Tag: reviews-2012

A Community Reacts to a Murder: Exploring Tolerance vs. Acceptance

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In 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered. Why did this happen? The general concensus today is that it was a hate crime: it occurred primarily because Matthew was gay, and his attackers hated gays. The attack galvanized attention on hate crimes against gays, and resulted in slow but steady progress to deter such crimes. It also caught the attention of noted playwright  Moisés Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project, who went to the town to explore the incident. This resulted in the play “The Laramie Project“, which we saw last night at REP East Playhouse.

Going in, all I really knew was that Laramie Project was about the Matthew Shepard murder. This might make you think that it was a straightforward reenactment of the incident that night and its aftermath. It isn’t. In many ways, Laramie Project is a documentary on stage; a reenactment not of the murder, but of the creation of the play.

The Laramie Project is the result of a series of interviews that Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre members made over the course of several visits to Laramie over the period of a year, combined with research the project did into the transcripts of the events: statements made at the hospital, police reports, trial transcripts, and other statements. This is exactly how the play is presented: it begins with the company explaining the project and starting the first interview with one of the investigators of the murder. Throughout the course of the play, you see the interviews with townspeople, from other students at the University, his advisors, the investigating officers, clergy in the town, other townspeople, people at the bar where he was last seen, etc. You also see the reactions of the members of the theatre project to what they were hearing. Through this series of interviews, you learn not only about the specifics of the murder itself (which is never reenacted), but the circumstances and attitudes that led up to the murder, as well as the town’s reaction to the murder, and how the murder changed the town forever.

The project leaves you questioning that reaction. For the most part, you see how the murder increased the tolerance in the town (although, as the director, Christopher Chase, notes in the program, “… We are taught to strive for ‘tolerance’, but this play urges you to instead seek ‘acceptance’. The negativity inherent in ‘tolerance’ (‘I can hate you as long as I don’t act on it’) can be as disgusting as violence itself.”). Did the murder result in increased acceptance? That’s a harder question to answer. Certainly, for a number of town people it did; but as the play itself notes, Wyoming never passed hate crime legislation. It didn’t result in Wyoming, the stated “equality state”, moving to the forefront of Gay Rights. In fact, the Wikipedia page on Shepard notes that it wasn’t until 2009, under President Barack Obama, fully 10 years after the crime itself, that actual hate crime legislation was passed in Congress itself.

In many ways, the play reminds us that we have far to go to get ‘acceptance’. The play reports how Fred Phelps protested the trial with anti-gay rhetoric, and how Romaine Patterson, a lesbian student at UW organized counter protests with a crew of “angels” to hide the hate. Unfortunately, Phelps is remains visible and active today, and hatred and intolerance of gays occurs far too often still (if you don’t believe me, read the comments on any article related to gay marriage or gays in the military). Still we’ve seen acceptance grow slowly, as witnessed by the slow but steady acceptance of gay marriage and positive portrayals of gays.

A good example of this was seen in the audience itself. While attending the play, I met a member of a Lutheran Church in Santa Clarita who was there because she had heard there might be protests against the play (Santa Clarita is much more conservative than Los Angeles proper). She was there to protest the protesters. There was also another church group there all wearing shirts that said “God Loves Everyone” (with the “Everyone” in rainbow colors). This is a demonstration of acceptance; this is a demonstration of the importance of plays such as this (and the importance of theatre to bring the message to the community).

Director Christopher Chase did an excellent job with this property. We’ve seen Chase before — ages ago — when he was in the excellent production of Hair at CSUN (and which was recently revived under Chase’s direction in Hollywood). The property is a difficult one, with a team of a dozen actors portraying over 60 different characters, from Kaufman and members of the theatre project to students, townspeople, officials, media, and such. Each character needs to be distinct so the story doesn’t get confused. Chase handled well drawing these distinctive voices out of the ensemble, and keeping the motion fluid so that the character changes were not distracting.

The acting ensemble was also strong. The portrayal of so many characters makes it difficult to single out particular actors — essentially, all were excellent and did a great job of creating distinct and different characters, and also because it is difficult to map the actors to characters after the fact. The ensemble consisted of Michael Bruce, Eileen Mary Butler*, Julie Henderson, Nathan T. Inzerillo, Kyle Kulish*, Vicki Lightner, Tom Lund, Doris Martin*, Tiffany Oliver, Conner Pratt, Christina Rideout*, and Paul Strickland. Characters that were particularly memorable (and thus, the actors portraying them deserve kudos) were Romaine Patterson, Rebecca Killiker, Aaron Kreifels, Doc O’Connor, Jon Peacock, Jedadiah Shultz, Zubaida Ula, Reggie Fluty, and the project members. I also need to credit the actors for their ability to become so many different characters, and create so many distinct characterizations, in such a short period of time. I saw this best demonstrated in the character of Andrew Gomez (who I think was performed by Nathan) who became latino before our eyes. Remarkable performances all.

On the technical side, the team was the tried and true excellent REP team, featuring an excellent sound design by Steven “Nanook” Burkholder (with great ambient sounds), an effective lighting design by Tim Christianson, set design by Ovington Michael Owston and Christopher Chase, stage management (as well as scenic painting and props) by Madison Orgil, with additional props and costumes by Christina Gonzalez.

“The Laramie Project” continues at REP East for two more weeks, closing on July 28. You can get tickets from the REP Online Box Office or through Goldstar. Their next production is “Playdates” by Sam Wolfson, running August 17 through September 1. REP is currently in the process of picking their next season — I’ve seen the names of some of the shows that are the leading candidates (cough, God of Carnage, cough), and it looks to be an exciting season. For those that don’t know where the REP is … it is in Newhall, CA, which is freeway close in Santa Clarita. It is one of my favorite 99-and-under seat theatres, and I have yet to see a bad production there. Do give it a try.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend is my wife’s birthday weekend, and she has selected two shows: Friday night  we’re seeing “Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies” at the Arena Stage; Saturday we’re going to CSUN to see the OperaWorks production of “Non-Boring Original Opera“, which is an improvised original 3-act opera weaving well-known arias and improvised dialogue into a new storyline. (if you would like to meet us at these shows and wish her Happy Birthday, please join us).  The last weekend in July brings “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. August has a bit less, as we’re going to have some vacation days and will be taking Erin to start UC Berkeley. We’ve only got one show scheduled: “Play Dates” at REP East. As an aside: we will be vacationing in Palm Springs, so if anyone knows of live theatre going on there in August, let me know. In September theatre activity resumes, beginning with “Blame It On Beckett” at the Colony Theatre on September 1 and “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. I”m also looking into “Silence: The Musical” at the Hayworth Theatre, which starts September 8 and runs through December, and “Xanadu” at DOMA, which starts September 7 and runs for about 3 weeks. October brings some traveling for family: the Cal Parents Weekend at UCB (tentative), and the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno. It will also bring “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre, “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages, and “1776” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. 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) and 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 10-11-12). 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).

Music: TV Themes (Various Artists): Quantum Leap

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Missionaries at the Door

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My friend, Larry (of perl fame) used to tell me how he would handle religious arguments: he would pull out a copy of the septuagint, and attempt to resolve the issue by going back to the original Greek, or even earlier. This story came to my mind as I watched the penultimate performance of “The Savannah Disputation” last night at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.

The Savannah Disputation (written by Evan Smith) tells the story of Mary and Margaret, two middle-age sisters living together in Savannah. Mary, the older sister, is an angry and bitter women, eager to argue with everyone, and having little tolerance for fools. Margaret, on the other hand, tries to see the good in people and appears to genuinely care about others. As the story opens, their household is visited by a cheerful young Pentecostal missionary, Melissa, intent on converting them away from Catholicism. Mary slams the door in her face,  foreshadowing the rest of the play by saying “I hope she comes back so I can slam the door in her face again.” She does come back, and this time Margaret answers the door. Margaret is more interested in what she has to say, taking a pamphlet, and making arrangements for her to come back the following Sunday. When Melissa (the missionary) returns, Mary is home and pissed about the return visit (well, Mary is pissed about everything, but she’s especially pissed about this). As Margaret and Melissa debates whether Catholicism is founded on a lie (specifically, whether “petra” refers to St. Peter), Mary joins in the argument and eventually kicks Melissa out again.

But the seed of doubt had been planted. To resolve these doubts, Mary engineers a confrontation. She has Margaret call Melissa and apologize, express interest in what she was saying, and invite her back Thursday at 7pm. Mary then invites her friend, Father Patrick Murphy, to dinner the next Thursday. They are just finishing dinner when guess who should arrive: Melissa. You can guess how the discussion goes from there. For most of this, Father Murphy holds back, out of fear of converting Melissa to Catholicism. But once he gets going, they go after it… arguing chapter and verse, and causing everyone to question their beliefs.

That’s the basic story. Looking at the basic story, it had its strengths and weaknesses. Dealing with the strengths firsts: the characters of the two sisters are great, and fall in the tradition of the great odd couples — in this case, we have meanness vs. sweetness. This works well, and you can see why each sister behaves the way they do. The comedy of this piece is also quiet funny, especially if you enjoy jabs at the various sillier aspects of Christianity. I also like the way the Father is not obviously a father, holding back from the argument until drawn in by a particular technical point (and a hefty dollop of good scotch).

On the weakness side, I found that the play left me wanting more (and it was not that the play was too long and they had to cut–this was a 90 minute, one-act piece). There were hints that one sister was ill; this was indicated by a regular phone message left from a doctor’s office. This was never followed-up on; it would have been nice to learn how the reaction to this illness raised questions of faith and how the two variations of Christianity addressed them. There was also mention of a breakup between Melissa (the missionary) and her pastor (and now ex-boyfriend) — it would have been interesting to see how this affected Melissa’s faith. Further, at the end of the play, various characters were left questioning aspects of their faith. It would have been nice to revisit these characters later to see how this questioning affected them. The play also only superficially touched what the real faiths were; it would have been nice to see more the differences between the liturgical Catholicism and the emotional evangelical faith. This all could have been handled in a second act that explored these questions two to three weeks later in the storyline. Lastly, although the local was titularly in Savannah, there wasn’t anything particularly Southern about the story other than the accents and the scenery.

Story aside, the production was a treat to watch. The director, Cameron Watson, did a great job of pulling the characters out of the actors: you believed these people were who they pretended to be. This was particularly true for Anne Gee Byrd*, who has worked with Watson before. Byrd’s portray of Mary was spot on: angry and bitter and manipulative (a type of senior that, alas, I know far too well). In bringing up these feelings, it was also one other thing: realistic. This is a good thing, for Mary is a character that could far too easily be turned into Sophia from the Golden Girls. On the sweet side of the scale, Bonnie Bailey-Reed*’s portray of Margaret was delightfully pleasant; someone you would enjoy being around and could simply spend time with.  Again, this was a role that could devolve into characterture, but the actor and director combined to ensure that it didn’t.

Turning to the missionaries themselves: on the evangelical side there was Rebecca Mozo* as Melissa. Mozo’s Melissa was that perky Southern blond that you just hate: over-eager, bent on her mission, full of spunk. She was well played by Mozo, who demonstrated the character’s vulnerability in the scene where she was breaking up with her boyfriend. Lastly, as Father Murphy, Josh Clark* gives a wonderfully underplayed performance: you can just watch him simmer when he learns of the subterfuge, and come closer to boiling as he listens while sipping scotch.
[* indicates members of Actors Equity]

Technically, the production reflected what we have come to expect from the Colony. There was a wonderful scenic design by Stephen Gifford that gave the sense of Savannah, with loads of appropriate properties and atmosphere items provided by MacAndME. The lighting by Jared A. Sayeg did a wonderful job of establishing the mood, and the sound design by Rebecca Kessin provided the requisite sound effects to establish the story. The costumes by Kate Bergh were appropriately period and worked well. Gil Tordjman was the production stage manager.

“The Savannah Disputation” has its last performance this afternoon at The Colony Theatre. Our performance was almost sold out; I have no idea if there are any tickets still available.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend sees us up in Santa Clarita for the first production of REP East’s 81 Series (a group of more mature-themed summer plays):  “The Laramie Project”. I’ve heard good things about this play; it will be interesting to see how REP does it.  The third weekend in July is my wife’s birthday weekend, and she has selected two shows: Friday night  we’re seeing “Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies” at the Arena Stage; Saturday we’re going to CSUN to see the OperaWorks production of “Non-Boring Original Opera“, which is an improvised original 3-act opera weaving well-known arias and improvised dialogue into a new storyline. (if you would like to meet us at these shows and wish her Happy Birthday, please join us).  The last weekend in July brings “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. August has a bit less, as we’re going to have some vacation days and will be taking Erin to start UC Berkeley. We’ve only got one show scheduled: “Play Dates” at REP East. As an aside: we will be vacationing in Palm Springs, so if anyone knows of live theatre going on there in August, let me know. In September theatre activity resumes, beginning with “Blame It On Beckett” at the Colony Theatre on September 1 and “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. I”m also looking into “Silence: The Musical” at the Hayworth Theatre, which starts September 8 and runs through December, and “Xanadu” at DOMA, which starts September 7 and runs for about 3 weeks. October brings some traveling for family: the Cal Parents Weekend at UCB, and the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno. It will also bring “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre, “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages, and “1776” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. 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) and 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 10-11-12). 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.

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They Sing! They Dance! They Love Comic Books!

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Of all the places to center the action of a musical, perhaps San Diego’s famous ComicCon is the strangest. But that’s the setting of “Geeks: The Musical“, which we saw last night at Write Act Reperatory in Hollywood. What’s even stranger is that… it works. Geeks! is a musical for anyone who has ever been involved with the comic-con crowd, or have known (or have been) someone like that. In other words: it is the perfect musical for me and many of my friends :-).

Geeks! takes the basic elements of common musicals–stories of people who meet and fall in love, stories of characters that grow and learn something about themselves, and tells it in a setting that is both observational and unusual. All of the action in Geeks! takes place at ComicCon (which, for those who are unaware, is a very large comic book and sci-fi/fantasy fandom convention that takes place every summer in San Diego — in fact, the next ComicCon starts July 11, the Thursday after the show closes). It tells the story of two best friends, Jordan (Aaron Nicholson) and Chip (Tyler Koster). Jordan is into numerous TV fandoms, but in particular the fandom that revolves around the Alien Avenger. He also collects comic books, and is specifically looking for Batman #92. Chip, on the other hand, is a Dr. Who fanatic, and is even dressed in costume. While looking for the comic book in the dealer room, Jordan bumps into (and falls in love with) Kerry (Redetha Deason). Kerry is one of those (stereotypical) oddities: a good-looking woman at Comic-Con. She’s also into the Alien Avenger fandom, and is looking for her specific list of comic books. She’s there with her best friend, Emerson (normally Wil Bowers*, but at our performance, Stefan Rich*), a young gay man once into D&D, but now hating everything about Comic-Con (and wanting to criticize it). Emerson serves to interrupt the budding meeting of Jordan and Kerry, so Jordan bribes Chip to distract him so he can ask Kerry out. They agree to meet for dinner after the sessions, but Kerry gets a better offer from Mel Tyler (Dan Woren), the actor who played the Alien Avenger, to meet the original cast. Intersecting this storyline is the story of Alidrina (Juliette Angeli), a goth-girl who writes comic books and loves Dr. Who, who is attending Comic-Con with her best friend, the bi artist Trey (Brandon Murphy). Alidrina and Trey are there to attempt to sell their comic book series, but are having no luck. Things get worse after Trey runs into Emerson, who tells Trey his art is pedestrian. Supporting the story is a “Geek Chorus” of unnamed characters who represent various fandoms, and primarily serve as a backup dancing ensemble. This is the basic story that gets set up in Act I. Needless to say, things resolve themselves predictably in Act II, with the appropriate couples forming, and other characters learning something about themselves. (you can find some good pictures of the cast here)

As a story, Geeks! has its strong and weak points. They story, by Thomas J. Misuraca, does a great job of capturing the sort of characters into the various fandoms, and (for the most part) portrays them realistically — that is, as people and not as frothing fanboys). It is a little stereotypical at times — especially with respect to the image of the scarcity of female geeks — but I could live with that as a plot device for the broader audience that simply does (pause) not (pause) understand. It is peppered with the sort of little details that those of us who are in and know the community would love: the idiotic hypothetical questions we ask, the minutae we remember and debate. What is perhaps a little weaker is some of the characters who are a bit stereotypical in their portrayals (the goth girl, the tortured artist) and some aspects of predictable resolution. The predictable resolution is probably necessary in musical theatre, but I think that if this show wants to move beyond its current “off-Broadway” level to a full-fledged “Broadway” level, some deepening of the portrayals would help.  Still, it is an enjoyable storyline, and one that I would strongly recommend to those who know and love the fandom communities.

A bit weaker are the music and lyrics (by Ruth Judkowitz and Thomas J. Misuraca, respectively). The lyrics are clever and the tunes entertaining during the show, but you don’t walk away humming them. As this musical progresses (which I hope it does), this is one area that could use a little fine-tuning (no pun intended). It may get resolved as the tunes get a broader orchestration. The current arrangements (by Rocco Vitacco) are for a single piano — this works for the small venue that is Write Act Rep, but won’t work for larger venues, and I’m not sure how the current tunes would scale-up with strings and horns. For those familiar with small musicals that appeal to various geek-doms, contrast this with “Brain from Planet X“ or “Evil Dead: The Musical“… or even “It Came From Beyond” (which we saw ages ago at Write Act). These have tunes that stick with you, and are well orchestrated. With a little work, I think the tunes from Geeks! could be in this category. That said, some of the tunes are particularly nice, in particular “A Girl at Comic Con”, “Paint My Rage”, “The Who’s Who of Doctor Who”, “Women in Sci-Fi”, and “Geek to Geek”.

The performance was reasonably well acted. I was particularly taken with the performances of a number of the leads, in particular, Redetha Deason as Kerry, who won me over with both her acting and her singing. She’s been doing this role since the inception of this musical, and is just having fun with the role — and it comes across in her performance. Also enjoyable was Aaron Nicholson as Jordon. He was a bit weaker in voice, but more than made up for that with an endearing performance and personality. Another strong singer was Juliette Angeli as Alidrina — she had a strong singing voice, but her performance didn’t catch me as quick (she was much stronger in Act II). I also enjoyed the performance of Dan Woren as Mel Tyler; he just had a relaxed style that was fun to watch. As Chip, Tyler Koster was notable for his performance of “Who’s Who of Doctor Who” (one of the first songs written for this show); he played a believable sidekick and appeared to be having fun with the role. As our performance we had the alternate Emerson, Stefan Rich*: Rich did a good job with the role, coming across as a bit preppy. I’m curious how the performance of the other actor differs. Lastly,as Trey, Brandon Murphy came across a little stiffer and more strident — perhaps that was his character, but I tend to prefer it when an actor is so comfortable with their role it seems they are their character, as opposed to acting. Again, this improved in Act II where Trey became much more believable as a person.

Supporting the leads was the “Geek Chorus” consisting of Steven Alloway, Jason Beaubien*, Laura Delano, Matthew Frow, Damaris Justamante, James Lui, Te Jay McGrath, and Sebastian Munoz. As a chorus and dance team, they were pretty good (although at times they appeared strongly focused; they need to relax a little and have fun). Of this crew, for whatever reason, something about Laura Delano‘s performance caught my eye. I can’t say precisely what.
[* indicates members of Actors Equity]

Turning to the remainder of the technical and creative team…. the production was directed by Bennett Cohon, who did a very good job for the small production. There were little nuances in the characters and the performances that I truly enjoyed, and usually it was the director that draws those out. If there was an area for improvement, it would be a suggestion to bring out the “fun”: it comes across to the audience when an actor is inhabiting the character and having fun with it, as opposed to concentrating on the acting. Some of these performances had that inhabitation factor, which was great. The choreography, by Liz Heathcoat was fun and effective, but needs a little relaxation. The set by Christopher Scott Murillo was effective for the space and conveyed the Comic-Con nature well.  The lighting by Mark Baker was effective and not distracting. The costumes by Mary Rochon (costume consultant, costume designer for Alien Avenger) and Anne Tamanaha Mesa (producer, asst. director, costumer) were believable for the characters and worked well; one side effect of doing a show about Comic Con is that odd character costumes from old sci-fi movies fit in perfectly :-)). Jonathan Harrison was the stage manager.

“Geeks! The Musical!” continues at Write Act Repertory through next Sunday, July 8 (ending then, presumably, so that the entire time can go to Comic Con the next weekend). The show is fun and I recommend it to folks familiar with the community, or those looking for an enjoyable diversion.  Tickets are available online, and may be available through Goldstar as well. They are also available by calling (323) 469-3113.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: July theatre starts with “The Savannah Disputation” at The Colony Theatre on July 7. July 14 brings “The Laramie Project” at REP East. The third weekend in July is open–that’s my wife’s birthday weekend, so it’s up to her where we are going. [ETA: The weekend has been planned. Friday, we’re seeing “Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies” at the Arena Stage; Saturday we’re going to CSUN to see the OperaWorks production of “Non-Boring Original Opera“, which is an improvised original 3-act opera weaving well-known arias and improvised dialogue into a new storyline.] The last weekend in July brings “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. August has a bit less, as we’re going to have some vacation days and will be taking Erin to start UC Berkeley. We’ve only got one show scheduled: “Play Dates” at REP East. As an aside: we will be vacationing in Palm Springs, so if anyone knows of live theatre going on there in August, let me know. September activity resumes, beginning with “Blame It On Beckett” at the Colony Theatre on September 1 and “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. I”m also looking into “Silence: The Musical” at the Hayworth Theatre, which starts September 8 and runs through December, and “Xanadu” at DOMA, which starts September 7 and runs for about 3 weeks. October brings some travelling for family: the Cal Parents Weekend at UCB, and the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno. It will also bring “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre, and “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages. Continuing the look ahead: November may bring “Seminar” at The Ahmanson Theatre (still undecided on ticketing), and will bring “Moonlight and Magnolias” at REP East. It will also bring “Day Out with Thomas” at OERM (certainly on some or all of Veterans Day weekend – November 10-11-12). November  may also see us at VPAC for Raul Esparza, especially if Erin flies in for it (he’s singing on her birthday). 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, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read.

 

 

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A Rockin’ Jam Session

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Last night, I went to a rockin’ jam session at one of the oddest of places: The Pantages Theatre. Perhaps I should explain. On Tuesday December 4, 1956 in the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee there was an impromptu jam session between Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. This meeting was preserved only by a photograph and a session tape made by the owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips. A few years ago, this session was turned into a Broadway musical, called “Million Dollar Quartet“, built around a fictional account of that session. Really, the show was just an excuse to bring together classics from the four artists in a jukebox musical, with the conceit that the actors were actually playing the instruments as well as singing. So this was the “jam session” I was at last night: “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Pantages–a rockin’ session with Elvis, Cash, Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. It was great.

At this point, I would normally synopsize the plot. But let’s start instead with the real history, summarized by Sun Records: According to Sun, the jam session seems to have happened by pure chance. Perkins, who by this time had already met success with “Blue Suede Shoes,” had come into the studios that day, accompanied by his brothers Clayton and Jay and by drummer W.S. Holland, their aim being to cut some new material, including a revamped version of an old blues song, “Matchbox.” Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, had brought in his latest acquisition, singer and piano man extraordinaire, Jerry Lee Lewis, still unknown outside Memphis, to play the piano on the Perkins session.Sometime in the early afternoon, Elvis Presley, a former Sun artist himself, but now at RCA, dropped in to pay a casual visit accompanied by a girlfriend, Marilyn Evans. He was, at the time, the biggest name in show business. After chatting with Philips in the control room, Presley listened to the playback of the Perkins’ session, which he pronounced to be good. Then he went into the studio and some time later the jam session began. Phillips left the tapes running in order to “capture the moment” as a souvenir and for posterity. At some point during the session, Sun artist Johnny Cash, who had also enjoyed a few hits on the country charts, popped in (Cash claimed he was the first to arrive at Sun Studio that day). The event was captured by well known photograph of Elvis Presley seated at the piano surrounded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. The session tapes have been released on CD.

That’s what we know happened. Around this story a musical was constructed. The basic plot elements added by book writers Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux revolved around the following: (1) At the end of 1955, Phillips sold Presley’s contract to RCA to prevent Sun Records from going bankrupt; now RCA wanted to buy Phillips and the studio to get someone who knew how to work with Elvis; (2) Cash had been increasingly absent from the studio, and Phillips wanted to lure him back by presenting him with a 3-year contract; (3) the tension between Perkins, who had written “Blue Suede Shoes”, and Elvis, who made it a hit on the Ed Sullivan Show, and (4) Perkins, who was trying to find his next hit, and the just-hired Jerry Lee Lewis, a brash young upstart trying to prove himself. The songs chosen were some (but not all) of the ones from the original session, plus a number of well-known hits that may have come a little later. This isn’t a true story.

This also isn’t an impersonator show. You want that, go to Vegas. The actors in this show have hints of the mannerisms of the original artists, but are not going for exact impersonations or impressions. They have hits of the vocal quality. What they do have is the musical skills, which combined with the hints makes you see them as the artists.  This is the contribution of the original concept and direction by Floyd Mutrix (who also did the recent “Baby It’s You” that we saw when it was at the Pasadena Playhouse), and the show direction by Eric Schaeffer (assisted by David Ruttura; tour direction was by The Booking Group).

That said, what makes this show are the artists. I was most impressed with Martin Kaye as Jerry Lee Lewis: Kaye was just great on the piano and in his performance, and he just won me over. Kaye is from the UK, and I look forward to learning more about this artist. As Perkins,  Lee Ferris played a mean electric guitar. It was also fun to watch his interactions with Kaye’s Lewis. Ferris left Freddy and Francine to join on this tour. There was a nice interview with him recently in the LA Stage Times. As Johnny Cash, Derek Keeling didn’t particularly look like Cash (he looked more like Elvis), but had the guitar, and more importantly, the voice, deep down pat. We have seen Keeling before, most recently in “Happy Days: The Musical” at Cabrillo. Lastly, as Elvis, Cody Slaughter had the voice, personality, and swagger down pat. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as he was named the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2011.

Supporting these four artists were Christopher Ryan Grant as Sam Phillips. Grant’s Phillips provided the narrative glue for the story (such as it was), and did a good job of being his character. Kelly Lamont‘s Dyanne was the book writer’s attempt to capture the unknown girlfriend of the picture. We don’t learn anything about her character–she is mostly eye-candy… but this story does allow her to sing and participate in a song or two, and she’s having great fun doing that. Rounding out the musicians were Billy Shaffer as Fluke the drummer (the character corresponding to W.S. Holland) and Chuck Zayas as Jay Perkins, on bass.

One note about the cast: They were having fun. I think that’s what turned this from a “show” into a “jam sessions”. These musicians were just having fun playing with each other, and this infectious joy of playing and having fun with the music came across from the stage, and had the audience standing and dancing and just rocking out. This was something you didn’t see in shows like “Rock of Ages”: they were shows. This was a fun jam session, and it had the magic to make you feel like you were there. This is something you’ll never get from a projection onto a screen.

Rounding out the technical and creative team:  Music arrangements and supervision were by Chuck Mead, with additional arrangements by the original Broadway “Jerry Lee Lewis”, Levi Kreis (who it appears will be at the NoHo Arts Center in mid-July). August Eriksmoen was the associate music supervisor. Sound design was by Kai Harada and was great (and remember, this was the Pantages, so Harada is one of those folks who knows how to get it right). You really believed that the 1950s-era mics were live. Lighting was by Howell Binkley and was effective at creating the mood. The scenic design was by Derek McLane and consisted primarily of the Sun Studio, which looked appropriately period. The costumes by Jane Greenwood were appropriately period; they were supported by the hair and wig design by Tom Watson. These provided the additional hints that created the characters. David Lober was the production stage manager, and Michael Krug was the stage manager.

A Pantages/Broadway LA note: This was the second production we’ve seen at the Pantages that falls into the “perfect” category. They are starting to get things right there, and that is a good thing. I also must thank the audience services team, who were able to rearrange our seats to get Karen a seat where her shoulder wouldn’t be jostled. Guessing at who to tank, I’ll thank Steve Cisneros, the House Manager, as the leader of the team. That’s going above and beyond, and that’s a good thing. You still can’t get discount tickets over the phone (Ticketmaster and their $9/ticket surcharge), but going to the box office works well to get $25-$35 seats that are reasonably good, even if they are on the sides.

“Million Dollar Quartet” continues at the Pantages through July 1. The show was relatively empty: You should be able to go to the box office and get reasonably-priced tickets in seating area “E” ($25-$30). You could also buy online if you don’t mind the surcharge. The show is worth seeing.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: I should probably redo this, as I’ve just been cutting and pasting. Normally, next weekend (June 30) we would be going to the Western Corps Connection in Riverside, but is too much for Karen. Instead, we’re going to “Geeks, The Musical” in Hollywood (Goldstar). July formally starts with “The Savannah Disputation” at The Colony Theatre on July 7. July 14 brings “The Laramie Project” at REP East. The third weekend in July is open–that’s my wife’s birthday weekend, so it’s up to her where we are going. The last weekend in July brings “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. August has a bit less, as we’re going to have some vacation days and will be taking Erin to start UC Berkeley. We’ve only got one show scheduled: “Play Dates” at REP East. As an aside: we will be vacationing in Palm Springs, so if anyone knows of live theatre going on there in August, let me know. September activity resumes, beginning with “Blame It On Beckett” at the Colony Theatre on September 1 and “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. I”m also looking into “Silence: The Musical” at the Hayworth Theatre, which starts September 8 and runs through December, and “Xanadu” at DOMA, which starts September 7 and runs for about 3 weeks. October brings some travelling for family: the Cal Parents Weekend at UCB, and the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno. It will also bring “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre, and “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages. Continuing the look ahead: November may bring “Seminar” at The Ahmanson Theatre (still undecided on ticketing), and will bring “Moonlight and Magnolias” at REP East. It will also bring “Day Out with Thomas” at OERM (certainly on some or all of Veterans Day weekend – November 10-11-12). November  may also see us at VPAC for Raul Esparza, especially if Erin flies in for it (he’s singing on her birthday). 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, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read.

Music: A Little Princess (Studio Cast) (Sierra Bogess): Another World

 

 

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Normal is Overrated

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Da-Da-Da-Dump (snap) (snap)

Da-Da-Da-Dump (snap) (snap)

Da-Da-Da-Dump Da-Da-Da-Dump Da-Da-Da-Dump (snap) (snap)

Sing those bars of music to most adults, and they will instantly recognize the source: the gloriously wonderful television series from 1963 starring John Astin and Carolyn Jones called “The Addams Family”:

This was the first excursion for the family of characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams for the New Yorker Magazine. They have since gone through numerous movie adaptations, but have always kept their spirit of being the non-normal family that you love. I mention all of this because I fell in love with them again last night at the Pantages, with an almost perfect production of the musical version of “The Addams Family“.

The musical version of The Addams Family was not based on the television or the movies, although given that they drew upon the same characters, there are some commonalities. The musical, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music/lyrics by Andrew Lippa, was based on characters from the original Charles Addams cartoons: Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Lurch, and Grandma (these characters were named for the TV show; they were unnamed in the cartoons). Now Addams stories usually take one of two forms: normal family visits the Addams and is shocked by the family, or the Addams have to appear normal to another family. In the original Broadway production, this was roughly the form of the story: Normal family of Wednesday’s boyfriend comes to visit, so the family needs to behave normally. Meanwhile, Morticia thinks she is getting old, family is shocked by the Addams, and Wednesday is pulled in different directions by love. You can read the original synopsis on Wikipedia.

On Broadway, this didn’t work. The show was popular, but eviscerated by critics. Before the current Broadway tour, the creative team decided to rework and tweak the story (ok, they decided to fix the show). They did, and I’m pleased to say is it much stronger. This entailed cutting some songs, a squid, and adding some new ones, so if you saw the show on Broadway, you should see it again.

When the show opens, the ghoulish Addams family is visiting the graveyard for an annual gathering of all family members (living, dead, and undecided) to celebrate what it is to be an Addams. Uncle Fester stops the Ancestors’ return to their graves to enlist their help: he knows that Wednesday is in love, and he wants love to conquer all. She has invited the boy’s family for dinner, and Fester wants it to be a success. We then learn that Gomez has built his relationship with Morticia on a foundation of never keeping secrets… after which Wednesday comes  and asks Gomez to keep a secret: she is engaged to this boy (Lucas Beineke). She doesn’t want her mother to know, so he must not tell her. This sets up the rest of the show: what is the effect of keeping this secret. While torturing Pugsley on a rack, Wednesday admits that love is pulling her in a new direction. As the Beinekes arrive, Wednesday and Lucas instruct their families to act normal so they can all enjoy a simple dinner. But the moment Lurch ushers the Beinekes into the mansion, tensions begin to mount. Mal wants to tear down the old house, Alice begins to spout happy poems at random, Pugsley, Fester, and Grandma fail at acting normal, and Wednesday, after wearing black for eighteen years, appears in a bright yellow dress. Morticia, realizing something is happening, believes Gomez is hiding a secret from him. Meanwhile, Pugsley is worried that Wednesday’s lovelife means she won’t torture him anymore. He steals a potion from Grandma after she reveals it will bring out someone’s dark nature. Pugsley plans to slip it to Wednesday at dinner. At dinner, “The Game” is played, where each person at the table confesses something. Gomez tells a story about not opening secrets in a box, while Uncle Fester admits he’s in love with the moon. In a mix-up, Alice drinks Pugsley’s potion and in front of everyone declares her marriage to Mal a loveless mess as she reveals her misery and woe. As Mal, humiliated, attempts to leave with his family, Wednesday announces that she and Lucas are engaged. Chaos engulfs both families, and Uncle Fester, trying to be helpful, instructs the Ancestors to create a sudden, terrible storm, trapping everyone in the mansion for the night. This is where the first act ends; I’ll leave the second act to you (noting that, after all, this is a musical).

I think the reworking of the story made a big difference. The original had Mal Beineke falling in love with a squid, and Morticia being worried about being old. That just didn’t work. The new story creates tension that works. It also places the focus of the story where it needs to be: on the love story of Gomez and Morticia, and the ancellary stories of Wednesday and Lucas. It gives characters growth: the characters at the end of the show — all of them — are not the same characters at the beginning. Each learns and grows. I should also note that this show was one of the funniest shows I’ve seen — the only shows I’ve seen that are equally funny are Neil Simon comedies and true farces. The writing on this show was just hilarious, as was the execution. From the opening notes of the traditional theme, to the use of Thing to open the curtain, to the little references to Cousin Itt — just well executed and well thought out. The show also made very effective use of the stage curtains to portion off the stage and allow scenes to progress without the distraction of changing scenery in the background. So kudos to the writers, directors, and creative team for pulling this show together. Credit here should go to Jerry Zaks as the production supervisor, the original direction by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, and Steve Bebout as the Associate Director.

[ETA: As a father seeing the show the weekend before Fathers Day, I wanted to add that I found the show resonating very well with my experience as a father to a young woman. You’re happy to see your child growing up, but sad to see the little girl going away. You’re torn between trying to make your spouse happy and your child happy, when doing both isn’t always possible. And, as the show notes, we all seem to turn into our parents in some way — hopefully good ones — and we need to learn to realize that and work to combat the bad parts… or do as the Addams do, and embrace being different and being bad.]

The musical numbers were, for the most part, quite entertaining (the music is still stuck in my head this morning–a good sign). A few numbers were a little bit slow, but most did a great job of moving along the plot, illustrating characters, and explaining motivations. Again, this was improved by the rework.

The tour company does not have the marquee names of the Broadway company, but I think they did an excellent job. Lots of strengths, with only a few minor weaknesses. In the lead positions, we had Douglas Sills as Gomez and Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia. Sills’ Gomez was perfect: playful, crazy, latin, unpredictable, madly in love with his wife, a loving father to his daughter… just a perfect portrayal. Gettelfinger was good as Morticia, but no warmth came through — but I think that was the character as written. I’m not sure if it was the writing or Gettelfinger, but the character had a vocal quirk with “sh”s that was annoying. Other than that, her singing was strong, and she was fun to watch on stage. Also noticable was her stage presence, and her dress… which was (as Gomez said) cut down to Venezuela. We were all hoping for the wardrobe malfunction that didn’t happen.

In the secondary positions, we had the rest of the Addams clan and the Beinekes. Topping this group was Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester (who I think was at the table across from us when we had dinner before those show). Hammond was the only actor able to break the fourth wall and recognize that this was a show–he was a wonderful comic actor with great timing, singing and dancing well and doing a wonderful interaction with everyone. Hammond also got a wonderful second act number, “The Moon and Me”, where he got to sing a love song and dance with the moon. So playful; so wonderful. As Wednesday Addams, Courtney Wolfson was spectacular — a wonderful singing voice that I would love to hear again, great acting, great movement. Her performance was so great it made you forget that she looked a little too old for her character. That’s what good acting can do.

Rounding out the named family members: As Lucas, Brian Justin Crum brought strong singing and acting chops to his smaller role. He worked well with Wolfson as Wednesday, and had just the right off-ball nature that you could see them as equal partners. As his parents, Martin Vidnovic (Mal) and Gaelen Gilliland (Alice) were good. I liked Gilliland a little better, but I think that’s because she had a slightly more meatier, non-reactive part. However, Vidnovic was great just for the final scene. The remainder of the named Addams clan had smaller roles: as Lurch, Tom Corbeil had that zombie-shuffled down pat, and truly suprised the audience in the “Move Toward The Darkness” number. Patrick D. Kennedy did good with the smaller role of Pugsley (a character who always seems to get short shrift). Lastly, as Grandma, Pippa Pearthree had a small part (again, this seems to be the case with Grandma), but she did good with what she had.

The ensemble consisted of the unnamed Addams ancestors, who were integrated well into the revised storyline. The ancestors/ensemble were: Ted Ely, Karla Puno Garcia, Steve Geary,  Patrick Oliver Jones, Lizzie Klemperer, Pilar Millhollen, Christy Morton, Roland Rusinek, Geo Seery (Fight Captain), Samantha Shafer. Swings/supports were: Victoria Huston-Elem (Swing), Alexandra Matteo (Swing/Asst. Dance Captain), Brad Nacht (Swing), Jonathan Ritter (Swing, Dance Captain, Puppet Performance Captain), and Ethan Wexler (u/s Pugsley).

As I noted before, the music and the movement was great. The choreography was by Sergio Trujillo, assisted by Dontee Kiehn as Associate Choreographer and August Eriksmoen as Dance Arranger. As I noted before, the music and lyrics were by Andrew Lippa, with orchestrations by Larry Hochman. Musical direction was by Valerie Gebert. Mary-Mitchell Campbell was the music supervisor, and Michael Keller was the music coordinator. The orchestra was conducted by Valerie Gebert, assisted by Christopher D. Littlefield on keyboard. Also on keyboard was Anthony DeAngelis. Paul Hannah was on drums. Supporting them was the local orchestra who consisted of Kathleen Robertson on violin, Paula Fehrenbach on cello, Trey Henry on bass/5-string electric/fretless electric, Dick Mitchell on flute/piccolo/clarinet/alto sax; John Yoakum on flute/clarinet/bass clarinet/tenor sax/soprano sax; Wayne Bergeron on trumpet/flugelhorn; Andrew Martin on trombone/bass trombone; Justin Less Smith on guitar/ukulele/banjo; Judith Chilnick on percussion, and David Witham as the keyboard swing.

Technically, the show was magical. Part of this was due to the set and costume design of Julian Crouch, who used the stage curtains to great effect to partition the action and focus attention. It was enhanced by the lighting of Natasha Katz, who used lots of reds and purples to create the mood. Also deserving compliment is Acme Sound Partners, who finally figured out how to get the sound in the Pantages right. Also amazing was the puppet magic of Basil Twist, which could be seen in the Itt family, as well as Fester’s Moon number. Special effects, which were great, were by Gregory Meeh. Hair and wig design was by Tom Watson, with make-up by Angelina Avallone. Daniel S. Rosokoff was the production stage manager; E. Cameron Holsinger was the State Manager, Raynelle Wright was the Assistant Stage Manager.

“The Addams Family” continues at the Pantages through Sunday. Best way to get cheap tickets is to go to the box office. The tour continues to Denver CO, Kansas City MO, Washington DC, and many other places before ending up in Costa Mesa CA in December. We enjoyed the show, so if it hits your city, go see it.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Next week brings “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Pantages on June 22. July features “The Savannah Disputation” at the Colony, “The Laramie Project” at REP East, and “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo. August is more open, but will bring “Memphis” at the Pantages and “Playdates” at REP East.  As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

 

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Ghosts of the Past in the Follies of the Present

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Today, in the LA Times, there is a story about the first semi-nude Vegas showgirl. She’s still got the showgirl in her; it shapes her life. She was once asked to carry Cary Grant’s child. Looking back about whether she should have done it, her response was “You wouldn’t have to care about money today, that’s for sure. But then I wouldn’t be who I am today. I’d be somebody else.”

That story dovetails well with the show we saw last night: “Follies“, which is playing through June 9 at the Ahmanson. “Follies”, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Goldman, tells the stories of a collection of old showgirls — the former Weismann Girls of the period between WWI and WWII — who have been gathered together for one last time. It is a story of a life in the theatre, and love for the theatre. Even more so, it is a story of regrets and choices not made, of relationship durability and relationship loss.

One thing Follies is not, however, is a story for young people. This is not due to any specific problematic content, but simply because they won’t understand the story. They’ll love the beautiful music and the spectacle. But they won’t understand the ghosts that haunt older people — especially the people in this show. As you get older, you acquire this ghost that is the younger you. This show makes those ghosts visible. We see the ghost showgirls inside these older women. We see the young women and men inside the characters, with their youthful exuberance and regrets. This would go over the heads of most 20-year-olds, and was probably one reason the show was not a successs when it first premiered in 1971.

So what is the story of Follies? Here’s a cut-down summary, drawn from Wikipedia: The show takes place on the soon-to-be demolished stage of the Weismann Theatre, where a reunion is being held to honor Weismann’s “Follies” shows past. This theatre is constantly populated with the ghosts of the beautiful chorus girls who once performed there. As the reunion starts, we begin to meet the Follies girls that came for the reunion, beginning with Sally Durant Plummer, now 49. Next we meet Phyllis Rogers Stone, a stylish and elegant woman, who arrives with her handsome and successful husband, Ben Stone. As more guests arrive, Sally’s husband, Buddy, enters. These are the major couples at the center of the piece: Sally married to Buddy, but in love with Ben; Buddy in love with Sally-of-the-past, not the Sally of today; Phyllis distance from Ben; and Ben walking through the motions. As the reunion continues, Mr. Weismann enters to greet his guests. We meet the other showgirls, and get to know more about them through various numbers. Former Weismann performers at the reunion include Max and Stella Deems, who lost their radio jobs and became store owners in Miami; Solange La Fitte, a coquette, who is still vibrant three decades later; Hattie Walker, who has outlived five younger husbands; Vincent and Vanessa, former dancers who now own an Arthur Murray franchise; Heidi Schiller, for whom Franz Lehár once wrote a waltz; and Carlotta Campion, a film star who has embraced life and benefited from every experience. As the guests reminisce, the stories of Ben, Phyllis, Buddy and Sally unfold. Phyllis and Sally were roommates while in the Follies, and Ben and Buddy were best friends at school in New York. As the stories are told, the ghosts in the background come alive and echo the stories being told. Sally is awed by Ben’s apparently glamorous life, but Ben wonders if he made the right choices and considers how things might have been. Sally tells Ben how her days have been spent with Buddy; it is clear that Sally is still in love with Ben – even though she was terribly hurt when Ben chose to marry Phyllis. As the reunion continues, we see the truth come out and the lives unravel. This culminates in the second act in the Loveland sequence, where each of these four characters goes through a nervous breakdown and we see their inner thoughts. By the end of the story, we’re back at the reunion, and watching which relationships survive, and which don’t.

The production of “Follies” at the Ahmanson was spectacular. It starts the moment you walk in the theatre, where the normally grand auditorium is transformed into an aging theatre about to be torn down. The production is the first I’ve seen that effectively creates ghosts and tells a story with flashbacks. This works — but it is such a novel approach I can see why it didn’t work in the 1970s. And the performances, oh the performance, they are wonderful. Credit for this not only goes to the actors, but to Eric Schaeffer who directed this story is a moving and haunting way.

But the actors, oh the actors. Let’s start with the leads: Victoria Clark as Sally Durant Plummer, Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone, Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer, and Ron Raines as Benjamin Stone. These four were all wonderful, making you believe the characters were who they were. Each had their standout moments: Burstein in “The God-Why-Don’t-You-Love-Me-Blues”; Raines in a numbers such as “The Road You Didn’t Take”; Maxwell in “The Story of Lucy and Jessie” (a really dancing tour-de-force), and Clark in “Losing My Mind”. If I have any quibble it is with the casting of Clark: wonderful performance, but her voice is a bit operatic for the role (and, for the record, I also had a problem with Bernadette Peters in this role: she’s just not the right actress for this character). I’m not sure who is right: my wife suggested Annie Potts, but I’m not sure.

Next we come to the other former showgirls. These we see mostly through their spot performances. As Hattie, Jayne Houdyshell does a spot-on “Broadway Baby”, where you can see the inner performer in the doudy exterior. As Carlotta, Elaine Paige brings down the house with “I’m Still Here”. As Solange, Mary Beth Peil does a spectacular “Ah, Paris”, and the entire crew does a spectacular “Whose That Woman”, led by the wonderful Terri White (who has been through a lot). Rounding out the showgirls, we have Florence Lacey as Sandra Crane, Colleen Fitzpatrick as Dee Dee, Carol Neblett as Heidi,  and Susan Watson as Emily Whitman (who does a wonderful number, “Rain on the Roof” with her husband, Theodore, portrayed by Sammy Williams).

Throughout all these numbers, we constantly see the younger versions of these characters. Chief among the younger versions are Christian Delcroix as Young Buddy, Nick Verina as Young Ben, Lora Lee Gayer as Young Sally, and Kirsten Scott as Young Phyllis. These four just shine in numbers such as “Waiting for the Girls Upstairs”  and in the Loveland sequences. Rounding out the “young” versions were Leah Horowitz (Young Heidi), Becky Elizabeth Stout (Young Sandra, Buddy’s Blues “Margie”), Angel Reda (Young Solange), Jenifer Foote (Young Hattie, Buddy’s Blues “Sally”), Erin N. Moore (Young Stella), Danielle Jordan (Young Emily), and Pamela Otterson (Young Carlotta). All of these performers were also part of the ensemble, and were principally seen as ghosts and dancers echoing the older versions of their characters.

Rounding out the cast and ensemble were Obba Babatundé (Max Deems), Michael Hayes (Roscoe), David Sabin (Dimitri Weismann), Clifton Samuels (Kevin), and the other members of the ensemble: John Carroll, Mathew deGuzman (Swing, Dance Captain), Sara Edwards (Swing, Dance Captain), Nathaniel Flatt, Leslie Donna Flesner, Amanda Kloots-Larsen, Joseph Kolinski (understudy), Joe Komara, Jessica Perrizo, Andrew Pirozzi, Sam Strasfeld, and Sarrah Strimel.

Turning to the music and dance aspects. I’ve already mentioned that the music was composed by Stephen Sondheim. Orchestrations were by Jonathan Tunick. Music direction was by James Moore, and the production featured a nice large and lush orchestra. The choreography was by Warren Carlyle and was beautiful. I particularly noted the ghostly spectral showgirls constantly moving in the back, and how the younger versions of the dancers mirrors the older performers. Dance music was arranged by John Berkman.

The technical production was also outstanding. From the moment you enter the theatre you were aware of Derek McLane‘s wonderful scenic design. He transformed the Ahmanson stage into a decaying theatre, but even more amazing was the sudden Loveland transmission. Speaking of Loveland, that sequence highlighted the lighting design of Natasha Katz, where you could easily see how color created a mood. The costumes of Gregg Barnes did a wonderful job of creating not only the fabulous showgirl costumes, but the informal actor clothing of the thirties, as well as establishing the older showgirl characters and their present lives. Hair and wig design was by David Brian Brown, with make up by Joseph Dulude II. The sound design by Kai Harada was hidden, as a good sound design should be–everything was clear and crisp and the sound effects were natural. Juniper Street Productions served as the production manager, and Mark Rozzano is the company manager. David Ruttura was associate director. Ray Jin was the production stage manager.

“Follies” continues at the Ahamanson until June 9. You can get tickets through the Ahmanson Website, although if you’re looking for the cheap tickets, here’s a hint. If there are lots of balcony tickets available, just go to the box office and ask for Hottix. You can get two balcony tickets, day of show, at the box office, for $20 each, no surcharge. That’s what we did.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Rounding out June we have “Addams Family” at the Pantages on June 15 and “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Pantages on June 22, as well as the Palisades High School mega-picnic and the Wilshire Blvd Temple Camps 60th Anniversary. July features “The Savannah Disputation” at the Colony, “The Laramie Project” at REP East, and “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo. August is more open, but will bring “Memphis” at the Pantages and “Playdates” at REP East.  As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

Music: Follies (Highlights from the 1971 Original Broadway Cast) (Fufi D’Orsay / Ethel Shutta): Ah! Paris / Broadway Baby

 

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Revisiting a Friend in Dr. Seuss’ World

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Last night, we went to go see “Seussical–The Musical” at Nobel Middle School in Northrdge. Now, I’m sure your first question is… why? After all, our daughter has graduated high school, we have no other kids, so why would we willingly go to a middle school to see a musical. You’re probably thinking we are crazy. Trust me: we’re not. This little middle school does damn fine performances equaling or bettering many high schools and coming close to small regional productions. Plus, the people behind the program are just wonderful, and seeing how it was these people that were the teachers that were the initial “spark” for our daughter in school, we just had to go.

Before I go into the specifics of this production, I want to talk about the program itself. Back in 2005, there was no drama program at Nobel–at least nothing that presented shows to people. That changed in 2006, when two hard-working English teachers, Fanny Araña and Jean Martellaro, revitalized the program. Our daughter was in that first show, An Evening of Silverstein, and it touched a nerve for her. She was involved in every show thenceforth while at Nobel; she remained involved while at Van Nuys. It was the reason she went to Van Nuys HS (she loved working in theatre); it gave her friends and self-confidence. I think it was the “nudge” that turned her into the woman of today.

Now, that first show wasn’t all that fancy. There were a few lights on a light bar on the side, plugged in with extension cords because they couldn’t use the lights in the building. There was little amplification, and you couldn’t hear the kids. Sets were simplistic. The program wasn’t supported by the administration; in fact, it seemed as if the administration was actively hostile at times. Over the years, this program has grown and grown and become more professional. In Spring 2008 for Grease, there were professional-quality sets. Since then, the quality of the shows has continued to improve. They’ve got full theatrical lighting (paid for by the program or grants), a full lighting board and sound board with wireless microphones. They had spectacular sets. They are training students not only on acting and singing, but on the technical and backstage aspects of the production. They had remarkable costumes. All this in a drama progam at a Math-Science-Technology magnet. Even the administration seems to have turned around. Although there are still problems, I now see the school promote the drama productions and it has become something the school is proud of. All this is due to the work of Fanny and Jean and the parents, children, and others they have loved and brought into their orbit. These two women have made this program, and I just love them (both as teachers, and as really great people).

Turning to the show itself. This is one we’ve seen before–at the Teen Drama Workshop at CSUN. “Seussical” is a musical based on the Dr. Seuss books, with music by Lynn Ahrens, Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and co-conceived by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Eric Idle. The story basically combines “Horton Hears a Who” with “Horton Hatches an Egg”, with a number of other Seuss stories and characters thrown in for good measure. If you are familiar with the two-act version of the cast album, this is a cut down, one act version that preserves the basic story, but cuts out some of the more extraneous stuff, such as the Butter Battle, and the environmental subplot (it appears to be the Jr. High/Middle School version).  It is a great show for middle school: it supports good characters, lots of music, and lots of positions for kids.

Nobel did a great job with the show. I really couldn’t detect acting problems–there wasn’t the overacting you often see in HS productions. There was just good storytelling and kids having fun. The singing was mixed–some good, some weaker–but this is what you get in middle school with kids that aren’t going into that career. It was a step above past productions–this is likely due to the introduction of a choral director, Sara Greenberg. I’ll go into the tech in a bit.

Some of the kids performances were outstanding. Particularly notable was Michael Dager as Horton the Elephant: this young man could sing well, and could act well, conveying his emotion to the audience clearly. Also mostly strong were Julia Trites as the Cat in the Hat, Jessica Bell as Gertrude McFuzz, Jenny Tuell as the Sour Kangaroo. The acting of these three was all great, and for the most part, their singing was strong and spot on. As Jojo, Jordan Vasich started out weak, but once he moved into the real Jojo role, was pretty good. A number of other kids caught my eye with their acting–particularly Deven Streeton at Thing1, Megan Chu as Thing 2, the twins (Amanda and Jessica Wilheim) who played the baby kangaroos, and whichever citizen of Whoville was wearing the glasses.  These youngsters were just fun to watch.

As would be expected, there was a large cast in this show, and I could only highlight a few. The full cast was: Cat in the Hat: Julia Trites; Jojo: Jordan Vasich. Horton: Michael Dager. Gertrude McFuzz: Jessica Bell. Amayzing Mayzie: Taylor Pearl. Sour Kangaroo: Jenny Tuell. Baby Kangaroos: Amanda and Jessica Wilsheim. Mr. Mayor: Noah Gephart Canada. Mrs. Mayor: Jenny McNabb. Vlad Vladikoff: Cruz Godinez. Yertle the Turtle: Shelby Kaplan. Bird Girls: Abigail Franks, Emily Bernstein, Gianna Lowe, Kayla Hamburg, Shelby Vasich, Victoria Solkovitz. Wickersham Mob Boss: Josh Zweig. Wickershams: Aria Doherty, Bennett Chester, Edgar Tumbokon, Jeremiah Coleman, Michael Lertzman, Sabrina Vasich. Whoville Citizens: Alexander Goldbloom, Adnrea Mayorga, Berna Amet, Cassandra Cohen, Kaitlyn Guadagno, Maya Efrat, Nick Katurich, Nichole Wilheim, Shane Harrington. Thing 1: Deven Streeton. Thing 2: Megan Chu. Jungle Creatures: Alice Kazantsev, Ashley David, Crystal Garcia, Jaylen Dunn, Jessica Zubia Calsada, Josh Lloyd, Josue Solorzano, Sukhmani Kaur. Hunters: Josue Solorzano, Wade Hawthorne. Jungle Creatures/Fish: Alyssa Escartin, Drew Golden, Lisette Avila, Madison Tilner, Michaela Moser, Sanam Vojdanpak, Shannon Fonseca. Jungle Creatures/Circus Performers: Brian Card, Emily Flores, Miaya May, Michelle Sarabia, Shiloh Sacks, Sukhmani Kaur, Wade Hawthorne.

The production was directed by Jean Martellaro and produced by Fanny Araña. Choreography was by Carloyn Doherty. Choral direction by Sara Greenberg. No credit was provided for the recorded music.

Turning to the technical: Nobel has improved 200% in terms of light and sound. Going from the early days of stand up microphones at the front, with some light stands on the side that kept overheating and no controls for either to last night’s show: with multiple standard theatrical lights both on the sides and on top in front of the stage, as well as overhead on the stage, with a full lighting and sound board. Credit to this improvement goes to the technical directors, Fanny Araña and Brian Bengler. Brian also did lighting and sound design, and other than a few glitches, it was pretty good (and in many ways, stronger than I’ve seen at Van Nuys). The spectacular sets were designed by Gail Zweben, stepping in for regular designer Dennis Kull, who was unable to do the show. These sets were clever, multilevel (something you rarely see in middle school), well constructed, and took great advantage of black lighting. The costumes were extremely clever, and were the work of a large number of people. Also spectacular were the fish puppets — I think these had the audience in awe.

Technical credits (not already given): Production crew: Chriss Bell, Darlene Streeton, Huan Chu. Production assistants: Charlene Wilheim, Debbie Canada, John Roberto, Steve Wilheim. Specialty costumes: Bird Girls & Kangaroos – Larissa Kazantsev; Whos & Monkeys – Michelle Hamburg. Costume Assistants: Darleen Streeton, Debbie Sornborger, Lucia Arias, Patty Katurich. Fish puppet creators: Diane Kaspar, Baljot, Chanal, Micole Granados, Savannah Flores, Thrinity Martinez. Technical crew: Alex Pappas, Andre Shahinian, Bella Ortega, Daniel Zgodzay, Denise Rojas, Gillian Evenas, Isaíjah Johnson, Jojo Roecker, Jordan Whittaker, Luis Gallardo, Matan Levin, Megan Roberto, Nicolas Carlson, Ridge Echiverri, Rosemary Vazquez, Sahar Alubhoy, Salpy Haroutunian, Shaha Shahinian, Shane Scott, Stephanie Italiaie, Taylor Ketterling, Tyler Greene, Zaharun Hossain.

“Seussical” continues at Nobel Middle School today at 2pm and 630pm. Nobel Middle School is in Northridge CA at Tampa and Lassen; parking is on Merridy one block N of Tampa. This program is funded by donations, not tickets at the door. So come, donate, and help keep this program alive.

ETA: You can see some wonderful pictures of the production here.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: I may see if I can get last-minute tickets to  “Follies” at the Ahmanson for tonight. Rounding out June we have “Addams Family” at the Pantages on June 15 and “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Pantages on June 22, as well as the Palisades High School mega-picnic and the Wilshire Blvd Temple Camps 60th Anniversary. July features “The Savannah Disputation” at the Colony, “The Laramie Project” at REP East, and “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo. August is more open, but will bring “Memphis” at the Pantages and “Playdates” at REP East.  As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

Music: Confessions (Liza Minnelli): Close Your Eyes

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A Trailer Park Worth Visiting

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Great American Trailer Park MusicalMost of the time, when you see trailer parks, you don’t stop in. You drive on past, oblivious to the goings-on inside. We’ll I’ve got a trailer park that is worth visiting–“Armadillo Acres”, in Starke FL. Now, to make your life a little easier, you can find “Armadillo Acres” in old-town Newhall, right next to a Mexican restaurant.

Perhaps I should explain. “Armadillo Acres” is the fictional setting for “The Great American Trailer Park Musical“, on-stage at REP East Playhouse in Newhall until June 16. In presenting this show, the REP has transformed itself into a trailer park: Pabst Blue Ribbon, tacky accents, tacky dress, and tacky demeanor. It has done this to support a show that itself it tacky, but is also incredibly funny, well performed, and a delight to watch. This show is a hoot–a load of fun performed as only REP can do it.

“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” (book by Betsy Kelso, with music and lyrics by David Nehls) can be enjoyed on two levels. On the top (or should I say “over the top”), it is a celebration of all things Trailer Park and “White Trash”: from the Trailer Park culture itself, with its pregnancy and messy relationships and borderline incest and tackyness, to how that culture is portrayed on television, advertising, QVC, and such. But deeper inside, GATPM is a love story–a story about a couple whose relationship has persevered for over 20 years, and the relationships of those around them with the men in their life. Of course, they don’t quite present it in those words, and the relationships (especially if you’ve seen Jerry Springer or Sally Jesse) may not be what you expect.

At its heart, GATPM is the story of Jeannie Garstecki (Kristen Heitman) and Norbert Garstecki (Jeremiah Lowder): two high school sweethearts (the math nerd (she) and the football jock (he)) who have been together 20 years. After a traumatic incident at the beauty salon, Jeannie became agoraphobic, and hasn’t set foot outside of her trailer for almost 20 years. It is their anniversary, and she has promised Norbert she’ll go outside and he can take her somewhere special–the Ice Capades! This basic story is introduced to us (and carried on throughout the show) by the trailer park equivalent of a greek chorus: the trailer park owner, Betty Burnside (Leslie Berra)–a tall, well-worn gal who has seen everything, especially in this park; “Lin” (Lori D’itri)–short for Linoleum, whose husband is on death row in the Florida Penitentiary; and “Pickles” (Beth Ann Sweezer)–a young woman who wants a baby so bad she has continual hysterical pregnancies. Into this mix is thrown Pippi (Shannon Bouknight), a stripper on the run from her psychotic boyfriend Duke (Luke Barnett). Pippi moves into the trailer park to hide, and Norbert has a wife who has been unavailable for 20 years. You can figure out the rest. Let’s just say that the story plays out with humor both small and large, amplified by stereotypical “white trash” behaviors, and magnified by the hilarious videos projects on screens on the side and the clever music and lyrics.

All of the performances in this production were excellent and each actor has their moment to shine. I walked out of this production going: these guys were perfect–they could sing, they could act, and most importantly, they were having fun on stage and conveying that fun to the audience. There are a few performances and moments I want to highlight. The first is Beth Ann Sweezer as “Pickles”. Sweezer has a smile and a bubbly personality that light up the stage, and was just a joy to watch in every scene she was in. Your eyes were drawn to her as a result (and not just because of the pregnancy belly), and she made the show fun. She also had great comic timing, which was especially demonstrated in her scenes as Tina from Oklahoma City. The second highlight to me was Kristen Heitman. Initially, she didn’t fit my image of Jeannie, but she won me over with her perkiness–and more importantly, her singing voice. She truly shined in numbers such as “Owner of My Heart”, “Panic”, “But He’s Mine”, and particularly “Flushed Down The Pipes” (which had the most hilarious accompanying video I’ve seen in ages). The third highlight was Shannon Bouknight as Pippi. Again, she was having fun with her role (and especially that pole dance!), but man, could this young woman sing. This was highlighted in many of the numbers with Jeannie (such as “But He’s Mine” and “Panic”). Lastly, as Norbert, Jeremiah Lowder, exhibited a gentle charm that was infectious.

The show was directed by Mark Kaplan, who did a wonderful job of bringing out the inner “white trash” of his actors, and making the production come across as natural and fun. Choreography was by Stephen Bailey and was effective for the REP space. Vocal direction was by Leslie Berra. The music was prerecorded (the REP doesn’t really have space for an orchestra, let alone an onstage band), and was not credited in the program.

The production aspects of the show equaled the acting quality. Much credit goes to the regular REP team. Jeff Hyde was back with a spectacular set design that put four trailers on the small stage, utilizing a turntable and other tricks to also provide inside views of the two of them. Art Direction (which likely means helping Jeff with the numerous design and props) were the REP artistic directors, Ovington Michael Owston and Mikee Schwinn. These three transformed the entire REP facility and did a great job of setting the stage. As an aside: this is one thing I love about the REP–the show isn’t just on the stage… for they transform their lobby and bar into a parallel area whose them echoes what is on the stage. The costumes (by Claudia Alexopoulos) and wigs (by Jennifer Alexopoulos) were period-appropriate and (especially for the wigs) appropriately tacky. The sound design by Steven “Nanook” Burkholder was a step above his normal work, with on-actor mics (something one rarely sees at the REP) and appropriate sound effects. The videos (by Jeremiah Lowder and Mikee Schwinn) were period-perfect clips from advertising and TV shows, and augmented the action perfectly. The lighting by Tim Christianson was effective and unobtrusive, and did a great job of setting the scene. Vicki Lightner was stage manager, assisted by Christina Gonzalez.

“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” continues through June 16 at the REP. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box Office. Go see it; you’ll have a wonderful time, and never look at trailer parks the same. Following Trailer Park at the REP are the two shows in the more mature “81 series”: “The Laramie Project” (running July 13-July 28) and “Playdates” (running August 17-September 1).

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: May will end with the production of “Seussical” at Nobel Middle School. I wanted to see “Follies” at the Ahmanson, but that doesn’t look like it will work out. June is more open, but does feature both “Addams Family” and “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Pantages, as well as the Palisades High School mega-picnic and the Wilshire Blvd Temple Camps 60th Anniversary. July features “The Savannah Disputation” at the Colony, “The Laramie Project” at REP East, and “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo. August is more open, but will bring “Memphis” at the Pantages and “Playdates” at REP East.  As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

Music: Greatest Hits I & II (Linda Ronstadt): Desparado

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