Theater Reviews

Including Strangers on a Train, 13 and this week's pick, Inside Private Lives

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Monday, Jan 8 2007

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TAKEN Tracy Meeker and David Serpa’s play was originally written to be a film. One hopes the screen version will be more compelling and concise than this stage one. If you think your love or work relationships are dysfunctional, get a load of what Meeker and Serpa’s characters wallow in. Crackerjack salesman Mark (Drew Richards) is an amoral, self-centered and privileged prick who screws over his time-shares sales partner, Peter (Jason Britt), belittles his own long-suffering girlfriend, Cynthia (Meeker), and disrespects his co-worker Ricky (director Serpa). Why do they endure his abuse? Perhaps it’s because Peter makes bigger commissions, Cynthia can live work-free and well dressed, and Ricky can bang Cynthia while Mark’s away on business. Or maybe they lack the self-respect to deflate Mark’s hard-charging, womanizing macho image. Richards’ performance nails the swaggering Rick, whose insufferable bravado may mask an unsavory and dark secret. But it is Britt as the humble and relatively honest Peter who truly draws our sympathy, as he wrestles with compromising his principles for a fat paycheck. While adequate performers, Meeker and Serpa’s participation as actors may have undermined their roles as playwrights (and, in Serpa’s case, as director), rendering them unable to edit the superfluous scenes and dialogue that bog down their earnest work. ECLECTIC THEATER COMPANY, 5314 Laurel Canyon Blvd., N. Hlywd.; Fri.-Sun., 8 p.m.; thru Feb. 11. (818) 508-3003 (Martín Hernández)

13 This engaging, fast-moving musical (book by Dan Elish, songs by Jason Robert Brown), with its all-teenage cast, is all about being cool. (All the actors and most of the band members are between 12 and 17 years old.) And at Dan Quayle High School in Appleton, Indiana, that’s a real problem for Evan (Ricky Ashley): he’s new in town, a New York Jew in a WASP world — and the son of a divorced single mom. He hopes to establish his local rep by persuading the cool kids to come to his bar mitzvah, even if this means ditching his one friend, Patrice (Sara Niemetz), because she’s not in the in-crowd. He’s also under siege from pushy Archie (Tyler Mann), who is regarded as the ultimate geek because he’s on crutches and who also has a hopeless crush on local teen queen Kendra (Emma Degerstedt). Elish’s coming-of-age book though sometimes predictable, is fresh, funny and sometimes touching. And it provides ample opportunity for Brown’s high-spirited songs, and dances by Michele Lynch. But it’s the terrific teenagers, singing, playing and dancing up a storm, who make it all worth while. David Gallo’s wonderfully versatile set, Candice Cain’s stylish costumes, Mike Baldassari’s flashy lights and David O’s sharp musical direction are all top notch. MARK TAPER FORUM, 135 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2:30 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 & 7 p.m.; thru Feb. 18. (213) 628-2772. (Neal Weaver)

Eileen O'Connell as Tupperware queen Brownie Wise (Photo by David Beall)

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TSURIS A madcap comedy in the making, Mark Troy’s untidy farce turns on the travails of a put-upon Jewish guy named Malvin (Danny Lippin). Sandwiched between his hostile, homicidal wife, Ruthie (Jade Sealey), and his domineering parents, he seeks refuge in the arms of soon-to-be-married Dottie (Colette Freedman) — who is also a victim of an overbearing mother. Unfolding in West Palm Beach Florida bagel shops and the county jail, the not-quite-convincing tangle of events includes Malvin’s arrest for arson, an affair between Malvin’s dad (Stan Kelly) and Dottie’s mom (Donna Luisa Guinin), and the ongoing marital rants of a husband-and-wife/waiter-and waitress team (George Frangides and Sundeep Morrison) who are oblivious to their customers’ weary indifference. The understated Lippin provides a firm anchor for the Jewish-slanted satire that sometimes works and sometimes falls flat. Sealey also downplays to advantage. But despite some funny moments, the various subplots, of sketch comedy caliber, don’t always hang together. Better performances among the rest of the supporting ensemble might have filled in the potholes; under Michael Preece’s direction, however, these are too often off the mark or over the top. SIDEWALK STUDIO THEATRE, 4150 Riverside Dr., Toluca Lake; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Feb. 3. (818) 558-5702. (Deborah Klugman)