Theater Reviews: Lions, Spring Awakening, A Man's A Man

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER Writer-performer Virginia Watson’s staged bio takes its title from the 25 years it took her to finally receive her diploma from USC. This somewhat scrambled, minutiae-filled account of her life begins with her childhood, when, as a latchkey kid, she indulged in her passion for TV and eventually nabbed a role in the ’70s as the token African-American in The Brady Bunch. In high school and at USC, Watson was a cheerleader (she energetically and impressively re-enacts her routines) on otherwise all-white squads. Curiously, it takes to the end of a prolonged first act for Watson to expose the scarring recollection of her mother’s rape at knife point, which she witnessed when she was 4 years old. Later, in Act 2, she recalls her own rape and its emotional aftermath, and her foray into drugs, further escalated in the company of her cocaine-using father, Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Directed by Iona Morris, Watson’s strengths are her energy and warmth; the problem lies in the haphazard disarrangement of her material and the emphasis on personal melodrama, which never segues into a more shared or universal motif. The same disorder in her narrative is also reflected in the set, which Watson co-designed with Myke LaMarr, but here the effect is a positive one, reflecting an individual with an eclectic zest for life. The Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea Ave., Hollywood; Thurs.-Fri., 8:30 p.m.;Sat., 8 p.m.; through Nov 8. (323) 769-5049 or wwwPlays411.com;A Top of the Head Productions production. (Deborah Klugman)

GEM OF THE OCEAN August Wilson’s 10-play chronicle of the 20th-century African-American experience is one of the great achievements in dramatic literature. Gem of the Ocean, the first play in the cycle, is probably the playwright’s most symbolic and provocative. The setting is 1904 Pittsburgh, a time when many blacks were no better off than they were during chattel slavery. But the home of 287-year-old Aunt Ester (alternate Carlease Burke), is a place of rest, refuge and mystery for a colorful group of residents and regulars. Eli (Jeris Lee Poindexter) is a boarder/handyman with an angel’s heart; Black Mary (Tené Carter Miller) is a long-suffering maid and washerwoman; and her brother Cesar (Rocky Gardiner), a badge-heavy cop with a Napoleon Complex, whose primary function is to control the “colored” people of the city. Then there’s the rabble-rousing, garrulous Solly Two Kings (a star turn by Adolphus Ward), a former Union scout who helped runaway slaves. When a troubled stranger, Citizen Barlow (Keith Arthur Bolden), steals into the house, seeking Ester’s magical soul-cleansing powers, it sets off a chain of events that forever alters the lives of all those involved. Gem is a play where grand themes, like the connection between past and present, the nature of freedom and spiritual redemption, are explored, but you don’t get that sense here, at least not in a dynamic fashion. With the exception of Ward, the performances lack the necessary polish and emotional resonance. Director Ben Bradley, who did brilliant work in Fountain’s production of Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, is not at his best here, as the pacing at times is far from crisp — though I did see it late in the run. Rounding out the cast is Stephen Marshall. The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Dec. 21. (323)-663-1525. (Lovell Estell III)

 GO LIONS Vince Melocchi’s new play features nine men and a woman decaying slowly in a private watering hole during a major economic slump — this major economic slump. Set during the 2007-2008 football season, Melocchi’s story centers on John Waite (Matt McKenzie), an unemployed metalworker whose desire to see the Detroit Lions win the Super Bowl supplants all other priorities in his life. As his immutable pride keeps him from opportunity, he grows sour and angry, providing a textured and nuanced transformation that McKenzie performs poetically, even at explosive heights of cursing and fighting. The rest of the denizens seem to spiral around him, perhaps sinking into his black hole of self-worth. Director Guillermo Cienfuegos allows us to spend time with each of the hopeless, revealing the play’s pith and brutality with a sensitive hand. But this tends to expose the play’s relatively minor weaknesses: the conveniently contrived exits and entrances, the shapelessness of some of the relationships — especially considering the large cast and clumsy dialogue that sometimes spills awkwardly into scenes. The strong ensemble, though, piles through these uneven aspects to deliver an all-around touching portrait of Middle America, a reminder that “real Americans” need not be so reductively characterized as simply Joe the Plumber. Pacific Resident Theater, 705 ½ Venice Blvd., Venice; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; no perf Thanksgiving weekend; through Dec. 7. (310) 822-8392. (Luis Reyes)

A MAJORITY OF ONE In the late 1950s, the era of the “well-made-play” was clearly waning. Still, playwrights like Leonard Spigelgass stuck to this form of tightly structured drama, in which societal problems trumped characterization. This chestnut follows the story of Brooklyn Jewish widow Mrs. Jacoby (Paula Prentiss), who carries with her the grief of losing her son to the Japanese in World War II. When her daughter Alice (Anya Profumo) and son-in-law Jerome (Ross Benjamin) inform her that they are bound to Japan for the foreign service and wish to take her along, she is dismayed but ultimately agrees. On the crossing, she reluctantly befriends Mr. Asano (Sab Shimono), Jerome’s diplomatic adversary. Issues of family ties, race and culture are pieced precisely together, leading to the appropriate climax and immediate denouement. While the play leans toward the tedious, director Salome Gens nonetheless brings out more characterization than the author offers. Prentiss and Shimono share delightful senses of stage presence — though he tends to be verbally halting and she is often grasping for lines. In an amusing turn, Edison Park plays a ne’er-do-well Japanese servant who brings in welcome comic moments. The production is not helped by an oppressive brick-wall set (presumably to keep Brooklyn in mind at all times), in which small windows are opened with little bits of evocative visuals for each new scene. This is a failed attempt at scenic Schenectady. Pico Playhouse, 10508 W. Pico Blvd., W.L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Dec. 14. (800) 838-3006.(Tom Provenzano)