Tag: theatre-2019

🎭 Family is What You Make It | “Bronco Billy The Musical”

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Bronco Billy - The Musical (Skylight)A few weeks ago, I saw a little musical at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) called Falsettos. That musical was promoted as being about family; and more importantly, being about the family that you make with the people around you. Well, folks, that musical has nothing on the musical I just saw, which truly is about the fact that the family that you make — and that cares about you — is much more family than the one created by birth or by marriage.

So what did I saw that make me say this? What musical did I enjoy so much that I’m thinking about getting tickets to see it again (something I rarely do; I think the last time was Astro Boy and the God of Comics at Sacred Fools)? The answer:  Bronco Billy – The Musical at the Skylight Theatre (FB).

Going in, I had no idea what this show was about. I don’t go to movies; I had no knowledge of — and certainly hadn’t seen — the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie. All I had was an email from the publicist describing the show thusly:

The country’s going crazy; partisan politics, civil rights threatened, technology exploding. That’s right, it’s 1979! Somewhere in America’s heartland, with more heart than sense, Bronco Billy struggles to keep his traveling Wild West show alive. But when Billy and his ragtag troupe of misfits meet Antoinette, a Manhattan heiress on-the-run, the ride gets even wilder as she turns Billy’s world upside down. 

For some reason, that description drew me in. That, and the following words from the book writer, Dennis Hackin (FB), who also did the original screenplay:

The show is about living your passion. About being part of a family even if you have to create your own. With some unexpected turns through love, villainy, show business, and lots of humor, Chip, John, and Michele have beautifully honored the book and enlightened the characters with their magical musical influences. All this, during a time when everyone could use a new upbeat musical.

“Chip, John, and Michele” refer to Chip Rosenbloom (FB), John Torres (⭐FB, FB), and Michele Brourman (⭐FB). Chip and John did the music and lyrics for the show; Michele did some additional lyrics.

As I said, going in I knew nothing about the movie. When I got home, I looked it up on Wikipedia. Other than some basic structure of the story, it appears that the musical did a fair amount of story adaptation for the stage. The movie actually sounds less interesting that the story in the musical. So kudos to the writing team for the rework: it resulted in an extremely enjoyable show.

By this point, you’re probaby wondering about the plot. It is the late 1970s, and Bronco Billy McCoy is a western entertainer barely surviving with a “Wild West Troupe” going from county fair to county fair. This troupe includes Doc, Lorraine and her husband Chief Big Eagle, Two Gun Lefty Lebow, and Lasso Leonard James. The group is hoping they can make it to Hollywood to get their big break by auditioning for a producer. Parallel to this, the founder of the Ollie the Owl Candy Bar Company dies. In a revised will, he leaves all his money to his daughter, Antoinette Lilly, pissing off his second wife, Constance. But the lawyer, Lipton, points out that there’s a loophole: If she doesn’t survive for 30 days, the bequest goes to the stepwife. After a failed attempt by Antoinette’s husband, John Arlington, to off her, Antoinette runs off into hiding — with Bronco Billy’s troupe. Still wanting the money, Constance and the Lawyer hire Sinclair St. Clair to do the “hit”. You can take it from there, with subsequent backstory reveals and the formation of a family with the Bronco BIlly troupe.

As I said, the plot is different in a number of key ways from the movie. I was glad that I hadn’t seen it beforehand.

This is a new musical, so some examination of these book and music is in order. The book is … a musical book. That means that some characters have their characterizations exaggerated for the stage. The description of the movie comes across as dark. This is light and fun. One or two jokes may be a bit strained (in particular, the recurring gag on the hit man’s name), but overall it is enjoyable. Don’t go in expecting a deep social commentary — this isn’t Dear Evan Hansen. Rather, go in expect to have fun with a story that is a bit more old fashioned: think Addams Family – The Musical or Hairspray.  I think — in terms of the underlying message — this musical creates a family in a stronger, more “extended” way than Falsettos did. The real point of the story here is that family is built by those who care about each other and what happens to them. It make the point that your past is in the past; family is what you make today, going forward. And that’s a real good point to be making in this day and age, when families are being torn apart due to politics. Perhaps that’s why this show has a new resonance.

I found the music and lyrics to be strong. There were a lot of great upbeat numbers that made me long for a cast album. The opening number “Ride With Us” really sets the tone, as do numbers like “Our Time Is Now”, or “It’s Gonna Be Great”, or “Whopper of a Song”. But the ballads are very nice as well. But I just know what I like to listen to; I can’t judge whether those who obsess about rhyme or composition would be happy. I just enjoyed it and found myself humming the tunes as I left (which is rare). A testament to this show, and how much I liked the music, was that I just went and bought tickets to see it again. Directly from the theatre (albeit with a discount code). I’m squeezing it in during the Fringe Festival. That’s how much I enjoyed the book and the music of this show.

I think the key factor in assessing this show is this: not once did I have the urge to look at my program to see when an act was going to end. In fact, the end came too soon; I was enjoying it that much.

Under Hunter Bird (FB)’s direction, the cast was clearly having fun, and the brisk was pace… pace was brisk. The acting team seemed to be really into their inhabiting characters and bringing out the joy within. I’m never sure — hey, I’m just an audience member — what part is the director and what is the actor, but I do know the director can help make the magic happen. Even more significantly, it is the director that brings the vision to the show — and the artistic vision with the wooden boxes that miraculously unfolded to become the different pieces and places was just astounding. About the only directoral complaint I might have relates to the fight sequences, especially in the Musical Showdown. I don’t know the extent to which this was direction, vs Matt Franta (FB)’s fight choreography, but a number of the fight sequences were a bit too “stagey or fake” — they needed a bit more realism to make them “hit” (so to speak). Improved sound effects to augment them would help, but there needs to be more smacks in the smackeroos. But this, mind you, is a minor complaint.

This brings us to the performance team. In the lead positions were Eric B. Anthony (⭐FB) as Bronco Billy McCoy, and Amanda Leigh Jerry (FB) as Antoinette Lilly.  Anthony was wonderful as Billy — personable, relatable, with a lovely lighter singing voice that is just beautiful in songs like “Just a Dance” and “Everything I Needed”. For those expecting a hard Clint Eastwood type, expect to have your mind blown. Think more of a Ben Vereen, which fits much more with what the West really was. I should note I’ve seen Anthony sing before — although not listed in his bio, I saw him in Five Guys Named Moe at Ebony Rep in 2017. Great then, great now. The real knockout, however, was Jerry. She had a personality and internal oomph that she broadcast to the back of the theatre, with a winning look and super strong singing voice. All of her numbers were great, especially “Get Me Out of Here” and her “Be Strong” numbers.

Billy’s troupe consisted of Benai Boyd (FB) as Doc; Fatima El-Bashir (FB) as Lorraine; Michael Uribes (FB) as Chief Big Eagle; Randy Charleville (FB) as Two Gun Lefty Lebow, and Kyle Frattini (FB) as Lasso Leonard James.  I’d seen Boyd before in the Actors Co-Op production of Violet, and she blew me away then. She was even stronger here as Doc: she opens the show, she holds everything together, she has a knockout singing voice, and she is just fantastic to watch.  Also strong was El-Basher (who I had seen in Empire) as Lorraine. Together with Boyd, they made a delightful duo opening the show, plus she is wonderful in “Look in the Mirror”. Further, she tap dances. I just love a good tap dance :-). Uribes (who, you guessed it, we saw before in Robber Bridegroom) was more of a taciturn character, although he did have a wonderful number in the opening of the second act. Charleville was strong as the clown, Lefty; and Frattini did a wonderful job of playing up the comic as Lasso Leonard. [Yes, and before you ask, we did see Frattini in Shrek at 5-Star, as well as in Beatniks at last year’s Fringe].

There’s a reason I mention this repeat talent: We have, here in Los Angeles, a remarkable talent pool. Actors who love the craft, and who are just astounding in what they do. Some are primarily stage actors, some are working their way there. Some work in TV and film. But they are all incredible talents, and it is just a joy to see the best of them pop up in shows at different venues throughout this great theatre city.

This brings us to the villains of the piece: Michelle Azar (⭐FB, FB) as Constance the Step-Mother; Marc Cardiff as the Lawyer Lipton, Chris M. Kauffmann (⭐FB, FB) as Antoinette’s husband, John Arlington, and Pat Towne (FB) as the hit-man Sinclair St. Clair. All were written as broadly comical roles, and all were played as broadly comical. Think of the hencemen in Kiss Me Kate or The Drowsy Chaperone. As such, for how they were written, they were played very well. Azar had the lead on a number of different numbers and had a lovely voice.

Rounding out the cast in smaller character roles and ensemble parts were: Bella Hicks (FB) – Mitzi, Female Ensemble; Anthony Marciona (⭐FB, FB) – Sam, Gas Station Attendant, Disco Guy, Stage Manager; Jamie Mills (FB) – Dee Dee, Ensemble. All were great. I noticed Mills first, as she was out before the show working the crowd with a wonderful personality (and a tiny little hat). Hicks caught my eye when she came out as Mitzi; in later roles, her personality just lit up and she was a delight to watch. Marciona had a face that kept making me think of a good friend from our synagogue’s mens club; he clearly had fun playing a large number of different parts – and was funny in his last role as stage manager, staying in role even after the bows.

Understudies who were not on stage were Richie Ferris (FB), Molly Livingston (FB) and James Olivas (FB). We’d see the latter two before in Steel Pier at UCLA; alas, we didn’t seem them at our performance.

Music was provided by an on-stage band conducted by Anthony Lucca (FB) – Music Director, Conductor, Keyboard. Other band members were: Austin Chanu (FB) – Woodwinds, Percussion; Jeff Frantom (FB) – Guitars; Cyrus Elia (FB) – Electric and Upright Bass; and Ryan McDiarmid (FB) – Drums, Percussion. The band had a great sound, and even had one chance to interact with the actors. Other musical credits: David O (FB) – Arrangements and Orchestrations.

The Choreography was by Janet Roston (FB), who brought some wonderful dances to the small space that is the Skylight. As the world premiere of a new musical, it is always worth asking whether this can scale to bigger and better venues. Dance is a large part of that. The dances in this show were expressive and fun, and I believe that they could scale to the larger stage of a Geffen or the Pasadena Playhouse, if not even bigger houses. There was a mix of the Western styles including what appeared to be some line dancing, as well as broader ballet and pop styles.

Lastly, turning to the production and creative side: The director worked with well-known LA scenic designer John Iacovelli (FB) worked with Properties Designer Kevin Williams (FB) and Projection Designer David Murakami (FB) to create a masterpiece of boxes that folded and unfolded to create all the different locations and locales and set pieces, blending overall design with properties, and occasionally with projections on the sides of the boxes. The magic of it reminded me a bit of Astro Boy with the overall creativity show for the space. As I write this, I hearken back to Falsettos again with the creative use of the stage pieces. Theatre need not always be strongly realistic; imagination on stage does wonders. Brian Gale‘s lighting design established time and place well; I particularly noted the heavy use of moving mirrors that were required in the space. That’s an unforgiving technology, and it worked well. Cricket S. Myers (FB) and Daniel S. Tator (FB) did the sound design, and it works reasonably well except for a few microphone crackles, and either some cell-phone interference or a mis-timed sound board queue. Sound effects were good, but could use improvement in the fight scene. Ann Closs Farley (FB)’s costume designs worked well, bringing in modern Western design, a touch of both the ridiculous and sublime, and just some nice looking outfits. Other production credits: Matt Franta (FB) – Fight Coordinator; Christopher Hoffman – Production Stage Manager; Ben Altman (FB) – Stage Manager; Garrett Crouch (FB) – Stage Manager; Michael Donovan CSA – Casting Director; Patty Onagan Consulting – Marketing; Guillermo Perez – Graphic Design; Gary Grossman (FB) and Tony Abatemarco (FB) – Producers.

Bronco Billy – The Musical continues at the Skylight Theatre (FB) until June 30. I liked it enough that I’m squeezing it in during Fringe to bring my wife to see it again. Translation: Yes, you should see this. Tickets are available through the Skylight Online Box Office; the code BILLY20 works at selected performances for 20% off. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar.

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Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) [2018-2019 season], and the Musical Theatre Guild (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

June is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). If you are unfamilar with Fringe, there are around 380 shows taking place over the month of June, mostly in the stretch of Santa Monica Blvd between 1 bl W of La Brea to 1 bl E of Vine, but all generally in Hollywood. On a first pass, there were lots I was interested in, 30 I could fit on a calendar, but even less that I could afford. Here is my current Fringe schedule as of the date of this writeup. [Here’s my post with all shows of interest — which also shows my most current HFF19 schedule. Note: unlike my normal policy, offers of comps or discounts are entertained, but I have to be able to work them into the schedule with the limitations noted in my HFF19 post]:

In terms of non-Fringe theatre (which, yes, does exist): June starts with another concert: Rick Ruskin and Roy Bookbinder at Boulevard Music (FB). I may go to a check-in reading of a new play about Frank Lloyd Wright at Ensemble Studio Theatre (FB) before that. Fringe previews start the next week. We’re squeezing in a return to Bronco Billy – The Musical at Skylight Theatre (FB) on June 15. The end of June also brings Indecent at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on June 28, just before the busy last weekend of Fringe.

As for July, it is already filling up. The first weekend of the month is still open. The second weekend brings An Intimate Evening with Kristen Chenowith at,The Hollywood Bowl (FB).  The third weekend of July brings Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by A Comedy of Errors from Shakespeare by the Sea (FB)/Little Fish Theatre(FB). The last weekend of July brings West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). August starts with an alumni Shabbat at camp, and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). August ends with Mother Road at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (FB), and we might do rush tickets for Alice in Wonderland as well. In between those points, August is mostly open.

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget. Want to learn about all the great theatre in Southern California? Read my post on how Los Angeles (and its environs) is the best area for theatre in the Country!

 

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🎭 Congregational Schisms | “The Christians” @ Actors Co-Op

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The Christians (Actors Co-Op)I’m Jewish. In fact, I’m one of the maintainers of the soc.culture.jewish FAQ, and for a long time ran the Liberal Judaism Mailing List until it withered away. I say that as point of reference #1.

I’m an avid theatre-goer. When a favorite small theatre in Santa Clarita went belly-up a few years ago, we moved our subscription to a small company in North Hollywood called Actors Co-op (FB), based on the quality of their work and their season selection. I tend to believe that subscriptions should be used to bring you to shows you might not choose to see yourself; to take you out of your comfort zone. This is point of reference #2.

But although we like the work of the company, everytime we walked on their campus we were a bit uncomfortable, as their host church had signs at the time indicating they sponsored Jews for Jesus. I would read in their program that they are a “company of Christian actors driven by passion for the Lord Jesus Christ.” Reference point of reference #1. So when I saw that the last show of this season was to be “The Christians” by Lucas Hnath — about which I knew nothing — needless to say I was a bit worried. Was this going to be overlay Christalogical? Would it be overly preachy? Would I be squiriming in my seat: a Jewish boy in a sea of goyim?

Luckily, the answer was “no”, and this company continued their tradition of producing thought-provoking theatre of the highest quality, that didn’t tell you want to think but made you question what you thought. That is what theatre — and churches and synagogues — should do.

The Christians is about a megachurch that is on the precipice of a schism, only they don’t know it yet. At the worship service that starts the show, Pastor Paul starts with a four-part sermon that explores where the church is today, how it got there, and where it is going. He relates a story, and raises a controversial notion: What if you don’t have to be Christian to be saved from the fires of Hell? What if Hell doesn’t exist? What if you don’t have to believe to get into Heaven? Initially, much of the church goes along with the pastor, except for the Associate Pastor Joshua, who can’t accept the notion. Joshua and his followers leave, going off to form their own church. And thus from this little crack…

Soon, questions start to emerge. What is the impact of this on Church donations and membership? What was the history behind the relationships, and the conflicts, between Paul and Joshua? Was the timing questionable — why did the pastor wait to drop this until just after the mortgage was paid off? More and more questions, with answers that weren’t always easy, or provided.

Where to start analyzing this… especially this week, when we’ve seen a number of states attempting to legislate what is in essence a religious decision, ostensibly to help prevent people from going to Hell for their actions…

Let’s start with the Jewish perspective. My wife turned to me during the show, when the Pastor gave his sermon, and said it sounded like he had a Jewish conversion. The Jewish notion of Gehenna (what the Christians call Hell) is very different than the Christian notion; quoting from the FAQ: “Gehennom (lit: the valley of Hinnom, in Jerusalem; i.e. hell) is the sinner’s experience in the afterlife. In other words, it’s the same “place” as gan eiden (lit: the garden of Eden; i.e. heaven) — it’s the perspective of the individual that makes it one or the other.” As for Satan: Satan is no devil with horns. He is the challenger, placed there to give you the choice between good and evil, so that you have the ability to choose to do good. Thus, it turns out that this play — which I feared would be pushing Christian notions of believing in Jesus to be saved, was actually presenting a very Jewish notion.

But, of course, it wasn’t accepted. There was a growing number of people that couldn’t accept that heaven and hell were the same place, with only perspective differing between them. They wanted there to be a requirement to believe in Jesus to be saved. That, indeed, is a fundamental notion in many churches. It is the belief that is important more than action. It is witnessing that belief to others, to convert more people to Jesus. As the play showed, that provided comfort to many, and a growing number wanted that path.

Was it the right path? The play does not answer that question.

Schisms in congregations are nothing new. Our congregation in Northridge had something similar. The Board had a difference in direction from the Senior Rabbi, and he was let go. He has since attempted to form his own congregation, while the original congregation is finding its way. If you look at a history of the congregations in the valley — and I’m sure this is true for the churches as well — they all form from splits from other congregations, each tweaking what they saw as their missions and their interpretations of their core teachings. Who is right and who is wrong? I can’t say, nor can our country. We have the freedom to find many paths to our salvation, and some of those paths might even involve belief systems that eschew notions of God completely (and yes, that’s a belief system as well). All we can say for certain is that we all question why we are here at some point.

In the end, we left the show — and the talkback afterwards — quite pleased. Theatre did what theatre is supposed to do: raise questions. This company did what its mission is: “pursuing the highest standards of theatrical excellence”. It made the audience think and question their beliefs; it provided understanding without preaching. I’m very glad that we saw the show.

It didn’t hurt that, under the direction of Thomas James O’Leary (⭐FB, FB), the cast was uniformly excellent. At the talkback, we learned that the script was quite unusual, which many actions not spelled out (e.g., lines that were “…” or “and and and”). This director did an excellent job with the cast of expanding the unwritten lines, the hidden text, into performance. Not being a performer, I always have trouble understanding what a director does, but this production provided more insight on the role.

In the lead position was Townsend Coleman (FB) as Pastor Paul. Coleman had the bulk of the stage time: the whole sermon, and the whole questioning afterwards. His performance was mesmerizing — holding the audience’s congregation’s attention, teaching, questioning, and in the end, doing an effective job of questioning himself. We truly enjoyed watching him.

Working in a different direction was Thomas Chavira (FB) as Associate Pastor Joshua. Joshua was true to his name: blowing the trumpets that started the walls tumbling down. Chavira did a great job of youth in opposition: a man with a different belief that was equally strong, and that he turned into leadership when confronted. It was interesting to watch.

The other characters on the bima pulpit were smaller: Phil Crowley as Elder Jay, and Kay Bess (⭐FB, FB) as Elizabeth, Pastor Paul’s wife. Both were effective in the questions they raised to Pastor Paul, and in how they inhabited the characters that question. Where Crowley really shined was in the talkback: we had a delightful theological discussion with him that could have gone on for hours (and who knows, perhaps we’ll connect again in real life and it will).

Behind the pulpit was the choir, which was wonderful. Before I note the choir members, I must call out Jenny, played by Nicole Gabriella Scipione (FB), who gave a wonderful testimony and raised some very pointed questions. She was truly believable; what more can you want from an actor. The choir consisted of the following members — and note that there was an A and B choir, and we had the A choir. Note also that our A choir was truly “A”: they had the most wonderful and angelic expressions as they sang. The combined choirs consisted of: Khara Bigham (FB); Aislin Courtis (⭐FB, FB); Hattie Sue Dahlberg (FB); Mary Moore Driggers (FB); James Everts (⭐FB, FB);  Catherine Gray (FB); Tim Hodgin (FB); Laura Kelly (FB);  Deborah Marlowe (FB); Maurice McGraw (FB); Kyle Montgomery (FB); Ariel Murillo (FB); Fadeke Oparinde (FB); Amanda Peterson (FB); Andrew Retland (FB); Daniel Schwab (FB); Cody Scurlock (FB); Kevin Shewey (FB); Isaac Sprague (FB); Paige Stewart (FB); and Bria St. Julien (FB).

Turning to the production side: Nicholas Acciani (FB) did something I’ve never seen before in the Crowley Theatre — laid down wall-to-wall carpet. I hope they find a good use for it after the show. Other than that, not being familiar with the layout of a Christian pulpit — which changes by denomination, and is very different from a bima layout — I can only state that it gave an appropriate Christian feeling. Donny Jackson (FB)’s lighting design seemed appropriate, and worked well with Nicholas Acciani (FB)’s projections. David B. Marling (FB)’s sound design used something you don’t see in this day and age: wired microphones, and worked really well. E.B. Brooks (FB)’s costume design seemed reasonably churchly.  Rounding out the production credits: Josie Austin (FB) – Stage Manager; Heather Chesley (FB) – Artistic Chairwoman; Nora Feldman (FB) – Publicist; Jazmin Henderson (⭐FB, FB) – Asst. Stage Manager; Carly Lopez (FB) – Producer; Noriko Olling (FB) – Music Arranger / Pianist; Dylan Price (FB) – Choir Director; Selah Victor – Production Manager.

The Christians continues at Actors Co-op (FB) until June 16th. If you’re not Christian, don’t be put off by the title — this is a great debatable theological question for everyone. If you are Christian, well, it’s still a great debate and a great show. In any case, it will do what theatre is supposed to do: make you think. Tickets are available through the Actors Co-Op website; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar.

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Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) [2018-2019 season], and the Musical Theatre Guild (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. The last weekend of May will see me at Bronco Billy – The Musical at Skylight Theatre (FB).

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). If you are unfamilar with Fringe, there are around 380 shows taking place over the month of June, mostly in the stretch of Santa Monica Blvd between 1 bl W of La Brea to 1 bl E of Vine, but all generally in Hollywood. On a first pass, there were lots I was interested in, 30 I could fit on a calendar, but even less that I could afford. Here is my current Fringe schedule as of the date of this writeup. [Here’s my post with all shows of interest — which also shows my most current HFF19 schedule. Note: unlike my normal policy, offers of comps or discounts are entertained, but I have to be able to work them into the schedule with the limitations noted in my HFF19 post]:

In terms of non-Fringe theatre (which, yes, does exist): Currently, the first weekend of June is open, although I’m thinking about Ready Set Yeti Go at Rogue Machine Theatre (FB) [if the publicist contacts me or I see it on Goldstar for Saturday]. Fringe previews start the next week. The end of June also brings Indecent at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on June 28, just before the busy last weekend of Fringe.

As for July, it is already filling up. The first weekend of the month is still open. The second weekend brings An Intimate Evening with Kristen Chenowith at,The Hollywood Bowl (FB).  The third weekend of July brings Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by A Comedy of Errors from Shakespeare by the Sea (FB)/Little Fish Theatre(FB). The last weekend of July brings West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). August starts with an alumni Shabbat at camp, and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

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🎭 Death on Stage, Done Right | “Les Misérables” @ Pantages

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Les Misérables (Pantages)Yesterday, I wrote about Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre, and how the death at the end of that show closed the show on a down note, leaving with the audience impressed with the performances, but an ultimate “eh” for the overall feeling. Contrast that with the death that occurs at the end of Les Misérables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB): almost the entire company on stage, marching and singing and celebrating the life and glory. You walk out humming an uplifting anthem, with a completely different feeling. Now that’s how you do death!

Also as with Falsettos, this is the second time we’ve seen the show. The first was also in 2011 when it was at the Ahmanson. This was also the year we first saw Falsettos. Back then I wrote about the show:

Back in 1985, a musical juggernaut was created: Les Misérables, the musical version of the Victor Hugo novel. It hit Los Angeles in 1988, opening at a rejuivenated Shubert Theatre in Century City, where it ran for fourteen months. It returned to Los Angeles numerous times since then under Broadway/LA’s banner (2004, 2006). However, it wasn’t until the current 25th anniversary production at the Ahmanson Theatre that I finally saw the show. As my wife said as it ended last night, “Wow!”.

“Les Misérables” (the musical) tells the story of Jean Valjean, also known as prisoner 24601, and his adopted daughter, Cosette. It is based on the Victor Hugo of the same name, but does cut a few elements of the story. The story, which covers 17 years, is so complicated that a synopsis needed to be published in the program (seemingly, a bad sign). Given that, I’m not going to attempt to repeat it here. You can read it yourself in the Wikipedia Page on the show. Suffice it to say that the show condenses the 1,200 page, five volume novel into two acts of 90 minutes and 65 minutes respectively. The first act covers Jean Valjean’s release from prison and the interaction with the Bishop at Digne, the mayoral years at Montreiil-Sur-Mer where Valjean meets Fantine and takes responsibility for Cosette, the visit to Montfermeil where Valjean obtains Cosette from the Thénardiers, and the years in Paris where the student revolt begins and Marius and Cosette fall in love… all of this while the police officer Javert is chasing Valjean. The second act is solely in Paris and covers the student revolt, its failure, the subsequent growth of the relationship between Marius and Cosette, the final confrontations of Valjean and Javert, and the final redemption of Valjean. That’s a lot of material to cover—trying to cover so much material and so much time is the reason many great novels, such as Gone With The Wind, never make it to the Broadway stage. It is a testament to the original authors Claude-Michel Schönberg (music) and Alain Boublil (a French-language libretto) that they were able to take the beast of a novel and turn it into something understandable (although, arguably, this is really a full opera presented in the guise of a “musical”—at times, the lines between the two blurs). It is also a testament to the English language adapters, Herbert Kretzmer who developed the English language libretto, and Cameron Mackintosh, the original producer, who discovered the French production in 1982 and has sheparded it ever since (I’ll note Mackintosh’s full bio in the program was: “Produces musicals.”). The production was adapted by Sir Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

The translation does have its weak parts, however, primarily in how manipulative it is for the audience. By this, I mean the show in engineered to be a pleaser, with music that builds and leaves the toes tapping; with moments designed to permit the actors to shine; and with act-ending finales designed to stir the soul. In that sense, it is truly operatic as opposed to dramatic. It it also, at times, emotionally overwrought—again, a hallmark of the more operatic side. To some that is a fatal flaw that reduces the worth of the show, but I do enjoy the general effect.

[Some story credits I missed including the first time: Claude-Michel Schönberg Music; Herbert Kretzmer English Lyrics; James Fenton Additional material]

It is now 8 years since I saw that production. What has changed, other than Cameron Mackintosh now having a full bio? Does the new touring production reach the same heights? After all, the story hasn’t changed at all.

Sad to say, the answer is decidedly mixed. The performances are soaring, and the direction and choreography makes the best use of what they have to work with. Voices are remarkable, and the audience is excited. But production decisions make the ultimate effort hard to embrace. At the Ahmanson, the tour was designed to use the entire stage, which is needed for the company to express the broadness and scope of the production. At the Pantages, the set artificially constrained the stage space, cutting the width of the Pantages stage by an estimated one-sixth on each side (that’s a one-third cut overall, for those math challenged). This limited movement, and obscured sight lines from the side. Further, the lighting was dark dark dark, and then smoke and fog effects were added. This made it hard to see. I recall that the Ahmanson staging was better lit and you could see the actors from a distance. The constrained stage and the lighting served to tone down the show. At least the sound was, for the most part, good (which can be a problem in the Pantages).

This is not to say that the production was bad or poorly executed: only that it could have been better. The performances themselves were stunning. The comic bits with the Thénardiers were hilarious (in particular, Mme. Thénardiers reprise to “Master of the House” with the bread), and there were some remarkable sustained high notes. The voices were phenominal, and the music for this show is just a delight. You can just float away on that alone. It just didn’t have the impact of the first time we saw the show.

Some of the problems with this production — at least design wise — may be the results of decisions by the directoral team of Laurence Connor and James Powell. But they did do a great job with their performers about bringing out effective and strong performances that conveyed both the story and the emotions of the characters. They helped their acting team inhabit their characters and tracks, and generally made the performances the strongest part of this show.

In the lead position of this story was Nick Cartell (⭐FB, FB) at Jan Valjean. Cartell had soaring vocals in songs such as “Bring Him Home”, and captured the angst and torment of the character well, Opposing him throughout much of the story was Josh Davis (⭐FB, FB) as Javert. Davis also had soaring vocals in songs like “Stars” and his Soliloquy — a common trait in this cast — and provided solid opposition.

This brings us to the adult women in the cast: Mary Kate Moore (FB) as Fantine; Jillian Butler (FB) as the adult Cosette; and Paige Smallwood (FB) as the adult Éponine. All were beautiful and spectacular and sang like angels — Moore in “I Dreamed a Dream”, Butler in “A Hear Full of Love”, and Smallwood in “On My Own”. They made the same casting decision that was done in the 2011 production that required a bit of suspension of disbelief (little white girl turns into stunning black singer), but this is a stage fantasy, so who really cares.

Then there are the kids: Cate Elefante (FB) as Little Cosette (alternating with Aubin Bradley), Aubin Bradley as Young Éponine (alternating with Cate Elefante (FB)), and Parker Weathersbee as Petit Gervais / Gavroche (alternating with Parker Dzuba, who came in for Jonah Mussolino (⭐FB) in August 2018, when Jonah moved to Falsettos). Elefante was spectacular in her opening scene singing “Castle on a Cloud”, and Weathersbee was strong as Gavroche in the second act in all of his numbers. All were astonishingly cute.

Joshua Grosso (⭐FB) made a strong Marius, whom we see as Cosette’s love interesting and a leader of the students in the second act.  He has a touching rendition of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”, and a lovely duet with Éponine in “A Little Fall of Rain”.

Lastly, in terms of the major characters in the story, there is the comic relief duo of J. Anthony Crane (⭐FB, FB) as Thénardier and Allison Guinn (⭐FB, FB) as Mme. Thénadier. We don’t meet the characters until the wonderful “Master of the House”, and then they keep reappearing in funny situations throughout the story. The actors play off each other well and are having fun with their roles, and that comes across to the audience well.

All of the other characters are in smaller roles, often not well named on stage, or in ensemble positions: John Ambrosino (FB) – Bamatabois, Claquesous; Felipe Barbosa Bombonato (FB) – Grantaire (at our performance), Farmer, Babet (normally); Olivia Dei Cicchi (FB) – Innkeeper’s Wife; Kelsey Denae (FB) – Wigmaker; Caitlin Finnie (FB) – Ensemble; Monté J. Howell (FB) – Innkeeper, Combeferre; Stavros Koumbaros (FB) – Joly; Andrew Love (FB) – Champmathieu, Brujon; Andrew Maughan (FB) – Bishop of Digne, Lesgles, Loud Hailer; Maggie Elizabeth May (FB) – Old Woman; Darrell Morris, Jr. (FB) – Constable, Montparnasse; Ashley Dawn Mortensen (FB) – Factory Girl; Bree Murphy (FB) – Ensemble; Domonique Paton (FB) – Ensemble; Talia Simone Robinson (FB) – Ensemble; Patrick Rooney (FB) – Constable, Fauchelevent, Jean Prouvaire; Mike Schwitter (FB) – Laborer, Feuilly; Matt Shingledecker (FB) – Enjolras; Brett Stoelker (FB) – Swinging in to Babet, Major Domo (at our performance); Addison Takefman  – Ensemble; and Christopher Viljoen (FB) – Factory Foreman, Courfeyrac. Matt Hill – Normally, Grantaire, Major Domo was out at our performance.

Swings were Julia Ellen Carter (FB); Jillian Gray; Tim Quartier (FB); Brett Stoelker (FB); and Kyle Timson (FB).  Understudy allocations are not shown.

This show isn’t a dance show per se, but there is lots of movement. The musical staging was by Michael Ashcroft and Geoffrey Garratt (FB). Kyle Timson (FB) was both the Dance Captain and the Fight Captain. Given the small stage space, the movement was very effective in utilizing that space and doing its best to create the illusion of a larger space. Still, this resulted in a lot of people going in a lot of circles.

The orchestra (under the Musical Direction of Brian Eads (FB)) was larger than the typical touring orchestra, and had that wonderful large orchestral sound that this show needs. No indication was provided as to who was local and who was not, but I recognize a number of names, so my educated guess as to locals is indicated with 🌴. The orchestra consisted of: Brian Eads (FB) – Conductor; Eric Ebbenga (FB) – Assoc. Conductor, Keyboards; Tim Lenihan (FB) – Asst. Conductor, Keyboards; Danielle Giulini (FB) – Violin, Concertmaster; Karen Elaine (FB) – Viola; 🌴 Ira Glansbeek – Cello; 🌴 Michael Valerio (FB) – Double Bass; 🌴 Amy Tatum (FB) – Flute, Piccolo, Alto Flute, Recorder; 🌴 Richard Mitchell – B Flat Clarinet, E Flat Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Recorder; 🌴 Laura Brenes (FB) – French Horn 1; 🌴 Allen Fogle (FB) – French Horn 2; 🌴 John Fumo (FB) – Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet; Phil Keen (FB) – Bass Trombone, Tuba; Jared Soldivero (FB) – Drums, Percussion, Mallets, Timpani; Mary Ekler (⭐FB) – Keyboard Sub; Stuart Andrews – Keyboard Programming; Jean Bellefeuille – Asst. keyboard Programming. Other Orchestral credits: 🌴 Eric Heinly (FB) – Orchestra Contractor; John Cameron – Original Orchestrations; Christopher Jahnke, Stephen Metcalfe, and Stephen Brooker [UK] – New Orchestrations; Stephen Brooker [UK] and James Moore (FB)  [US] – Musical Supervision; and John Miller – Musical Coordinator.

Lastly, turning to the production and creative aspects: I’ve already mentioned the constrained stage space and the problems with the darkness of Paule Constable (FB)’s lighting design. Setting that aside, the rest of the production worked well. Matt Kinley‘s set and image design used a balcony on one side and archways on the other to create a wide variety of spaces, using a combination of rolled on, flown in, and projected set pieces. Some were extraordinarily effective, such as the catacomb effect in the sewers in the second act. Credit also goes to 59 Productions for the projection design, which also used images inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. This was also augmented by the Costume Design of Andreane Neofitou and Christine Rowland, which seemed both appropriately poor and rich depending on the scene, and seemed to fit the characters and their stations well. The wig and hair design of Campbell Young Associates also worked well. Mick Potter‘s sound design generally worked well, although there were points that it was muddled in the cavernous space that is the Pantages. Other production credits: Laura Hunt – Associate Costume Designer; Nic Gray – Associate Sound Designer; Richard Pacholski – Associate Lighting Designer; David Harris and Christine Peters – Associate Set Design; Corey Agnew – Assoc. Director; Richard Barth (FB) – Resident Director; Tara Rubin CSA (FB), Kaitlin Shaw, CSA – Casting; Ryan Parliment – Company Manager; Jack McLeod (FB) – Production Stage Manager; Jess Gouker (FB) – Stage Manager; Joseph Heaton (FB) – Asst. Stage Manager; Broadway Booking Office NYC – Tour Booking &c; NETworks Presentations – Production Management; Gentry & Associates – General Management. A Cameron Mackintosh and NETworks Presentation.

Les Misérables continues at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) through June 2, 2019. If you haven’t seen the show before, it is worth seeing. If you have seen the show before and love the show, you’ll certainly enjoy this outing. If you have seen the show and are looking for a new take, this might be hit or miss with the darker lit staging. Tickets are available through the Pantages box office.  Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar or through TodayTix.

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Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

Tonight brings another tour: Les Miserables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). The third weekend of May brings The Universe (101) at The Main (FB) in Santa Clarita (we loved it at HFF18), as well as The Christians at Actors Co-op (FB).  May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. The last weekend of May will see me at Bronco Billy – The Musical at Skylight Theatre (FB).

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). If you are unfamilar with Fringe, there are around 380 shows taking place over the month of June, mostly in the stretch of Santa Monica Blvd between 1 bl W of La Brea to 1 bl E of Vine, but all generally in Hollywood. On a first pass, there were lots I was interested in, 30 I could fit on a calendar, but even less that I could afford. Here is my current Fringe schedule as of the date of this writeup. [Here’s my post with all shows of interest — which also shows my most current HFF19 schedule. Note: unlike my normal policy, offers of comps or discounts are entertained, but I have to be able to work them into the schedule with the limitations noted in my HFF19 post]:

In terms of non-Fringe theatre (which, yes, does exist): Currently, the first weekend of June is open, although I’m thinking about Ready Set Yeti Go at Rogue Machine Theatre (FB) [if the publicist contacts me or I see it on Goldstar for Saturday]. Fringe previews start the next week. The end of June also brings Indecent at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on June 28, just before the busy last weekend of Fringe.

As for July, it is already filling up. Although the front of the month is currently open, July 20 brings Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by A Comedy of Errors from Shakespeare by the Sea (FB)/Little Fish Theatre(FB). The last weekend of July brings West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). August starts with an alumni Shabbat at camp, and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

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🎭 A Time It Was, And What a Time It Was | “Falsettos” @ Ahmanson

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Falsettos (Ahmanson Theatre)Normally, the progression of how I see major musicals is to see a regional tour first, then see the a major regional production, and then see the intimate theatre version or versions of the show. But 25 years ago I was seeing less theatre and preparing for the birth of my daughter, and so missed Falsettos when it was at the Ahmanson at the Doolittle. My first exposure to the show, instead, was back in 2011, when the YADA/Third Street Theatre mounted a production. About that show, I wrote:

“Falsettos” is really two parts of a three part trilogy of one-act musicals with book by William Finn and James Lapine and Music and Lyrics by William Finn (it premiered on Broadway in 1992). The first part of the trilogy (which is not in “Falsettos“) is “In Trousers“, which introduces us to the main character, Marvin, and his discovery that he prefers men to women. The two parts of “Falsettos ” take place after this: Marvin has just divorced his wife, Trina, and has become involved with Whizzer. The first act, “March of the Falsettos“, addresses the desire of Marvin to have a tight-knit family of Marvin, his lover Whizzer, his ex-wife Trina, his son Jason (age 11), and their psychologist (and Trina’s eventual husband), Mendel. This act explores the impact of Marvin’s relationships on those around him, ending up with Trina in a somewhat happy relationship with Mendel, Jason reconciled with his dad, and Marvin and Whizzer split. The second act is the last part of the trilogy, “Falsettoland“. It deals with Jason’s Bar Mitzvah under the Marvin being reconciled with Whizzer, and the shadow of Whizzer coming down with AIDS and eventually dying.

Neither of these are the happiest of subjects, and William Finn’s sung-through music provides opportunity after opportunity to explore all the angst. Unlike “Spelling Bee” or “New Brain“, the music isn’t particularly memorable or uplifting. So overall, we walked out of the musical with an “eh” reaction to the book: it wasn’t quite as incomprehensible as “Adding Machine“, but it wasn’t particularly a wow either. That’s not to say there aren’t some good songs. I’ve always like the opening of both acts: “Four Jews in a Room Bitching”, which opens “March of the Falsettos” and “Welcome to Falsettoland” which opens “Falsettoland“. March (Act I) also contains the wonderful “I’m Breaking Down” (originally in In Trousers): this is a comic delight that Trina sings while making some god-awful baked contraption. The visual gags alone are a delight. Falsettoland” (Act II) has a few good numbers as well, in particular, “Watching Jason (Play Baseball)”, where the characters bemoan how Jewish boys can’t play baseball, and “Everyone Hates Their Parents” where Mendel and Jason sing about how teens always hate their parents as teenagers, but when they are older, they hate them less, and that when they have kids, their kids will hate them. As the father of a teen who is in this stage, all I can say is “how true!”. Lastly, Marvin’s haunting last number, “What Would I Do?”, is just wonderful: it poses the question of what Marvin’s life would be had Whizzer not been it in. It is a suitable capstone to the piece, showing the value of love and friendship.

It is now (looks at watch) 8 years later. Do I still think it is “eh”? If anything, this has become much more of a period piece: we now know how to manage AIDS/HIV, and we can essentially cure or render the disease non-detectable. That’s a good thing: we no longer have the epidemic of men and women dying of this disease. This piece, on the other hand, takes place at the start of the AIDS/HIV era, when we didn’t even know what the disease was — only that men were dying of it. Think of a continuum: this piece capturing the start, with pieces like Rent squarely capturing the middle (recall the “AZT break, referencing the cocktail that had just become common), and pieces like The Prom capturing the modern era where the disease isn’t a consideration. In that continuum, this piece has increased in importance to remind us where we were, and how a disease can rip apart families. It also reminds us that families are who we choose them to be.

But still, this is not a show where you walk out of the theatre cheering. As we drove home, we were listening to an episode of The Ensemblist with Shoshana Bean, and she talked about Hairspray,  and how it ended with all the cast on stage happy and singing. Sister Act, last week, ended similarly. But this show? Let’s just say it ends on the predictable downbeat, with the teeny tiny band. As a result, you still walk out of the theatre a bit “eh”. You enjoyed the show, there were great and wonderful performances, but it left you … solemn. It’s a downbeat book. Not Mack and Mabel downbeat, but still downbeat. But the performances were great.

Before I get into the individual performances, I would like to highlight some of the great moments in this show — because although overall it was down, there were some great ups along the way:

  • I love the opening songs in each act: “Four Jews in a Room Bitching” for Act I (March of the Falsettos), and “Welcome to Falsettoland” for Act II (Falsettoland).
  • “I’m Breaking Down” is still a comic masterpiece, and one of my favorite songs overall.
  • “Everyone Hates His Parents” is an absolute truism, and was wonderfully performed.
  • “The Baseball Game” is just so true, especially as I know Jewish Men that try to play baseball.

Under the direction of James Lapine, and with choreography by Spencer Liff, the production is incredibly creative. The first act has the characters using a large cube of oddly shaped pieces to create the various scene bases, and the dance is less the “step turn step step twist turn” cheorography of a big show with lots of dancers, and more of a choreography through life. Nowhere are both better demonstrated than in “I’m Breaking Down”, where the simple act of making a cake becomes both a dance and an exercise in mental collapse. That is the perfect mess of directors getting the best out of their actors, and cheoreographers making the movement seem natural yet integral to the storytelling.

The performances in this piece were strong. It is hard to tier the first act leads, as they all have relatively equal roles (two characters get added in the second act). But let’s start with the centers of the story: Marvin and his son Jason.

Marvin is in one sense the center of the triangle in the story: He was married to Trina and divorced her; he left her for Whizzer; and his psychiatrist was Mendel, who fell in love with Trina. Playing Marvin, Max Von Essen (⭐FB, FB) captures a man who doesn’t know what he wants in life exceptionally well. He has a lovely voice, which he shows in quite a few numbers, but especially in “What Would I Do?” or his very neurotic numbers like the opening “A Tight Knit Family”.

But Marvin isn’t the only center of the story: there’s also Jason, Marvin’s son. Two actors alternate playing Jason: Thatcher Jacobs and Jonah Mussolino (⭐FB). At our performance, we had Mussolino, who appears to have moved to this tour from the Les Miserables tour (which is across town at the Pantages, if he wants to see his friends). Mussolino was spectacular. His expressions, his playfulness, his singing and performance (for example, in “Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist”) in the first act were only surpassed in the second act with his Bar Mitzvah, in “Everyone Hates His Parents”, and “Cancelling the Bar Mitzvah”. Great great performance.

However, if I had to pick a first choice in the performances, it has to be the top of the triangle, Eden Espinosa (⭐FB) as Trina. Just watching her energy, her fact, her embodiment of her character is just a delight. I noted before her performance in “I’m Breaking Down” as a comic masterpiece; but she’s strong in every number she’s in.

Trina is one point of the triangle; another point is Nick Adams (⭐FB, FB)’s Whizzer, the gay man with whom Marvin, Trina’s ex, falls in love in. Adams gets the lucky honor of not surviving the story. I think his character changes the most between the two acts: a bit more aloof and unexplored in the first act; a lot more open and loving in the second act, and with a decidedly stronger relationship with Jason, Marvin’s son. Adams captures those changing characterizations well, and moves from his initial stereotype to a warm person the audience cares about. He sings wonderfully and moves well.

The final point in the triangle was Nick Blaemire (⭐FB, FB) as Mendel, the Psychiatrist. Blaemire, who also wrote the musical Glory Days (which we saw the same year we first saw Falsettos) captures the self-effacing humor of Mendel well, and creates a very relatable  down-to-earth character who does a wonderful job of creating a new family with Trina. He sings wonderfully, is very playful in his movement (look at “Everyone Hates His Parents” or his scenes with Jason), and is quite fun to watch.

In the second act, two additional characters were introduced — the lesbians next door: Dr. Charlotte (Bryonha Marie Parham (⭐FB, FB)) and Cordelia, the Kosher Caterer (Audrey Cardwell (FB)). First and foremost: Ms. Parham has a voice on her — she sings, and sings wonderfully. It was a delight to hear her on all her numbers, in particular, her characterization and expression in “Something Bad is Happening”. Cardwell’s Cordelia gets less of an established personality in the writing, but Cardwell does great with what she gets, pushing her food with style :-).

Standbys and understudies were: Josh Canfield (⭐FB, FB) [who was on Survivor, cool!], Melanie Evans (FB), Megan Loughran (FB), and Darick Pead (FB).

The on-stage “teeny, tiny, band” was conducted by P. Jason Yarcho (FB), and consisted of: P. Jason Yarcho (FB) Conductor, Piano; Max Grossman (FB) Assoc. Conductor, Keyboard; Philip Varricchio (FB) Reeds; Jeremy Lowe (FB) Drums/Percussion. Other music credits: Michael Keller (FB) Music Coordinator; Taylor Williams (FB) / Randy Cohen Keyboards Keyboard Programmer; Vadim Feichtner (FB) Music Supervisor; Michael Starobin (FB) Orchestrations.

Lastly, turning to the production and creative credits: David Rockwell (FB)’s set was extremely clever. Starting out as a cube on stage with a backdrop of New York (presumably), the cube came apart to form walls, houses, chairs, desks, and you name it. This was extremely clever, but we replaced by more realistic elements, such as hospital beds and walls, in the second act. Still, the set was an extremely clever conception to execute. It was augmented by Jeff Croiter (FB)’s lighting which mostly worked well, but which also left some characters in the dark or at the edges thereof when they were still the focus of attention. Jennifer Caprio‘s costumes seemed appropriately period, as did Tom Watson‘s hair and wigs. Dan Moses Schreier‘s sound was clear. Rounding out the production credits: Eric Santagata Assoc. Director; Ellenore Scott (⭐FB) Assoc. Choreographer; Tara Rubin CSA (FB), Eric Woodall, CSA, and Kaitlin Shaw, CSA Casting; Broadway Booking Office NYC Tour Booking &c; Gregory R. Covert (FB) Production Stage Manager; Amber Dickerson (FB) Stage Manager; Hollace Jeffords (FB) Asst. Stage Manager; Joel T. Herbst Company Manager; Gentry & Associates General Manager.

Falsettos continues at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) through May 19, 2019. Tickets are available through the Center Theatre Group. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar or through TodayTix.

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The Ahmanson Theatre (FB) has announced their 2019-2020 season, and coming off of their 2018-2019 season, my reaction is much like my reaction to Falsettos: eh. There are only two shows I’m interested in seeing out of the seven: Once on This Island and The Last Ship. Further, the Ahmanson does not understand care and feeding of season patrons (especially the feeding, as we saw at the Pantages subscriber backstage events at the Pantages and Dolby, where local restaurants brought their wares). When I recently had to exchange tickets, I was forced into a higher priced tier because of the paucity of seats available on any date — even weekdays — at my price point. The website was unclear and I needed to call customer service to confirm whether the price was before or after the exchange. Add to that the fact that, when we subscribed originally, they forced us to subscribe on a weeknight (as there were no tickets in the lowest price tier available for subscribers on weekends), and didn’t let us pick the week. Basically, they don’t make me want to go out of the way to be a subscriber even if there is a show or two I don’t like. Good treatment of subscribers is something I’ve seen the Pantages demonstrate. So I think for 2019-2020, it is single tickets. Similarly, there’s only one show in the Taper season of interest: What the Constitution Means to Me. Again, single-tickets. I am, however, considering the Musical Theatre Guide (MTG) season, if it isn’t too expensive: Barnum, The Goodbye Girl, It Shoulda’ Been You, and Kismet.

🎭

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

Tonight brings another tour: Les Miserables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). The third weekend of May brings The Universe (101) at The Main (FB) in Santa Clarita (we loved it at HFF18), as well as The Christians at Actors Co-op (FB).  May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. The last weekend of May will see me at Bronco Billy – The Musical at Skylight Theatre (FB).

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). If you are unfamilar with Fringe, there are around 380 shows taking place over the month of June, mostly in the stretch of Santa Monica Blvd between 1 bl W of La Brea to 1 bl E of Vine, but all generally in Hollywood. On a first pass, there were lots I was interested in, 30 I could fit on a calendar, but even less that I could afford. Here is my current Fringe schedule as of the date of this writeup. [Here’s my post with all shows of interest — which also shows my most current HFF19 schedule. Note: unlike my normal policy, offers of comps or discounts are entertained, but I have to be able to work them into the schedule with the limitations noted in my HFF19 post]:

In terms of non-Fringe theatre (which, yes, does exist): Currently, the first weekend of June is open, although I’m thinking about Ready Set Yeti Go at Rogue Machine Theatre (FB) [if the publicist contacts me or I see it on Goldstar for Saturday]. Fringe previews start the next week. The end of June also brings Indecent at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on June 28, just before the busy last weekend of Fringe.

As for July, it is already filling up. Although the front of the month is currently open, July 20 brings Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by A Comedy of Errors from Shakespeare by the Sea (FB)/Little Fish Theatre(FB). The last weekend of July brings West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). August starts with an alumni Shabbat at camp, and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

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🎭 Heavenly Glitz for a Community Institution | “Sister Act” @ Casa 0101

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Sister Act (Casa 0101)In the song “It’s a Business” in the musical Curtains there is the following exchange:

Actor: “… to me the theatre is a temple.”
Producer: “What? So it should only be filled on Shabbat?”

I was thinking about that exchange as I mused about last night’s production of Sister Act at Casa 0101 (FB). I’ll circle back to why this exchange resonates so in a moment, so just keep it in mind….

Last Saturday, I wrote about my seeing In The Heights at LAPC. I noted that one reason for seeing a show multiple times is to see how the show has changed over time, and to particularly see it in a different sized venue. I also noted that the LAPC performace was the third time I saw seeing Heights. This weekend is very similar. This is my third time seeing Sister Act: back in 2006, I saw the original, pre-Broadway production at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB); just over two years ago (in 2017) I saw the regional premiere of the show at Cabrillo Music Theatre, now 5 Star Theatricals (FB). Both of those were large theatres. The Casa 0101 production was our third time, and here’s why: (1) this was a chance to see the show in a significantly smaller, intimate theatre setting; (2) we love the theatrical work of Casa 0101, going back to the first show we saw there, a bilingual version of Aladdin; (3) we love what Casa 0101 is doing with its local community (actually on a par with what 5-Star does with its community). In many ways, this perhaps was the best of the three.

For those unfamiliar with Sister Act (music by Alan Menken (FB); lyrics by Glenn Slater (FB); and book by Cheri Steinkellner (FB) and Bill Steinkellner (FB), with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane (based on the Touchstone Picture “Sister Act” written by Paul Rudnick under the pseudonym Joseph Howard)), here’s the synopsis I wrote in 2017:

Black jive lounge singer witnesses a murder and turns police informant, and needs to go in hiding from her crime gang boyfriend. The police decide to hide her in a fading Catholic Church, amidst a superfluity (gee, and I thought the term was gaggle) of nuns. Mostly white nuns. Yeah, she won’t stand out at all. In any case, the Mother Superior objects and the two clash like oil and water. But this of course is the movies (and later, the theatre), so they must learn to love and appreciate each other. In this case, it happens by our nun-in-hiding taking over as choir director, and teaching the other nuns to repurpose 1950s and 1960s pop songs as Catholic anthems (and which, since that can’t be done in the theatre, to develop new songs that sound like 1950s and 1960s pop anthems but are not). These new songs bring new people into the church and save the church from being sold and the nuns disbursed. They also bring the spotlight to the church, leading the gangster boyfriend and his, umm, gang to figure out where the nun-in-hiding is hiding. A chase then ensues, which in the movie takes place in Las Vegas, but since the Las Vegas set was stolen by the gang from Honeymoon in Vegas, the theatre chase takes place in the nunnery itself. But in the end, everything comes together: the convent is saved, the Mother Superior and the nun-in-hiding grow to appreciate each other, the nun-in-hiding falls in love with the cop-who-hid-her (who had a crush on her in high school — fancy that!), and the gangsters, as in any show, turn into song-and-dance-men.

So that brings us back to how I started this: Theatre being a temple, and how (so to speak) to get its worshippers to fill the pews so the doors don’t close. Casa 0101 is a community theatre; a vital beating homegrown heart in the community of Boyle Heights (so much so that, at our performance, we had the monsignor and a few nuns from the local Catholic church seeing the show). It went through hard times quite recently, and almost closed its doors. What kept it alive were donors that believed its mission and purpose, as well as musicals like this. Just like Deloris Van Cartier’s music brought the people into Queen of Angels church and saved it, musicals like this, cast to reflect the diversity of the Boyle Heights community, had this theatre packed to the rafters. From what I understand, it was similar for 0101’s recent Beauty and the Beast, and we certainly saw it in the recent Remembering Boyle Heights. No, there are no actors hiding in the theatre from the police across the street (that we know of), but wonderful music is drawing them in and saving a temple to the arts.

Casa 0101’s production of this was distinctly different that other productions I’ve seen. The Pasadena Playhouse had the funding to do a production with elaborate sets. Cabrillo/5-Star had less funds, but prides itself on doing Broadway caliber regional productions. This production was much more shoestring and worn (at least in terms of sets), just like one imagines Queen of Angels to be: A basic quasi-gothic church set, heavy use of projections to adapt that set as locations change, and basic theatrical props (boxes, tables, benches) do the rest. The glitz in this production comes not from the set, but from the costumes (with heavy use of sequins and glitter) and the performances (which were stunning). The intimate theatre setting of Casa 0101 (under 99 seats) means that you are upclose with the actors, permitting you to watch their faces and performances closely, and to observe not just the lead characters but to see the performances of the nuns in the background. What you’ll see is not just strong leads, but a strong overall cast who have become one with their characters (credit here goes not just to the actors, but to the director Rigo Tejeda (FB)).

The closeness that comes with intimate theatre also changes the emphasis. When you sit back at a significant distance: as you typically do at the Playhouse or the Kavli (5-Star’s home) or at the Pantages (if you saw the touring production), you focus on the big picture — and this makes the flaws in the story stand out. At the intimate level, the actors and performances take center stage (so to speak), and there is so much additional humor in the facial expressions and movements of the actors that the distances of the big theatres filter out. Affording yourself the opportunity to see a big production in a small venue is a treat, and something to remember.

Another thing that struck us about this production was the quality of performance. This is something we’ve seen again and again at this theatre, and it is one of the reasons we’re really growing to like Casa 0101 as a venue. They are doing shows about the community, as well as musicals we like (I’d like to have more musicals I haven’t seen, but that’s getting harder). For the last two seasons we had subscribed at Chromolume Theatre in the West Adams district — another historically underserved area. Chromolume closed their doors for good back in May (their final production was The Story of My Life for HFF18), and we have been debating where we might subscribe instead. Casa 0101 is on the short list of candidates (esp. as the mission of our other small theatre subscription is increasingly uncomfortable, even though they do good work). Theatre should inspire, and it is important to have venues that do that for the community, as well as for the actors in the company.

Lastly, despite the stereotypes and tropes in the plot (which is not the most intellectual), this is a very very funny story. This was my third time seeing it — and I’ve seen the movie even more — and I was still laughing at how this cast executed the well-known story. They brought out additional levels of humor from the story — yet again a reason to see this production in an intimate theatre setting.

Under the direction of Rigo Tejeda (FB), with choreography by Tania Possick (FB), the production scintillates. This team has helped each actor inhabit their characters and become playful with the character in ways that fit the character. That means one sister is extra giggly, the other perhaps more demure. The movement was reasonably complex and appeared to fit the time period (although, admittedly, I wasn’t out dancing back then … or even now).

In the lead position was Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield (FB) as Deloris Van Cartier / Sister Mary Clarence. Schofield was clearly having fun with the role, and handled all aspects — performance, movement and singing — well. She captured well both the outsized personality that was Deloris before, as well as the changes that convent life brought to her. She was also able to capture both the outsize and tender aspects of the songs as well.

Playing against her, as Mother Superior, was Beverly Crain (FB). Crain gets less of the outsized numbers, but does have some tender songs. What was fun to watch with Crain was her face and reactions when Mary Clarence was doing some of her more outrageous activities. They were hilarous, and made clear that she was doing more than just reading lines — she was living the role.

Deloris’ non-spiritual savior (and eventual love interest) was Caleb Green (FB) as Det. Eddie Souther. Green captured the timidity of the character well and had some good comic — as well as some good touching — moments. However, he was plagued with a microphone that kept changing amplification levels, and this translated to some problems with his songs and vocals.

The bad guys (who were more comic relief than truly threatening) were portrayed by Marco Infante (⭐FB, FB) Curtis Jackson; Matthew Noah (FB) T. J.; Jason Biyo (⭐FB, FB) Joey; and Gil Garcia (FB) Pablo. All were great with the humor, and Infante was strong in “When I Find My Girl”. My wife pointed out that Infante had a costuming problem: back in the 1970s, one would have worn either a tie or chains with an open shirt, but not both a tie and chains. I particularly enjoyed the comic interplay between Noah, Biyo, and Garcia (although the fight sequence could have used a bit more fight choreography during the chase). Noah, in particular, was really funny as T.J.

This brings us to the main contingent of nuns, who it is sometimes hard to tell apart. The extremely bubbly nun was Sister Mary Patrick, played by Briana Bonilla (⭐FB, FB). The older sardonic nun was Sister Mary Lazarus, played by Dorrie Braun (FB). The oldest nun was Sister Mary Theresa, played by Megan Frances (⭐FB, FB). The younger nun, lost in her own world, was Sister Mary Martin-of-Tours, played by Sarah J. Garcia (FB). Lastly, of the named nuns, the novitiate was Sister Mary Robert, played by Samantha M. Lawrence (⭐FB, FB). All of the nuns were strong singers and performers, and did an excellent job of embodying their characters. Particularly strong was Bonilla’s bubbly Mary Patrick, the exceptional singing voice of Lawrence, and the humorous deadpan of Braun’s Mary Lazarus. Of course, Frances’s rap wasn’t bad either. They were all very strong.

Omar Mata (FB) captured the authority of Monsignor O’Hara quite well, although he needs to work on his Irish 😁.

Rounding out the cast, in multiple smaller ensemble roles, were Chrissi Erickson (FB) Tina, Nun, Homeless, Fantasy Dancer; Laura Altenor (⭐FB; FB) Michelle, Nun, Homeless, Fantasy Dancer; Michael Gallardo (FB) Ernie, Drag Queen, Ensemble, Homeless, Cab Driver, Fantasy Dancer; Alejandro Lechuga (FB) Cop, Reporter, Ensemble, Homeless, Fantasy Dancer; Shanelle Garcia (FB) Nun, Hooker; Daniela Santi (FB) Nun, Hooker, Homeless, Bar Waitress, Fantasy Dancer; and Leilah Telon (FB) Nun, Bar Patron, Homeless, Fantasy Dancer. Of these folks, I’d like to highlight a few. Altenor’s facial expressions were wonderful in reaction, especially when there were lines commenting on Delores’ ethnicity. She also sang and moved well. Santi was another ensemble standout: there was just something about her look, her face, and the fun she was having that was great to watch. Lastly, Gallardo and Lechuga were hilarious as the clearly gay choir boys — yes, a bit stereotypical, but funny none-the-less.

Music direction was by Gabrielle Maldonado (FB), although the remainder of the orchestra was not credited in the program. Tsk, tsk.

Lastly, we turn to the production and creative side of the equation. The set designs and projections were by Effy Yang (FB). The sets worked well for an intimate theatre: doors and stairs designed for projections. The problem was with the focus of the projections, which ended up with double and blurry images. Focused, they would have been great. Angel Estrada (FB)’s properties supported the design well, and were creative within the limited budget of intimate theatre. Marielena Covarrubias (FB)’s costumes were, from a distance, good. For those who knew the details, they were a bit more problematic: my wife noted that Curtis Jackson would not have worn both a tie and chains; she also noted (and this is coming from a Jewish girl, who grew up in Tucson) that the wimples needed to be folded correctly, and the nuns other than the novitiate needed wedding rings (they are figuratively married to Christ). The lighting by Kevyn Vasquez (FB) captured the time and mood well, and Joshua Cardenas (FB)’s sound, modulo the one microphone problem, worked well. Other production credits: Jerry Blackburn (FB) Production Stage Manager; Andrew Ortega (FB) Stage Manager; Genesis Miramontes (FB) Prod. Asst / Asst Stage Manager; JP (John Paul) Torres (FB) Asst Stage Manager; Michael Gallardo (FB) Dance Captain; Hiram Lopez (FB) Sound Mixer; Jorge Villanueva (FB) Relief Board Operator; Sujey Gonzalez (FB) Wardrobe Supervisor; Dazhane Demus (FB) Stagehand; Ed Krieger (FB) Production Photos; Steve Moyer Public Relations Publicity; Conrado Terrazas (FB) Executive Producer.

Sister Act: The Musical continues at Casa 0101 (FB) for two more weekends, until May 19, 2019. The show is a lot of fun with a really talented cast. Tickets are available through the Casa 0101 website; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar.

🎭

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

The second weekend of May brings  Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and Les Miserables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). The third weekend of May brings The Universe (101) at The Main (FB) in Santa Clarita (we loved it at HFF18), as well as The Christians at Actors Co-op (FB).  May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. The last weekend of May will see me at Bronco Billy – The Musical at Skylight Theatre (FB).

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). If you are unfamilar with Fringe, there are around 380 shows taking place over the month of June, mostly in the stretch of Santa Monica Blvd between 1 bl W of La Brea to 1 bl E of Vine, but all generally in Hollywood. On a first pass, there were lots I was interested in, 30 I could fit on a calendar, but even less that I could afford. Here is my current Fringe schedule as of the date of this writeup. [Here’s my post with all shows of interest — which also shows my most current HFF19 schedule. Note: unlike my normal policy, offers of comps or discounts are entertained, but I have to be able to work them into the schedule with the limitations noted in my HFF19 post]:

In terms of non-Fringe theatre (which, yes, does exist): Currently, the first weekend of June is open (Fringe previews start the next week), and the end of June also brings Indecent at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on June 28, just before the busy last weekend of Fringe.

As for July, it is already filling up. Although the front of the month is currently open, July 20 brings Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by A Comedy of Errors from Shakespeare by the Sea (FB)/Little Fish Theatre(FB). The last weekend of July brings West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). August starts with an alumni Shabbat at camp, and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

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🎭 It’s All In Your Head | “Be More Chill” @ ARTES/CCLA

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Be More Chill (ARTES/CCLA)One of the big problems with the Tony Awards, if you live in Los Angeles, is you don’t have a chance to see the shows that are getting the awards until they go on tour. Normally. Sometimes you luck out. Sometimes the show did its tryout in Los Angeles, as was the case with Ain’t Too Proud, which got added to this year’s Ahmanson season before it moved to Broadway. But otherwise? You’re out of luck.

But then, the universe smiles. A quantum computer somewhere lets a local high school get the rights to a show, and not to have lost those rights when the show  is mounted on Broadway.

In this case, the lucky high school was the Arts Theatre and Entertainment School  (ArTES) Magnet at the Cesar Chavez Learning Academy in San Fernando. The show was Be More Chill, which after the school got the rights moved to Broadway. The Broadway version has been nominated for a number of various awards, including a Tony for Joe Iconis for Best Original Score. So now you have the situation where this high school is presenting a show that is currently on Broadway (although the school’s version appears to be the original version, not the slightly modified off-Broadway moved-to-Broadway version, which added two songs). In other words: Los Angeles, you have one more chance (if I get this review posted early enough) to see a show that is currently on Broadway.

I should note, however, that this is a high school production. That means you have student actors, with untrained voices, and all the problems that happen in high school productions. When we saw the show, we had voices cracking and changing key, and occasionally being a little off. We had the occasional instrument out of tune. We had numerous sound problems. But this is a musical about high school kids, being done in a high school. One does not expect perfection — one expects kids doing the best with what they’ve got, with raw talent yet to be shaped. That’s what you’ll see here — and that’s what I’ll focus on. You don’t beat up kids for not being at the caliber of trained professionals. But do understand, going in, that this is a high school production.

Be More Chill tells the story of Jeremy — a dweeb, a loser, one of those kids in high school who is addicted to video games and never is successful with the girls. Someone, well, like I was in high school 😁, who would hang in the Math Lab. He likes to hang with his best friend Michael playing two player games. But he is also interested in this girl, Christine, who has no interest in him.  The signs up for Play Production to be with her, but strikes out. During an encounter with the school bully later, he learns about this device that he can get called a SQUIP (“super quantum unit intel processor”) — a quantum computer that he can swallow, after activating it with Mountain Dew, that will implant in his brain and make him “cool and chill”. So he ends up taking it and becomes cool and chill. He gets the girls (although not the one he wants), and gets invited to the cool parties, but (of course)  ignores his long time friend along the way. But anyone can tell you these things never end well. In order to give Jeremy what he wants, the SQUIP calculates it has to take overall humanity (or at least the school), and when some humans refuse… Let’s just say that lessons are learned and the good guys win, and the ultimate message is that it is better to be yourself, un-augmented, with all your fears and insecurities, then to be under the control of something else.

The show features music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, and a book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini. It started as a production at a small theatre in New Jersey in 2015, and would have been forgotten except for a cast recording … that went viral. As you can see the message is one that will resonate with a high school and disaffected youth croud. It speaks to the kids with ADD and who are on the spectrum, who would rather interact on their phones than with people, for whom speaking to their sexual interests is scary. In other words, about 90% of teens and college kids. The popularity of the music spread, and spread like wildfire. This led to the production making its way to an off-Broadway production and eventually a move to Broadway. Reception there has been mixed. But having now seen this show, I don’t think the Broadway reception is going to make a difference. This is a show that will continue to resonate with the high school crowd, and with the added cachet of having been on Broadway, it will likely be popular on the high school circuit for years and years to come — especially as (having been designed for off-Broadway), it doesn’t require a lot in terms of set and staging, although you might need to rent a Theremin.

I’ve had the original album for about two years now, and loved the music from the show. Now that I’ve seen the show, the songs make a lot more sense. I’ll note that Joe Iconis tends to write very dark themes, and this show is no exception. If you’ve heard “Broadway, Here I Come” from Smash, you know his music … and if you listen closely, you know that song isn’t about someone going off to succeed on Broadway, but someone jumping off a building and landing on Broadway. Dark. Be More Chill is also dark, but in a different way. “The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire and He Burned Down The House)” is a great example of that.

As for the story itself: in some ways it is a bit derivative: there are loads of off-Broadway and even Broadway shows that deal with the problems and mean kids in high school, from Heathers to Mean Girls to Serial Killer Barbie to even Bring It On. Some are dark and some are light. What I think sets Be More Chill apart is its music and its solutions. Iconis’ music, when you start listening to it, is infectious.  It has some quality that draws you to it, even with the warped message. Give me nerd love and all that jazz. There’s an energy and a style to the execution that makes Iconis standout, and hopefully Be More Chill will introduce him to more people and continue him on the path to long lasting success on Broadway. Secondly, this is not a musical where the kids are out to destroy the school or their enemies. The kids just want to be kids and fit in. They find something that they think will help them to do it. But it does -only at the beginning. Ultimately, they spread it to their friends, and it destroys their minds and makes them automatons. Were this the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s, one might think this was an analogy for pot or alcohol. But I think this is a different cautionary warning. I think it is a warning about our cell phones and electronic devices, and how they are controlling us and taking over our thinking, and how sometimes we just need to reject them and be ourselves. At least that’s how I read this message.

So — despite this being a high school production with the inherent flaws thereto — this is worth seeing. You’re likely not going to be able to see this show again until its been on Broadway for more than a year, a tour is organized, and it shows up at the Pantages or Ahmanson with high ticket prices. But you can see it (checks watch) tonight for $20. What a bargain, even if it is a high school production.

⚠ [Note: In the following, I’m only going to do my usual linking to the adults. These are kids in an arts magnet; they are unlikely to have professional pages.]

Under the direction of Mr. Mark Brodie, assisted by Jessica Sumuano, these students give their all. They don’t appear nervous (except as the roles dictate); they are believably their characters. They appear reasonably real and are fun to watch. In other words, they come across as good actors with lots of potential for the future. Under the choreography of Ms. Anne-Marie Osgood (FB), they move well. These aren’t fancy dance moves — these are high school kids without long-term dance training — but are believably high school and what you would expect from socially awkward kids. In other words, they fit. Vocally, there are more problems, but this is high school. Vocal Director  Mr. Tim Borquez (FB) did a great job of teaching the kids to overcome fears, sing out loud and clear (even when amplification fails), and to be reasonably good with their voices. But as I’ve learned, few are blessed with perfect vocal talent from the start, and training the voice requires more than the few weeks one gets in a high school class. These kids did remarkably with the training that they had, and I was impressed with the product. Yes, I occasionally winced; but I also recognized this is high school. In other words: Earlier this week I judged the Jr. Mathematical Software panel at the California Science and Engineering Fair. These kids did remarkable projects, but they had flaws. But then again, they were 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. One took the difficulty for their age and experience into context. Same here. For the degree of difficultly of what these kids did, and the experience they had coming in, they did remarkably and are to be commended, even with their flaws. Those they will correct as they learn more. This was a celebration of their raw talent.

So let’s talk about that talent, shall we. Click here to see the Instagram story introducing the cast.

In the lead position, as Jeremy Heere, was Esteban Vasquez. Vasquez gave off the right nerd drive, and was believably Jeremy with all his insecurities and issues. He did a great job of capturing the change in character as the SQUIP took over his personality. His “love interest”, Joanna Garcia as Christine Caigula, captured the nervousness and awkwardness of Christine well.

Ricky Cardenas, as Michael Mell, Jeremy’s long time friend, was strong. He gets what might be the breakout number of this show, “Michael in the Bathroom”, and his performance in that number captured the sadness and loneliness of that character well.

As the SQUIP, Christina Izaguirre gave off a wonderful strength and confidence (as befits a quantum computer).

The triumvirate of gossiping girls and secondary love interests were strong: Charmen Orozco as Chloe, Lucy Vallin as Brooke, and Perla Rodriguez as Jenna Rolan. All captured their characters well, but my eye was particularly drawn to the performance of Vallin as Brooke. She brought a level of fun and playfulness to that character. Rodriguez was also startong as Jenna, particularly in the “Smartphone Hour” number in the second act.

Giovanni Luna gave off a suitable bully vibe as Rich in the opening; he was also fun to watch in the “Smartphone Hour” number. Michael Sanchez’s Jack Dillenger was a bit more timid in his character, but still worked reasonably well with Garcia’s Christine.

Rounding out the cast in smaller roles and as multiple/ensemble characters were Jackie Ibanez Madeline;  Nichole Guitierrez Mrs. Reyes;  and Brayan Velez Mr Heere. Of these, Velez is particularly noteworthy for his performance in “The Pants Song”.

So as not to single out problems, I’ll say broadly that girls in the cast had better control of pitch and tone than the boys, but that’s biology at that age. Consistently strong vocal performances included those of Perla Rodriguez, Joanna Garcia, Christina Izaguirre, and Lucy Vallin.

Music was provided by an off-stage pit orchestra under the direction of Scott Sutherland (FB) Music Director and Bass. Other members of the orchestra were: Weley Arai Keys 1; Noah Gulbransen Bari Sax, Tenor Sax, Soprano Recorder; Justin Vides Tenor Sax;  Cody Tabamo Flute, Theremin, Alto Recorder;  Justin Jones Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Flugaone; Diego Barahona Trumpet, Euphonium; Nathan Ortega Vocoder, Keys 2; Ruben Lopez Electric and Acoustic Guitar; and Andres Alcantar Percussion, Drums. In general, the orchestra was strong, modulo a flugelhorn that needed adjustment. The drums were a bit muffled, but that was an artifact more of how they were situated and exposed, as opposed to how they were played.

This brings us to the other production and creative aspects. The set design of Dr. John Ong was extremely simple: some wood boxes, some lockers that doubled as a blackboard. But this is theatre, and it worked well, What was more impressive was the laser design of Mr. Jesse Santos, working with laser operator Jade Drouaillet. Lasers were used to create most of the background — not just abstract designs, but words and pictures, with animation. Really nice job, with additional kudos to Mr. Noah Massey and the Digital Imaging Class. This was augmented by Yajayra Franco’s lighting design, which established mood well. Leslie Ruvalcaba’s costumes seemed reasonably high school, and Guadalupe Garcia’s properties were appropriate. The biggest problem was sound — which wasn’t the fault of sound designer Adrian Mier or sound mentor Mr. Tim Borquez (FB). Rather, there was loads of interference and static. This was likely a combination of students unaware of how movement impacts microphones, combined with audience members unaware of how their cell phones impact the Bluetooth used to communicate between the microphones and the sound system. People – when you attend live performance, phones off (or in airplane mode and silenced) and away. Other production credits: Andrew Brown Audio Consultant;  Dr. John Ong Technical Director; Jessie Santos Asst. to the Technical Director; Yajayra Franco Stage Manager; Gianmarco Cardenas Lighting Board Operator; Justin Sumuano Asst. Lighting Board Operator; Leilani Escobedo & Victor Alvarez Spotlights; Lizeth Perez Sound Board Operator; Jasmine Velasquez Asst. Sound Board Operator; Ignacio Rodriguez Sound Effects; Lucy Vallin Program; Ms. Lourdes Enriquez Student Store.

There is one more performance of Be More Chill at ArTES/CCLA at 7:00 PM tonight. I have no idea when advance sales close; if they are available, you can find them here. Otherwise, tickets are available at the door and are $15 for adults ($20 for premium seating). ArTES is located at 1001 Arroyo St. Exit the 118 at Glenoaks, and go N towards San Fernando. R at Arroyo. The execution of this production isn’t perfect, but the kids have loads of spirit and raw talent, and it is your chance to hear a Tony-award nominated score before the Tonys.

🎭

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

Tonight brings Sister Act at Casa 0101 (FB) in Boyle Heights (because we love the work of this theatre, and we want to see how a small theatre tackles this big show). The second weekend of May brings  Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and Les Miserables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). The third weekend of May brings The Universe (101) at The Main (FB) in Santa Clarita (we loved it at HFF18), as well as The Christians at Actors Co-op (FB).  May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. The last weekend of May will see me at Bronco Billy – The Musical at Skylight Theatre (FB).

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). I’m just starting to wade through the list of 343 shows, but I already see some I want to see, including The Seven Year Itch, [title of show], and the return of Tabletop: The Musical. Right now, I’ve got about 30 shows in the schedule, so I expect to pair things down as I see ticket prices and the schedule shapes up. If you are producing or in a show and you want me to see it, now is the time to get me your information — especially any discount codes. I hope to post a preliminary schedule in the next week or so.

As for July, it is already filling up. Although the front of the month is currently open, July 20 brings Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by A Comedy of Errors from Shakespeare by the Sea (FB)/Little Fish Theatre (FB). The last weekend of July brings West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). August starts with an alumni Shabbat at camp, and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

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🎭 Visiting The Barrio In a Different State of Mind | “In the Heights” @ LAPC Theatre

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

In The Heights (LA Pierce College Theatre)Why does one go to see different productions the same show?* After all, the story itself usually doesn’t change (although, often, changes do occur between the Broadway production and the Touring production, and then sometimes between the Touring production and the subsequent licensing). But the performances do change. The audiences change. The venues change. The times and context change. This results in the production having a different feel and a different reception.
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(*: I’m still not sure why people go see the same production multiple times, although it does allow you to focus your attention on different actions on stage, such as the ensemble, or miss portions of the story you miss. That is, unless you are a fan-critter and obsessed with the show. Same thing with movies… and they are the same everytime, unlike shows. But I digress…)

Last night, I saw In The Heights, with music, lyrics, and conception by Lin-Manuel Miranda (FB) and book by Quiara Allegría Hudes (FB), for the third time. I had previously seen the original tour (with Lin-Manuel himself) at the Pantages, and the regional premiere of the show at Cabrillo/5-Star in Thousand Oaks. So why this show, now?

First and foremost, an actress in the cast, who I had seen back in 2015 in Jesus Christ Superstar at REP East in Santa Clarita (ז״ל), let me know she was in the show. Those who knew REP East as audience or performers have a special bond, so that was part of it. But I also wanted to see how In The Heights fared in a smaller venue: the Pantages is huge, and the Kavli is huge, and the LAPC Theatre is … less so, but not at the intimate theatre level. Lastly, I like In The Heights and the music, so I didn’t mind seeing it again (unlike, say, Book of Mormon, where once was enough).

This time I was going into the show with a very different context as well. I first saw it in 2010, when Obama was President and things were good and positive. Donald Trump was just a wealthy developer in New York. The second time I saw it was in 2014 — again, with Obama. But now? I’ve had my awareness raised on the issue of gentrification in places such as Boyle Heights and Watts, where long time populations of minorities are being pushed out by white folks looking to change neighborhood character and color. I had just finished reading a chapter in “Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles” on the Dodgers move to Chavez Ravine, and the impact on the hispanic community that lived there. Lastly, I was seeing it in the context of the era of Donald Trump, where there is hatred and distrust of hispanics from the highest offices in our nation. In The Heights is the story of immigrants whose status is not always clear. Their situation would be much more precarious today.

If you are unfamiliar with In The Heights, here’s what I wrote before: In The Heights is primarily the story of Usnavi, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who runs a bodega in Washington Heights, a barrio in New York. Usnavi is not the only character: it is the story of Usnavi’s assistant; the story of the Rosario family who run a taxi service, and whose daughter, Nina, has just dropped out of Stanford; and the story the salon next to the bodega: the owner Daniela, her friend Vanessa. It is also the story of Abuela Claudia, who immigrated from Cuba and has served as grandmother to Usnavi. When Abuela wins $96,000 in the lottery, we see how the money affects the life of this community. The website for the show describes this generally as follows: In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in Manhattan’s Washington Heights – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. If you read the full synopsis, you’ll see this is a complicated interwoven story.

One of the key themes of In The Heights is change to the community (in some ways similar to Fiddler on the Roof, which we saw the previous weekend, and to which the director alluded to in her notes). In this case, people are moving out of the community for financial reasons: Daniela is selling her shop and moving to Brooklyn; the Rosarios are selling their car service, and Usnavi wants to sell the bodega and go back to the DR. Where does this leave a community, its character, and its history and culture when the touchstones of the community leave? If one viewed Fiddler as the first stage where people were forced out of the “old country” due to circumstances and moved to America, In The Heights is that second stage: the immigrant community in America in its first location, on the verge of breaking up and moving out to the next phase. How does that change the community? How did the moving of the Jews to the suburbs change the character of Boyle Heights? The questions raised in that context are relevant ones, and worthy of consideration.

So I think the argument of seeing this show, at this time, has been made. In that context, how did this production fare?

I think it fared reasonably well. There were problems, but they were primarily technical (and in one case, casting, but not performance, related). So let’s get the problems out of the way first.

This production was plagued by the same issue that hurt the original tour at the Pantages: Sound. Usnavi must be heard, and heard clearly. His hip-hop patter comes fast and tells the bulk of the story, but it has to be heard to be seen. Usnavi’s amplification in this production was muffled and muted, and it made it very difficult to hear the actor clearly. Given that other actors were heard clearly, this was clearly a sound application problem for this actor in particular. There were also lighting problems: not in the overall lighting plot, but in the follow-spot, which was often late, mis-aimed, or too small — leaving the actors in darkness. This is a technical issue that should have been worked out in rehearsal, and proved to be distracting.

The last problem area was casting, and specifically the casting of Benny. One of the key points in the plot is the resistance of Nina’s parents to her relationship with Benny. In the original casting, the reason is clear: Benny is black; Nina is Hispanic (Cuban-descent). The second level of racism highlights the issues and how the two minority communities have had difficulty working together. In this production, Benny appeared to be of similar ethnicity to the bulk of the cast, making the resistance to Benny from the Rosario parents to be seemingly more economic — and making some of the lines less effective. The performance of the actor playing Benny was strong — no problems there; rather, it was just that the color-blind casting impacted the story in a perhaps unexpected way.

Other than that, performances of the cast, under the direction of Shaheen Vaaz (FB) and the choreography of Brian Moe (FB), was strong. Vaaz helped the student members of the cast create believable characters and inhabit them; Moe’s dances were energetic and fun to watch, and executed with presence and fun. I’ll note that some roles in the production were dual cast, although the program does not make clear which actors are at which performance. So as the person we know was the 2nd listed actor for her role, I’m assuming all the 2nd listed actors were at our performance.

In the lead position at our performance was Sonny Lira (FB) at Usnavi, alternating with Alex Balderas (FB). Lira did a good job with the hip-hop dialogue and capturing the personality of Usnavi. He was plagued with a muffled sound system that made his words difficult to hear even in the 2nd row; to the extent that it was an enunciation problem, he can work on that for future performances (after all, this is a student production, and everyone can improve). But modulo that, I think he did a good job with the role and was fun to watch. He did have the look of a younger Lin-Manuel, which is a good thing.

Usnavi was assisted at the bodega by his cousin, Sonny (Nicolas Escalante (FB)). Escalante was strong in his performance, interacting well with both Usnavi and one of the dancers, “Graffiti”.

In the store front next to Usnavi’s bodega was the beauty salon, run by Daniela (Claudia Rosario Olvera (FB)), with Vanessa (Tara Cox (FB) at our performance, alternating with April Lam (FB)) and Carla (Asia Herbison (FB) at our performance, alternating with Bottara Khan Nabaie (FB)). Olvera was strong in performance, singing, and dance, especially in the “Carnival del Barrio” number, although she was plagued with sound problems in “No Me Diga” that made her hard to hear. Cox, who we saw previously at REP, continued to be strong here as Vanessa with strong singing and dance, especially in “It Won’t Be Long Now” and the “Champagne” number. Herbison’s Carla was also fun to watch, especially in the 2nd act in the Carnaval number.

The other center of the story was the Rosario family: Julianne Sillona (⭐FB, FB) (at our performance, alternating with Amy G. Solano (FB)) as Nina, Jeremy Lee (FB) as her father Kevin, and Kristina Jhing Sillona (⭐FB, FB) (at our performance, alternating with Brenda Garcia (⭐FB, FB)) as her mother, Camila. Both Julianne and Kristina Jhing Sillona were strong singers; that’s not a surprise, once you look up their backgrounds. Julianne did a remarkable job as Nina in in all her numbers; and Kristina Jhing was strong in “Siempre” and “Enough”. They also were very strong on the performance since. Lee was great as her father and was a strong singer.

Jarod Aro Caitlin (⭐FB, FB) (at our performance, alternating with Trevor Alkazian (FB)), modulo the story-based casting item mentioned above, was very good as Benny, the assistance to the Rosarios who was in love with Nina. The two believably established a relationship; he sung and moved well.

At the heart of the show was Christine Avila (FB) as Abuela Claudia.  She handled the role with ease and confidence, and brought a strong center to the story — and a wonderful voice to “Paciencia Y Fe”.

Lastly, there are the smaller character roles and the ensemble. Vincent Macias (FB) was wonderful as the Piragua Guy, with a lovely voice. Janel “JJ” Javier (FB) had some extremely strong dance moves as “Graffiti”, a role that is much more dance than anything else. The ensemble was mostly focused on dance, and dance they did. They were fun to watch, and seemed to be enjoying being their characters as opposed to visibly thinking about the dance itself. The ensemble consisted of: Dominique Alburo (FB), Destiny Cable (FB), Melanie Garcia (FB), Javier Lopez (FB), Nicholas La Salle (FB), Eddie Rios (FB), Eric Rodriguez (FB), Patricia Ruiz (FB), Joyanne Tracy (FB) and Jacob Villapano (FB). I’ll note this is the first time I haven’t been able to find any FB pages or web references for actors/dancers in the ensemble. Any. They were great dancers, but obviously need to promote themselves better.

Music was provided by the Pierce College Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Wendy Mazon (FB). The orchestra consisted of Lance Merrill (FB) Keyboard 1; Ryan Espinosa (FB) Keyboard 2; Maudi Cameron (FB) Piccolo, Flute; Ross Jacocks (FB) Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bari Sax; Josh Gomez-Santizo (FB) Trumpet 1; Lindsay Gonor (FB) Trumpet 2, Clarinet; Karl Anguiano (FB) Trombone; Nathan Gonzalez (FB) Electric Guitar; Marco Bohler (FB) Electric Bass; Anna Goldenberg (FB) Percussion; and Matt Forsyth (⭐FB, FB) Drumset.

Finally, turning to the production and creative aspects. The scenic design was by Gene Putnam (FB), and was similar to the design I’ve seen in other productions: a car service counter and stoop for Abuela’s apartmnet to stage right, and the bodega and beauty shop on stage left, with an upstairs for both. This was effective and worked well. There was a projection to the back, presumably of the George Washington Bridge. Eileen Gizienski (FB)’s costume design worked well and seemed reasonably period appropriate. I’ve mentioned the problems with the sound before; I don’t know how much of that was due to DJ Medina (FB)’s sound design, and how much was just poor microphone placement. Other aspects of sound worked reasonably well, although the balance between performers and the orchestra was a bit off. The basic lighting design of Michael Gend (FB) worked well; the main problem was with the follow spot operators and keeping the follow spots on the performers. Other production credits: Michelle Sanchez (FB) Stage Manager; Michael Gend (FB) Technical Director; Bryan Rojas (FB) Asst. Director; Tomas Ciriaco (FB) Asst. Stage Manager; Arcelia Gomez (FB) Costume Maker.

In The Heights continues at the LA Pierce College Theatre through May 5, 2019. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets.

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Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

Next weekend is interesting, as my wife is having a small procedure during the week. Looking to May, the month starts out with Be More Chill at Cesar Chavez Learning Academies/ARTES Magnet on Friday (rights to the show were obtained before it went to Broadway), and  Sister Act at Casa 0101 (FB) in Boyle Heights on Saturday (because we love the work of this theatre, and we want to see how a small theatre tackles this big show). The second weekend of May brings  Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and Les Miserables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). The third weekend of May brings The Universe (101) at The Main (FB) in Santa Clarita (we loved it at HFF18), as well as The Christians at Actors Co-op (FB).  May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. Who know what the weekend will bring!

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). I’m just starting to wade through the list of 343 shows, but I already see some I want to see, including The Seven Year Itch, [title of show], and the return of Tabletop: The Musical. Right now, I’ve got about 30 shows in the schedule, so I expect to pair things down as I see ticket prices and the schedule shapes up. If you are producing or in a show and you want me to see it, now is the time to get me your information — especially any discount codes. I hope to post a preliminary schedule in the next week or so.

As for July, it is already starting to fill, with Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) and West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

 

 

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🎭 Will We Ever Learn | “Fiddler on the Roof” @ Hollywood Pantages

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Fiddler on the Roof (Hollywood Pantages)Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway in 1964. As it was being developed, and even after it opened, the production team wondered whether this show about Jews in a shetl in 1901 would be received by broader audiences. It had an incredibly long run time (just under 3 hours), and unlike most shows, had a decidedly unhappy ending. Yet the show went on to have a long run on Broadway, long runs on tour, and world-wide acceptance. The story of an oppressed people, being forced out of a country for political reasons, resonated with many for some reason. The difficulty of adapting to changing traditions was also a touchsone.

In the 55 years since, one might have hoped that the xenophobia and antisemitism seen in the show might have abated somewhat. But it hasn’t. We’ve seen antisemitism on the rise here in the US; we’ve certainly seen fear of the immigrant and their practices. In Russia, antisemitism is still rampant, and it is increasing throughout the world. More and more countries hate the immigrant, and that seems to be especially true of the Muslim. Fear of people based on their religion seems quite common (and yet, perhaps the religion we should fear due to the intolerance from its purported practitioners, is universally present in American culture … but I digress). So the story of Fiddler on the Roof is still relevant today; still that cautionary tale.

I have been familiar with Fiddler on the Roof all my life, but I can’t recall having seen it on stage before. I know I saw the 1971 movie when it came out; I might have seen it in 1974 at the LA Civic Light Opera (but I’m not sure). I know it was my wife’s first live theatre — she saw it in 1969 when it made its second visit to the LA CLO. But Fiddler has, in many ways, been part of my DNA. My grandfather came from Vitebsk in the Pale of Settlement; this is the same area about which Sholom Aleichem wrote. He came over as a poor tailor. His wife’s father was the one son in a family of 12. There are similarities in the story. So this could easily have been my family’s story.

I’ll note that we saw Fiddler on the 2nd night of Passover. This made for some cognitive dissonance,  especially as they broke and shared Challah for Shabbat. There was something odd about Jews sharing chometz on stage during Passover. I’m glad we didn’t go Friday night; just imagine how much the cast had to swing in for the first night of Passover (although perhaps they did an early Seder for the cast backstage). There should be something in the contract for Fiddler about performing on Jewish holy days.

Speaking about contracts, I should note one thing before I go into the story and my assessment of the production: There’s an interesting omission in the Playbill for the show. I suspected it when I saw the tiny merch cart; I became more suspicious when I saw no photo backdrop for the show. I was also suspicious reading the cast bios in the program: there were no callouts to AEA and precious little Broadway experience. The program confirmed: this is a non-Equity tour. I don’t personally have a problem with that: I see non-Equity talent all the time in Los Angeles and it is often superb. Talent has to get a start somewhere, and a non-Equity tour provides great experience and a stepping stone to the Equity world. But I do think audiences should go in aware. I am pleased to say that I saw no evidence of weak or poor talent in this production, although some performers were a little young for their roles. But that happens these days in Equity tours as well.

For those unfamiliar with Fiddler on the Roof: Have you been living under a rock? But seriously: Fiddler is based on the “Tevye and his Daughters” stories by the Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem; they were adapted for the stage by Joseph Stein, and supplemented the classic words of Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock. They tell the story of a small village in Russia in 1901 called Anatevka (probably in the Pale of Settlement, as that was the only portion of Russia where Jews were permitted to live). This was the typical town of the time with a very poor and traditional Jewish population; administered by a Russian Christian population. The town life was infused with Jewish tradition and practice. The story concerns Tevye, a milkman; Golde, his wife; and his five daughters: Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze, and Bielke. As the story goes on, each of the older three daughters finds a future husband — each going further and further outside of the traditional ways. Tzeitel chooses her husband without her father’s help, after a marriage was arranged for her. Hodel falls in love with a poor student who is sent to Siberia, and doesn’t ask her father’s permission at all. Chava falls in love with a Russian Christian soldier, and is married in a Church. In parallel to this, the outside world intrudes through pogrums, and the eventual edict that ejects the Jews from their homes and sends them on the path to new homes in places like Poland, Eretz Yisroel, and America. One wonders if they will find acceptance in America? Good thing this was the early 1900s and not today.

The music in Fiddler is iconic, and resulted in many tunes that entered the popular songbook: Sabbath Prayer, If I Were a Rich Man, and Sunrise Sunset, to name a few. This production added back a song that was cut during the original run: “The Rumor”.

This production was based on the 2015 Broadway Revival that starred Danny Burstein. I’ll note that production also featured Adam Kantor, who originated the role of Motel in the revival. Adam studied for his role by going on the Yiddishkayt tour of Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania in the summer before the production. Also on that tour: my daughter, who is a Yiddish scholar working on her PhD at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I wonder how much of the lessons learned from Yiddishkayt made it to what we saw on the Pantages stage?

So let’s start with what I didn’t like about this production, which was remarkably little (I’ll touch on the individual actors later) :

  • This production used an odd framing device: The actor playing Teyve walks onstage in a modern red puffy jacket, starts reading a book at what is ostensibly a train station in Russia. He then takes off the jacket and then become Tevye. At the end of the show, he puts back on the jacket and is modern again, and is finishing the book. That’s all the explanation there is. I didn’t see the point of it. If you are going to frame the story, do it for a purpose. Show explicitly that this is someone studying his past, and show what he learned from it. As it is now, this is meaningless and adds nothing. In fact, it takes away something, for now there is no overture.
  • The show was plagued with sound problems, in the form of crackling microphones and occasional drops of character amplification. Sound engineers: You’re supposed to test this stuff before the first run. Even with a non-Equity cast, there have been enough earlier tour stops to work out performance interactions with the microphones. This isn’t rocket science, folks.
  • I was not enamored of their conception of the dream sequence: it came across as too Kabuki for me, and the droopy breasts of the costume for Grandmother Tzeitel were comical to the point of distraction. Bad design choice.
  • In general the costumes were good, but there were a few men who were missing their tzitzit. Yes, there are those of us who notice those details. I did notice that the production did use books with Hebrew or Yiddish on their covers, and for the wedding sequence, an actual tallit (I could read the wimple).

As I said, surprisingly little on the poor side. On the other hand, there was lots to like about this production. I was particularly enamored of the female ensemble: watching their reactions during scenes such as the bottle dance was priceless. Tevye’s daughters were also very strong, and Tevye himself (modulo the Israeli accent) gave a great performance.  They seemed to get the customs right, and were believable in their practice and emotions. Kudos to the Associate Director, Sari Ketter, who implemented the vision on tour of the revival director, Bartlett Sher (FB). I’m calling her out for extra kudos because she did a wonderful job with the non-Equity cast, bringing out a spectacular performance from the entire team; Sher had the luxury of working with Equity folk. The choreography for this version of the show was by Hofesh Shechter of the Batsheva Dance Company (note that the fellow playing Tevye was also a member of that company); it was recreated by Associate Choreographer Christopher Evans. I found the dances in this show to be strong: especially those in the opening number, the “L’Chaim” sequence, and in the Wedding Sequence. Other sequences were more movement than full-on dance. It is unknown the extent to which Jerome Robbins‘ original direction and choreography remained in the show. Overall, it was a very enjoyable show.

Turning to the performances themselves: in the lead position was Yehezkel Lazarov (FB) as Tevye. In the history of Tevye’s there have been those who overshadowed the role and made their personality the focus — both Zero Mostel and Topol were guilty of this on the stage. Others made the character the center, such as Herschel Bernardi. Recent revivals have featured Alfred Molina (no, just no) and Danny Burstein. Lazarov was strong as Tevye, but at times his Israeli accent took center, which impacted the belief that we were in Russia. Other than that, his singing was strong and he had a great playfulness with the role without being overpowering. He portrayed a strong relationship with his daughters and wife, and came across believable on stage. I thought he was good in the role, but perhaps a bit young.

Maite Uzal (⭐FB, FB)’s Golde definitely came across as too young for the role, although again it would be believable for married at age 16. Still, she gave a strong performance and handled her numbers well. Watch her face, particularly during the dream sequence and the “Do You Love Me?” number. She is quite fun to watch.

Where this production shined was in the casting for the three oldest daughter of Tevye: Mel Weyn (FB) as Tzeitel, Ruthy Froch (FB) as Hodel, and Natalie Powers (FB) as Chava. They were all super strong singers with lovely voices, in particular Weyn and Froch. But their faces, oy their faces. Just watch them as they listen and react to the other actors; watch them during the wedding sequence. Their joy and delight and performances made this production really special. Tevye’s two youngest daughters: Danielle Allen (FB) as Shrprintze and Emerson “Emmy” Glick (FB) as Bielke had much smaller roles and didn’t get the chance to individually show their vocal talents, but they were equally fun to watch in the facial expression and movement department.

Jesse Weil (FB) as Motel has the advantage of playing the best characterized of the daughter’s suitors. He captures the timidness of the character well, and does a great job of portraying the character growth into a man. He does a strong job on “Miracle of Miracles”. The other suitor we get to know well is Ryne Nardecchia (FB)’s Perchik, Hodel’s suitor. He has a lovely number in “Now I Have Everything”, and he has a great interaction with Froch’s Hodel. Chava’s suitor, Joshua Logan Alexander (FB) as Fyedka, is not given the chance in the script to develop a personality other than “Russian Soldier”, nor does he get a song of his own. He does seem to interact well with Powers’ Chava.

This brings us to the two remaining characters who have someone significant personalities of their own: Carol Beaugard (FB)’s Yente, and Jonathan Von Mering (FB)’s Lazer Wolf.  Beaugard (who I hadn’t know was big in the Bluegrass community) is a bit too young for Yente, but she covers it up well and captures the character adequately. She starts one major number, but is strong in her early scene with Golde and her later scene at the end. Von Mering’s Lazer Wolf is stronger in a sense: he gets some good stage time in L’Chaim; he also has some good scenes during the wedding and at the end. He was fun to watch.

This brings us to the ensemble, which covers the dancers, background performers, and those whose ensemble tracks also cover smaller character roles. I’d like to start with the female ensemble first (character tracks as noted): Eloise Deluca (FB) Villager, Co-Dance Captain; Olivia Gjurich (FB) Villager, Fruma-Sarah; Carolyn Keller (FB) Villager, Grandma Tzeitel, Shaindel; Kelly Gabrielle Murphy (FB) Villager, Rivka; Lynda Senisi (FB) Villager; Britte Steele (FB) Villager, Mirala. Let’s start out by saying I love this ensemble. I don’t normally highlight the ensemble, because often their personality does not shine through. But watch these young women in the background during the wedding sequence: their joy and fun is infectious, and you don’t know whether to watch the dancers or the ensemble. They were spectacular. In terms of character highlights: I wasn’t that enamored of the dream sequence in terms of its design and the kabuki-style masks, although Keller’s Tzeitel had a wonderfully strong voice.

The male ensemble got the stronger side of the dance equation, both in the L’Chaim sequence and in the Wedding sequence. The male ensemble consisted of: Danny Arnold (⭐FB, FB) Villager, Mordcha; Eric Mitchell Berey (FB) Villager, Nachum, Yussel; Derek Ege (FB) Villager; Michael Hegarty (FB) Villager, Rabbi; Paul Morland (FB) Villager, Fiddler; Jacob Nahor (FB) Villager; Jack O’Brien (FB) Villager, Sasha; Honza Pelichovsky (FB) Villager; Nick Siccone (FB) Villager, Mendel; and Brian Silver (FB) Villager, Avrum. The male ensemble is less focused on the acting side of the equation, and much more so on the dance side. Their acting is stereotypical Jewish prayer behavior, shuking and such. They don’t have as much to react to, given the nature of the story. But where they excel is in dance. The bottle dancers were particularly spectacular, but the Russian dancers in the L’Chaim sequence were also quite strong. In terms of character roles, there are a few worth noting: Morland’s Fiddler was strong musically, and fun to watch in the background. I also liked Hegarty’s Rabbi, particularly in the Wedding Dance and closing sequences.

Swings were: Allegra Herman (FB);  Leah Platt (FB); Nicholas Berke (FB); and David Ferguson (FB) Co-Dance Captain, Fight Captain.

Before I turn to the members of the orchestra, I must highlight the excellent orchestrations, incidental music, and dance arrangements. These are things you don’t notice in the movie version, and they were really really good. Kudos to Ted Sperling (FB) Music Supervisor and New Orchestrations; and Oran Eldor (FB) Dance Arrangements. Michael Uselmann (FB) served as Music Director and Conductor of the orchestra, assisted by Jonathan Marro (FB). The orchestra consisted of (there was no indication of whom in the orchestra was local or not, but some folks are local regulars indicated by 🌴): 🌴 Paul Cartwright (FB) Violin, Concertmaster; 🌴 Richard Mitchell Flute, Piccolo, Alto Flute, Clarinet; 🌴 Jeff Driskill (FB)  Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, E-Flat Clarinet; 🌴 Michael Stever (FB) Trumpet; 🌴 Charlie Morillas (FB) Trombone, Euphonium; 🌴 Mike Bolger (FB) Accordion, Synth; 🌴 Brian LaFontaine (FB) Guitars (Acoustin, Mandolin, Hollow Body Archtop Electric); 🌴 Nate Light (FB) String Bass; 🌴 Bruce Carver Drums, Percussion; 🌴 Alby Potts (FB) Keyboard. Other music related positions: 🌴 Eric Heinly (FB) Orchestra Contractor;  John Mezzio (FB) Music Coordinator.; Balint Varga (FB) Music Copying. Note that this is the first time, at the Pantages, that I’ve seen the entire orchestra be local talent. They were great, but we have great local talent in Los Angeles. That means I cannot vouch for the quality of the music in other cities.

Finally, the production and other creative aspects of the show. This, in some ways, is where is non-Equity tour is likely to show its bones. Although elements from the Broadway production can be obtained, the desire to cut costs cuts the number of trucks that can carry scenery. Michael Yeargan (FB)’s scenic design was good for the scenes at Tevye’s home and barn, and for Motel’s shop. The opening scene was a bit more devoid of scenery than I might like, and it lacked the most important thing: there was no roof for the Fiddler! Overall, although the scenery worked, it could use a tad more oomph. I particularly did not like the scenic design for the dream sequence. Catherine Zuber‘s costumes worked for the most part, modulo the dream sequence masks, except some tzitzit were missing from the undergarments. Kathy Fabian‘s props were good, and I particularly liked the realistic touches of using Yiddish books, real tallit with wimpels, and a seemingly real Torah at the end (although I’m sure there were no actual scrolls — if there are, their insurance and practices better be good). Tom Watson‘s hair and wig design worked well and was believable; Tommy Kurzman‘s makeup was not overdone (except for the noted dream sequence problems). Scott Lehrer‘s sound design was mostly great in the design, but there was some execution crackling. Donald Holder‘s lighting worked well to establish mood and place. Lastly, Kristin Flanders‘s dialect coaching mostly worked, but she needs to work with the lead a bit more to transform the Israeli accent into a more Russian or Yiddish accent. Rounding out the production team: Jason Styres, CSA (FB) Casting; BH Barry (FB) Fight Director; Shelby Stark (FB) Production Stage Manager; Kelsey Clark (FB) Asst. Stage Manager; Christopher T.P. Holman (FB) Company Manager; Mackenzie Douglas (FB) Asst. Company Manager; Networks Presentations (FB) General Manager.

Fiddler on the Roof continues at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) through May 5, 2019. Even though this was a non-Equity tour, the performances were strong and we enjoyed the production quite a bit. It is well worth seeing. Tickets are available through the Pantages box office. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar (it visits San Jose next) or TodayTix.

***

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

Next weekend is interesting, as my wife is having a small procedure during the week. Saturday will bring In The Heights at the LA Pierce College Theater (FB) (featuring a performer we saw at REP), but for me alone. Looking to May, the month starts out with Sister Act at Casa 0101 (FB) in Boyle Heights, simply because we love the work of this theatre, and we want to see how a small theatre tackles this big show. The second weekend of May brings  Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and Les Miserables at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). The third weekend of May brings The Universe (101) at The Main (FB) in Santa Clarita (we loved it at HFF18), as well as The Christians at Actors Co-op (FB).  May closes with two concerts: Lea Salonga at the Saroya [nee the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) and Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes (FB) … and that’s not even the weekend. Who know what the weekend will bring!

June, as always, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). I’m just starting to wade through the list of 343 shows, but I already see some I want to see, including The Seven Year Itch, [title of show], and the return of Tabletop: The Musical. Right now, I’ve got about 30 shows in the schedule, so I expect to pair things down as I see ticket prices and the schedule shapes up. If you are producing or in a show and you want me to see it, now is the time to get me your information — especially any discount codes. I hope to post a preliminary schedule in the next week or so.

As for July, it is already starting to fill, with Miss Saigon at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) and West Side Story at 5 Star Theatricals (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

 

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