Tag: theatre-2012

Rock and Roll is Simply Rhythm and Blues, Speeded Up

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Race Relations and Rock ‘N Roll. This has been a popular subject for musicals. Examples abound: One of the underlying themes in the musical Hairspray (which we saw in 2004) is the integration of TV dance shows in Baltimore in the 1960s. It is also explicit in Baby It’s You (which we saw in 2009), which explores the relationship between the white producer of the Shirelles and a black songwriter. A third example is Dreamgirls (which I saw back in 1983), which also highlights the contrast between “black” and “white” music. All three of these shows popped into my mind at various points last night while we were at the Pantages Theatre to see the Broadway LA (touring) production of Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical.

Memphis is a musical with two major themes. The first theme is a story of a white aficionado of “black music” — that is, rhythm and blues, which later became rock ‘n roll —  who wanted to promote that music to a larger audience. The second them is the story of a white producer falling in love with his black leading artist in Memphis in the 1950s. Some of it is even based on true events.

The basic story of Memphis is as follows (you can find a more detailed synopsis in the Wiki page). A white lover of “black” music, Huey Calhoun, starts frequenting Delrays, a club in the black section of Beale Street in Memphis TN, simply because he loves the music. He becomes enraptured with the singing of the sister of the owner, Felicia Farrell, and promises that he will get on the radio and will get her music heard. He starts by attempting to promote the “black” music at the local department store… and gets fired. He then talks his way onto a local AM station, where his show featuring black artists and a very improvised style becomes #1. His show encourages kids to go and listen to rhythm and blues and gospel, going so far as to encourage them to visit black churches. His relationship with Felicia continues, and he eventually gets her to perform on his show, where she becomes a hit. He is also falling in love with her, and on the way to a party at Delrays, proposes to her. As they kiss, they are seen by whites passing by… and (predictably) get beat up.  End Act I. In Act II, the relationship continues. Time has passed, and Huey has a TV dance show in Memphis featuring rock and roll and black dancers. Felicia’s career is also progressing, and a producer from RCA wants her to go to New York. She wants Huey to go, but he wants to stay in Memphis. She gets the producer to go see his show, but Huey rebels when the producers indicates he likes Huey as host, but the black dancers will have to be replaced by white dancers. His form of rebellion: kissing Felicia on-air. This is the end of Huey:  Felicia and Delray go to New York, and Huey ends up at a small radio station with no audience.

In developing this story, book author Joe DiPeitro (who also did “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” and “All Shook Up“) drew upon incidents in many stories. The character of Huey Calhoun was based primarily on a real Memphis DJ, Dewey Phillips. Dewey was the inspiration for the radio station (WHBQ), the persona of the hillbilly, the promotion of “black” music, the style of the TV show, and even the hinting of the color of someone by mentioning the high school they attended. However, there were also aspects of Alan Freed, another DJ of the era. From Freed, DiPietro also drew the notion of promoting black artists using the black artists themselves, the incident of playing black music at the department store, and the promotion of local concerts with black artists.  DiPeitro also drew upon the stories about Dick Clark, whose American Bandstand was supposedly successful in Philly because Clark knew how to present black music to a white audience with white dancers in an acceptable manner.

The arc of Huey Calhoun is an interesting one, filled with challenges and conflict that work well with musicalization. Alas, the supporting music (by David Bryan (of Bon Jovi)), while tuneful, often hits you over the head with the lyrics (by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan).  It does this primarily in the songs that attempt to mimic the music of the era and emphasize the race differences (as the LA Times critic noted, the worst offenders were in the opening, where the song “Whiter than White” by “Whitey White and the Whitetones” is introduced, and the song “Everybody Wants To Be Black On Saturday Night”. Many of the songs also don’t advance plot too well (contrast the substance of the songs with the songs in a Rodgers/Hammerstein or Sondheim piece). However, there are points where the songs do a wonderful job of illustrating the tensions in the characters. A particularly good example of this is the title song “Memphis Lives In Me”, which is great at illustrating why Huey cannot go to New York. It is in these moments that Memphis overcomes its material and soars. Thinking about it, what was missing were numbers for Felicia that exposed her soul and her desires (every other character had such numbers, looking back at things).

While the character of Huey had precedents in real life, the love story did not. I have been unable to find if there was any historical basis in the character of Felicia. My conclusion is that the love story was crafted into the piece to provide dramatic tension… and perhaps it here that is the story is the weakest. Whereas Huey Calhoun’s arc is believable, the supposed spark between Huey and Felicia never ignites on stage. Whether this is the fault of the writing, the directing, or the acting I’m not sure. My guess is that it is a plotting problem that could have been corrected, but that the other successes of the show overtook the need to get this right.

Independent of these problematic book aspects, however, the performances soar. This is particularly true in the performances of the leading players: Bryan Fenkart as Huey and Felicia Boswell as Felicia. Fenkart’s “hick” accent was perhaps a bit overplayed (I kept thinking of Scott Holmes‘ voice in Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public), his performance and characterization was spot on, and his singing — particularly in “Memphis Lives in Me” — was great. Boswell was also strong on stage and in her performance numbers (particularly “Someday”).

The supporting cast was also quite strong: Quentin Earl Darrington as Delray, Will Mann as Bobby, Rhett George¹ as Gator, and Julie Johnson as Gladys. Each gave strong acting performances, and surprising musical performances. Darrington excelled in “She’s My Sister”, George brought down the house in “Say a Prayer”, Mann was spectacular in “Big Love”, and Johnson had her moment in “Change Don’t Come Easy”. Although the material they had for developing their characters was slight, they did the most with what they had and were very successful with it.
(¹: Side note to Mr. George: If you are going to list your website in the program, please make sure you have paid it up and it hasn’t been hijacked by an adult sex website)

Rounding out the cast were: William Parry (Mr. Simmons), Alexander Aguilar (Ensemble), Chelsey Arce (Swing), Whitney Leigh Brown (Ensemble), Whitney Cooper (Ensemble), Tami Dahbura (Ensemble), Scott Difford (Ensemble), Lynorris Evans (Ensemble), Christopher Gurr (Ensemble), Daisy Hobbs (Ensemble), Adrienne Howard (Ensemble), Crystal Joy (Ensemble), Kyle Leland (Ensemble (our show), Swing, Dance Captain), Jarvis D. McKinley (Ensemble), Kenna Michelle Morris (Swing, Assistant Dance Captain), Jill Morrison (Ensemble), Kent Overshown (Ensemble), Justin Prescott (Ensemble), Jody Reynard (Ensemble), Peter Matthew Smith (Ensemble), and Derek St. Pierre (Ensemble).

The production was directed by Christopher Ashley (assisted by Associate Director Adam Arian), who did a reasonable job of bringing the characters to life. As previously noted, I thought he could have done more to bring out the spark in the romantic story. However, sparks were certainly flying in Sergio Trujillo‘s choreography, which did a great job of exciting and firing up the audience (with additional credit to August Eriksmoen as dance arranger and Edgar Godineaux as Associate Choreographer). It was spectacular. The musical performances was also quite strong. Thanks here go to Christopher Jahnke, the music producer and supervisor, Daryl Waters, the co-orchestrator, Alvin Hough Jr. as Music Director/Conductor, and Michael Keller as Music Coordinator. Credit also goes to the great onstage Memphis band, which included Alvin Hough Jr and Darryl Archibald (of Cabrillo fame) on keyboards, Trevor Holder on drums, Dave Matos on guitar, Enzo Penizzotto on bass, Dan Fornero on trumpet and flugelhorn, Alex Iles on trombone and bass trombone, and Dick Mitchell and John Yoakum on reeds.

The technical side had its ups and downs. David Gallo‘s sets mostly worked, although it seemed a bit cramped at points with a frame that reduced the Pantages stage. There were also some problems with Ken Travis‘s sound design that left the sound muddied on the sides of the Pantages. The lighting by Howell Binkley was quite good and emphasized the mood quite well. The projections by David Gallo and Shawn Sagady worked well, especially of the news stories. Paul Tazewell‘s costumes and Charles G. LaPointe‘s hair and wig designs were excellent. Tripp Phillips was the production stage manager; Anna R. Kaltenbach was the stage manager, and Tiffany N. Robinson was the assistant stage manager.

“Memphis” continues at the Pantages through August 12. Tickets are available through the Pantages Website, but you can avoid the service charges by going in person to the Pantages Box Office. That’s what I do.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next week takes us to North Hollywood for  “I Caligula, An Insanity Musical” at Secret Rose Theatre in NoHo on August 11. The rest of the month is quite until “Play Dates” at REP East at the end of the month. 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 (we might go to Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines). 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 with 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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Revisiting A Favorite Town

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Cabrillo UserpicNostalgia. Tom Paxton says that it is OK to look back, as long as you don’t stare. When times are hard, we look back towards simpler times. Calmer time periods, that are held with high-regard for their slower pace and simpler problems. One time period that is a popular nostalgia point is the beginning of the 20th century. For example, Disney revisited it in Main Street at Disneyland; Meredith Willson visited it in “The Music Man“; and MGM revisited on the screen in the classic 1944 movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis“. This movie is known not only for Judy Garland, but for introducing (or reintroducing) a number of songs that would go on to be standards: “The Boy Next Door”, “The Trolley Song”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and the title song are just a few. These musicals drew on the desire for simpler times, and were very popular. In the late 1980s and 1990s, when Broadway was suffering from a dearth of home-grown product, producers turned to the MGM musicals to fill the stage, bringing us stage to screen adaptions such as “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Singing in the Rain“. They also brought to stage an adaption of “Meet Me in St. Louis“. Shows such as these were moderately successful. So when Cabrillo Music Theatre was building their season and looking for a family-friendly summer musical (as is their pattern), they choose “Meet Me In St. Louis” — a sure crowd pleaser.   I’m sure that by now you’ve figured out I’m telling you this because last night we were in Thousand Oaks, seeing the Cabrillo production of “Meet Me in St. Louis“.

“Meet Me in St. Louis” features a book by Hugh Wheeler (who died just after completing the musical adaptation) and music and lyrics primarily by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane, although a few songs from the movie (such as the title song and a few novelty numbers) were written by others. The story is a slight one that appears old-fashioned and fluffy today: Family in 1903 St. Louis has girl daughters that want husbands, and the primary focus of the story is how the girls get their men. A secondary story involves the father’s plan to move the family from St. Louis to New York, uprooting their lives… and their budding romances. That’s it. That’s the plot. There’s a little character growth, but not much. There are moments of minor conflict. The story just isn’t one that can hold a candle to the complexity and depth of the modern musical… and perhaps it doesn’t need to. Perhaps, occasionally, it’s OK to look back and stare longingly at the simpler times, lulled into complacency by simple stories and good music.

That’s one thing that “Meet Me in St. Louis” does have — good music. Perhaps not the title song, which is a bit overdone, but other songs in the show have become standards, and it is worth seeing the show just to see the songs in context: “The Trolley Song”, “The Boy Next Door”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and the novelty songs from the film. There are other songs that were added just for the musical: “You’ll Hear a Bell” (also known as “A Bell Will Ring”), “A Touch of the Irish”, “The Banjo”. All are great–but more in the tradition of standards or novelty numbers, as opposed to songs that significantly move the plot forward (in fact, I think the only two real plot songs are “The Boy Next Door” and “You’ll Hear a Bell”). Doing songs is one spot where Cabrillo shines: they know how to pick actors that can sing beautifully.

Cabrillo can’t do much about the story and the music. They are what they are — nostalgic simple syrup that tastes great, but doesn’t provide deep nourishment. But what turns simple syrup into something great is what you put around it. That’s something that Cabrillo does — and does well. For a home-grown production company (these aren’t tours), working on a tight budget, Cabrillo takes whatever property they have and turns it into something spectacular. That’s why I love their productions… and yet again Cabrillo did not disappoint.

This production of “Meet Me in St. Louis” was distinguished by their casting. Back in 2004, Cabrillo discovered a talented actor by the name of Katharine McPhee, and cast her in a wonderful production of “Annie Get Your Gun” (this was before American Idol). Cabrillo has also uncovered the talents of folks like Shannon Warne, who did a spectacular job in their “Sound of Music“. I predict Cabrillo has done so again — I was blown away by Alyssa M. Simmons (FB) in the role originated by Judy Garland, Esther Smith. This young women could sing wonderfully (you can get an idea in this older YouTube video) and brought an enthusiasm and playfulness to the stage (look at these photos for an idea) that was a delight to watch. She pretty much grabbed your attention whenever she was on the stage, it was great.

That’s not to say that she was the sole bright light. She was surrounded by a very talented cast, including Cabrillo regulars Tom Schmid* (FB) and Christina Saffran Ashford* (FB) as the parents of the family, Mr. Alonzo Smith and Mrs. Anna Smith. These two have a very nice duo in ‘Wasn’t It Fun”, and Ashford did a particularly nice job in “You’ll Hear a Bell”. As Esther’s slightly older sister, Rose, Melissa Reinertson/FB  was a little bit cooler (but I think that was the character), but did have a lovely singing voice and was spirited in her interactions with her future beau, Warren Sheffield (Dane Biren (FB)). This was best seen near the end when the proposal actually happens. Also strong was Esther’s future beau, John Truitt (Kyle Lowder* (FB)), who had a lovely singing voice. Rounding out the family were Hayley Shukiar (Tootie Smith), Antonia Vivino (Agnes Smith), Brendan Yeates (FB) (Lon Smith), John McCool Bowers (FB) (Grandpa Prophater), and Dynell Leigh/FB (Katie).  A few notes on these folks: Shukiar wins on cuteness alone (and thus steals scenes), but I was really taken with Bowers’ grandfather. Bowers had a strong sense of comic timing, and just made the portrayal look easy, natural, and fun. It’s great when that comes across to the audience. The young adults (Simmons, Reinertson, Biren, Lowder, Yeates, and others in the ensemble) were particularly strong in the dance numbers, notably “Skip to My Lou” and “The Banjo”.
(* indicates members of Actors Equity)

Rounding out the large cast were: Savannah Brown (FB) (Ensemble/Lucille Ballard), Rachel Crissman (Ensemble/Eve), Orlando Agawin/FB (Ensemble), Emily Albrecht/FB (Ensemble), Erika Bandy (FB) (Ensemble), Phillip Brandon (FB) (Ensemble), Michael Brown/FB (Ensemble), Michael Byrne/FB (Ensemble/Peewee Drummond), Hogan Fulton (FB) (Ensemble), Stephanie Hayslip (Ensemble), Ken Johnson (Ensemble/Postman), Jenna Keiper (FB) (Ensemble), Kurt Kemper/FB (Ensemble/Clinton Badger), Alex Mendoza/FB (Ensemble/Sidney Purvis), Chase O’Donnell (FB) (Ensemble), Kate Ponzio (FB) Ensemble), Tracy Ray Reynolds/FB (Ensemble), Kelly Roberts/FB (Ensemble), Danielle Rosario (FB) (Ensemble), Linda Smith (Ensemble), Timothy Stokel (FB) (Ensemble). The kids ensemble consisted of Rachel Albrecht, Lexie Collins, Natalie Esposito, Haley Gilchrist, Griffen Hamilton, and Logan Prince.

With respect to all the cast: They were having fun with this show, and it came across in their performances. As we attend lots of shows, I often talk to the producers and directors at intermission. I tell them time and time again that an audience can see the difference between actors going through the moves, counting the steps in their head, and actors that are just living the roles and having fun. The latter is infectuous and makes the show better through its special magic. Especially when you are dealing with actors at the regional theatre level, it is something you do not always see — but it is something that you almost always see in Cabrillo productions, and this one was no exception.

The production was directed by Linda Kerns/FB, who did a good jobs of bringing out the characters from the actors, while letting them still have fun with the roles (this was most evident when you watched the leads). The choreography by Heather Castillo (FB) was spirited and worked quite well, especially on the large dance numbers (Castillo was assisted by Timothy Stokel). Lloyd Cooper/FB was the musical director and conductor of the 16 member orchestra.

Turning to the technical for a moment. The sets and props were provided by Musical Theatre West and, for the most part, worked well. However, the trolley purest in me did not the absence of the trolley pole and overhead wire that make a trolley car a trolley car; further, the controls on their trolley car made it look more like a cable car. The St. Louis purest in me also noted that absence of any mention of Forest Park, which was actually the home of the Worlds Fair. Costumes were designed by Peggy Kellner and provided by Music Theatre of Wichita, and appeared reasonably reflective of their times. Christine Gibson was the wardrobe supervisor, and Kimberly Robinson did the hair and makeup design (although I’m not sure anyone could tame Alyssa’s ‘fro). Jonathan Burke (FB) did the sound design, and for the most part things were crisp and could be heard in the balcony (although one could not always hear what Hayley Shukiar was saying). Lighting Design was by Christina L. Munich and was reasonably effective; I particularly noted the use of the gobos to establish the scene. Technical direction was by Tim Schroepfer (FB). Production stage management was by Allie Roy* (FB), assisted by Megan Laughlin.

[ETA: You can see a video which shows you some of the production here.]

Cabrillo Music Theatre is under the artistic direction of Lewis Wilkenfeld, who gets up before every show and gives a speech about upcoming shows and what Cabrillo is doing in the community. At intermission, I went down and complemented him on this speech. I love things like this — they turn a production company into a family you care about. Wilkenfeld’s speech, plus a video that they were showing, did a great job about how this local production company not only produces great shows, but is doing great things in the community. Efforts like this, I believe, make people want to support the company. I applaud Cabrillo for doing this and for all they are doing for the Ventura County communities.

There is one more performance of “Meet Me In St. Louis” at 2:00pm today. Tickets should be available. Just go to the box office at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. You can also get stuff online and learn more about Cabrillo at their webpage (FB). The Cabrillo 2012-2013 season has been announced: “1776” (October 19-28, 2012), “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” (February 8-17, 2013), “Grease” (April 12-21, 2013), and “Legally Blonde: The Musical” (July 19-28, 2013).

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: We have a little less theatre in August, as we’re going to have some vacation days and will be taking Erin to start UC Berkeley. We’ve only got three shows scheduled: “Memphis” at the Pantages at the beginning of the month, followed by “I Caligula, An Insanity Musical” at Secret Rose Theatre in NoHo on August 11… with “Play Dates” at REP East at the end of the month. 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 with 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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Opera in The Cloud

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The Cloud by OperaWorksWhen we were planning the shows for my wife’s birthday weekend, one of the shows on Goldstar had a description that said: “Each year at OperaWorks, the company creates a new opera out of a mash-up of famous arias and scenes from the opera canon. Taking the pieces that mean something to each performer, adding improvised dialogue and working them together into an original story allows both performers and audience to connect to these classical works from a contemporary viewpoint, and of course, it is never boring! If you are an old hand at opera then you will appreciate the way old favorites are transformed by a new context. If you are new to the scene, this is a great introduction to a genre that’s often hard to understand for the uninitiated.”

An opera mash-up. This sounded neat and different and fun and something completely out of our normal sphere of traditional plays, musical theatre, dance, or concerts. So last night saw us at CSUN for “The Cloud“, the final production of the 26th edition of OperaWorks.

OperaWorks (as the programs director noted at the start of the performance) is a program that brings together a group of aspiring opera performers (usually college age), and teaches them the business. That is, it doesn’t teach them how to sing, but rather how to perform: how to act on stage, how to move in a non-operative fashion, how to interact with other characters on stage, and how to do the things that moves the student from being a “singer” to being a “performer”. The production we saw was the culmination of this year’s advanced artist program. The students in the program each selected an aria from whatever opera they wanted. They then combined them, created characters, created a storyline, and performed it. The result was fascinating–something that I (as a more traditional theatre audience) hadn’t seen before. I couldn’t understand the arias (other than what was in the program), but I could feel the emotion. The only indication the songs were out of context was the shifting language of the words. It was just wonderful.

The program was constructed as three acts. Just before each act, the audience was given a sheet listing the arias and the characters in that act. I’ll try to summarize these and comment on what I saw.

Act I took place in a New York Subway. There were a few basic storylines that interacted, ending up (as most operas do) with death. As the act opens, we see the characters on the subway. The first interaction is between Lindsay (Lindsay Reigel – FB), a janitor, and Jenna (Jenna Siladie – FB). They had been in rehab together; Lindsay made it out, but Jenna didn’t. Lindsay tries to convince Jenna to try again, but Jenna resists, singing “Voyons, Manon” (Manon, Jules Massenet). Jenna then interacts with Anna (Anna Ward – FB), who is obsessed with her cell phone. She sings “O luce de quest anima” (Linda de Chamounix, Donizetti) [O light of my life, I will only live for you] about her love of her cell phone. Jenna convinces her to try drugs instead. Other characters we meet over the course of the act include Alexis (Alexis Alfaro), who is looking to meet his love from the Internet, Alina (Alina Roitstein/FB). Alina, however, has a secret that only Madame Lavonna (Amanda McGarry – FB), the owner of a high-end escort service, knows. Madame Lavonna, always on the lookout for talent, attempts to recruit Kimberly (Kimberly Waite/FB), a runaway needing money. Lavonna also has to deal with the departure of one of her top escorts, Lisa (Lisa Stidham). Lisa is leaving to be with Brendan (Brendan Stone), a former CEO of a large hedge fund company, fired for unethical business practices after his now ex-wife, Cass (Cass Panuska – FB) turned him in.  Cass is also in the subway, wandering and pregnant, living as a pickpocket. Anyway, Lavonna doesn’t want Lisa to leave, so she dispatches Alyssa (Alyssa Narum/FB) to kill her. Alyssa is a paid assassin working for Madame Lavonna; she is also Kimberly’s estranged sister and doesn’t want her to go work for the Madame. Lastly, playing piano was Kelly Trackarumblin (Kelly Horsted – FB), the last of a long line of toll both operators.

This is much more complicated than one sees in the simplified world of music theatre. I’m sure most of this is due to the nature of the mashup, but I also understand convoluted stories and characters are traditional in the opera world. Arias in the act, other than ones I mentioned above, were “Dies Bildnis is bezaubernd schön” (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart); “In uomini, in soldati” (Così fan tutte, Mozart); “Ma quando tornerai” (Alcina, Händel), “Warm as the Autumn Light” (The Ballad of Baby Doe, Moore); “Notre amour” (Fauré), “Que fais-tu, blance tourerelle” (Roméo et Juliette, Gounod), “Hence, hence, Iris hence away!” (Semele, Händel), “Je veux vivre dans la reve” (Roméo et Juliette, Gounod), and “Dove sono i bei momenti” (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart). Of course, the artists did a wonderful job with the music. Watching them sing you could see that they love this music; you could also see how an opera singer sings differently than a musical theatre performer. Where I saw this most was when Cass Panuska was singing her Mozart aria. She appears to be pregnant in real life, and it was fascinating to watch the muscles in her diaphragm move her baby as she sang. What a wonderful way to be rocked to sleep! You don’t see that power and concentration in a typical musical theatre performer. What was more interesting in this act was watching the artists deal with being actors: creating characters, even if they were in the background. I noticed this particularly in the movements of Jenna in the background, who stayed in character as the drug addict, or Alyssa slinking around as the assassin (as well as the movements of Cass, who was sneaking around stealing things). About the only negative here (which was truly minor) was Amanda’s Madame Lavonna. Her singing voice was wonderful, but a couple of times her speaking voice had more of the operatic timber to it than did any other character.  But that’s truly minor; the performances here were wonderful.

Act II was completely different. Act II took place in a wax museum (they said it was abandoned, but an abandoned museum wouldn’t be putting up new displays or have a guard). As in “Night at the Museum”, the waxworks come alive in the evening and interact with each other. The quest for love was a big theme here: both between the characters, and between the guard and one of the mannequins who is currently characterless. This act opened with the guard, Josef (Josef Curtis/FB) bringing in Dasha (Dasha Jensen – FB), a confused mannequin stripped of her identity, longing to be touched. Watching this is Annalise (Annalise Belnap – FB), a teenager lost in drug addition. Other characters in the wax museum were  Dorothy Louise Taliaferro “Del” Martin (Maria Bellanca – FB), the first lesbian to be married in California; “Del” was in love with Melissa Scott (Alyssa Callaghan/FB), a pastor in denial about her porn star past. Scott is loved by Dr. Homer Adkins (Anthony Whitson-Martini – FB), a chemist who has trouble accepting the relationship. Also at the museum is Lolita Lebrón (Zohaniris Torres/FB), a Puerto Rico nationalist, Louise Ranier (Meera Crow – FB), the first woman to win two consecutive Oscars; Charlotte Brontë (Isabella Ivy – FB), the author of Jayne Eyre; Selena Quintanilla (Andrea Flores – FB), the Queen of Tejano Music, and Walter Hagan (Daniel Hunter-Holly), a professional golfer. No real relationships here, other than the fact that Hagan is a womanizer and attempts to hit on anything (which naturally evokes reactions in the other characters–particularly Lolita Lebrón. Liberace (Eric Sedgwick – FB) was at the piano.

Arias in Act II were “Lonely House (Street Scene, Weill); “Je suis encor tout étourdie” (Manon, Massenet); “When the air sings of summer” (The Old Maid and the Thief, Menotti), “Meine Lippen, sie Küßen so heiß” (Giuditta, Lehár); “Canto Negro” (Cinco Canciones Negras, Montsalvatge), “Regnava nel silenzio” (Lucia de Lammermoor, Donizetti), “Vedrai, carino” (Don Giovanni, Mozart), “Nobles seigneurs, salut!” (Les Huguenots, Meyerbeer), “La maja y el ruiseñor” (Goyescas, Granados), “Vedró mentr’io sospiro (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart), “Chévere” (Cinco Canciones Negras, Montsalvatge), and “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” (La Rondine, Puccini). As in Act I, the singing her was top-notch; I was particuarly taken by the performances by Zohaniris Torres, Maria Bellance, Isabella Ivy, and in particular, Dasha Jensen. Jensen was remarkable especially because her costume permitted one to watch her incredible muscle control. Again, it was also fun to watch the artists learn to play characters, in particular Ivy’s Brontë, Bellanca’s Martin, the anger and interactions between Hunter-Holly’s Hagan and Whitson-Martini’s Adkins, and the fire and anger of Torres’ Lebrón.

Act III was the inspiration for the title of the piece, as it takes place in the Internet cloud. Yes, yes, I know — but we’re dealing with opera folks, not engineers like me… so suspend your disbelief (just like you did when you watched Tron). We’re introduced to the cloud through Erin (Erin Anderson – FB), an “oracle” who can connect you with any information in exchange for “likes”. As the act begins, we meet Simon (Simon Barrad – FB), a porn start who has become addicted to his own sexually-deviant website. Simon has created a virus, Sarah (Sarah Young – FB) and unleashed it to destroy the Internet in order to reconnect with Tiffany (Tiffany Mortensen – FB), his former love. Opposing Simon are Karen (Karen Hogle Brown), an online website hosts who controls Simon through sexual addition, and Alex (Alexandra Hill – FB), a CIA spy on a mission to prevent the attack. Erin, the Oracle, directs Alex to talk to Greg (Gregory Voinier – FB), Simon’s business parter, who is now focused on Jessica (Jessica Vadney – FB), an online reality-sex star. Greg is estranged from his daughter, Laurel (Laurel Semerdjian/FB), who is looking for love online to deal with her desk job at the CIA. Lastly, Tiffany is supported by Theresa (Theresa Pilz – FB), the avatar of her deceased mother. Overseeing this all is HRH Kevin (Kevin Bylsma – FB), the all knowing all seeing pianist CEO of the Universe.

Arias in Act III were “Come now a roundel” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten); “Come scoglio” (Così fan tutte, Mozart), “No word from Tom” (The Rake’s Progress, Stravinsky), “Smanie implacabili” (Così fan tutte, Mozart), “Vision fugitive” (Hérodiade, Massenet), “Be kind and courteous” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten), “Laurie’s Song” (The Tender Land, Copland), “Der Hölle Rache” (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), “Flowers bring to every year” (The Rape of Lucretia, Britten),  “Pierrot’s Tanzlied” (Die Tote Stadt, Korngold), and the finale, “Des cendres de ton coeur, réchauffe ton génie” (Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Offenbach). Again, the singing was at the top of the game; in particular, the finale when all of the artists came together to blow the roof off the recital hall. But, of course, the focus wasn’t the singing, it was the acting. A particular standout here was Erin Anderson, who was in character throughout the intermission (handing out “likes” for the OperaWorks Facebook page); her behavior reminded me of the marionette’s from Wisdom 2116. It was also fun to watch her interaction with Jessica Vadney. Jessica was very, umm, well endowed, which worked well with her character as an online sex star. In a battle to get more “likes” with Erin, the interchange over chests (as Erin was much less endowed) was quite well played. Of course, as operas will do, there was lots of death in this one, including the death of the Internet (which troubled me — I was wondering if it was a reflection of the artists on the problems created by technology).

So, over these three acts, was there a theme? I think so, and it was essentially the same theme that we saw Friday night in Fluffy Bunnies: the search for a love and meaningful relationships.

[ETA: Here are some pictures of the production.]

This production also got me thinking about the differences between traditional “Musicals” and “Opera”. After all, there are some sung-through musicals — look at Evita, Sweeney Todd, Rent, and even productions such as The Pirates of Penzance. What makes these musicals as opposed to opera. Is it the style of the music? The style of the performance? Particular conventions of the story? This production got me curious about that, and the only way to find out is to attend more opera to see the difference.

Turning to the technical. The stage (as well as the entire recital hall) was adorned with pillars that were covered with pictures that either (a) reflected characters in the wax museum, (b) reflected characters in “the cloud”, or (c) reflected the individuals in the program. It was fascinating to wander around and look at these; they actually also provided props for use in Act III.  Lighting was a mixture of normal leikos and overhead lights that could be individually controlled. For the most part, this worked well, although there were times the stage was not lit as it should have been, or the focus was off slightly. This was probably an artifact of the recital hall; the normal stages were probably unavailable due to TADW productions. There was no program credit for lighting design. This production didn’t need any sound design, given the voices. From what I could determine, costumes were provided by the artists themselves; there was no program credit for costumes. Zeffin Quinn Hollis (FB) was the stage director.

OperaWorks is an annual program whose summer program is held at CSUN. There is one more performance of “The Cloud” at 2:00 pm today. Tickets are available at the door or online.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend sees us at a more traditional musical, specifically “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo Music Theatre in Thousand Oaks. 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 two shows scheduled: “Memphis” at the Pantages at the beginning of the month, and “Play Dates” at REP East at the end of the month. 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 (looking less likely now), 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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Bunnies Doing what Bunnies Do Best: Pairing Up

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This weekend is my wife’s birthday weekend. So a few weeks ago, I brought up a list of shows and concerts that were happening this weekend, and let her pick what she wanted. One of the shows she picked was something called “Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies“. Now, as it happened I had received mail on the show earlier in the week and based on the description therein, had been intrigued. So I got tickets via Goldstar, and last night found us at the Arena Stage in Hollywood watching a bunch of fluffy bunnies.

Well, OK, so they weren’t really bunnies. Nor were they fluffy bunnies.

So what is this play about, if it isn’t about bunnies? It is billed by Goldstar as a “Romantic Comedy”. Another site refers to it as an “upbeat comedy of sexual politics”. In other places it is referred to as a risque comedy, and given the “parental advisory”, you walk in thinking you’re going to see sex continually happening, so you better leave the children at home and the horses in the street, because it will surely scar and scare them. Even as the show opens one might think this, for the first scene is of a guy and a girl getting together, and within 3 minutes, she has him going down on her.

But that’s not what “Fluffy Bunnies” is about. Especially during the first act, you might think “Fluffy Bunnies” is a stage version of Cheers, How I Met Your Mother, or any of the numerous other sets of TV sitcoms where a bunch of friends sit in a bar or restaurant and comment on the sexual and dating foibles. Certainly this play does have that. The play does concern a central group of four friends: Tommy, Nick, “Baby Boy,” and Jennifer (“Re”), sitting in a bar, talking about their dating problems. “Baby Boy” is sweet and innocent and is looking for something, but he doesn’t know what… but it isn’t meaningless sex. Nick also has opportunity for meaningless sex and booty calls, but is obsessed with figuring  the meaning of his dream about an lamp looking for the right electrical outlet. Tommy, on the other hand, is obsessed with figuring out whether Re is a virgin, because of his belief that all women are either virgins or whores. Gee, writing this out does sound like How I Met Your Mother, doesn’t it?

But there is a big difference. Characters in TV sitcoms generally stay static: this is what permits you to watch episode #1 or #1000 and see the same characters you love. In live theatre, characters exhibit growth. So if I was to compare this to anything, a more apt comparison is I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. The underlying question in this play is: How do we make relationships that are more than superficial? What do we need to change, in ourselves, to do this? This is answered in the second act, where the point is made that to have a real relationship, you need to know and care about the other person in the relationship, not just yourself. You need to stop talking about yourself, and learn about your partner. In doing this, this show makes a significant point for the “me” generation of the 1980s and 1990s: it is not just about you. Relationships are about each person caring about the other person, and knowing them. That’s the growth demonstrated in this show; when the characters take the time to actually learn about someone else, they actually find what that for which they were searching. That is also why, ultimately, this show has succeeded: because of this deeper meaning, it is more than a fluffy bar comedy. It uses the fluffy bar comedy to demonstrate growth.

But this is a comedy. And as a comedy, it works reasonably well. It is stuffed full of dialogue — think Aaron Sorkin or Moonlighting — and relationship or sexual humor. However, it isn’t a continuous rattling off of jokes ala Neil Simon, and it isn’t a sitcom where the humor comes from watching the reaction to those jokes.  The director and author, Matt Chaffee (FB), also does a good job of not creating charactures on stage: he brings out from his actors the real personalities of these characters, and they seem like real people you could get along with on the street (well, perhaps not Tom… he’s a bit annoying). The other thing that this play is not is dated. Although it had a long run in LA around 10 years ago, the subject and the performances remain fresh and delightful.

Let’s talk about these performances. Someone — most likely the director (Chaffee (FB)) or the producer (Drew Brody (FB), of the Infinite Monkey Project) — came up with the interesting idea of double-casting every role in the show. Each night of the show, there is a different permutation of actors in each of the 8 different roles (and as they do under 256 performances, no combination is repeated). So what I saw won’t be what you see. This also makes the show more fun for the actors, as they get to play and have fun and watch for different reactions they haven’t gotten before. This fun comes across to the audience: the actors have fun, and the audience has fun watching them have fun. (and the fun continues afterwards, as the producer invited both actors and audience to the bar across the street after the show to continue the fun!).

The combination that we saw was excellent. As Jennifer (“Re”), Lynsey Harris (FB) had an infectuous personality and style that made you instantly like her; she was easygoing and just inhabited her character. She was perhaps my favorite character in the piece. Also fun to watch were Stephen Pollack (FB) as “Baby Boy” and Dean Cates (FB) as Nick. Pollack gave off a charming naivete, and was particularly fun to watch in his interactions with Amy Sanders (FB)’ Allison. Cates’ Nick was a bit more obsessed with wanting something; his standout scene was when he needed to move a box continually around the stage. In your head, you knew this prop box was likely very light, but his performance made it appear so heavy and awkward you wanted to get up on stage and help him. Rounding out the lead characters was Mike Duff  as Tom, who seemed to be more of a commentator, not looking for a relationship of his own.

In smaller roles were four ladies who portrayed the primary girlfriends and dates. The first one to appear is Samantha Valdellon (FB) as Yvonne, a tiny little thing dating “Baby Boy”. You don’t get to know her character that well, but she is fun to watch (especially at the beginning of the 2nd act, where she has fun with the audience). Next we meet Stephanie Wilcox (FB)’s Tessa, the booty-call obsessed young women who doesn’t know what to make of Nick’s talkative nature. The third girlfriend (who also has some smaller unnamed roles) is the aforementioned Amy Sanders (FB)’s Allison. This character was really fun to watch, both from her demeanor and how she stayed in character even when the focus was not on her. Lastly, there was Bobbi Berkmen (FB)’s Yvonne. She came off a little stiff to me, although I think that was how the character was being interpreted. Still, she had some wonderful moments in her second interaction with Nick.

However, as I noted, this play is double-cast, so you will not see the combination I saw. Other actors in this piece (who you may meet in the lobby) are Karolin Luna (FB) (Yvonne), Kip Garwood (FB) (Baby Boy), Lyndsey Lantz (FB) (Re), Joey Russo (FB) (Tommy), Matthew Hannon (FB) (Nick), Cynthia Murell (FB) (Tessa), Steffinnie Phrommany (FB) (Lyndsay), and Meredith Giangrande (FB) (Allison).

The scenes in this play are structured a bit odd, in that they take place in various locations (apartments, balconies, restaurants), but the main actors in these locations interact with their friends at the bar who are commenting on the action. This can get a bit confusing. It isn’t helped by the set, which is relatively simple and consists mostly of hints of locations, which various images of daisies or bunnies that are simply drawn. Certainly those images do not enhance the set (they don’t have any significance), but I’m not sure whether a realistic set would clarify things either. Still, although the current set (supposedly constructed by the director, Matt Chaffee (FB)) suffices, if the set is ever redone, thought should be given to finding a way to make the locations and the cross interactions clearer. One thing helping the set is the lighting, which serves to focus the audience’s attention well on the significant actions to watch (lighting design is uncredited in the program, but another website clarifies was done by the producer, Drew Brody (FB)). No credit is given for sound or stage management, so those uncredited individuals must toil namelessly.

“Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies” was produced by Drew Brody of the Infinite Monkeys Project, who I’ll note did a great introduction to the show and was quite a bit of fun to talk to during intermission and at the after-show social event.

“Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies” continues at the Arena Stage in Hollywood (behind the Egyptian Theater) through July 28; it is worth seeing. It may move after that and resurface somewhere in September, according to the producer. Tickets are available at the door, through their website, LA Stage Alliance, Plays411, or through Goldstar.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: This weekend is my wife’s birthday weekend, and we have one more show to see:  tonight 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 — dinner is at Peru’s Taste at 530p).  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 two shows scheduled: “Memphis” at the Pantages at the beginning of the month, and “Play Dates” at REP East at the end of the month. 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 (looking less likely now), 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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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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