reviews-2010 – Observations Along the Road

So Long, for So Little

Posted onSaturday, December 25, 2010Authorcahwyguy

“So Long… for So Little”. And thus my daughter summed up our annual Christmas movie, “Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows, Part 1”. I agree with her assessment, for it captures well the essence of the problem.

I’m not going to go over the details of the story. If you care about Harry Potter, you’ve probably read the book (and likely seen the movie by now). If you don’t care about Harry Potter, by now you won’t be going to see this movie anyway. But suffice it to say that the story is part of the problem. Not the substance of the story, for it does its job of moving the Harry Potter story towards its final end. Rather, the problem is the length. Rowling suffered from sequelitis—each subsequent part got longer and longer and threw more into the story. Contrast the succinctness of the first book with the last. The screenwriters, when faced with the voluminous Volume 7, had two choices: preserve the story as closely as possible to satisfy the fan community, or trim-trim-trim to get a story that could be old in a reasonable time. If this had been live theatre, they would have had a dramaturge to have them tell the story effectively. But they chose the former option and hewed closer to the book. As such, the story had such length they had to split it into two movies, and they crammed so much into the first movie it was well over two hours. For all that length, the audience never got a good resolution. It didn’t leave me wanting more.

There were other problems as well. The first thing I noticed was the obviously catering to the 3D market. There were so many scenes that seemed to be filmed in such as way as to look spectacular in 3D, but come off as just tiresome in 2D. There was also far too much emphasis on the special effects. I found myself contrasting HP7.1 with yesterday’s movie, “The King’s Speech”. Whereas King’s Speechfocused on the story with no obvious special effects, HP7.1 seemed to focus on the effects just for the sake of the effects. This could be why it has made much more money, but it’s all eye candy surrounding a lack of substance.

One word about “the scene”. You know the one: where Harry and Hermione kiss, seemingly naked. It has generated quite a bit of controversy. My opinion that it worked fine in the context: it’s goal was to goad a character into action, and it did what it was meant to do. So it wasn’t in the book. Deal.

I am pleased to see the growth in acting abilities of the three principal actors. All have grown in skill (and we’ve seen Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway), but this was really Emma Watson’s movie. As I noted in my earlier review, a good aspect of a story is character grown. We don’t see it from Harry; he’s just reacting. We don’t see it that much from Ron. But we see Hermione grow in strength and nuance, and it was well played and well acted. It was also interesting to note the overlap in actors between this movie and The King’s Speech: in particular, Helena Bonham Carter and Timothy Spall. Take a look here for the full cast list.

We can look forward, if you call it that, to Part 2 of this in July 2011.

Theatre Notes. We saw this at the Pacific Winnetka, and Pacific is the parent chain to Arclight. The differences were astounding. Pacific had 5 minutes of commercials before the previews. The volume was loud enough to be painful. The projector bulb kept varying intensity, and the print and previews were showing signs of wear. The Arclight had none of these problems. Does that justify an extra few dollars. Perhaps.

Previews. This movie had five previews, none of which impressed me. “Season of the Witch” was a horror film, and in general I’m not a fan of those. Both “Green Hornet” and “Green Lantern” will be popular with those that love the superhero/comic genre, and will make a lot of money, but seemed to be too much action/special effects for me. “Kung Fu Panda 2 and “Yogi Bear” seemed to be aimed at the younger family audience with enough fart jokes for the teens—and thus drew no interest from me. So Hollywood was 0 for 5 this time. I think I’m spoiled by live theatre.

The Wrap Up. So that is likely it for my reviewing for 2010, unless I squeeze in something next week. In total, we saw 42 live theatre productions, 7 staged readings of episodes of “Meeting of Minds” (#2, #8, #10, #13, #19, #23, #24), 3 movies, 2 dance shows, and one Drum Corps show. The live theatre productions were “Lost in Yonkers”, “Camelot”, “The Andrews Brothers”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, “Ray Bradbury’s Wisdom 2116”, “The Story of My Life”, “On Golden Pond”, “See What I Wanna See”, “Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris”, “Damn Yankees”, “12 Angry Men”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “The 39 Steps”, “The Wedding Singer”, “South Pacific”, “Dog Sees God”, “It’s Top Secret”, “The Rocky Horror Show”, “In The Heights”, “Grace and Glorie”, “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”, “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”, “Young Frankenstein: The Musical”, “Seussical: The Musical”, “[title of show]”, “Speech and Debate”, “Side Man”, “U.S.S. Pinefore”, “Free Man of Color”, “The Glass Menagerie”, “Leap of Faith”, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, “FDR”, “Happy Days: The Musical”, “Varney the Vampire”, “Bell, Book, and Candle”, “Amadeus”, “The Wild Party”, “Harps and Angels”, “Uptown, Downtown” and “Next to Normal”. The movies were “It’s Complicated”, “The King’s Speech” and this movie. The dance shows were Celebrate Dance 2010 and VNHS “Momentum”

That was a lot. I hope you enjoyed reading the reviews as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Celebrate 2011 by going to see something: a live theatre production, a dance, a concert, or a movie. Share your opinions about what you see. I look forward to reading them.

Triumphing Over D-D-D-D-D-Difficulty

Posted onSaturday, December 25, 2010Authorcahwyguy

Yesterday, while my wife and daughter went to the Pantages to see West Side Story (more on that later), I went to go see “The Kings Speech” at the Arclight Hollywood. Before I go into the movie, a few words about the theatre itself. Arclight is an interesting chain. They do reserved seating for showings, and do not seat people after the movie has started. They do no advertising, either before a show starts or in the trailer reel. They only run about 3 previews. For this, you pay a bit more (and they validated parking). They also have the usher actually welcome you to the showing, remind you personally to shut off electronic devices, etc. All in all, it was very nice execution for a movie theatre; something you no longer see these days. The theatre I was at was an Arclight multiplex next to the original Cinerama dome, which they program as well. Although my movie wasn’t in the dome (“True Grit” was), it was nice to walk around the dome and get the sense of history.

Anyway, as to the movie itself. The movie tells a real-life story of the ascension of King George VI (a period that was also covered well in the musical “Only a Kingdom” that we saw at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1998). Whereas the musical focused on the love story of Edward (a/k/a David) (King Edward VIII) and Wallis Simpson and how that love led him to give up the crown, this movie focuses on his brother Albert (King George VI). Albert’s problem was that he stammered so much that he was an ineffectual public speaker. This wouldn’t have been a problem if he had been a commoner, but he was 2^nd in line to the throne, and royals are expected to speak. The movie tells the story of how he overcame the speech difficulty with the help of a speech therapist (Lionel Logue), and how the king and the commoner became friends. It also tells the parallel story of the death of King George V, the turbulent period of King Edward VIII’s brief rule, and the ascension of King George VI as Great Britain entered into World War II.

This was a story I hadn’t known before, and I found it quite interesting. It made for a good drama, because it had that key element that makes a successful story: character growth. At least in the main characters, we saw significant growth from beginning to end: we saw how Albert (George VI) grew from a nervous public speaker into a confident king; we also saw Lionel grow from a gruff coach into a friend that respected Albert. Other characters saw less growth (Edward) or were more charactures (Wallis Simpson, Churchill). But that was only a minor problem.

The acting in this production was top-notch. The leads were Colin Firth as Albert (King George VI); Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother); and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue. All three were perfection in their roles and a delight to watch. Other signficant actors were Guy Pearce as Edward (King Edward VIII) and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill. You can find a full cast listing here.

“The King’s Speech” was directed by Tom Hooper, with cinametography by Danny Cohen. Most of the time, when I see a movie, I notice the cinemetography and how the camera angles add or detract from the story. I must complement the director and the cinemetography here for I didn’t notice the distinctly cinematic aspects at all. They told the story in such a way that the story came first, and the production tricks blended into the background. This is great storytelling.

“The King’s Speech” was rated “R”, primarily for the use of curse words as Edward overcomes his speaking difficulty. That was an idiotic rating for this unique historical story. Ignore the rating and go see this movie, be it in a theatre or in the comfort of your home.

Previews. There were three previews at this show. The first was for “Frankie and Alice”, which looks to be a tour de force for Halle Berry—a strong performance drama that likely won’t do well at the box office. The second was for “The Rite”, a horror film about exorcism that looks completely uninteresting. The third preview was for “The Company Men”, a recession-drama about a man who loses his job and has to refind himself. This last one looks interesting, but I don’t think it is interesting enough to get myself to a movie theatre for.

West Side Story. Oh, and as for “West Side Story”: I’m glad I didn’t see it. According to my family, the trick of having the Jets speak in English and the Sharks in Spanish didn’t work, and made the story disjointed. Although the dancing was good, the leads of Tony and Maria weren’t of professional quality. The only complementary word about an actor I heard was for the actress playing Anita and the actor playing Doc. This basically agrees with the scathing Los Angeles Times review, which is well worth reading if you are a fan of bad reviews. On the whole, I think I made the right choice.

Upcoming Movies: Today is Christmas, and I’m Jewish. Yup, that means we should be seeing a movie today. Most likely, we’ll be at the Pacific Winnetka 21 finally seeing “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1”. There’s a slight possibility we might see “Tangled” instead, but I’d put that at <10%. Nothing else is the least bit interesting.

Breaking Open the Dysfunctional Family: Valium is my Favorite Color

Posted onSunday, December 19, 2010Authorcahwyguy

Did you ever go to a show, and see your life on the stage? That happened to me last night, in a sense, when we went to the Ahmanson Theatre to see Next to Normal, the 2009 Tony/2010 Pulitzer award winning musical.

“Next to Normal” tells the story of a dysfunctional family: the mother (Diana) who is falling deeper and deeper into the depths of her mental illness (bipolar); the father (Dan) who is attempting to hold it all together; the daughter Natalie who has been lost in the shuffle, and the son, Gabriel, who is the lynchpin for Diana’s illness. It is the story about how holding on to something too tightly can be just as damaging as not holding it enough… or at all. It is the story of how treating mental illness is not an exact science; although doctors offer a range of treatments from pharmacology to talk therapy to hypnosis to even stronger therapies, it is just throwing spaghetti on the wall. It is the story of Natalie and Henry, and how being in the middle of dysfunction and mental illness can affect a teen relationship… and how one can use substances to attempt to run away from problems, but it doesn’t help. Ultimately, it is the story of family, and that things don’t always work out how you expect them, but hopefully they work out for the best.

Concerts and Theatres

Posted onSunday, December 12, 2010Authorcahwyguy

Last night, we went to what might be our last subscription performance at The Pasadena Playhouse. I’m very careful to use the word “performance” here, for I’m not sure how to categorize what we saw last night, except, perhaps, as a “concert”. Much as I love the Pasadena Playhouse, I don’t think of it as a concert venue.

The range of what can be presented on a stage is extremely varied. Your “normal” play, be it a comedy or a drama, typically features fictional characters (or dramatized portrayals of real people) experiencing something and usually growing or changing in some way. Musicals add a musical element to this, using the music as a way of expressing the inner thoughts and emotions of characters in a way that words cannot. On the other end of the spectrum we have simple performances, such as musical concerts where songs are performed without any storyline, or improvisational comedy, where the target is humor, not growth. Again: Performances with no through storyline. Somewhere along this we have the increasingly popular hybrid: the jukebox musical. An example of this is the last show we saw, “Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels” at the Mark Taper Forum. These typically feature groups of actors dramatizing each song individually (“Jacques Brel” is another example of this), or the connecting of a series of songs written by or strongly associated with the same artist with an improvised storyline (“All Shook Up or “Jersey Boys” are examples of this).

This brings us to last night show at the Pasadena Playhouse: “Uptown, Downtown”. This show, which credits no writer, features Leslie Uggams telling her life story tied together with the metaphor of the connections between “Uptown” and “Downtown”. These terms refer to New York, and in this case, refer more specifically to the venues surrounding Harlem (“Uptown”), and the venues surrounding TV and Broadway (“Downtown”). The snippets of Ms. Uggams stories are punctuated by songs associated with the individuals in her life, with a heavy emphasis on Gershwin, Ellington, and other theatrical and jazz artists. Is this performance a show? a musical? a jukebox musical? I don’t think so. Ms. Uggams is a wonderful performer, but she just doesn’t have the body of work associated specifically with her that would permit her to pull off a theatrical jukebox musical. Perhaps the closest comparison of this show is “Liza’s At The Palace”, but even that show featured backup singers and dancers.

So we’re left to the conclusion that what we saw was a concert. When viewed from that perspective, it was a wonderful concert. Ms. Uggams has a wonderful voice (and get this, kids, there’s no autotune either!). She brings a strong jazz and emotional element to her songs, and can elevate a theatrical song into joyous music. But the focus is the music, not the theatricality (contrasted with Liza, who knows how to bring theatricality to joyous music). This doesn’t make it bad—it just makes it a concert.

The conceit of this concert is Ms. Uggams life story. The first half focuses on Uptown and her days at the Apollo. It features tunes made famous by individuals such as Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, Mitch Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, the Platters, and others. The second half focuses on Downtown, and features more theatre songs: Gershwin, Herman, Ellington, as well as songs from her 1968 musical, “Hallilujah Baby”. The music is wonderful to listen to—slow ballads at points and upbeat jazz at other points.

This discussion isn’t meant to imply that Ms. Uggams was alone on the stage, for her entire orchestra was on stage as well… and they were a kick to watch. In some ways, they were obviously having more fun than the audience. The Musical Director (and the apparant conductor at the piano) was Don Rebic. Sal Lozano assembled the orchestra and played sax and flute. John Fumo was on trumpet. Charlie Morillas was on trombone. Gordon Peeke was behind the drums. David Witham was in the back on the synthesizer. Joel Hamilton was having the time of his life rocking away on the bass, and it was obviously that Andrew Synowiec was having fun on guitar. Orchestrations were by Gordon Goodwin and Don Rebic.

The concert was supported by a good technical team. The costumes (a simple purple dress in the first act, a slinkier black dress in the second) were by Tosca New York. Lighting was by Steven Young and was relatively simple. Sound was by Eric Thompson. There were no credits for the simple stage design or the writing of the inter-song dialogue. the production was conceived and directed by Michael Bush. Ronn Goswick was the production stage manager.

The last performance of “Uptown, Downtown” is tonight at 8am.

Turning back to the question of the venue itself, for the Pasadena Playhouse is not a concert venue. The Pasadena Playhouse is first and foremost a playhouse: a home for drama and comedy, perhaps amplified with music. The last two shows presented to subscribers have been individual tour-de-forces (and “FDR” was arguably a drama), but they also possessed simple sets and directions, essentially touring productions sharing the stage and presented to subscribers. They are certainly not what patrons have come to expect from a Pasadena Playhouse production. They were low-cost import productions of high-quality, capable of keeping the Playhouse open and presenting something to subscribers. The Pasadena Playhouse’s next non-rental production, “Dangerous Beauty” appears to be a full show: a full-on period-costume musical with book and verse by Jeannine Dominy, lyrics by Amanda McBroom, music by Michele Brourman, and directed by Sheryl Keller, and with a relatively large cast. They haven’t provided tickets to this to those who donated their subscription. They have also not yet announced any productions beyond this show; certainly, there have been no hints yet of a full season.

Personally, we’re at a crossroads with this theatre (as are the other subscribers to whom I spoke). We were treated poorly during the bankruptcy, and harbor no love for the current management (they haven’t created that sense of family). We don’t have a strong desire to see the upcoming musical based on description and casting alone; we’ll likely wait for the reviews and perhaps get discount tickets. We’ve replaced our Playhouse subscription with one to the Colony Theatre in Burbank—they give that sense of family the Playhouse once had, whlie presenting great theatre at an affordable price. So will we be back at the Playhouse? I think we’ll wait and see.

Upcoming Theatre and Dance. Our next theatre in December (and currently my last theatre for December) is next weekend, when we see “Next to Normal” at the Ahmanson. Our December theatre closes for Karen and Erin on Christmas Eve with “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre (I’m not interested in that particular production, especially at Pantages prices, and haven’t yet decided if I’m going to go to an alternate show… if there even is one that afternoon).

The new year, 2011, starts slow. January is mostly open with only Tom Paxton at McCabes ticketed for my birthday, January 21. I’m exploring getting tickets for “Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein on January 29 at ICT Long Beach (I’m just waiting for tickets to show up on Goldstar or LA Stage Tix). February will bring the first show of the REP 2011 season, “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” (pending ticketing for February 5), followed by “The Marvellous Wonderettes” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on February 12; “Rock of Ages” at the Pantages on February 19. February closes with “Moonlight and Magnolias at the Colony Theatre on February 26. March is also mostly open right now, although March 26 is being held for “The Diary of Anne Frank” at REP East. Of course, I learn of interesting shows all the time, so expect additions to this schedule.

As always: live theatre is a gift and a unique experience, unlike a movie. It is vitally important in these times that you support your local arts institutions. If you can afford to go to the movies, you can afford to go to theatre. If you need help finding ways, just drop me a note and I’ll teach you some tricks. Lastly, I’ll note that nobody paid me anything to write this review, and that I purchase my own tickets to the shows. In fact, I receive no remuneration for any reviews I write.

Songs from an Exceptional Artist

Posted onSunday, November 28, 2010Authorcahwyguy

Song cycles and Jukebox musicals. They’ve been around in musicals forever, going back to shows such as “Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris” in 1968, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” in 1978, and “Sophisticated Ladies” in 1981. They all aim to do the same thing: showcase the songs of a particular performer with a talented cast of between four and eight, creating either a biography or turning each song into a vingette. Some attempt to rummage through an artist’s catalog and form a collection of songs into a through storyline to varying levels of success. Jukebox musicals run hot and cold: when they soar, they are spectacular—I still have strong memories of the performances of the original Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Sophisticated Ladies casts. When they fail, they are quickly forgettable. I’ve seen some in the latter category recently, but I can’t seem to recall them, proving my point. 🙂

Part of the trick of a successful jukebox musical is picking the right artist. The musical of some artists is more melodic and less theatrical. Some artists have songs that are stories in themselves. Randy Newman is one of those latter artists. He has brought a theatrical style to his music going back to his 1968 debut album, “Randy Newman”. When I learned that the Mark Taper Forum was doing a Randy Newman jukebox show. We went to see the show, called “Harps and Angels”, last night, and were not disappointed.

“Harps and Angels” is not one of those musicals that attempts to create a story where one isn’t there. There’s no plotline. It also doesn’t attempt to tell the story of Randy Newman’s life or the chronology of his music, although a few songs are clearly autobiographical. Instead, it presents 35 of Randy Newman’s songs, drawn from most of his albums (although they discussed “12 Songs” in the program, I don’t see any songs from it in the song list). A few songs are linked together thematically, such as “Dixie Flyer” and “Down in New Orleans”, but many are not. Except for the occasional torch song, all are treated as little thematic pieces. As such, it is a great evening of Randy Newman music, which is great if you love Randy’s music. Luckily, I do.

Beyond the artist selected, the success of a show such as this depends heavily on two things: the ability of the director to find the story in each song and theatricalize it, and the abilities of the cast to not only sing the music but make it come to life. Here the Taper succeeds quite well. Jerry Zaks, the director, has worked with Randy Newman (the composer) and Jack Viertel (the conciever) to find the story behind each song, and create nameless characters to tell it. An example of this is the song “Old Man”, sung to an obviously dying father in a hospital bed. Placing the song in this setting imbues it with much more meaning that it had standalone on the album. Of course, some songs are there simply because they are crowd pleasers. In this show, that song is “I Love LA”, which closes each act and has the audience clapping and singing along. Somehow, I don’t think that particular song would get the same reaction were this show to be performed in New York City or San Francisco.

The casting of this show was very strong, and included some performers who you either don’t think of a singers or who you don’t think of in a theatrical context. There were three men and three women. The three men were Michael McKean, Matthew Saldivar, and Ryder Bach. Michael McKean, who perhaps represented Newman himself, we’ve seen before many times in TV (he and David Lander created “Lenny and Squiggy” for Laverne and Shirley) and film (notably, for many, in This is Spinal Tap or A Mighty Wind). McKean is also an accomplished stage actor: we’ve seen him in numerous Pasadena Playhouse productions. Matthew Saldivar we’ve also seen before: he was in the Ahmanson production of “South Pacific”. The third man, Ryder Bach, was new to us. He’s done a few theatrical things, but is best known for his band, The Body Parts. The three women were Katey Sagal, Storm Large, and Adriane Lenox. Katey Sagal is perhaps best known for Married with Children, 8 Simple Rules, or Futurama, but she is also an accomplished singer with a number of CDs, as well as being an original Harlette. Storm Large is not your typical theatrical performer, having only done the occasional musical, but being better known for her tours with her band, “The Balls”. Adriane Lenox is a well known stage, film, and television actress who has done numerous musicals, including being in the original cast of “Beehive”. These six brought not only strong and clear voices to the chosen Newman songs, they brought their wonderful acting abilities to make the songs come to life. It was a delight to watch them.
[All actors are members of Actors Equity ]

The musical staging was by Warren Carlyle, who used the space provided by the Taper quite well. It wasn’t formally choreography, for this wasn’t a heavily dance oriented musical. Musical direction and arrangements were by Michael Roth, who also did the arhcestrations with David O. Roth is a long time orchestrator for Randy Newman. Roth also conducted the 8-piece onstage orchestra (piano, woodwinds, trombone, violin, guitar/keyboard, bass, drums/percussion, and synthesizer).

Technically, the staging was simple. The scenic design by Stephan Olson was basically an empty stage, with just a few props to suggest things within songs. The major scenery was provided either by a c0llection of five moving projection screens (projections by Marc I. Rosenthal) that provided wonderful song-appropriate projections, or by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz’s costumes (such as the wonderful country western costume for “Big Hat, No Castle”). The projections included a few short video pieces with Randy Newman himself (produced by Cinevative). The sound design by Philip G. Allen was clear and crisp, and the lighting design by Brian Gale was beautiful and moving. David S. Franklin was the production stage manager, and Nate Genung was the stage manager.

“Harps and Angels” continues at the Mark Taper Forum until December 22, 2010. You can get tickets through the CTG Online Box office or by calling (213) 628-2772. Note that Hottix should be available as the show isn’t selling out. These are $20 tickets, no service fee, two per telephone call, that may be limited view (but usually aren’t in the Taper). Just call (213) 628-2772, press “3” for the Taper, and ask for Hottix.

Dining Notes: We were coming up from the Winter Sawdust festival in Laguna, and so opted to eat in Little Tokyo. We ended up at T.O.T Restaurant (Teishokuya of Tokyo), which was delightful. It was more traditional style Japanese than sushi bar, including a large variety of bowls and curry rice. Yummy. It was a delightful dinner, topped off by a bit of Pinkberry from across the street.

Upcoming Theatre and Dance. December starts out quietly, due to the upcoming ACSAC conference. Nothing is planned for next weekend; Erin is seeing “Next to Normal” on December 10 with some friends. Our theatre starts up the following evening with “Uptown, Downtown” starring Leslie Uggams at the Pasadena Playhouse on December 11, which is presumably our last subscription show at the Playhouse (we haven’t decided on “Dangerous Beauty” yet, but if we go, it will likely be the Goldstar route). The following weekend bring “Next to Normal” for the whole family at the Ahmanson on December 18. Our December theatre closes for Karen and Erin on Christmas Eve with “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre (I’m not interested in that particular production, especially at Pantages prices, and haven’t yet decided if I’m going to go to an alternate show… if there even is one that afternoon).

The new year, 2011, starts slow. January is mostly open with only Tom Paxton at McCabes ticketed for my birthday, January 21. February will bring the first show of the REP 2011 season, “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” (pending ticketing for February 5), followed by “The Marvellous Wonderettes” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on February 12; “Rock of Ages” at the Pantages on February 19. February closes with “Moonlight and Magnoliasat the Colony Theatre on February 26. March is also mostly open right now, although March 26 is being held for “The Diary of Anne Frank” at REP East. Of course, I learn of interesting shows all the time, so expect additions to this schedule.

Wasn’t That a Party?

Posted onSaturday, November 27, 2010Authorcahwyguy

Epic poems. They have a long and stored place as inspiration for theatre, probably going back to Homer, which was the inspiration for Broadway’s The Golden Apple, among other things. Be it Beowolf (which not only inspired a musical, but a horrible piece of rotoscoping) or Goethe’s Faust (the inspiration for Randy Newman’s Faust), long poems are inspiration for theatre. I mention this because in 1999, an epic poem served as inspiration for not one but two musicals. The poem was “The Wild Party”, written by Joseph Moncure March in 1928, and rediscovered by Art Spiegelman in 1994. The musicals were both titled “The Wild Party”: one was written by Andrew Lippa and premiered in 2000 Off-Broadway; the other was written by Michael John LaChiusa and premiered in 2000 on Broadway. I’ve long had the CDs for both versions. Last night we saw the latter version in a production by the Malibu Stage Company.

This poem tells the story of the vaudeville performer Queenie, her lover Burrs, and the wild party she threw one night in the late 1920s. It begins with the classic lines:

Queenie was a blonde and her age stood still,
And she danced twice a day in vaudeville

From there we learn about Queenie, a fading vaudeville chorine, and her misogynist and borderline racist lover Burrs, a vaudeville comic who performs in blackface. They decide to throw a wild party, complete with bathtub gin, debauchery, and everything that makes life worth living. During this party, we meet Queenie and Burrs’ collection of friends: Kate, Queenie’s conniving rival—a dagger-tongued, former chorine and would-be star; Jackie, a cocaine-sniffing bisexual playboy; Eddie, a washed-up boxer; Eddie’s wife, Mae, a ditzy former chorine; Nadine, Mae’s excitable 14 year old niece (who claims to be 16) who wants to break into vaudeville; Phil and Oscar D’Armano, a black brother act; Dolores Montoya, a diva of indeterminate age and infinite life experience; Miss Madeline True, a lesbian actress and nearly famous stripper; Sally, Madeline’s comatose girlfriend; Gold and Goldberg, two vaudeville producers with Broadway ambitions; and Black, Kate’s date and a bargain basement moocher. As the party escalates, we learn the story of each of these characters, and see the debauchery that was the 1920s. We’re treated to adultery, bisexuality, cocaine, drinking, incest, rape. It is a circus on stage, with action taking place on every corner. As the jazz and the gin flow, the orgy starts, and by the end of the evening, the midnight debauchery leads to destroyed lives. Ultimately, in the light of morning, comes the reminder that those who fly high land with a thud, especially when the mask and artificial face we put out to the world is removed.

The Malibu Stage Company did a reasonably good job with this production. As it started, I was unsure: some of the performers seemed a little amateurish or too old for the role, but as they warmed up and I got into the story, that made sense. These weren’t young vaudevillians in their prime; these were aging performers who had been worn down by the vaudeville life, trying to preserve their youth in any way they could. As such, the actors and the characters grew on me and I became fascinated with trying to watch these people and learn about them. Credit goes to the director, Julia Holland, assisted by Marti Maniates, who kept the action going everywhere on the set: it was literally a circus on the stage with numerous things and actions to watch and story unfolding everywhere. This was a wild party on stage.

The actors were not slouches either (and looking back at who I particularly liked, you could really tell the Equity folks). In the leading character positions were Krista Sutton^æ as Queenie and Casey Zeman^æ at Burrs. Krista was just spectacular: she embodied Queenie in movement, in style, and most importantly for me, in facial expression. She gave off the impression as somone who simulatanously loved to party, but was also tired of the party life and the work it took. She was older but beautiful; someone who loved hard and had the experience to love spectacularly. This all came across in Krista’s performance. Casey’s Burrs was powerful in a different way: he was a fierce man with strong passions. This was a man that was capable of violence. He wanted to party, but he wanted Queenie for himself. In Casey’s performance you could see the artiface come down as the liquor came out. Both were spectacular.

The party guests were also fascinating to watch. There were a number who just drew my eye whenever they were the focus of attention. The first was Danni Katz^æ as Nadine, the naive 14 16 year old. Katz was a spectacular tap dancer, and did a great job of portraying someone who started out innocent, got drawn into the debauchery, and ended up with more than she could handle. As her Aunt Mae, Leslie Beauvais^æ gave a great performance as the former chorine who gave up her life to marry a famous boxer. As that boxer, Eddie, Oscar Best exuded power both in performance and voice. Zack DiLiberto was strong as Black, a pretty young man using his looks and his talents with women to get ahead in the world. I also enjoyed the acting of the two producer, Gold and Goldberg, portrayed by Lenny Goldsmith and Richard Johnson^æ, respectively. These two did an excellent job of providing the view of the non-partying crowd; their reactions to the party as it drew them in mirrored the reactions of the audience.

The remainder of the party guests were all well performed, but stuck out less individually in my mind. As Kate, Charleene Closshey^æ portrayed the rival to Queenie and date of Black, who seemed to have been the embodiment of the current term frenemy. As Queenie says, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer”. Brent Moon portrayed Jackie, the bisexual debonair playboy addicted to cocaine. Pam Duke-Van Ierland was Miss Madeline True, the fading stripper, with Bonnie Frank as Sally, her comatose lesbian date. Danny DeLloyd and Wallace DeMarria portrayed Phil and Oscar D’Armano, a vaudeville brother performing team. Lastly, Susan Kohler^æ portrayed Delores, another aging vaudeville performer who wanted to be back on the stage, and seduced Gold and Goldberg to get her way.
[^æ denotes members of Actors Equity ]

Rick Friend served as musical director, and led the 5-piece onstage band, which provided great music. Natalie Rubenstein choreographed the piece, providing period-appropriate dances and continuous movement.

Turning to the technical side: The set (designed by Diane Hertz and Kim Brown) captured the period well, including the decadance of using jars for the gin and the glasses. The costumes by Shon LeBlanc of Valentino’s Costumes were appropriately period (although I expected them to be a bit more revealing), but they didn’t seem to cooperate as the actors expected. Beverly Heusser did the makeup and hair: I liked the hairstyles (especially Queenie’s, which was done by Julia Blanchette) and Natalie’s), but there was a little too much glitter for my taste.

More problematic were the sound and lights. Although they had a new sound system (donated by Dick Van Dyke), the sound was off: at times (especially in the beginning) the sound was muffled and sounded distant. Perhaps the sound engineer, Murray Shaw, is still tuning the system. The static lighting, designed by Ryan Wandler, was pretty good, but there were numerous problems with the follow spot: it kept missing the actors it was intended to light, and kept moving in odd distracting ways.

The production was produced by Diane Peterson and Julia Holland, assisted by Jeremy Johnson. David Yardley was stage manager, assisted by Caitland Smuin. The artistic director of Malbu Stage Company is Richard Johnson.

Michael John LaChiusa’s “The Wild Party” continues at Malibu Stage Company until December 5, 2010. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tix or by calling the box office at (310) 589-1998. Tickets are also available via Goldstar Events. Malibu Stage Company is located 700 yards west of the intersection of Kanan Dume Road and PCH, just off of PCH.

Dining Notes: We had dinner at Coral Beach Cantina, which was near the theatre. Simple but good Mexican food, without the Malibu foodie prices.

Upcoming Theatre and Dance. This evening brings our last November show: “Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels” at the Mark Taper Forum (ticketed for Saturday November 27). December will bring “Uptown, Downtown” starring Leslie Uggams at the Pasadena Playhouse on December 11, “Next to Normal” at the Ahmanson on December 18, and for Karen and Ern, “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre on December 24 (I’m not interested in that particular production, especially at Pantages prices).

Looking briefly into 2011: January is mostly open with only Tom Paxton at McCabes ticketed for my birthday, January 21. February will bring the first show of the REP 2011 season, “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” (pending ticketing for February 5), followed by “The Marvellous Wonderettes” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on February 12; “Rock of Ages” at the Pantages on February 19. February closes with “Moonlight and Magnoliasat the Colony Theatre on February 26. March is also mostly open right now, although March 26 is being held for “The Diary of Anne Frank” at REP East. Of course, I learn of interesting shows all the time, so expect additions to this schedule.

Rivalry, Revenge, and Retribution

Posted onSunday, November 21, 2010Authorcahwyguy

A basic human drive is rivalry, and it is the center of many a dramatic or comedic play. We saw it last week in “Bell, Book, and Candle” in the rivalry between Gillian and the unseen Merle Kittridge. We saw it again in this week’s play, “Amadeus” (written by Peter Shaffer), currently running at the Repertory East Playhouse in Newhall CA until December 11, 2010.

“Amadeus” (you may have seen the motion picture) tells the story of the rivalry between Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart… or should I say imagined rivalry, for Mozart didn’t see Salieri as a rival, whereas Salieri saw Mozart as a rival in God’s eyes. The story is told in flashback, from Salieri’s point of view, as Salieri is dying. He is attempting to confess to killing Mozart by relating the story of how he did the deed. He begins by telling how he dedicated his life to praising God through music, but when he saw Mozart’s music, realized that God had forsaken him and chosen Mozart to be his voice. Further, Salieri saw that Mozart was a base and callow fellow, a pottymouthed, childish prodigy, further cementing the notion that the gift must be from God. At the moment of that realization, Salieri vows to make God abandon his chosen voice. Much of the play is Salieri relating how he believes his actions created the situations that drove Mozart deeper into poverty, dispair, and eventual destitution. At the end, Mozart is dead in his 30s, but Salieri lives on another 25 years being elevated in fame, only to know that everlasting fame and retribution will be Mozart’s, for it will be Mozart’s music that survives. Salieri eventually commits suicide so that his name will at least live in infamy, but fails in that as well.

The REP performance of “Amadeus” was outstanding, thanks to the firm directoral hand of O. Michael Owston (artistic director of REP East) and the talents of the actors. It is hard to separate the two of them, as I learned during the talkback, for the director would make a suggestion as to how to do a scene, and the actors would bring their talent to the realization of the scene.

At the lead of the talented acting ensemble was Daniel Lench^æ as Antonio Salieri. This is an exhausting role, for Salieri is the driving force behind the story, on stage 100% of the time. Lench pulled it off with perfection, capturing the intensity and passion behind the role. The performance was riveting to watch, and well deserving of the standing ovation it received. Also in this performance tier were Daniel Sykes as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Amber Van Schwinn as Constanze Weber Mozart. Sykes captured well the playful child that this play purports Mozart to be, while still providing glimmers of the talented prodigy. He also captured well the descent and how the child-man was unable to reconcile that with his youth. Van Schwinn was a delight to watch as Constanze, for her playfulness came through in her performance in her face, in her movement, and in a general glow. All three were just amazing and are not to be missed.

The second group of actors that were fun to watch were Bess Fanning^æ and Kyle Johnson as the Venticellis. These were the spies (for lack of a better term) for Salieri, bringing him information and rumors about Mozart. Again, their playfullness and their facial expressions and movements just made the characters come alive. Rounding out the cast, in supporting roles, were Harry Bennett^æ (Emperor Joseph II), Mikee Van Schwinn (Baron Gottried Van Swieten), Michael Levine (Court Orsini-Rosenberg), John Morris (Johann Kilian Von Strack), and Carole Catanzaro (Katherina Cavalieri).
[^æ denotes members of Actors Equity ]

The technical side of the production was handled by a mix of REP regulars and some new folk. On the regular side, we were treated to the always excellent set design by Jeff Hyde, the sound design by Steven “Nanook” Burkholder, and the lighting design by Tim Christianson. The set was augmented by the scenic design by Katie Mitchell, and the two combined created a warm 18th century facility with a beautiful wooden pseudo-harpsichord (which alas, was non-functional, leading to recorded music which perhaps was the one weakness of the show… but then again, teaching actors to play Mozart flawlessly in limited time is difficult). The costumes were by Tonya Nelson of No Strings Attached Costumes and were wonderful to watch (although I imagine not wonderful to be in). Erik Klein served as Stage Manager.

“Amadeus” continues at REP East until December 11, 2010. Go see it, for it is excellent. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box Office or by calling (661) 288-0000. The REP has announced the 2011/7^th season: ~~“Moonlight and Magnolias”~~ “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” (January 21-February 19); “The Diary of Anne Frank (Mary 11-April 16); “Cabaret” (May 13-June 18); “Jewtopia” (July 15-July 30); “Doubt” (August 12-August 27); “Laughter on the 23^rd Floor (Sept. 16-October 22); and “The Graduate” (November 18-December 17). Member Circle season tickets (2 tickets to each show) are $230 adult/$200 student & senior; Patron Circle (1 ticket to each show) is $120 Adult/$110 student & senior. Call the REP for information on subscribing or information on additional packages.

Upcoming Theatre and Dance. November closes with two shows: “The Wild Party” at Malibu Stage Company on Friday November 26, and “Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels” at the Mark Taper Forum (ticketed for Saturday November 27). December will bring “Uptown, Downtown” starring Leslie Uggams at the Pasadena Playhouse on December 11, “Next to Normal” at the Ahmanson on December 18, and for Karen and Ern, “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre on December 24 (I’m not interested in that particular production, especially at Pantages prices).

A Bewitching Production

Posted onSunday, November 14, 2010Authorcahwyguy

The supernatural seems to hold great fascination with the creative. Be it vampires, werecreatures, witches, goblins, zombies, or ghouls, you can be sure that there are stories about them, and these stories will show up on the stage, the movie screen, and various personal entertainment venues. That said, these stories come in waves. The current “in thing” is vampires, but at one time, witches were everywhere (you can see some here, and there’s a real good discussion of the subject here). From the witches of Shakespeare to Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, from Samantha to the Charmed-trio, from the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz to Elphaba in Wicked, they keep reappearing. Their portrayal ranges from the scary hag to the frothy CYT (cute young thing), with some being both (cough, Shannon Dougherty, cough). With this wide variety, did they have anything in common? I think so. First, the witch was the embodiement of the powerful woman, with how the witch was ultimately treated in the story reflective of the pervailing attitude towards powerful women. Second, these were women you did not want to cross: for with all witches, revenge is a dish to be served with embellishment and encrustations.

I mention all of this a prelude, for last night went to the Colony Theatre in Burbank to see a play about a witch: “Bell, Book, and Candle” (BB&C), witten by John Van Druten in 1948. There are some who say this was one of the insprations for the 1960s TV series “Bewitched”; it was made into a movie starting James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Jack Lemmon in 1958. BB&C is the story about a young beautiful witch who casts a spell on a young man to make him love her…. and what happens afterwards. I should note that in Van Druten’s witch-mythology, there are a few rules: witches cannot love, cannot blush, and cannot cry, and if they fall in love, they lose their powers.

Oh, you want a more detailed synopsis to see if this really inspired Bewitched. In the mid-1950s, Gillian Holroyd, a beautiful young witch, returns to her brownstone in NYC and falls in lust with her upstairs tenant, Shepherd Henderson. After meeting him, she indicates to her brother, Nicky and her aunt, Queenie, that she is going to try to make him fall in love with her without using magic. But when she learns that he is engaged to her college rival, Merle Kittridge, she casts a spell on him and he falls in love with her. She also uses a spell to bring Sidney Redlitch, an author of a book on witchcraft that Shepherd wants to publish, to her apartment. The relationship between Gillian and Shepherd is going well and lustily… until he proposes to her. She accepts and decides to give up witchcraft. When Nicky reveals that he is working with Redlitch on a book about New York witches, she is forced to use witchcraft to prevent publication, and outs herself as a witch to Shepherd. He’s OK with that, until he learns from Aunt Queenie that the spell was primarily because of the rivalry with Merle. He pays $5,000 to have the spell broken and leaves, and Gillian then learns that she is without powers, for she has fallen in love. Will they get back together? C’mon, what do you think?

As usual, we need to look at this in two ways: how well does the story hold together, and how well was it executed on the stage. The story was a 1950s romantic comedy. Cute, frothy, and reflective of the time. If we look at it from today’s point of view, we see a powerful independent woman who has to have her man to be happy, and once she gets him, she loses her power and independence. That’s very 1950s: if the story was sent today, either the lusty relationship would be sufficient, or when the eventual marriage happens, Gillian would regain her powers. But for what the story was, it was fun to watch. It was two hours of escapism where you didn’t have the urge to look at your watch.

Of course, this was helped by the excellent actors. In the lead positions were Willow Geer as Gillian Holroyd and Michael A. Newcomer as Shepherd Henderson. These two had a youthful loving chemistry together and were a delight to watch. Geer, a young beautiful redhead, did a wonderful job of projecting a 1950s urbane image; you could easily see her out at nightclubs, mixing martinis, and making men bow to her will with just her smile. Newcomer was a great foil: a handsome sharp young fellow who knew what he wanted and thought he was in control of his life… until he suddenly fell in love. In the supporting positions were Will Bradley as Gillian’s brother, Nicky, and Mary Jo Catlett as Aunt Queenie. Bradley captured the young bachelor with the playful, troublemaking side quite well; we’ve seen him before as Mordred in the Pasadena Playhouse “Camelot” where he was a similar young troublemaker. Catlett plays the doddering aunt with great comic timing—we’ve seen her in similar roles on Diff’rent Strokes and numerous other productions. Rounding out the cast was Benton Jennings as the author Sidney Redlitch.

All of the actors were members of Actors Equity. This is a footnote you often see me write, but I want to highlight it this time because all the actors did in their bios. Bradley wrote “He’d like to thank … everyone at the Colony for … allowing him to live an uncompromised life.” Catlett noted that the Colony was “Equity Actor Friendly”. Geer commended the Colony for “sticking to the union” (a phrase that reflects her family upbringing as the daughter of Ellen Geer and the granddaughter of Will Geer). Jennings noted his AEA membership prominently, and Newcomer explicitly thanked the Colony “for operating with an Equity contract that provides for pension and health.” The last indicates why this is important: AEA, an actors union, helps to ensure the things in life that an actor needs: income, health benefits, and decent working conditions. Not all of the theatres in LA can accord Equity actors: for example, both REP and Cabrillo tend to use a mix of Equity and non-Equity—the REP due to its size (81 seats), and Cabrillo due to its nature as a regional talent house. Larger theatres such as the Ahmanson and the Pantages are 100% equity. But mid-sized theatres are often in a bind, and thus it is nice to see a smaller >99 seat theatre have the strong commitment to providing actors with a decent working environment. But I digress…

The production was directed by Richard Israel, with whom we are familiar from shows such as “Big”, “Assassins”, and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”). Israel helped the talented cast to excel in their portrayals of these characters. Leesa Freed (also an AEA member) was the Production Stage Manager. Barbara Beckley is the artistic director, and I commend her for doing something I love: introducing every show with humor and warmth that makes you feel a part of the Colony family. To me, this turns a theatre from a cold presenting property to a warm place where you feel like you are a team member with the actors and the producing team.

Turning to the technical, where the Colony is blessed with a pool of regular excellent talent. Stephen Gifford did the scenic design, creating a 1950s apartment with wonderful danish-modern touches, and the requisite minibar. Set dressing and props were by MacAndME. Costume Designer Sharon McGunigle captured the 1950s well with Gillian’s dresses and Shepherd’s stylish suits with narrow ties. Cricket S. Myers did her usual excellent job with the sound and sound effects (I particularly liked the tinkling in the background for magic), and Luke Moyer did an effective job with the lighting, including well timed snap cues. Robert T. Kyle was the technical director.

“Bell, Book, and Candle” continues at the Colony Theatre for one more week, ending on November 21. Ticketing information is here. The Colony Theatre is located in Burbank, next to the Burbank Mall, in the parking structure near Ikea. Two productions remain in the Colony season: “Moonlight and Magnolias” (running February 2–March 6, 2011) and “The All-Night Strut (March 30–May 1, 2011). I’ll note that “Moonlight and Magnolias” will be at REP East approximately the same time (January 21–February 19), allowing one to compare and contrast an 81-seat theatre production with a mix of Equity and non-Equity actors with a 276-seat 100% Equity production. Knowing both producing teams well, I’m sure both will be excellent and it will be interesting to see the nuanced differences. I must note, however, that the Colony had it scheduled first .

Upcoming Theatre and Dance. Next week brings “Amadeus” at REP East (ticketed for November 21). November closes with two shows: “The Wild Party” at Malibu Stage Company on Friday November 26, and “Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels” at the Mark Taper Forum (ticketed for Saturday November 27). December will bring “Uptown, Downtown” starring Leslie Uggams at the Pasadena Playhouse on December 11, “Next to Normal” at the Ahmanson on December 18, and for Karen and Ern, “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre on December 24 (I’m not interested in that particular production, especially at Pantages prices).

Looking briefly into 2011: January is mostly open with only Tom Paxton at McCabes ticketed for my birthday, January 21. February will bring the first show of the REP 2011 season, “Moonlight and Magnolia” (pending ticketing for February 5), followed by “The Marvellous Wonderettes” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on February 12; “Rock of Ages” at the Pantages on February 19. February closes with the 2^nd production of “Moonlight and Magnolias, this time at the Colony Theatre on February 26. March is also mostly open right now, although March 26 is being held for “The Diary of Anne Frank” at REP East. Of course, I learn of interesting shows all the time, so expect additions to this schedule.