Tag: reviews-2012

People think of Hollywood as this liberal community, but is it really? There is often this image of Hollywood as accepting and full of gay actors, but is it really? Does the public accept gay actors in major action adventure roles? What would happen if a major action adventure actor (think an Arnold Schwarzenegger,  Tom Cruise or Bruce Willis type) were to be revealed as gay–what would happen to their career (for a clue, look at the recent kerfluffle over John Travolta)? These are the questions asked by a new musical, “Justin Love“ (FB), we saw yesterday afternoon at The Celebration Theatre in West Hollywood. Short summary: Interesting questions, and an interesting exploration of the subject that generally worked well. You can see some pictures from the production in this article from LA Stage Times.

“Justin Love” (book by Patricia Cotter (FB) and David Elzer (FB), story by David Elzer and Bret Calder) tells the story of Justin Rush (Adam Huss (FB)*), one of Hollywood’s most popular action-adventure actors. Justin is married to Amanda Bell (Carrie St. Louis (FB)+), a beautiful actress; and their 5 year marriage is constantly in the public eye. It also tells the story of Chris Andrews (Tyler Ledon (FB)), a young man newly arrived in Hollywood from Michigan; Chris came out as gay to his parents in High School, and has come to Hollywood to be a writer. In short order, Chris finds an apartment with a roommate/boyfriend, Donovan (Terrance Spencer (FB)*) and a temp job working for a publicist. In fact, he isn’t working for any publicist but for Justin’s publicist, Buck Ralston (Alet Taylor (FB)*), a demanding woman who chews through staff assistants. Having just fired the latest crop of assistants, Buck promotes Chris from Temp to Assistant.  Adding to the stress is the fact that Donovan has a new boyfriend, Syd (Grant Jordan (FB)*), and is not only having trysts in the apartment, but has convinced Chris to let both Donovan and Syd stay in the apartment.

Trouble begins when Justin arrives early for an appointment with Buck, and while reading lines, begins to be attracted to Chris. The feeling is mutual, and the two begin to date. Meanwhile, Amanda has bumped into one of the paparazzi, Mitch Matthews (Ciarán McCarthy (FB)*), who turns out to have (a) been attracted to her and (b) attended the same high school. The two relationships continue to grow and mature, until one night when the two couples bump into each other at Justin’s mansion. After some awkward moments, they separate, but not before Mitch takes a picture of Justin and Chris. Justin and Chris return to Chris’ apartment, where they bump into Donovan and Syd… who also take a picture, and just send it to one friend. Of course, the picture goes viral, and the rumor mill starts. Buck attempts to damp down the rumors, which destroys two real relationships while preserving the image of Justin and Amanda that the world demands. But does it? Will true love triumph in the end? Will the pubic accept it? [You probably know the answer, given that this is a musical, after all]

Looking at the story alone, I found it very compelling. It was well-written, and quickly drew the audience into caring about the characters and the relationships. I found myself thinking that this story would be effective even without the music, which is the sign of a well-written book. The story exhibited good character growth for all the major characters, each having their own distinct obstacles and arc to deal with. The story also included many highly topical and recent references, which highlighted the fact that the story is one that could be playing out today. Although those references added to the entertainment, keeping them up to date may prove difficult as the production solidifies over its lifetime. Also entertaining was the over-the-top portrayal of the publicist, Buck. Actually, I’m not sure whether it is over-the-top or realistic, given that one of the authors of Justin Love, David Elzer, is a major publicist in the Los Angeles theatre scene. Quite likely, he knows of which he writes — which makes the publicist’s portrayal even scarier as it is realistic! I’ll also note that Elzer’s experiences as a gay member of the Hollywood community provide significant coloration and experience to the story, providing the underlying truth that makes this story so effective.

If there was any weakness in the production, it was in the musicalization. I haven’t quite put my finger on the exact problem, but I do know that part of it was technical (which is discussed below). Setting that aside, I think that a minor problem with the music (by Lori Scarlett (FB)) and the lyrics (by Lori Scarlett (FB) and David Manning) was a perceived lack of variety. I say perceived because I think the problem was more the orchestration (by John Ballinger (FB)) than the actual music and lyrics. The small number of instruments and the lack of any brass made all the songs sound similar, even though a closer listen showed that not to be the case. This was a bit more of a problem in Act I due to the technical problem. There were a number of songs that were quite good: I was particularly taken with “The Light I See In You” and “Don’t Shit Where You Eat” in Act II, the closing “Hollywood Ending” number, and “Chasing the Story” and “Downey High” in Act I. Also hilarious was the Act II opening number, “When Your Love is New”, which had more fairy wings than a day at the Ren Faire, except that these were appropriate.

The performances in “Justin Love” were top-notch. The director, Michael Matthews (FB)**, did a great job of working with the actors to bring all the characters to life. The only directoral flaw was an artifact of the performance venue, where the audiences is seated on the sides as well as in front of the actors. For those on the side, much of the action (and a fair bit of the dialogue) was lost. The production would have been superb on a proscenium stage, so some minor directorial adjustments need to be made for Celebration’s thrust-stage layout.

However, as I said, the acting was great. In the leading tier of actors were Adam Huss (FB)* as Justin Rush, Tyler Ledon (FB)  as Chris Andrews, and Alet Taylor (FB)* as Buck Ralson. This was our first time seeing Huss — he gave a wonderfully effective portrayal of Justin, making Justin believable as a normal guy in an artificial world, discovering who he wants to be, what he wants out of life, and how he wants to get there. He could sing and dance well, and was fun to watch. We’d seen Ledon before in “The Robber Bridegroom“, and he was very effective here as well. You could see that he enjoyed this role. He did a great job of bringing Chris to life — a midwestern boy new to love and the Hollywood rat race and artificiality. Again, he was a strong singer and dancer as well. We particularly get to see the strong singing of these two men in the number “The Light I See In You”. Taylor is a regular on the LA Theatre scene — we’ve seen her at ICT, NoHo Arts, and Cabrillo, and she is great in everything she is in. Her character here is very strong willed and bitchy, and she pulls that off quite well. Her singing and dancing are great, and are best seen in the “Don’t Shit Where You Eat” number.

In the supporting tier of actors were Carrie St. Louis (FB)+ as Amanda Bell, Ciarán McCarthy (FB)* as Mitch Matthews, Terrance Spencer (FB)* as Donovan (and others), and Grant Jordan (FB)* as Syd (and others).  I was particularly smitten by St. Louis’ Amanda: she was lovely and personable, and just seemed to be a normal person trapped in a world that exploded around her far too fast. She played well off of McCarthy’s Mitch, making the two a believable couple. Furthermore, you could tell these two actors were just having fun with their roles — this is something I like to see and something that the audience feeds off of. They sang well, particularly in the “Downey High” number. We haven’t seen St. Louis or McCarthy before, but I do hope to see them again on LA stages. Spencer and Jordan seemed to be more of a comic relief duo (in particular Jordan). This runs the risk of being overdone, but these two did it perfectly (at points, in fact, seeming making the other actors chuckle). A cute playful couple, especially in Jordan’s use of stereotypical and colorful phrases. We have seen Spencer before in Twist at the Pasadena Playhouse, and he put his great dancing skills to good use in this performance as well. Jordan was very good with the comedy timing.

Rounding out the cast in smaller roles and ensemble positions were Afton Quast (FB)* as Sue (and others), Gina Torrecilla (FB)* as Mary Price (and others), Travis Leland (FB)+ as Lou (and others), Sabrina Miller (FB)* (Ensemble), and Adam Joseph Reich (FB)* (Ensemble). All were strong and seemed to be enjoying being in this production. Quast and Torrecilla especially seemed to be having fun as the “hosts” of ET-type programs. As I’ve been noting who we’ve seen before, we can add Miller (who we saw in Cabrillo’s Guys and Dolls), Reich (Cabaret at REP East), and Leland (Adding Machine at Odyssey).
(*: Member of Actor’s Equity; +: Member of Actor’s Equity Membership Candidate Program; **: Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society; ***: Member of United Scenic Artists)

The choreography by Janet Roston (FB) (assisted by Jackie Hinton (FB)) used the small space quite well, and was very effective in numbers such as “Chasing the Story” and “Don’t Shit Where You Eat”. The onstage (but behind scenery) band was under the musical direction of Gregory Nabours (FB). The band consisted of Nabours on keyboard, J. J. Brown on bass, Brian Cannady/FB on drums, and David Lee on guitar. The size of the band was obviously constrained by the production limitations, but this production would be improved by a greater variety of instrumentation (in particular, brass and winds) and more variety in the orchestration. Additionally, for those seated on the side (as we were, seemingly in front of the keyboard), the volume of the band often made it difficult to hear the lyrics. This was likely a sound-balance problem and may improve over the run. Ryan Bergmann (FB) and June Carryl (FB) served as assistant directors.

As mentioned before, the sound balance needs to be improved. I’m sure that, for those sitting in front of the actors, the sound design by Cricket S. Myers (FB)*** was great. On the sides, it was often difficult to hear the actors, especially over the music. Hopefully this will be corrected by adjusting the amplification and micing during the run. Other than the balance problem, the sound design and effects worked well. The lighting by Tim Swiss (FB) (assisted by Zack Lapinski (FB)) was effective and established the mood well. Also effective were the projection designs by Jason H. Thompson (FB)*** (assisted by Kaitlyn Pietras (FB)): these did a wonderful job of establishing the mood, and I loved how they weren’t static but incorporated movement of the actors. The scenic design by Stephen Gifford (FB)*** was effective and simply, conveying the locations without being overdone (which worked well on the small stage); this was supported by the properties design of Michael O’Hara. The costumes (designed by Naila Aladdin Sanders (FB)) worked particularly well, especially those for Amanda, Justin, and Chris. The technical direction by Matthew Brian Denman (FB) held it all together, as did the stage management of Marcedes Clanton (FB), assisted by Rebecca Eisenberg (FB).

“Justin Love“ continues at The Celebration Theatre through at least November 18. Tickets are available through the Celebration Box Office (Vendini) or by calling (393) 957-1884, and may be available through Goldstar Events, LA Stage Alliance, and Plays411 (join to get discount codes). The production is well worth seeing and I hope it has a long life.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  For the last weekend in September, we’ve decided to avoid Carmageddon II by going north to Saugus to see “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. October brings some traveling for family with the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno, and Karen will be travelling for the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. Still, what’s a month without theatre, so… October will start out with “The Fantasticks“ at Theatre West on 10/6. That will be followed by “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre on 10/13, “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages on 10/27, and “1776” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on 10/28. Continuing the look ahead: November will bring “Moonlight and Magnolias” at REP East, which is booked for the end of the month. It may also bring “Seminar” at The Ahmanson Theatre (still undecided on ticketing; another possibility is “Ruddigore” at the Sierra Madre Playhouse) and may bring a concert performance of Raul Esparza at VPAC, especially if Erin flies in for it (he’s singing on her birthday). Non-theatrically, it will also bring “Day Out with Thomas” at OERM (certainly on some or all of Veterans Day weekend – November 10-11). Lastly, to close out the year, December has nothing formally scheduled (other than ACSAC), but will likely bring “Anything Goes” at the Ahmanson, and may bring “Judy Collins” at VPAC. Lastly, what few dates we do have open may be filled by productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read (I particularly recommend Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times).

Camp. Usually, when I talk about camp, I’m referring to an excellent facility in Malibu, but this time I’m referring to the theatrical meaning: “deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect“. Now consider two “camp” musicals: one based upon a completely serious movie that won Best Picture in 1991; the other was based on a movie that was nominated for “Worst Picture” in the first year of the Razzie Awards. Very different sources… and yet both succeed. The first succeeds because it takes its material seriously and is faithful to it; the second succeeds because it goes beyond its material to construct a show that the New York Times called “simultaneously indefensible and irresistible” (which it is). How do I know this? Last week I saw the former–“Silence! The Musical“. This week, I was at the DOMA Theatre group (at the Met Theatre) where I saw the latter–“Xanadu (on Broadway)“.

The 1980s were an interesting time. I know — I was there, in college, at UCLA. Olivia Newton John was at the top of the pop charts, and was coming off her success in the film version of the musical “Grease“. Her next film, however, was a box office disaster (although the album went double platinum): “Xanadu“. Xanadu, which also starred Gene Kelly in his last non-documentary performance, told the improbable story of Sonny,  a record jacket artist. Sonny thinks his art is going nowhere and is about to give up when he is to paint an album cover for a group called The Nine Sisters. The cover features a beautiful woman passing in front of an art deco auditorium; this same woman collided with him earlier that day, kissed him, then roller-skated away, and Malone becomes obsessed with finding her. He finds her at the same (but now abandoned) auditorium. The woman is Kira, and she inspires him to revive the theatre and turn it into a roller disco. Kira is, in reality, Terpsichore, a greek muse, come to Earth disguised with roller skates and an Australian accent. She also inspired Danny Maguire, who originally built the threatre. The story goes on from there — you can read the full synopsis on Wikipedia — but it gets sillier. The only redeeming aspect of the movie was the music — all Olivia Newton John and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). For the stage production, the music is credited to Jeff Lynne (who wrote the ELO songs) and John Farrar (who wrote the Newton-John songs). There were a few additional songs interpolated into the stage production.

In the mid-2000s, original producer Rob Ahrens came to book-writer Douglas Carter Beane with an idea.. an idea to take the film Xanadu and put it on stage. After a number of drafts and rewritings (all detailed in the liner notes to the CD) they came up with a book that kept the basic plot of the movie, but added elements of Clash of the Titans and more Greek mythology. The end result was a story whose goal was just to have fun: it could be self-referential and break the fourth wall; it could be a commentary on the state of the arts in the 1980s (a year that saw Barnum and Evita nominated as the best musicals), as well as a commentary on the state of society. In other words, it was fluff that knew it was fluff, and decided that since it was fluff, it was going to have fun.

The end story was as follows (edited down from Wikipedia): Chalk artist Sonny Malone is dissatisfied with his sidewalk mural of the Greek Muses and determines to kill himself. On Mount Olympus, Clio (the muse of history) convinces her eight sisters to travel to Venice Beach (rising out of the sidewalk mural) to inspire Sonny. Zeus’s rules require that Muses must always be disguised from mortals, so Clio wears roller skates and leg warmers, sports an Australian accent, and changes her name to Kira. Kira inspires Sonny to combine all the arts and “something athletic” all into one spectacular entertainment: a roller disco. Two of Clio’s sisters, Melpomene (the oldest sister, and the muse of tragedy) and Calliope (the muse of epics), are jealous that Clio is the leader of the Muses and that Zeus had promised “Xanadu” to her. . So they plot to discredit Clio and cause her banishment by tricking her into breaking one of Zeus’s rules: a Muse must not fall in love with a mortal, so they will curse “Kira” and Sonny to fall in love. Sonny finds a good location for the roller disco–a long-abandoned theater in Los Angeles called “Xanadu.” Inspired to locate the owner, he sets up a meeting with real estate mogul Danny Maguire. At the meeting, Sonny tries to convince Danny to donate the theater for the roller disco, because it would bring the arts to the district and drive up real estate values (yeah, like theatre does good things for a neighborhood :-)). But Danny scoffs, even though he had plans to open the theater himself, once upon a time, when he was inspired by an old love and dance partner of his, who looked suspiciously like “Kira,” named Kitty. But a flashback convinces him to redeem himself now by opening the roller disco with Sonny. Danny finds Sonny and tells him that if he can get the disco up and running in one day, he’ll give him 25% of the take from the Disco. Sonny finds “Kira” and tells her the good news. She is not impressed with the deal that he has cut. The evil sisters work their curse, and the winged Eros, along with “Mama Cupid”, shoots “Kira” and Sonny with the arrows of love. “Kira” is soon overwhelmed with guilt over her loving feelings and of having created her own art (a hand-drawn picture) alongside Sonny – both violations of Zeus’s restrictions on the Muses. With the help of some of the muses, “Kira” and Sonny fix up the old theater, and Danny agrees to go ahead with the opening. Clio realizes that she is falling in love with Sonny and tells him that she must leave. To make it worse for Clio, the evil sisters offer Danny piles of money if he will tear down the theater and build condos. Danny can’t resist and tells Sonny that the deal is off. “Kira” comes back to tell Sonny that she loves him, but the evil sisters tell her that she has broken Zeus’s rules, and that she must tell Sonny the truth. So “Kira” reveals all to Sonny, including that her name is Clio, but he does not believe her and is upset. He suggests that she is a crackpot. He also doubts that she really loves him, and she is angry and hurt. The evil sisters have triumphed, and Kira sets off for Mount Olympus to receive her punishment from Zeus. Meanwhile, Sonny and Danny discuss “Kira” and after seeing her in the sky, it all makes sense. Danny tells Sonny not to let go of his muse because of foolish pride as he once did back in the 1940s. Sonny, realizing that he really loves “Kira,” decides to find her – even if it means climbing Mount Olympus. I’ll leave the actual end open.

A silly story. As you can see, there were a number of changes from the movie. The mural aspect was brought back and the record album cover stuff was dropped (along with some stupid subplots). The Greek mythology aspects were strengthened, and the notion of evil sisters wanting to get even (common in Greek stories) was brought in. Further, the story built up the comedy, as two of the muses (comedy and dance) are actually played by men. Doma expanded on this a bit more, adding in references to current Los Angeles and the current weather, as well as amping up the commentary on the state of the theatre. It worked, and worked well. The story itself ended up being a fun-filled romp. The credit for keeping this a success probably goes to the director, Hallie Baran (FB), who make successful tweaks and kept the environment fun.

But the story isn’t everything. It takes a talented performance team to bring it to life. For this, DOMA’s team was about 95% there. They were strong in the acting and fun department, great in the roller skating, and just a tad weaker at points in the singing and dancing (although perfection is not the goal of this musical). In the lead positions were Lovlee Carroll* (FB) as Clio/Kira and Matt O’Neill* (FB) as Sonny Malone. Carroll was great as Clio/Kira, although at times the Australian accent overtook her. She was good at singing and movement, and had the comic moves down well. Her look wasn’t quite what I expected (she’s not an ONJ-clone), but it worked. O’Neill had strong comic timing, acting chops and moved well, although at a few points his singing voice was a bit off. But that was minor and really didn’t detract from the show.

In the second tier of named characters we had David Michael Treviño* (FB) as Danny Maguire/Zeus, Veronica Scheyving (FB) as Melpomene (muse of tragedy)/Medusa, and Brittany Rodin/FB as Calliope (muse of epic poetry)/Aphrodite. Treviño was very impressive — a strong singer, a strong dancer, and a strong actor who drew your attention whenever he was on stage. Scheyving was a hoot as Melpomene — she obviously grew up in the 1980s and didn’t need a choreographer to teach her the moves; she moved as if she knew them from “back in the day”. She was also extremely strong in her comic abilities, and played the comedy well. Alas, she was one of the others who had a few weak singing points, but again this didn’t detract overall as it worked with the comic effect. Lastly, Rodin was effective as Melpomene’s evil underling (isn’t there always one), playing, singing and dancing well.

Rounding out the ensemble in various roles were Bradley Sattler (FB) (Thalia – muse of comedy, Siren, Young Danny, Tubes Singer, Cyclops), Taji Coleman* (FB) (Euterpe – muse of song and elegiac poetry, Siren, Andrews Sister, Thetis), Lindsay Zana (FB) (Erato – muse of love poetry, Siren, Andrews Sister, Eros, Hera), Alan Lee (FB) (Terpsichore – muse of dance, Siren, Tubes Singer, Hermes), and Allyson Blackstone (FB) and Morgan Gallant (FB) as Dancers. Sattler and Lee were great as the male muses: Sattler played up the comedy quite well, and Lee’s dancing was spectacular (most guys can’t do splits like that). Coleman and Zana were also good in their various roles, although at a few points there movements felt more like choreography and less fluid, but hopefully that will go away as they do this more. Blackstone and Gallant were mostly in the background, but moved quite well especially when their movements were mirroring each other.
[* denotes members of Actors Equity]

Also up on stage was the band. This was the first time I’ve seen an almost completely female band, and to see full credits for the band members in the program. Bravo, or should I say Brava, for doing that. The band was also dressed (at least the female members) as muses, and were introduced as Polyhymnia, the muse of music and Urania, the muse of astronomy. The band, under the musical direction of Chris Raymond (FB) (keyboards 1) consisted of Emily Cohn (FB) (keyboards 2), Molly Miller (FB) (guitar), Anna Stadlman (FB) (bass), and Anjilla Piazza (FB) (drums). They were great, and the sound was wonderful.

Rounding out the creative side of the team was Angela Todaro (FB) as Choreographer. I wasn’t much of a dancer ever, let alone in the 1980s, so I can’t attest to how true the moves were to the 1980s. In general, the moves looked good, and everyone was having fun. At a few points the dancers came off a bit more mechanical (i.e., as if they were still thinking about the moves). This may go away as the production matures; it might also reflect the youth of the team (most of whom were probably infants during the era in question). Todaro did do remarkable things with the skates, and throughout the production the movement was just fun to watch.

A few notes before I turn to the technical. There were a number of points where the production was either updated or ad-libbed, and that worked quite well. I really liked the reaction when there were a few folks that arrived late (hint: not a good thing to do), and I liked how they placed the Xanadu theatre at the exact location of the Met. There were also some great comments about the state of the arts — in particular theatre — in the 1980s. The execution of the script was a hoot, and you’ll just have a good time seeing this despite the occasional minor weakness.

Turning now to the technical. The set by Amanda Lawson (FB) had its strong and weak points. It placed the band well and established the action good, and the prop pieces (in particular the telephone booth) worked well. However, I never got the sense of the muses emerging from the original mural — that aspect could be improved and would help the story. The lighting by Johnny Ryman/FB and Dean Wright (FB) was very effective and contributed well to the atmosphere of the piece. The sound (by David Crawford) was very good, particularly the vocal effects. The costumes by Michael Mullen (FB) were effective and worked well (with one exception: I didn’t realize that characters were meant to be either The Tubes or the Andrews Sisters), and captured the 1980s quite well. Jennifer Bendik (FB) was the stage manager, assisted by Ilia Kemble (who was also prop mistress). Cesar Martinez/FB was the house manager. Danielle DeMasters/FB was the production manager, assisted by Timothy Miller/FB. Jason Henderson/FB was the technical director.

A few last notes. The A/C at the Met Theatre was overtaxed by the heat we had yesterday, and it was quite warm at the top of the risers. Parking near the Met is tight, so arrive early if you want to get a good parking space. Lastly, handing out tickets for free admission at Skateland in Northridge is a nice touch!

Xanadu continues at DOMA Theatre Group (at the Met) through October 7. You can get tickets through the DOMA Online Box office, and you may be able to find them on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, or Plays411.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: The penultimate weekend in September takes us to the Celebration Theatre in Hollywood for the musical Justin Love. The month ends with  “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. October brings some traveling for family with the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno, and Karen will be travelling for the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. Still, what’s a month without theatre, so… October will start out with “The Fantasticks“ at Theatre West on 10/6. That will be followed by “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre on 10/13, “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages on 10/27, and “1776” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on 10/28. Continuing the look ahead: November will bring “Moonlight and Magnolias” at REP East, which is booked for the end of the month. It may also bring “Seminar” at The Ahmanson Theatre (still undecided on ticketing; another possibility is “Ruddigore” at the Sierra Madre Playhouse) and may bring a concert performance of Raul Esparza at VPAC, especially if Erin flies in for it (he’s singing on her birthday). Non-theatrically, it will also bring “Day Out with Thomas” at OERM (certainly on some or all of Veterans Day weekend – November 10-11). Lastly, to close out the year, December has nothing formally scheduled (other than ACSAC), but will likely bring “Anything Goes” at the Ahmanson, and may bring “Judy Collins” at VPAC. Lastly, what few dates we do have open may be filled by productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read (I particularly recommend Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times).