Theater Reviews: DIETRICH AND CHEVALIER: THE MUSICAL

Also, Great Expectations, Snake in the Grass and more

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Monday, Apr 7 2008

...continued from page 1

GO SNAKE IN THE GRASS If you like double-cross genre plays with twists, you’ll thoroughly enjoy Alan Ayckbourn’s 2002 divertissement — even though, unlike in Sleuth and Death Trap, you can see those twists coming a mile away. Annabel Chester (Pamela Salem) returns to England to claim her inheritance, now that her father has died after a long illness. Unfortunately, his former nurse, Alice (Nicola Bertram), is blackmailing Annabel’s sister, Miriam (Claire Jacobs), for helping with her father’s demise. If the sisters come up with £100,000, Alice will turn over a letter the dying man scribbled accusing Miriam of trying to murder him. On the other hand, it might be more cost-effective for the two to get rid of Alice than this damning bit of evidence. Snake is an old-fashioned thriller capable of wowing modern audiences, and this cast proves itself more than capable. Salem especially shines as the prissy scold whose flawed heart condition suggests a deeper moral condition. Director Mark Rosenblatt emphasizes atmospherics, and these pay off to give us a chill even as we judge the characters. The Matrix’s wide stage accommodates Laura Fine Hawkes’ nicely detailed garden set that establishes the lay of the land in three defined spaces. Eric Snodgrass’ sound design is crisp and subtle, touching the senses like a layer of night fog. Prerecorded music is usually intrusive in nonmusicals, but Hal Lindes’ restrained score fortifies the story’s unsettling mood. Matrix Theater, 7657 Melrose Ave., W. Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru May 4. (323) 960-4420. A Salem K Theater Co. Production. (Steven Mikulan)

{==PAGE_BREAK==}

THE SUNSHINE BOYS It’s disconcerting to find the Odyssey Theatre, long noted for adventurous work, presenting this most commercial of Neil Simon’s Broadway comedies, perhaps as a sop to its older, not-so-adventurous audiences. Simon has a rare talent for extracting endless crowd-pleasing one-liners from simple situations. If he tends to reduce his material to the level of TV sitcom, he can also suggest deeper issues buried under the relentless comedy. Here, he focuses on a pair of cantankerous retired vaudevillians, peppery Willie Clark (Hal Linden) and laid-back Al Lewis (Allan Miller). After 43 years as a successful comedy team, they are now estranged, and permanently unemployed. Willie’s nephew and agent, Ben (Eddie Kehler), has lined up a rare opportunity for them to appear on a History of Comedy Network television special, but the project is threatened by Willie’s long-nursed resentments. Lurking beneath the jokes is the sad tale of a couple of old coots who have outlived their times and commercial viability, being driven to accept their own irrelevance and loss of autonomy. It’s Linden’s irascible performance that dominates, with Miller, Kehler and Jackée Harry providing nimble comic foils. Director Jeffrey Hayden has assembled a slick and brisk production on Charles Erven’s nostalgically shabby set. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., W.L.A.; thru June 1; variable schedule, call theater for info. (310) 477-2055 or www.odysseytheatre.com. (Neal Weaver)

Haven Hartman

Tallgrass Gothic

Jeremy Aluma

The Cabaret 2008: Rock the Boat

More About

Jeremy Aluma

(Click to enlarge)

The Cabaret 2008: Rock the Boat

TALLGRASS GOTHICThere’s not much happening in the backwater farm community where Melanie Marnich’s steamy drama unfolds: Folks go to church, get drunk, tell ghost stories, maybe “fool around.” In this narrow cultural enclave of rough beer-swilling farmers, pretty, coquettish Laura (Carrie Wiita) stands out. Married to the carnally brutish and domineering Tin (Gregory Sims), she’s caught up in a passionate affair with a strapping buck named Daniel (RJ Debard) — but inexplicably hedges when he implores her to run away with him. Her life implodes after the local psycho (Kevin Meoak) — who is hot for her himself — commits a shocking act. Marnich’s spare storytelling style eschews the background details of these people’s lives; we’re never told how the lovers met, or why the scrupulous Laura remains married to a man she so evidently despises. This leaves the performers plenty of leeway to connect the dots — an opportunity Wiita seizes with delectably captivating skill, but which other performers unhappily leave undone. This doesn’t include Sims, whose multilayered performance bares the need beneath his character’s explosive anger, or JJ Maynes, on target as the neighbor who nervously tries to clue him in on Laura’s hanky-panky. Under Jaime L. Robledo’s direction, the show’s uncredited music, Yancey Dunham’s lighting and Ben Rock’s sound design come together to create a sense of spooky desolation. Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Dr., Hlywd.; Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m.; thru May 7. (310) 281-8337. (Deborah Klugman)

TIME’S SCREAM AND HURRY Of uneven caliber, these three monologues by writer-director Paul Hoan Zeidler share urban settings and violent motifs. In “So-So’s Sister,” the dreams of a Latina teen (Yecenia Torres) are shattered when the boyfriend she adores impregnates her mentally disabled sister. Soon afterward, their father is murdered, and she’s forced into the role of guardian and provider. In “Match Girl,” Jessica Graham (alternating with J.J. Pyle) portrays a woman who as a child engaged in S.I. (self-injury) by burning herself whenever she felt threatened or depressed. As an adult, she spurns clean-cut boyfriends and becomes a dominatrix who mutilates willing clients. In “The Good Boyfriend,” a regular Joe (Max Williams) hooks up with a rape victim and forgoes a normal sex life as he tries to nurse his girlfriend through her trauma. As a director, Zeidler keeps the pace moving, with Adam Hunter’s lighting design aptly punctuating changes in time, place and mood. But the script itself packs too many contrivances and sensationalistic details. For all her earnest energy, Torres’ performance comes off as inauthentic, while the willowy Graham affects a jaded air that is effective until the bizarreness within her narrative spins out of control. Williams’ strong presence and assured delivery are likewise undercut by the writing. His piece is far too extended, and one in which the personality of the rape victim herself never comes into clear focus. Elephant Performance Lab, 1076 N. Lillian Way, Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru May 3. (323) 960-7712 or www.plays411.com/time. A Sewer Socialist production. (Deborah Klugman)