GO ALL MY SONS With the recent BP oil disaster, the Enron debacle, and the misadventures of financial moguls like Bernard Madoff, it is no wonder that theater company artistic directors all over town are dusting off their copies of Arthur Miller's magnificent evisceration of capitalism, American corruption and moral hypocrisy. However, it is difficult to come up with new and innovative ways to present the often compelling piece. Shakespeare and Beckett, to name a pair, can be staged in a variety of settings and directorial styles, but Miller's play gets to the heart of a family standing around on a front porch next to a fallen tree. Director Edward Edwards stages his intimate and psychologically nuanced production almost like a mystery — even during the play's seemingly banter-filled opening scenes, we sense an underlying unease and sadness; the puzzle is spotting all the clues and then piecing them together to understand what is really going on. Edwards' production is anchored by crackling acting work. Paul Linke's unusually crusty Joe Keller, the family patriarch who let an underling take the rap for a mechanical error that killed a number of pilots during World War II, is full of alpha male bluster and bonhomie, but even from his first appearance, his eyes possess a resigned coldness that suggests the truth he's hiding and has accepted only too well. In Catherine Telford's turn as Kate, Joe's grief-sick wife, we see a character whose denial-stoked belief that her beloved, MIA son will return from the war is a means of tamping down the ferocious rage that ultimately explodes in the play's final act. As Joe's idealistic son Chris, Dominic Comperatore's shyness shifts to disgusted anger, a turn that hints at the possibility he was aware on some level of his father's sleaziness. Although uneven turns are offered by some of the supporting cast, Maury Sterling's crushed boyish performance as the scorned son of the framed co-worker is brilliant, as is Austin Highsmith's unusually appealing Ann, whose shocking reveal about the dead son (often one of the more contrived plot twists in most productions) is here powerfully well-motivated and believable. Ruskin Theatre Group, 3000 Airport Road, Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Oct. 2. (310) 397-3244. (Paul Birchall)
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GO CHESS IN CONCERT This rock opera, with lyrics by Tim Rice, book by Richard Nelson, and music by Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, was first produced as a concept album. Now, after a number of unsatisfactory theatrical variations, Rice has wisely named the concert version as the official one. Like the game of chess, the show is abstract, and the concert version matches that, putting the focus on the characters, their emotional conflicts and the virtuosity of the performers. The action is set at the international chess championship matches. Act 1 pits Soviet champ Anatoly (Peter Welkin) against the willful, petulant, show-boating American, Frederick (Blake McIver Ewing). Anatoly wins but immediately defects to England, setting the stage for the dynamic Act 2. Defector Anatoly is pitted against a high-powered Soviet player (Christopher Zenner). Soviet official Molokov (Gregory North) is hell-bent on making sure the disloyal Anatoly loses and will do anything to realize that outcome, including psychological warfare, blackmail and ruthless meddling with the personal lives of Anatoly, his estranged wife (Emily Dykes) and his Hungarian girlfriend, Florence (Nicci Claspell). Director Robert Marra provides a crisply elegant production, musical director/conductor Greg Haake impeccably renders the challenging score, and the performers are terrific, including Gil Darnell, Rich Brunner and the excellent chorus. Met Theatre, 1089 Oxford Ave., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., through Aug. 29. (323) 960-7735. Produced by the Musical Theatre of Los Angeles. (Neal Weaver)
GO KARMA THE MUSICAL Is hindsight really 20/20? In this engaging musical, baby boomer Christine (book writer Susan C. Hunter) travels back to the 1960s to counsel her younger self on how to avoid error and heartbreak. Supremely confident, perky college-age Chris (Katie McConaughy) dismisses Christine's cautionary exhortations ("You're old!" she snaps at the woman she will become), then treks off to a rock concert to hook up with peace marcher Greg (Trevor Murphy), who will father — and later abandon — their child. Bolstered by composer Les Oreck's spirited score and lyrics, the play cruises through several decades, tracking Chris' struggles as a single mom while noting, Forrest Gump–like, the broad societal changes our nation undergoes. One funny scene depicts the hippie "commitment" ceremony that Greg persuades Chris is as binding as a marriage. It isn't. The piece also replays the bitterness surrounding the Vietnam war, integrating that conflict via Chris' brother Frank (Matt Pick), a marine who resents Greg's politics. And the production gains traction from Liz Heathcoat's lively choreography, executed by an enthusiastic ensemble, and from videographer Scott Hunter's background montage of cultural icons. That said, the show has multiple rough edges, including an uneven standard of performance and vocals that need improving. Director Michael Eiden does a respectable job of maneuvering a large cast in a small space, but this show does require more room. Among the ensemble, Brittany Beaudry stands out as Chris' supercool pal, Gloria. Heathcoat as Greg's sanctimonious mom and Pick as the upstanding Frank are notable in smaller roles. Write Act Repertory Theatre, 6128 Yucca Ave., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through Aug. 28. (323) 469-3113. (Deborah Klugman)
