With all of that, the mind did what it does best: fill in the details with imagination, and the stage came alive thanks to suggestions of realism.

To put it another way: This production got you so engrossed in the story and the magic that you actually believed this was a young man and a tiger on the ocean. You believed there was an injured zebra.

Two comparisons for this show come to mind: The Lion King and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The Lion King brought astounding puppetry to the stage; when it came out, nothing like it had been seen. I’d argue that the puppets in Pi are direct descendants from those in Lion King: More articulation, and even more realistic movement. Harry Potter for the stage magic, and the intense creation of illusion of spaces.

This also means that Pi is a unique theatrical experience. Do not expect to see Life of Pi, at this level, at a regional theatre or on the small stage. This show may be a flash-in-the-pan: Unlikely to be remounted after the original tour. It is not the type of show that will have a long life at all the levels of the theatrical production tree: Jr. to Sr. productions, intimate theatres to regional remounts. This translates to the imperative: See this production.

You’ll notice that while I’ve been talking about the magic, I haven’t been talking that much about the story. I think that’s because, when you separate the story from the magic, there isn’t all that much there. Young man gets shipwrecked, does what he needs to do to survive.  There are philosophical comments about God. There are insights about survival, and about who the dangerous animals are. But the story seems to be less the point in this show. This show is about the journey: the journey from a small zoo in India and the subsequent survival.  You don’t walk out of the theatre astonished by the story of survival; you walk out astounded by the magic on the stage. It there is one drawback here, it is that: the story gets lost in the stagecraft. That’s what you remember from this production.

But, when you think about it, there is a philosophical point being made here. Near the end of the show, Pi is coerced into telling a different version of his survival—one that eschews the stories of the zebras, orangutans, and RIchard Parker for one that involves the cook, another sailor, his mother, and cannibalism. The folks interviewing Pi realize that the two versions of the stories have the same elements: four individuals, with similar plot beat points. They could be viewed as two different visualizations of the same story. The question is then asked: Which version is the better story? Which version do they want to be the story?

Perhaps that is the lesson from Life of Pi: How do we tell our stories, and which versions of the stories do we want to believe? The truth is often harsh and ugly. Perhaps the answer is to see the magic behind the truth.

Speaking of the magic behind the truth: What of the performers behind the stage magic. I’ve already talked about the talents of the puppeteers, who brought the animals to life. Savidu Geevaratne, as Pi, did a remarkable job with the character, bringing him to life and interacting with the puppets. Other characters had a lot less stage time, but I did quite like Sharayo Mahale’s Rani.

One last additional note: This week, CTG announced the One CTG season for 2025-2026. For a “one” season, it sure seemed like two seasons that were not talking to each other. I say this because the addition of the Taper is not coordinated with the Ahmanson subscriptions, and thus, for two of the dates (meaning four shows), the Taper and Ahmanson shows are on the same date and the same time. When this was brought to the attention of CTG subscription services, their response was that we can change the date when the window to change dates opens sometime in July, after all series subscriptions are processed. This is extremely poor care and feeding of subscribers: CTG should present subscribers with tickets that do not have date conflicts: it is their job to resolve the conflict initially if they created it. I’ll say it again: Broadway in Hollywood is an order of magnitude better in care and feeding of subscribers; the Ahmanson is better only in parking and accessibility. In this era where theatres must keep every subscriber, CTG seems to be doing whatever it can to lose its subscriber base. The new season is also “meh” in many ways: With the large number of excellent touring productions that Broadway in Hollywood didn’t choose (Water for Elephants, The Outsiders, Great Gatsby), what does CTG bring in? The Mamma Mia anniversary show. Big Meh. The Ahmanson also has something that BIH doesn’t have: the ability to mount its own productions. CTG could have brought in some of the productions that aren’t touring as remounts: How to Dance in Ohio, or Illinoise. They did this with Here Lies Love. But again, what do we get? A stage version of Paranormal Activity? CTG can do better.

Life of Pi continues at the Ahmanson Theatre through June 1. Tickets are available through the Ahmanson Website. It is well worth seeing for the astounding stage magic.

———

Life of Pi. Based on the novel by Yann Martel, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti. Directed by Max Webster; tour direction by Ashley Brooke Monroe.

Cast (underlining indicates individuals in the production we saw; greyed-out names indicates folks seemingly not in our show): Savidu Geevaratne Pi, Ensemble; Taha Mandviwala Pi, Toussaint Jeanlouis Cook, Voice of Richard Parker, Richard Parker/Puppeteer, Ensemble; Oge Agulué Cook, Voice of Richard Parker; Jessica Angleskhan Amma, Nurse, Orange Juice; Alan Ariano Mr. Okamoto, Captain, Jai; Pragun Bhardwaj Ensemble; Ben Durocher Cook, Voice of Richard Parker, Richard Parker/Puppeteer; Shiloh Goodin Richard Parker/Puppeteer, Ensemble; Anna Leigh Gortner Richard Parker/Puppeteer, Ensemble; Aaron Haskell Richard Parker/Puppeteer, Ensemble; Jon Hoche Richard Parker/Puppeteer; Rishi Jaiswal Mamaji, Pandit-Ji; Mi Kang Lulu Chen, Mrs. Biology Kumar, Zaida Khan; Intae Kim Puppeteer, Ensemble (Swing); Sharayo Majale Rani; Sinclair Mitchell Admiral Jackson, Russian Sailor, Father Martin; Maya Rangulu Ensemble (Swing); Betsy Rosen Richard Parker/Puppeteer, Ensemble; Anna Vomáĉka Richard Parker/Puppeteer; Sorab Wadia Father; Andrew Wilson Richard Parker/Puppeteer, Ensemble; Swings: Mahnaz Damania; Intae Kim; Maya Rangulu.

Production and Creatives: Tim Hatley Scenic Design, Costume Design; Finn Caldwell Co-Puppet Design, Puppetry/Movement Director; Nick Barnes Co-Puppet Design; Betsy Rosen Assistant Puppetry and Movement Director, Puppet Captain; Jon Hoche U.S. Associate Puppetry & Movement Director, Resident Director; Andrzej Goulding Video and Animation Design; Tim Lutkin Lighting Design; Tim Deiling Lighting Design; Carolyn Downing Sound Design; David Brian Brown Wig Design: Andrew T. Mackay Original Music; Jack Bradley Dramaturgy; Scarlet Wilderink Global Associate Puppetry & Movement Director; ARC Casting; Austin Wong Harper Lift Captain; Toussaint Jeanlouis Fight Captain; Bond Theatrical Tour Booking, Marketing, and Publicity; Katie Cortez Company Manager; Frank Deming II Assoc. Company Manager; Kelsey Tippins Production Stage Manager; Matthew Brooks Stage Manager; Fouad Hassan Asst. Stage Manager; Gentry & Associates General Manager.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• May:  ♦ Spitfire Grill at Actors Co-Op; ♦ A Dolls House, Part 2 at Pasadena Playhouse.
• June: ⊕ ♦ Flower Drum Song at East West Players; ♦ Parade at CTG/Ahmanson; and possibly some Hollywood Fringe Festival shows.
• July: ♦ Hamlet at CTG/Taper; ♦ A Beautiful Noise at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Frozen at 5-Star Theatricals
• August: ♦ Some Like It Hot at BIH/Pantages; ♦ & Juliet at CTG/Ahmanson

Political satire musicals are an interesting sub-genre. In my youth, these were often records, such as
“The First Family“, “The New First Family” (and I guess even my favorite, Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America would fall into that category). Later, they became local shows or fringe-festival hits. I’m thinking of shows like The Beastly Bombing (which we’ve seen), Clinton: The Musical (which I’ve heard). I’m actually scared to think about what the future Trump musical will be, although I expect quite a few attempts at the upcoming Hollywood Fringe Festival (there were loads in past HFF – Trump Family Special, Transition, Trump in Space, Zombie Clown Trump… you get the idea). I’m talking about this sub-genre because we saw one of its members at the Kirk Douglas Theatre last night: 44: The Musical. This was part of CTG>>FWD, CTG’s fill-in programming at their theatres that are advertised to season ticket holders, but aren’t part of the One CTG season proper.

44: The Musical focuses on the election and first term of Barak Obama, as remembered by Joe Biden (and we all know how reliable Joe’s memory is). This is young Joe, who wants to be seen and be a part of things, but is really in the background. Joe has two areas of interest: Barack’s relationship with Michelle, and Barack’s battle with W.H.A.M. — the society of White Heterosexual Angry Men, led by Mitch McConnel and Ted Cruz, and of which Herman Cain is the required token member to show they don’t discriminate. The songs cover a lot of posturing (and include loads of profanity and sexual talk — this is not a show for kids). Pulling out the posturing, the focus in Obama’s doubts about his ability to succeed, his battles with a Congress determined to stop him, and the hatred and divide in the US that only widened with his election (even though he hoped it would be otherwise). Sad to say, but this show does make the valid point that Trump was a knee-jerk response to Obama’s election as the W.H.A.M. electorate vowed to never again be ruled by a minority, and to do whatever they can to prevent that from happening again.

There are a number of funny bits and some good comic lines: I particularly liked the aside about how the Republicans would never nominate a narcissistic candidate only interested in revenge, or something like that. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Fox News anchors as robotic blond female drones. But there were points where the show dragged on, and the point of the humor was lost.

I will say the show made me realize that while everyone can remember who McCain’s running mate was, no one remembers Mitt Romney’s running mate. You have to look it up (it was Paul Ryan).

Although there were some earworms (and I’ll note the cast album is available for listening but not download, unless you know HTML tricks), the music isn’t particularly memorable nor would it have a long life outside of the show. It works in context, and sounds better on the album than in the theatre because they over-amplified everything, making the bass painful and the lyrics hard to make out. Some songs were changed from the cast album version: notably, “Gay for the N.R.A.” was replaced with “Thoughts and Prayers”; “Just a Boner” was replaced with “M.F.M. (Muthafukin’ McConnell)”; and “Yes We Can” was dropped.

The performances were strong. Some were more focused on the comedy, such as Chad Doreck’s Joe Biden or Larry Cedar’s Mitch McConnell. Others were more focused on the music, such as T.J. Wlkins’ Barack Obama, Shanice’s Michelle Obama, and Summer Nicole Greer’s Voice of the People. But I think that overall the performances were good.

Should you go see it? Well, it would be hard as the rest of the run is sold-out, but let’s talk in the abstract. If the loudness of music bothers you, no. This was just too loud. If it was at a normal volume, then it is worth it for the political humor, if you are in the mood for that. If you have trouble with either side being knocked down a peg or two, then avoid this and wait for The Sound of Music to return to the Pantages.

44: The Musical continues at the Kirk Douglas through March 23. Tickets, if available, would be on the show’s CTG page.

———

44: The Musical. Book, Music, and Lyrics by Eli Bauman. Directed by Eli Bauman. Choreography by Miss James Alsop.

Cast (^æ indicates Actors Equity): T. J. Wilkins Barack Obama; Shanice Michelle Obama; Chad Doreck^æ Joe Biden; Larry Cedar^æ Mitch McConnell; Marquell Edward Clayton Brother Abe Lincoln; Summer Nicole Greer Voice of the People; Jane Papageorge^æ Sarah Palin; Jenna Pastuszek Hillary Clinton; Dino Shorté Herman Cain; Jeff Sumner^æ Lindsey Graham, Coexist Lady; Michael Uribes^æ Ted Cruz. Understudies: Celeste Butler^æ u/s Michelle Obama and Voice of the People; Ally Dixon u/s Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin; Scott Kruse u/s  Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham.

Music Department; Anthony “Brew” Brewster Musical Director / Music Co-Producer, Keyboards; Conrad Bauer Guitar; Corey Cofield Bass; Phillip “Fish” Fisher Drums; Greg Raymond Keyboards.

Production and Creative: Julie Himede, Avigail Gutfeld, and Yellow Studio Scenic Design; Nathan W. Scheuer Lighting and Projection Design; Haley Meeker Costume Designer; Valerie Klarich Costume Consultant; Jonathan Burke Sound Design; Jud Nester Content Producer; Mike Emerson Graphic and Video Design; Bridget Rooney Production Stage Manager; Cassy Sottile Asst. Stage Manager; Johnny Rice Assoc. Choreographer; Sightline Productions Production Management; Situation Interactive Digital Advertising; Vic Cairl Marketing Strategist; DR Theatrical Manager General Manager; Eli Bauman Lead Producer; Monica Saunders-Weinberg Lead Producer; Steve McKeever Consulting Producer; Conrad Bauer Assoc. Producer; Anthony “Brew” Brewster Music Co-Producer; Shanice & Kerry Gordy Co-Producer.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• March: ♣ Broadway Classics at Santa Clarita Symphony; ♣ Musique/Ray Charles at CTG/Taper; ♦ Cabaret at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Drat the Cat at Group Rep; ✡ MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder at TAS
• April:  ◊ Ren Faire (Southern); ✡ First Night of Passover; ⌬ California Science and Engineering Fair; ♦ All The Devils Are Here at the Broad;
• May:  ♦Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical at Rubicon Theatre; ♦ Life of Pi at CTG/Ahmanson; ⊕ ♦ Spitfire Grill at Actors Co-Op; ♦ A Dolls House, Part 2 at Pasadena Playhouse.
• June: ⊕ ♦ Flower Drum Song at East West Players; ♦ Parade at CTG/Ahmanson; and possibly some Hollywood Fringe Festival shows.

A few years ago, the Center Theatre Group was about to produce its first commission of a piece by a Native American playwright, as part of a season celebrating diverse voices and authors. But an internal financial crisis happened,  and the show was cancelled while the theatre regrouped. It finally made it to the stage a year or two later… but by then, the administration in Washington changed, giving a bunch of different meanings to the play (for example, the line “She put a MAGA sticker on my Telsa” has a completely different meaning now than it did two years ago). Reviewers looking at the show now seem to be focused on how the Trumpian lens changes things. We saw the show yesterday, and I came away thinking something different.

The show, if you haven’t figured it out by now, is Fake It Until You Make It‘, written by Larissa Fasthorse. The last performance is today; it then moves to the Arena Stage in Washington DC, where I’m sure it will have a different reception under this administration than it would under Biden. But then again, they may not see it at all as the Trump folks don’t strike me as the type that cares about theatre.

At its broadest, Fake It tells the story of a number of non-profits that work with the Native American communities. One is run by a young Native American woman, Wynona. The other is run by a non-Native (i.e., White) woman. These organizations share a small space with two other organizations, one some form a legal-aid group run by Grace, and the other support Native American Two-Spirit folks, run by Krys. In order to be eligible for a government grant, the organizations require Native American involvement, so River is hiring a Native American co-director, and River mistakes Winona’s white boyfriend, Theo, as this Native American applicant, Mark. Add to this a custody battle over a pussycat and loads of bad blood between Winona and River, and the situation is set.

The setup of the story makes this clear: It is a farce. There is mistaken identity, sexual innuendo aplenty, lots of timing games and slamming of doors. I could easily imagine making a farce afternoon of it, pairing this show with Noises Off currently playing at the Geffen. When viewed as a farce or even as a sitcom, this is very very funny. In fact, one could see this easily optioned into a sitcom: it could likely entertain episode storytelling in this suite of offices quite well.

As noted above, there are aspects of the show that just haven’t aged well as we’ve entered in an error that abhors DEI and diversity. Government grants such as the ones in this show that support underserved communities are gone. Requirements for diversity in hiring are gone. The premise has become dated; for some, that destroys the humor of the piece. I disagree, but I do see the impact. As I noted above, the line from River about Wynona putting a MAGA sticker on her Tesla has a completely different meaning now. Back then, having a Tesla was virtue signaling for progressives; now, Teslas are seen as support for Elon Musk, who is an arm of the Trump administration and a clear Nazi supporter. That’s a 180° change in meaning.

There are some notions in the piece that are quite thought provoking: primarily, the notion expressed by Grace of “race-shifting”. She takes the notion of gender identity and extends it to the notion of racial identity. Grace’s argument is: If one can “identify” as male or female based on what the brain feels, as opposed to what is physically present, then why not extend that to race? Why can’t a white person who considers themselves culturally black “identify” as a black person? Why can’t someone identify as “Native American”? One might argue that this is ad-absurdum pro-Conservative or MAGA argument attempting to show how silly the idea of Gender identity is. After all, they made fun of trans folks by talking about folks identifying as cats or dogs.  But, on the other hand, it is an equally valid complaint against the progressive side: the same folks who argue for self-determined gender identity refuse to accept it for racial identities. [Meanwhile, we Jews laugh: Anyone can convert into Judaism.] But it is a serious thought question: Why are “trans” notions accepted for gender and not race? That question is at the heart of this play. Unfortunately, it isn’t resolved or even dealt with deeply; it is played more for laughs. But, then again, cross-dressing started out as a play for laughs.

There are other issues brought up as well. Wynona doesn’t want to marry Theo because she is Native American and he is white, and she wants to preserve the genetics of her tribe. The government wants Native American involvement in the operations of these non-profits because it believes that a 100% white run organizations won’t work in the interests of Native Americans. There is lots of talk of the colonization of Native American lands by white people, and the need for reparations. All interesting issues, and all playing into the swirling argument about what DEI is, and whether DEI is good … and, from the MAGA point of view, whether DEI has actually been discriminatory for the white community.

When one strips away the racial aspects of this story, it devolves rather quickly into the sitcom tropes: mistaken identity, sexual jokes. In some ways, I’m not sure this play knows what it wants to be. Is it a sitcom/farce? Is it a commentary on the idea of “trans” and gender identity? Is it a commentary on DEI and an over-emphasis on race and race requirements? What does it say that a Native-American playwright is the one bringing up these issues, which are arguably not all that progressive? All good questions; none are answered by this play.

Oh, and of course the last question: How will this play in the early days of the Trump 47 administration? Will any of his cronies go see this, and how will it land with their mindset. Will the reception be different in MAGA Washington DC from progressive Los Angeles CA?

Normally, the next question would be: Should go to see it? On the surface, the answer is easy. The show closes today, and by the time this review hits, you might be able to catch the last matinee or evening show, but that’s it. Then its off to DC. But were it staying, should you see it? I think so. It is a very funny show, and raises quite a few interesting questions (and I never even talked about the running joke with the pussy).

OK, I will. What is it with CTG and their animosity towards cats? First, there was The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Taper back in 2010 (with a remarkable cast, looking back: Zoe Perry and Chris Pine). Inishmore revolved around a bloody fight over a cat. Then we have Fake It, which again has at its heart a fight over an unseen cat. If I were a feral cat anywhere near the Taper, I’d keep far far away. That place is feckin’ dangerous for pussys.

In any case, Fake It Until You Make It was quite funny, and quite thought provoking. I found it well worth seeing.

———

Fake It Until You Make It. Written by Larissa FastHorse. Directed by Michael John Garcés.

Cast: Noah Bean Theo; Eric Stanton Betts Mark; Julie Bowen River; Tonantzin Carmelo Wynona; Brandon Delsid Krys; Dakota Ray Hebert Grace. Understudies: Aleisha Force u/s River; Burgandi Trejo Phoenix u/s Wynona, u/s Grace; Kenny Ramos u/s Krys, u/s Mark; Josh Bywater u/s Theo.

Production and Creative: Sara Ryung Clement Set Designer; E. B. Brooks Costume Designer; Tom Ontiveros Lighting Designer; John Nobori Sound Designer; Janell Turley Wig, Hair, and Make-Up Designer; Edgar Landa Fight Director; Kim WIlliams Casting; David S. Franklin Production Stage Manager; Miriam E. Mendoza Stage Manager; Jessa Calderon (https://www.jessacalderon.com/) Mural Art – Searching the Galaxy; River Garza (https://www.rivergarza.com/) Mural Art – Sky Coyote and The Angelino; Marlena Myles (https://marlenamyl.es/) Mural Art  – Unči Makhá’s Shawl.

Favorite Minor Credit: Indigenious Direction Indigeneity Trainings and Consultations.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• March: ✡ MOTAS Poker Tournament at TAS; ♦ Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 at UCLA TFT; ♦ 44 at CTG/Kirk Douglas; ♣ Broadway Classics at Santa Clarita Symphony; ♣ Musique/Ray Charles at CTG/Taper; ♦ Cabaret at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Drat the Cat at Group Rep; ✡ MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder at TAS
• April:  ◊ Ren Faire (Southern); ✡ First Night of Passover; ⌬ California Science and Engineering Fair; ♦ All The Devils Are Here at the Broad;
• May:  ♦Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical at Rubicon Theatre; ♦ Life of Pi at CTG/Ahmanson; ⊕ ♦ Spitfire Grill at Actors Co-Op; ♦ A Dolls House, Part 2 at Pasadena Playhouse.
• June: ⊕ ♦ Flower Drum Song at East West Players; ♦ Parade at CTG/Ahmanson; and possibly some Hollywood Fringe Festival shows.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it. I’ve missed being in a large dark space in a central part of town, putting my cares away for 2-3 hours of entertainment. Our last theatre was back in December. We saw one concern in January that wasn’t worth writing up (Suzie Hansen Latin Jazz Band), and the other show was cancelled due to the Eaton Fire. But the drought has ended and we’ve got theatre or other activities pretty steady into mid-to-late April. One of those activities is worth mentioning before I get into this: The California Science and Engineering Fair.  It is now independent from the California Science Center, and the plans are to return to an in-person fair at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on Sunday, April 13 (yes, the first day of Passover). We need judges. If you might be qualified, you can either sign up or add yourself to the list to be notified at the Judges page. If you’re not local, I might be able to find sleeping space, and you’ll be invited to our seder).

Back to the theatre: Our first show of 2025 was a delight: A concertish lightly staged presentation of the music of Stephen Sondheim that opened in London shortly after his passing (he was involved in its creation), with a spectacular assemblage of talent. Music was drawn from many of Sondheim’s shows (but not all), and most of the songs were some of the better known ones from his catalog. I do applaud the inclusion of a bit of one song from Roadshow (Bounce), but it was a bit disappointing that some elements of the catalog were omitted in favor of the popular. If this was to have been the final compilation show of Sondheim, remembering the shining bits of the less successful shows would have been good. The shows represented in this included: Company, Funny Thing…Forum, A Little Night Music, Passion, Roadshow, Dick Tracy, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, West Side Story, Gypsy, Follies, The Mad Show, Merrily We Roll Along.

Most of the pieces worked well. There were a few very minor disappointments. I think the choreography wasn’t the most spectacular—I don’t like choreography that is too specific in mirroring the lyrics. It seems lazy to me. I can tolerate a little, but here it became noticeable, and that’s distracting. I didn’t like the presentation of “Buddy’s Blues” with only Jason playing both parts. It hurt the humor of that piece, and one of the other co-starts could easily have been added to the number. I also didn’t like the pastiche at the start of “Broadway Baby”, although it was toned down from the version on the London recording. It just didn’t land right.

Other numbers were spectacular. Beth’s “The Ladies Who Lunch” was spectacular. Bonnie’s “I’m Still Here” was wonderful. The interplay between Kyle and Kevin in “Agony” was a lot of fun. Bernadette’s take on “I Know Things Now/Bound” was quite a bit of fun. Lea did a powerful take on “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”. Beth and Gavin were great in “The Little Things You Do Together”.

I’m using first names above, because that’s how they are referring to folks in the program. The main “stars” of the show were Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. They were in and out of numbers in both acts, and generally they were strong (although at points Bernadette’s voice was showing its age, especially at the end of “Losing My Mind”). You should know that Bernadette’s take on “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” (she was Miss Mazeppa) was great: she’s at the age where the portrayal of a tired burlesque artist, dependent on a gimmick, fits well. I’ve seen her throughout her career: My first exposure to her was in Mack & Mabel at the LACLO at the Dorothy Chandler in the mid 1970s; she’s now in the Liza-era: a true American artist icon. Salonga, who we last saw in a concert at the Soraya a few years ago, was wonderful as always.

The supporting co-stars were no slouches. I’ve already highlighted some, such as Bonnie Langford, Beth Leavel, Gavin Lee, and Kevin Earley. There were also some who are lesser known, but were equally special. Notable here were Jasmine Forsberg and Maria Wirries. Jasmine’s voice was great, and her face was just fun to watch (and she was great in “On The Steps to the Palace”). Maria had a powerhouse voice that was featured in a number of the songs. It looks like we might have seen Jasmine before: She was in the First National Tour of Six.

The production was lightly staged. There were a few props to suggest the scenes, and a few additional to the costumes to suggest the characters, but it wasn’t extensive. It was sufficient.

This was a wonderful show, and a great way to get back to the theatre. Strong performances. Great songs. Go see it.

Sondheim’s Old Friends continues at the Ahmanson Theatre through March 9, 2025. Tickets are available through the CTG website. Discount tickets may be avalable through TodayTix.

———

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim^*. Devised by Cameron Mackintosh. Choreography by Stephen Mear. Direction and Musical Staging by Matthew Bourne. Side by Side with Julia McKenzie.

Cast: Starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Co-starring: Jacob Dickey, Kevin Earley, Jasmine Forsberg, Kate Jennings Grant, Bonnie Langford, Beth Leavel, Gavin Lee, Jason Pennycooke, Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, Kyle Selig, Maria Wirries, and Daniel Yearwood. Co-star alternates: Paige Faure, Alexa Lopez, Greg Mills, Peter Neureuther. Mr. Producer voiced by Cameron Mackintosh.

Music Department: Jonathan Tunick Original Orchestrations^*; Stephen Metcalfe Musical Arrangements; Alfonso Casado Trigo, Stephen Brooker Musical Supervision; Annbritt duChateau Music Director; Danny Percefull Assoc. Music Director/Keyboard 1; Brett Rowe Keyboard 2; Tristan Cappel Woodwind 1; Joe Stone Woodwind 2; Rusty Higgins Woodwind 3; Danielle Ondarza Horn; Dan Fornero Trumpet 1; James Ford Trumpet 2; Alan Kaplan Trombone; Alex Bailey Drums/Percussion; Jen Choi Fischer Violin; David Mergen Cello; Kevin Axt Bass; Robert Payne Contractor; Brad Gardner Keyboard 2 Sub.
—————-
^*: Sunday in the Park with George: Michael Starobin Orchestrations; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Sid Ramin & Irwin Kostal Orchestrations; West Side Story: Sid Ramin & Irwin Kostal Orchestrations, Leonard Bernstein Music; Gypsy: Sid Ramin & Robert Ginzler Orchestrations, Jule Styne Music; The Mad Show: Mary Rogers Music.

Production and Creatives: Matt Kinley Scenic Design; Jill Parker Costume Design; Warren Letton Lighting Design; Mick Potter Sound Design; George Reeve Projection Design; Stefan Musch Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Jo Morris Assoc. Choreographer; Nikki Woollaston Assoc. Director; Paige Faure Dance Captain; David Lober Production Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Stage Manager; Anna Belle Gilbert Stage Manager; The TRC Company Casting; Edward Nelson Company Manager; What if We Productions Production Management.

Favorite Minor Credit: Viva la Visa Visa Services. This has no relationship to credit cards, but to coordinating international travel for creatives. This is likely to become more of an issue thanks to the new administration’s focus on immigration and isolationism.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• February: ♦ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Desperate Measures at ICT Long Beach
• March: ♦ Top Dog/Underdog at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Nefesh Mountain at McCabes; ♦ Fake It Until You Make It at CTG/Taper; ✡ MRJ Man of the Year Dinner at Temple Beth Tikvah (Fullerton); ✡ MOTAS Poker Tournament at TAS; ♦ Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 at UCLA TFT; ♦ 44 at CTG/Kirk Douglas; ♣ Musique/Ray Charles at CTG/Taper; ♦ Cabaret at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Drat the Cat at Group Rep; ✡ MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder at TAS
• April:  ◊ Ren Faire (Southern); ✡ First Night of Passover; ⌬ California Science and Engineering Fair; ♦ All The Devils Are Here at the Broad;
• May: ♦ Life of Pi at CTG/Ahmanson; ⊕ ♦ Spitfire Grill at Actors Co-Op.

Two words: Sutton Foster

Sutton Foster is a comic gem and an outstanding theatre artists, and her energy, enthusiasm, and playfulness make this production of Once Upon a Mattress spectacular, and something you must go see (if you like comedy) before it closes shop next week. Go, buy your tickets, I’ll wait.

(taps feet)

Got them? Great.

Now to explain. Last night, we saw Sutton Foster in the aforementioned Once Upon a Mattress at the Ahmanson. For those unfamiliar with the show, Mattress is a lightweight musical from the late 1950s with music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Marshall Barer, with a book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It basically is a retelling of Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea”. Nothing deep here.

The original production was notable for who it launched into the world: Carol Burnett. Burnett was the lead, and her comic chops made the show. She mugged, she played, she sang, and she demonstrated the wide array of talents she possessed. Back in 1996 a revival was attempted with Sarah Jessica Parker in the lead, but Parker is not the comic that Burnett is, and it didn’t do quite a well.  I’ll note that I last saw Mattress back in 2012 at Cabrillo Music Theatre with local talent Bets Malone, who was great in the role.

A year or two ago, someone had the bright idea to cast Sutton Foster as Princess Winnifred for an Encores production. I think this was between her time in The Music Man (where she got entangled with her current paramour, Wolverine) and her time in Sweeney Todd. Foster is well known on the Broadway stage for her dancing and comic timing (demonstrated many years ago in Thoroughly Modern Millie). But comic timing is not the same as being a comic. Here, she is a comic.

Sutton Foster is clearly having fun with the role, and milking every moment for comic potential. About halfway into the first act, there’s a scene where she’s eating some grapes. She stretches it. She plays with it. Without saying a word, she makes it incredibly funny. At other points, she has staring contests with other actors, just to see if they can remain in character. She flops, she falls. She is clearly having the greatest amount of fun with this role, and when an actor enjoys their role, it is projected to the audience. I wrote about that last week when talking about Olivia Valli as Elphaba in Wicked. When an actor loves a role and the role loves them back, it shows and the magic happens.

Watch Foster closely. Her face. Her movements. Her reactions. Bring binoculars. It’s priceless.

And the thing is: It’s not just Foster having fun. Her partner in crime, Michael Urie, has equal fun as Prince Dauntless. Just watch him attempt to work the steps. Watch his reaction and faces. Watch his comic falls. He’s having equal fun. Then there is Daniel Breaker as the Jester. From the moment he starts the show, he is playing with the audience. He’s clearly in on the joke, and he wants you to realize this isn’t your serious show: this is fun.

It goes on that way throughout the cast: Ana Gasteyer creates an over the top shrew of a Queen, but with her own jokes as well. Kevin Del Aguila as the Wizard has fun with the role and the flash paper. David Patrick Kelly makes the most of the King’s pantomime (in the original production, they had cast an actor that couldn’t sing, and so they made the King’s role silent) — and he was played by the great Jack Gilford).  Even the second story pair: Ben Davis as Sir Harry and Oyoyo Joi as Lady Larkin know how to play for the laughs.

This is a funny funny show. You want serious? Go up the street and see Wicked. Find a production of A Christmas Carol. This production will send you into the new year smiling.

Tickets are available through the Center Theatre Group website page on the show here. It closes on Jan 5. So get your tickets now.

———

Once Upon a Mattress. Book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer, and Dean Fuller. Music by Mary Rodgers. Lyrics by Marshall Barer. Adapted by Amy Sherman-Palladino. Directed by Lear deBessonet. Choreographed by Lorin Latarro.

Cast: Sutton Foster Princess Winnifred; Michael Urie Prince Dauntless; Ana Gasteyer Queen Aggravain; Kevin Del Aguila Wizard; Daniel Breaker Jester; Ben Davis Sir Harry; Oyoyo Joi Lady Larkin; David Patrick Kelly King Sextimus the Silent; Daniel Beeman Ensemble; Wendi Bergamini Lady Rowena, Nightingale of Samarkand, Ensemble, Asst. Dance Captain; Taylor Marie Daniel Princess #10, Ensemble; Cicily Daniels Ensemble; Amanda Lamotte Prologue Puppeteer, Princess #12, Ensemble; Michael Olaribigme Ensemble; Destinee Rea Princess #11, Ensemble; Adam Roberts Ensemble; Jeffrey Schecter Ensemble; Matt Wall Ensemble; Daniel Wright Ensemble; Richard Riaz Yoder “Very Soft Shoes” Dance Soloist, Ensemble. Swings: Sheldon Henry, Sarah Michele Lindsey Dance Captain, Matthew Steffens.

Music Department: Bruce Coughlin Orchestrator; Mary-Mitchell Campbell Music Supervisor; Annbritt duChateau Music Director, Conductor; Chris Kong Assoc. Conductor, Keyboard 1; Brad Gradner Keyboard 2; Sal Lozano Reed 1; Glen Berger Reed 2; John Mitchell Reed 3; Dan Fornero Trumpet 1; James Ford Trumpet 2; Wendell Kelly Trombone; Jen Choi Fischer Violin 1; Grace Oh Violin 2; Adrianne Pope Violin 3; Bryan Gonzalez Viola; David Mergan Cello 1; Ira Glansbeek Cello 2; Will Johnson Bass; Robert Payne Contractor; Kimberlee Wertz Music Coordinator; Randy Cohen Keyboard/Synthesizer Programmer; Josh Clayton and Adam Beskind Music Copying.

Production and Creative: David Zinn Scenic Design; Andrea Hood Costume Design; Justin Townsend Lighting Design; Kai Harada Sound Design; J. Jared Janas Hair, Wig, Makeup Design; Skylar Fox Physical Comedy & Effects; Martavius Parrish Assoc. Director; Juniper Street Productions Production Management; The Telsey Office Casting; Cody Renard Richard Production Stage Manager; Jhanaë K-C Bonnick Stage Manager; Angela M. Griggs Asst Stage Manager; Megan Curren General Manager; Dylan Glen Assoc General Manager; Brian Decaluwe Company Manager; Ray Metmore/JR Goodman Production Props Supervisor.

Favorite Minor Credit: Sutton Foster Custom Crochet Crowns

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending). We’re a bit light on theatre while my wife is recuperating from her knee replacement.

• January: ♣ Susie Hansen’s Latin Jazz Band @ Redondo Union HS ; Possibly ♦ Farm Hall at Prominade Playhouse; ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);
• February: ♦ Sondheim’s Old Friends at CTG/Ahmanson;  ♦ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Desperate Measures at ICT Long Beach
• March: ♦ Top Dog/Underdog at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Nefesh Mountain at McCabes; ♦ Fake It Until You Make It at CTG/Taper; ♦Drat the Cat at Group Rep; MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder @ TAS
• April:  ◊ Ren Faire (Southern); First Night of Passover; ♦ All The Devils Are Here at the Broad;

Time, and the perspective that it gives.

On two-show days, I like to think if there is any theme connecting the shows. For yesterday, the theme turned out to be the perspective of time. As I said: We had two shows yesterday (something I like to avoid), due to the poor subscriber service at CTG, which didn’t tell us the Taper dates until 3 weeks before the show. As a result, we had a 2:30pm Matinee of American Idiot at the Mark Taper Forum (on the same day the Wicked movie was having its 7:00pm premiere at the Dorothy Chandler), and an 8:00pm performance of Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood (Pantages).

What connect American Idiot and BTTF? The answer is time.

We’ll delve into the perspective of time for BTTF in the next writeup. But for American Idiot the perspective of time really leads to a different interpretation of the piece. The original album was written in 2004, at the height of the Iraq war, with the Bush administration in office. As Wikipedia notes: “The album expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by tumultuous events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War.”. It was turned into a musical that hit Broadway during the Obama administration. We saw it in a traditional tour presentation at the Ahmanson in 2012. It was hard to fathom the plot from that presentation, other than “Alienation. Anti-war. Love. Perils of war. Perils of drugs. Perils of relationships.”

But time changes perspective. Seeing American Idiot just a few days after the election of Donald Trump to a second, discontinguous term, brings new meaning to the piece. Suddenly the words about a hateful America, an America where the media is lying to us, an America that creates disillusionist view hits home.  The nihilism. The rage. It captured the anger from both sides.

The new presentation aided this view distinctly. The Deaf West approach had the lead performers signing, with “voice of” performers parallel to them singing the words, and (most importantly) all lyrics projected. You could actually understand the words, and see the poetry of Billy Joel Armstrong shine through.

You want a clear example. Just look at the opening number, and think about it in the context of Trump, how the media seemed so numb to Trump’s lies and incoherence:

Don’t wanna be an American idiot
Don’t want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America

Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
In television dreams of tomorrow

We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue
Well, maybe I’m the faggot, America
I’m not a part of a redneck agenda
Now everybody, do the propaganda
And sing along to the age of paranoia

Although this was written in the era Bush, anti-Al Quaida sentiment, It truly takes on a different perspective in this era of Trump, this era of hatred, this era of paranoia about immigrants. Time changes our perspective of musical theatre pieces. Some become less relevant and dated. Some find new meaning. There was a reason that Chicago failed when it first opened, and then hit it big in the era of OJ and the celebrity killer. American Idiot is written for the anger and the era of Donald Trump

(Oh, and Back to the Future? Think about how the time change impacts Marty’s perception of his parents. More on that in the next writeup)

It is clear that the impact of Green Day’s album has grown, and is more relevant now than in 2004 when it was first released. I also tend to love the music from it. Instead of being the angry dissonance I expect from punk rock, Green Day brings wonderful melodies beneath the loud; melodies that stick in your head and drive you.

The staging here is also unique. As I noted above, this is a co-production between Deaf-West and CTG.  Deaf/signing actors are the leads, with “voice of” actors trailing behind them. Words are projected on stage, making it easy to understand what is being said. There is poetry of movement, poetry of hands, that go together with the poetry of the words.

Is American Idiot perfect? No. As is pretty much true for any rock album turned into a stage show, there is little connective tissue. There is little expository dialogue. As such, the characters never quite jell as distinct people. They never acquire personalities. You lose the story in the music; the music evokes feelings much more than the performances. As a result, you sit back and let the music wash over you; you read the lyrics, and let the performance supplement all that is evoked by the music and lyrics. This isn’t traditional theatre.

There are remarkable performances from the leads (and we had a number of folks swinging in at our performance). There are remarkable performances from the band, and not just musical ones (watch the folks on the violins).

One other discordant note — not performance related. CTG has gone to a new ticketing system, and it is problematic. The old system allowed you to download your tickets to Apple Wallet, or text them to your phone. The new system supposedly allows download to Apple Wallet (although it never gave me the option on an Android phone). But there is no text option anymore, nor the ability to use Google Wallet. Ticketmaster (which BIH uses) has its flaws, but it at least understands that folks use both Android and Apple. If you are an Android user, you’re stuck using data to go to the CTG website. Poor form. On the plus side, CTG excelled where it always excels: accessibility and parking. The new subscriber parking vouchers worked great, and the Taper was able to accommodate a last-minute need for a seat with legroom so my wife could stretch her leg.

The CTG/Deaf West production of American Idiot is well worth seeing. Alas, by the time you read this it may be too late: the last performances were to be today, but it has been extended one week, now closing on November 16. You can get tickets here. More information on the show here.

Finally: Nobody Likes You / Everyone Left You / They’re All Out Without You / Having Fun

———

Green Day’s American Idiot. Music by Green Day. Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong. Book by Billie Joe Amstrong and Michael Mayer. Directed by Snehal Desai. Choreography by Jennifer Weber.

Cast (All performers are ӕ Actors Equity; underscored performers indicate performers at our performance): Daniel Durant / Giovanni Maucere Johnny; Milo Manheim Voice of Johnny; Otis Jones IV Will; James Olivas Voice of Will; Landen Gonzales Tunny; Brady Fritz / Patrick Ortiz Voice of Tunny; Ali Fumiko Whitney Heather; Mars Storm Ruckner Whatsername; Ty Taylor St Jimmy; Kaia T. Fitzgerald Extraordinary Girl; Jerusha Cavazos / Monika Peña Voice of Extraordinary Girl; Will Branner Favorite Son; Monika Peña / Mia Sempertegui Alysha; Steven-Adam Agdeppa Ensemble, Lark Detweiler Ensemble, Josué Martinez Ensemble, Angel Theory Ensemble; Patrick Ortiz Ensemble/Swing, Mia Sempertegui Ensemble/Swing; Giovanni Maucere Swing.

Music Departments: Tom Kitt Music Arrangements and Orchestrations; David O Music Supervisor, Conductor, Keyboard, Accordion; Justin Smith Guitar 1; Ben Covello Guitar 2, Assoc. Conductor; Carlos Rivera Bass; Alex Bailey Drums; Nicole Garcia Violin; Nikki Shorts Viola; Michelle Rearick Cello; Robert Payne Music Contractor.

Production and Creatives: Takeshi Kata Scenic Design; Lena Sands Costume Design; Karyn D. Lawrence Lighting Design; David Murakami Projection Design; Sheila Dorn Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Beth Lipari Casting Director; DJ Kurs Deaf West Theatre Artistic Director; Jeff Perri Deaf West Theatre Managing Director; Colin Analco ASL Choreographer; Amelia Hensley Assoc ASL Choreographer; David S. Franklin Production Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Stage Manager; Sue Karutz Stage Manager; Coproduction of Deaf West Theatre and Center Theatre Group.

Favorite Minor Credit: TBD Loctition. Loctition is the maintenance of dreadlocks. Learn something new every day.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending). We’re a bit light on theatre while my wife is recuperating from her knee replacement.

• November: ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre
• December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;
• January: ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);