Steven Leigh Morris
Photo by Paula CourtOPERA BUFFING
The Wooster Group's La Didone
NYC's The Wooster Group, in partnership with REDCAT, has built its reputation on director Elizabeth LeCompte's high-tech juxtapositions of video images and live performance. The company's Hamlet, for example, showed clips of Richard Burton's recorded rendition against live action impersonations of the scenes being shown, so that the line between what was living and what was recorded grew deliberately fuzzy. There was also a haunted quality to Burton's image occasionally skipping back or forward by a mili-second, or disappearing into static, before returning. This was more than the sense of receiving a transmission as though from outer space, it was a three-dimensional rumination of the essence of mortality and memory, perfectly woven into the play's themes. The company's latest, La Didone, does this, and more, by transposing Fracesco Cavalli's and Giovanni Francesco Busenello's 1641 Italian opera about widowed African queen Dido's (the glorious mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn), who's heart becomes possessed with love for the Trojan warrior, Aeneas (John Young), set against Mario Bava's mid-'60s cult sci-fi flick, Planet of the Vampires, in which a spaceship crew gets marooned on a planet, finding that the souls of the crew are becoming possessed by aliens. Souls being possessed is the linking thread; the two universes collide and careen with split-second precision that's both intellectually precocious, slightly campy and indescribably moving. Much of the emotion comes from the beautiful and beautifully sung music, and Bruce Odland's magnificent adaptation of it, employing the electric guitar, accordion, ukulele as well as period instruments. RECAT, Diesney Hall, southwest corner; Tues.-Sat., 8:30 p.m.; through June 21. (213) 237-2800. Wooster Group and St. Anne's Warehouse.
–Steven Leigh Morris
For more NEW THEATER REVIEWS, press the Continue Reading tab directly below
COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS for June 19-25, 2009
(The weekend's New Reviews are embedded in “Continuing Performances”
below. You may also be able to search for them by title using your
computer's search program.)
Our critics are Paul Birchall, Lovell Estell III, Martin Hernandez,
Mayank Keshaviah, Deborah Klugman, Steven Leigh Morris, Amy Nicholson,
Tom Provenzano, Bill Raden, Luis Reyes, Sandra Ross and Neal Weaver.
These listings were compiled by Derek Thomas
OPENING THIS WEEK
CABARET THE MUSICAL Life is a cabaret at a seedy 1930s Berlin club,
courtesy Kander and Ebb. MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., L.A.; opens
June 19; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Aug. 9,
www.plays411.com/cabaret. (323) 957-1152.
CARVED IN STONE Jeffrey Hartgraves' comedy about a heterosexual
writer who discovers he's a gay literary icon in the afterlife. Theatre
Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; opens June 19; Fri.-Sat., 8
p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; thru Aug. 9, www.carvedinstonetheplay.com.
(310) 473-5483.
COMING HOME Athol Fugard's story of a mother and child in South
Africa. Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A.; opens June 20;
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Aug. 29, (No perf July 4.).
(323) 663-1525.
AN EVENING WITH PATTI LUPONE AND MANDY PATINKIN The Tony Award
winners perform the hits of Broadway. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand
Ave., L.A.; June 23-26, 8 p.m.; Sat., June 27, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun.,
June 28, 3 & 8 p.m.. (213) 628-2772.
FARRAGUT NORTH Beau Willimon's satire of political PR. Geffen
Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood; opens June 24; Tues.-Thurs.,
7:30 p.m.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 4 & 8:30 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.;
thru July 26. (310) 208-5454.
FOOTLOOSE How many degrees are you from Kevin Bacon?. James R. Armstrong Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance; June 19-20, 7:30 p.m.. (310) 781-7150.
JUGGLING THE LAYERS OF GENDER Antioch University's LGBT
Specialization presents burlesque and circus acts, as part of their
mission “to confront sexism, transphobia and heteronormativity.”.
Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica; June 19-20,
8:30 p.m.. (310) 315-1459.
MAGICALLY DELICIOUS: A CABARET Jason Graae is the name, cabaret is
the game. The Magic Castle, 7001 Franklin Ave., L.A.; June 22-23, 8
p.m.. (323)-851-3313.
MUTINY AT PORT CHICAGO World premiere of Paul Leaf's account of the
controversial 1944 military disaster. Ruskin Group Theater, 3000
Airport Dr., Santa Monica; opens June 19; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2
p.m.; thru July 31. (310) 397-3244.
PROOF David Auburn's story of a mathematician's daughter. Sierra
Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre; opens June 19;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.; thru Aug. 1. (626) 256-3809.
ROS INDEXICAL/SPIRALING DOWN Avant-garde dance and video by Yvonne
Rainer. REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., L.A.; June 25-27, 8:30 p.m.; Sun.,
June 28, 3 p.m.. (213) 237-2800.
SECRET ROSE MINI MUSICAL FESTIVAL The Queen & The Dragon, libretto by Jan Michael Alejandro and Jonathan Price, music by Jonathan Price; Change of Plans, music, book, and lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro; More Precious Than Diamonds, music, book and lyrics by Stephanie Hutchinson; Myjovi El Musical, music, book and lyrics by Jan Michael Alejandro; The Red Bouquet, music, book and lyrics by Joshua Fardon; Something Not Real, music, book and lyrics by Joshua Fardon; Sweeney Tidd,
book and lyrics by Gordon Glor and Barb E. Rickard, music by Gordon
Glor. Secret Rose Theater, 11246 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood; opens
June 19; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru July 5, (No perf July
4.). (877) 620-7673.
ST. JOAN OF THE SLAUGHTERHOUSES Peter Mellencamp's translation of
Bertolt Brecht's cautionary tale. Pacific Resident Theatre, 703 Venice
Blvd., Venice; opens June 19; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru
Aug. 9, (No perfs July 3-4.). (310) 822-8392.
TEN CENT NIGHT Marisa Wegrzyn's Country-Western comedy. Victory
Theatre Center, 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Toluca Lake; opens June 19;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; thru Aug. 2. (818) 841-5421.
TRUE WEST Hollywood screenwriter and his estranged brother trade
roles, in Sam Shepard's play. Lyric-Hyperion Theater, 2106 Hyperion
Ave., L.A.; opens June 19; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru July 25,
www.insightamerica.org. (800) 595-4TIX.
2 PIANOS 4 HANDS Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt's play with
music about a pair of aspiring pianists. Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third
St., Toluca Lake; opens June 20; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7
p.m.; thru July 26. (818) 558-7000.
UNA VIEJA MUY BERRACA Pablo Escobar's mom reflects on luxuries of
her son's Colombian drug cartel, by Ruben Amavizca-Murua. Frida Kahlo
Theater, 2332 W. Fourth St., L.A.; opens June 19; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 6 p.m.; thru June 28. (213) 382-8133.
THE UNSEEN Craig Wright's psychological thriller about prisoners
incarcerated under a totalitarian regime. Lankershim Arts Center, 5108
Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; opens June 19; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Aug. 22. (866) 811-4111.
THE VOISEY INHERITANCE David Mamet's adaptation of Harvey
Granville-Barker's 1905 play about financial fraud. Theatre 40 at the
Reuben Cordova Theater, 241 Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills; opens June 24;
Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru July 19. (310) 364-0535.
THE WASPS Meryl Friedman reworks Aristophanes. Musical direction by
David O. Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea Ave., L.A.; opens June 20;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru July 26. (323) 871-5830.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN LARGER THEATERS REGIONWIDE
CIRQUE BERZERK Alt-circus with “burlesque dancers, gothic stilt
walkers, punk rock clowns, psychedelic vaudevillian tomfoolery,
contortionists, and an original dark, sexy musical score.”. LOS ANGELES
STATE HISTORIC PARK, 1245 N. Spring St., L.A.; Thurs., 8:30 p.m.;
Fri.-Sat., 7 & 10 p.m.; Sun., 5 & 8 p.m.; thru July 5,
www.cirqueberzerk.com…
CROWNS This musical by Regina Taylor examines the passionate
attachment of certain churchgoing African-American women for their
hats. Adapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry,
Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, it turns on the
interaction between Yolanda (Angela Wildflower Polk), a tough street
girl from Brooklyn raging with grief over the murder of her brother,
and various women she encounters after she's shipped off to South
Carolina to live with her grandmother (Paula Kelly). The book that was
the musical's source material consists of an elegant collection of
photo portraits and firsthand reminiscences; Taylor appropriates these
as monologues, then juxtaposes them with original dialogue and gospel
hymns. The thrust of the show — increasingly churchly as the evening
wears on — is the effort to educate Yolanda regarding the importance of
hats to her identity and her spirituality. Under Israel Hicks'
direction, the focus is clear but its execution — both script and
performance — is disappointing. Five female performers each deliver
various monologues that simply don't add up to recognizable characters
who serve the story — itself a cobbled construct. Lackluster
choreography, less than top-notch vocals and indifferent lighting also
detract, as does the production's two-hour length, without
intermission. The strongest element is the outstanding contribution of
Clinton Derricks-Carroll in a variety of male roles, but especially as
a fervently possessed, pulpit-thumping preacher. In an uneven ensemble,
Vanessa Bell Calloway and Suzzanne Douglas are worthy of note, as are
the instrumentals, under Eric Scott Reed's musical direction. (DK) Nate
Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., L.A.;
Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., through July
5. (323) 964-9768. An Ebony Repertory Theatre/Pasadena Playhouse
production.
GO CYMBELINE What might Shakespeare have written if
he'd been asked by some 17th-century counterpart of a TV producer to
come up with something quick, hot and flashy? It's likely an
extravagantly plotted comedy like this one, with story ideas snatched
from legend, his peers and some of his own better-developed and more
sublime works. Regarded today as one of Shakespeare's more minor plays,
this comedy revolves around a king's daughter named Imogen (Willow
Geer), banished from court by her father, Cymbeline (Thad Geer), for
daring to marry the man of her choice. The plucky gal's travails
intensify when a villain named Iachimo (Aaron Hendry, alternating with
Steve Matt) decides willy-nilly to slander her to her husband Posthumus
(Mike Peebler), who then commands a servant to assassinate her for her
alleged infidelity. Her wanderings eventually land her on the doorstep
of her father's old enemy, Belarius (Earnestine Phillips), who has
raised two of Cymbeline's children (thus Imogen's own siblings) as her
own. Director Ellen Geer has fashioned an appealing production laced
with an aptly measured dose of spectacle and camp. At its core is
Willow Geer's strong and likable princess. As her adoring and, later,
raging, jealous spouse, Peebler's Posthumus is earnestly on the mark,
while Jeff Wiesen garners deserved laughs as the foppish suitor she'd
rejected. The latter meets his end at the hands of the princess'
newfound brother, well-played by Matt Ducati. (DK) Will Geer Theatricum
Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Sun., 3:30 p.m.; thru
Sept. 27. (310) 455-3723.
NEW REVIEW GO DAME EDNA: MY FIRST LAST TOUR
Photo by Craig Schwartz
Dr.
Barry Humpries AO. C.B.E has for years been terrorizing audience
members near the front of the stage, in the guise of the irrepressible
Australian diva, Dame Edna. She sports a mauve do, more glittering
baubles than a Vegas showqueen, and gleeful imperiousness (“You adore
me because I adore myself, and it's contagious”), as she slices through
the dignity of anyone she encounters with the tenderness of a
lawnmower. (“What a lovely color you've got on. I'm sure that very soon
it'll be back.”) She reflects on her late husband Norm, who suffered
from a “prostate murmur” that got ever louder until the neighbors were
complaining. “Oh, the years I spent with that man's prostate hanging
over my head.” She delivers her standup act, dragging audience members
onto the stage to participate, and even her “daughter” (Erin-Kate
Whitcomb), on furlough from the correctional facility, who croons one
song. This is humor with mocking kindness and concern, a kind of
genteel sassiness, barbs on aging, appearance and fashion delivered in
silky tones, along with the gladioli stems that she hurls into the
crowd. Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theater, 135 N. Grand Ave.,
downtown; Tues.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 p.m.;Sun., 3 p.m.; through June
21. (213) 628-2772. (Steven Leigh Morris)
GO DIRTY DANCING Blockbuster musicals based on
blockbuster films are multiplying like viruses, but Dirty Dancing is
different. Its approach to slapping film on a stage is the zenith of
the seamless and shameless. Instead of adding songs, original
screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's theater translation mimics scenes with
a faithfulness to her treasured 1987 source material that's slavishly
high camp. Add in James Powell's extravagant direction and we're served
up fantastically expensive cheese that knows audiences don't just want
to see Baby (Amanda Leigh Cobb) and Johnny (Josef Brown) dancing on a
log, they want to see that log descend majestically from the ceiling
and be dismissed when it's served its momentary purpose. By duplicating
the pacing, plot and props, Dirty Dancing revels in the luxurious
disposability that tells a crowd they're getting their money's worth.
Wow factor is key when you're shelling out the cost of several DVDs to
watch the exact same thing live — the set whirls and motors, spitting
up bridges and doors and revolving platforms, dancers in great costumes
pack the stage, and giant video screens even show us the fractured
glass when Johnny punches a window. It's the kind of nonsense that
delights both cynics and fans. (Inversely, it's now the script's
dabbling into race and class consciousness that feels cheap.) Cobb and
Brown are twins for Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, the charming Cobb
approaching the role with actual acting, while the muscular Brown has
fun aping Swayze's show-pony dramatics. In a strong and massive cast,
standouts include Britta Lazenga as the ill-fated dancer Penny and the
very funny Katlyn Carlson as Baby's snotty sister Lisa. (AN) Pantages
Theater, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2
& 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; through June 28. (213) 365-3500.
A Broadway L.A. production.
AN EMPTY PLATE IN THE CAFE DU GRAND BOEUF Wealthy ex-pat goes on a
solipsistic hunger strike in his own Paris restaurant, in Michael
Hollinger's dark comedy. Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road,
Laguna Beach; Sun., 2 p.m.; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.;
Sun., June 21, 7 p.m.; thru June 28. (949) 497-2787.
FELLOWSHIP! Musical parody of The Fellowship of the Ring,
book by Kelly Holden-Bashar and Joel McCrary, music by Alen Simpson.
Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Dr., Toluca Lake; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 4 p.m.; thru July 12, (No perf July 4.). (818) 955-8101.
JULIUS CAESAR Shakespeare's tragedy. Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum,
1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., June 27, 4
p.m.; Sun., 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 29, 4 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m.;
Sat., 4 p.m.; thru Sept. 26. (310) 455-3723.
Photo by Paula CourtNYC's
The Wooster Group, in partnership with REDCAT, has built its reputation
on director Elizabeth LeCompte's high-tech juxtapositions of video
images and live performance. The company's Hamlet, for example, showed
clips of Richard Burton's recorded rendition against live action
impersonations of the scenes being shown, so that the line between what
was living and what was recorded grew deliberately fuzzy. There was
also a haunted quality to Burton's image occasionally skipping back or
forward by a mili-second, or disappearing into static, before
returning. This was more than the sense of receiving a transmission as
though from outer space, it was a three-dimensional rumination of the
essence of mortality and memory, perfectly woven into the play's
themes. The company's latest, La Didone, does this, and more, by
transposing Fracesco Cavalli's and Giovanni Francesco Busenello's 1641
Italian opera about widowed African queen Dido's (the glorious
mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn), who's heart becomes possessed with love
for the Trojan warrior, Aeneas (John Young), set against Mario Bava's
mid-'60s cult sci-fi flick, Planet of the Vampires, in which a
spaceship crew gets marooned on a planet, finding that the souls of the
crew are becoming possessed by aliens. Souls being possessed is the
linking thread; the two universes collide and careen with split-second
precision that's both intellectually precocious, slightly campy and
indescribably moving. Much of the emotion comes from the beautiful and
beautifully sung music, and Bruce Odland's magnificent adaptation of
it, employing the electric guitar, accordion, ukulele as well as period
instruments. RECAT, Diesney Hall, southwest corner; Tues.-Sat., 8:30
p.m.; through June 21. (213) 237-2800. Wooster Group and St. Anne's
Warehouse. (Steven Leigh Morris)
GO THE LITTLE FOXES Lillian Hellman's 1939
melodrama, set in the South of 1900, studies the voracious appetite for
profit by the middle-class Hubbard clan, who look with contempt on both
the aristocrats they've replaced, and their black employees whom they
continue to cheat. And so the drama offers Hellman's harsh commentary
on both the economic and racial foundations of prosperity by those who
can afford it, usually at the expense of those who can't. In addition
to his perfectly paced production, director Dámasco Rodriquez also
scores points for keeping the repugnant N word that Hellman sprinkles
so liberally in the most casual conversations. The plot has a
Swiss-watch construction, starting with a visit by William Marshall
(Tom Schmid) from Chicago, finalizing a business deal to construct a
mill in the small town. Financing would involve contributing shares by
three partners: Benjamin Hubbard (Steve Vinovich), his brother Oscar
(Marc Singer) — who married and now abuses his aristocratic wife,
Birdie (Julia Duffy) — and, finally, the very reluctant Horace Giddens
(Geoff Pierson), who has been recuperating for months in Baltimore from
a chronic heart condition. Horace's wife, Regina (Kelly McGillis), is
the play's centerpiece, summoning home her ill husband and engaging in
all manner of negotiations, including blackmail against the thieving
Hubbards, and against her own husband, in order to grab the most money
she can for herself. The play contains some Chekhovian ambiance, such
as when Birdie confides that she's never experienced a happy day in 22
years, and the program notes refer to the drama as one in a series of
“great American plays” that the theater has committed to produce. This
may be an observant play, but it's not a great one, as it can't quite
crawl inside the hearts of people it's too eager to condemn. And that's
the difference between a tragedy and a potboiler. Even McGillis' fine,
emotive performance as Regina, offers the tawdry “survival” excuse for
her cold-blooded manipulations. It's as lame a rationalization as the
serial-killer movies that blame the pathology on the killer's having
been abused in childhood. Pierson's Horace is just grand — tired, wise,
yet still on fire to outwit the town's sundry little foxes. Nice turns
also by Yvette Cason and Cleavant Derricks and the servants in
residence. As Regina's coy daughter, Rachel Sondag makes an impressive
transformation, from sweetness to defiance, as she slowly figures out
what's going on under her nose. Paradoxically, her kind of moral
outrage is also the play's undoing, serving up more of an editorial,
authorial opinion than a vision — an impulse Chekhov, or Tennessee
Williams, rarely succumbed to. Gary Wissman's opulent yet
frayed-at-the-edges set shows the beginning of a metaphor but not
enough to compensate for the shortcomings of this well-crafted but
limited play. (SLM) Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena:
Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; through
June 28. (800) 378-7121.
LOUIS & KEELY: LIVE AT THE SAHARA I haven't seen this musical
study of '50s lounge-act crooners Louis Prima and Keely Smith since its
transcendent premiere at Sacred Fools Theatre last year, and oh, is it
different. Documentary and Oscar-nominated film maker Taylor Hackford
has been busy misguiding writer-performers Jake Broder and Vanessa
Claire Smith's musical. Taylor took over from director Jeremy Aldridge,
who brought it to life in east Hollywood. Smith and Broder have drafted
an entirely new book, added onstage characters – including Frank
Sinatra (Nick Cagle) who, along with Broder and Smith, croons a ditty.
(As though Cagle can compete with Sinatra's voice, so embedded into the
pop culture.) They've also added Prima's mother (Erin Matthews) and
other people who populated the lives of the pair. The result is just a
little heartbreaking: The essence of what made it so rare at Sacred
Fools has been re-vamped and muddied into a comparatively generic bio
musical, like Stormy Weather (about Lena Horne) or Ella
(about Ella Fitzgerald). The good news is the terrific musicianship,
the musical direction originally by Dennis Kaye and now shared by
Broder and Paul Litteral, remains as sharp as ever, as are the title
performances. Broder's lunatic edge and Bobby Darin singing style has
huge appeal, while Vanessa Claire Smith has grown ever more comfortable
in the guise and vocal stylings of Keely Smith. It was the music that
originally sold this show, and should continue to do so. With luck,
perhaps Broder and Smith haven't thrown out their original script.
(SLM) Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood; Tues.-Thurs., 8
p.m.; Fri., 7:30 p.m.; Sat., 3:30 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 & 7:30
p.m.; through Aug. 2. (310) 208-54545.
OLEANNA Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles star in David Mamet's 1992
drama about a college professor and the charges of sexual harassment
lodged against him by a failing student. The play is a reaction against
the mindset of an era that featured the despotism of political
correctness — embodied by Anita Hill's 1991 testimony before the U.S.
Senate against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas for his allegedly
sexually explicit conversations while she worked at his secretary at
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After all these years, and
with Pullman's affable performance juxtaposed against Stiles' stoic
confusion and indignation, the play strains more than ever to express
some serious ideas through a kangaroo court. (SLM) Mark Taper Forum,
135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Tues.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2:30 & 8
p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; through July 12. (213) 628-2772.
PUPPET UP! UNCENSORED Henson Alternative's improv-comedy puppet
show. Avalon, 1735 Vine St., L.A.; Sat., June 20, 8 p.m.. (323)
462-8900.
RING OF FIRE Broadway tribute to Johnny Cash, featuring 38 songs by
the country hitmaker. La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900
La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2
& 8 p.m.; thru June 21. (562) 944-9801.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED IN HOLLYWOOD, WEST HOLLYWOOD AND THE DOWNTOWN AREAS
ACME THIS WEEK ACME's flagship sketch show, with celebrity guest
hosts each week. Acme Comedy Theatre, 135 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.; Sat.,
8 p.m.. (323) 525-0202.
ALL ABOUT JACK: THE IMPERSONATORS OF JACK NICHOLSON Patrick O'Sullivan's follow-up to All About Walken,
with nine actors doing their best Nicholson. Theatre 68, 5419 Sunset
Blvd., L.A.; Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru July 23, www.plays411.com. (888)
227-2285.
NEW REVIEW APARTMENT 6 & 9
Photo courtesy of Theatre Planners
These
two one-acts, written and directed by Matt Morillo, deal with
contemporary romantic/sexual conflicts and collisions. In All Aboard
the Marriage Hearse, Amy (Jessica Moreno) and Sean (Keenan Henson) have
lived together happily for three years, till she decides they're going
to get married, whether he likes it or not. He doesn't, and the
resulting battle, verbal and physical, radically changes their lives
while maintaining the status quo. Some of the marriage debate seems
over-familiar, but the piece is clever, nicely directed, and
beautifully played. In Stay Over, adapted from a play by Maria
Micheles, Michelle (Moreno) gives her lover Mark (Tom Pilutik)
permission, for reasons that are never made clear, to have an affair
with someone else. She hits the ceiling, however, when she discovers
that he's bedded her kittenish dancer friend Lily (JessAnn Smith).
Michelle is a bullying shrew, Mark is a manipulative two-timer, and
Lily is a determined baby- vamp, willing to go to any
lengths–including performing a very naked modern dance number — to
win Mark for herself. The result is an evening of over-the-top
bickering that soon becomes tiresome. The Lounge Theatre, 6021 Santa
Monica Boulevard, Hollyqoos; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m., through
July 5. (No perf. July 4) (323) 960-5521 (Neal Weaver)
AS YOU LIKE IT Shakespeare's comedy, courtesy Declan Adams Theatre.
Next Stage Theater, 1523 N. La Brea Ave., Second Floor, L.A.; Sat., 8
p.m.; thru June 20. (213) 926-2726.
GO BIG Director Richard Israel and his fine cast
have a first-rate revival of this 1996 Broadway musical, based on the
film that made Tom Hanks a star. And if you've seen the movie and think
you know the story, think again: You can expect a few witty surprises
here. Big (John Weidman, book; David Shire, music; Richard Maltby,
lyrics) is a whimsical tale about Josh (L.J. Benet), an undersized
teenager whose oversized crush on a schoolmate results in a startling
metamorphosis when a carnival contraption grants his wish to be “big.”
When he wakes up as an adult, Josh (Will Collyer) has his hands full
coping with life, his best friend, Billy (Sterling Beaumon), and a
heartbroken mom (Lisa Picotte). When he stumbles into a high-caliber
job with a toy company, he catches the eye of corporate climber Susan
(the outstanding Darrin Revitz) and finds romance, but he ultimately
discovers that life as a 13-year-old adult is not all that great.
Israel has done a remarkable job staging this piece on a small stage,
and manages the large cast — which features some fine adolescent actors
and actresses — quite well. Christine Lakin's choreography is polished
and attractive, with many of the dances evincing an edgy comic
expressiveness. Musical director Daniel Thomas does equally fine work.
(LE3) El Centro Theatre, 800 N. El Centro Ave., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8
p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., through July 26. (323) 460-4443. A West Coast
Ensemble production.
THE BLANK THEATRE COMPANY'S 17TH ANNUAL NATIONWIDE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS
FESTIVAL A month of 12 winning plays by teenage playwrights, with three
new plays each week. Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.;
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru June 28, www.theblank.com.
(323) 661-9827.
CIRCUS THEATRICALS FESTIVAL OF NEW ONE-ACT PLAYS, . Lex Theatre,
6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru
June 28. (323) 960-7846.
COME BACK LITTLE HORNY In playwright Laura Richardson's clever
sourball of a family comedy, mom Susan (Wendy Phillips) and dad Ian
(Scott Paulin) used to be artists, but now they're retired — read
“tapped out” — and they seem to spend most of their time sniping at
each other. Meanwhile, their closeted gay son Loki (Brendan Bonner) and
borderline schizophrenic daughter Nora (Jennifer Erholm) still live at
home, subjected to endless sneers and veiled insults thrown in their
direction. Into this toxic atmosphere comes the family's one successful
scion, Stanford University professor and bestselling author Raven
(Danielle Weeks), who, estranged from her clan, shows up for a visit,
bringing along her newly adopted pet dog Horny (delightfully played in
canine drag by Jason Paige, whose leg-humping, slobbery performance all
but barks with the unfiltered love that the human characters can't
express to each other). Raven's latest book is a hostile but truthful
roman à clef about her family — and, as they peruse the book, the clan
is forced to confront the miserable truth. Director Martha Demson's
character-driven production artfully emphasizes the subtext underlying
the family's brittle relationship. Not a line is spoken that doesn't
seep with layers of corrosive back story. Although the pacing
occasionally falters — and the piece frankly could use some cutting,
particularly during the final third — the writing is smartly full of
just the sorts of lines you hope never to hear from your mother. The
ensemble work boasts some ferocious acting turns, particularly from
Phillips' scathingly bitter mother and Weeks' superficially loving,
passively hostile daughter. (PB) Lost Studio Theatre, 130 S. LaBrea
Ave., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; through June 20. (310)
600-3682.
THE CURSE OF RAVENSDURN The New Comedy Theater presents Nick Hall's
wacky history of a doomed English family. Barnsdall Gallery Theater,
4800 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru June 20,
www.BGTtix.com. (323) 660-4254.
GO DIVORCE! THE MUSICAL Erin Kamler's witty and
entertaining new musical satire (for which she wrote the music, the
lyrics and the book) takes apart almost every emotional phase of a
marital breakup, including the horrors of dating and the hollows of
rebound sex, and sets it to chirpy and wry songs that feature some
sophisticated musical juxtapositions and harmonies. (Musical direction
and arrangements by David O) Kamler skirts the apparent danger of
triteness (setting a too familiar circumstance to music) by cutting
beneath the veneer of gender warfare. This is a study of the decaying
partnership of a resentful Brentwood radiologist (Rick Segall) and his
aspiring actress wife (Lowe Taylor), goaded by their respective
attorneys. The lawyers are the villains here – one (Gabrielle Wagner),
a Beverly Hills shark, the other (Leslie Stevens), a swirl of confusion
from her own recent divorce and now “temporarily” based in Studio City.
These vultures collude to distort the grievances of their clients, who
both actually care about their exes, and would be better off without
“representation.” They might even remain married, the musical implies.
Director Rick Sparks gets clean, accomplished performances from his
five-person ensemble (that also includes Gregory Franklin, as the
Mediator – i.e. host of an absurdist game show.) Danny Cistone's cubist
set with rolling platforms masks the live three-piece band, parked
behind the action: This includes the ex-groom's impulsive decision,
based in his lawyer's misinformation, to removal all furniture from his
home, where he ex-bride continues to live — only to find his bank
accounts and credit cards frozen. In the song, “We Stuck It Out,”
there's a kind of Sondheimian ennui to the verities of life-long
partnerships. The song is ostensibly an homage to his parents, in whose
basement he winds up living. As the Brits would say, marriage is bloody
hard work. (SLM) Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd.,
Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; run open ended. (323)
960-1056.
ECSTASY: THE MUSICAL What's this? A musical based on the notorious
hallucinogenic drug whose psychoactive effects include lust and a
strong sense of inner peace? Well, not quite. At times, we suspect that
the dreamlike mood of S. Claus' downright strange musical comedy is an
attempt to convey what it's like to partake of the drug. Yet, Claus'
work is also a cheerful 1970s kitsch-fest, set in a world of flaring
bellbottoms, John Travolta-esque disco suits and untroubled hedonism.
College freshman Angel (Lisa Marinacci) loves her virgin boyfriend Tom
(Meyer deLeeuw), but she can't make him sexually “close the deal” with
her. Somehow, Angel magically transports Tom to an alternate universe
called the Land of Ecstasy, where Tom's path crosses that of a wickedly
sexy Black Widow Woman (Gina D'Acciaro, whose gorgeous, rock-ballad
voice is outstanding), a sex-crazed prostitute (Dina Buglione), and a
genial space alien (Patrick Hancock). Claus' upbeat score isn't deep,
but the work boasts some quick-witted lyrics and some zippy tunes,
particularly during the larger production numbers. Director Kay Cole's
energetic staging, which is layered with Day-Glo 1970s iconography and
Susanne Klein's wonderfully tacky leisure-suit costumes, is offbeat and
gleefully campy. Sadly, though, the show's narrative structure lurches
from half-baked subplot to subplot — less dreamlike than sloppy.
Sometimes the play seems like a joke told by someone on a drug — funny,
but only if you're the stoned guy telling it. Still, some of the cast's
gorgeous voices are clearly more evocative than the flimsy material
allows them to show. Buglione's bubbly Sally Bowles-like turn as the
prostitute is delightful — and so is Hancock's toothy, yet sexually
androgynous turn as the space alien. (PB) Art/Works Theater, 6569 Santa
Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; through July
12. (323) 960-7789. A Theatre Planners production.
GO EL OGRITO (THE OGRELING) Jesús Castaños-Chima
stages Suzanne Lebeau's dark fairy tale (performed in Spanish with
English supertitles) with sweetness and depth. It concerns a mother
(Julieta Ortiz) trying to protect her young son (the adult Gabriel
Romero) from the heredity and instinct of blood lust. His father, you
see, was/is an Ogre, or one who eats children. After going through six
of his own daughters, he fled to give his infant son a chance. Dad
hangs offstage in the forest, watching with admiration as his son
struggles with hereditary, demonic passions to eat little animals and,
eventually, little children, while his mother strives valiantly to ban
the color red from the house, and serve him vegetarian fare grown in
the garden — in these plays, gardens always serve as an antidote to the
horrors of who we are. (SLM) 24th Street Theater, 1117 24th St., L.A.;
Sat.-Sun., times vary, call for schedule; through June 21. (213)
745-6516.
ENTER THE SUNDAY All-new sketch and improv by the Sunday Company.
Groundling Theater, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Sun., 7:30 p.m.. (323)
934-9700.
GO EVE'S RAPTURE The fall of Adam and Eve has
furnished raw material for countless works of art but one rarely as
fantastical as Bryan Reynolds' unpredictable play. A dizzying mix of
metaphors, it begins with Satan (Chris Marshall) in command of an armed
and loyal jihad of fallen angels; they are determined to take down God
by either recruiting Adam (Ryan Welsh) and Eve (Kendra Smith) to their
cause, or destroying them. Act I depicts the first couple gamboling in
the Garden, notwithstanding Eve's uneasy sense that there's more to
existence than affectionate kisses and playful body rubs. The end of
innocence comes after Satan personally tempts her to bite the apple,
then fucks her wildly — leaving them both wowed by their unexpected
erotic rapport. Their intercourse marks the beginning of Eve's total
transformation; whereas Adam develops the doldrums, and worse. By
play's end, Eve is one gal you surely wouldn't want to mix it up with.
Part-parable, part-comic strip fable, part-action drama, the play
speaks powerfully to the unseen forces and symbols that dominate our
lives. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Eden sequences drag, layered as
they are with so much saccharine that one's soon rooting for the Devil
to break it up. As the prime mover of the action, Marshall's
performance is one of understated mastery. As his wife/daughter Sin,
Sage Howard sizzles. Robert Cohen directs. (DK) Hayworth Theatre, 2511
Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through June 27.
(323) 960-7721.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE Weekly sketch comedy. Acme Comedy Theatre, 135 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.; Fri., 8 p.m.. (323) 525-0202.
GIVE YOU HARD COMEDY Sketch, improv, and musical parody by all-girl
comedy group The Fluffers. Paul G. Gleason Theatre, 6520 Hollywood
Blvd., L.A.; Sun., 7:30 p.m.; thru June 21. (617) 899-4283.
GODSPELL Biblical musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael
Tebelak. Knightsbridge Theater, 1944 Riverside Dr., L.A.; Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 3 p.m.; Fri., July 10, 8 p.m.; thru July 12, (No perf July 4.).
(323) 667-0955.
A GRAND GUIGNOL CABARET Evoking the raucous, free-form ambiance and
style of a 1920s underground Berlin cabaret, director Amanda Harvey's
show scores big on variety, less so on quality. Hosted by the charming,
garrulous Gunter (Carlos Peñaranda), the evening opens with a lukewarm
ditty called “When the Special Girlfriend,” followed by a riotously
funny “chair dance,” salaciously performed by the female members of the
ensemble to the music of ” Wagner's “Die Valkyrie,” which concludes
with the gals spouting water from their mouths like fountain
sculptures. Such visual engagement is the cabaret's strength,
imaginatively choreographed by Vanessa Forster. Peñaranda's turn as a
drag queen and his German-accented rendition of “Ol Man River,”cum overalls and straw hat don't cut it. Two short plays are also on the bill. Haney, Dani O'Terry and Forster created The Little House in Friedrichstadt, a delightful grotesquerie artfully rendered in mime, which tells of fiendish, bloody goings-on in a brothel. Eddie Muller's Orgy in the Lighthouse,
adapted from Alfred Marchand's play, is about two brothers who
entertain a pair of whores on a holy day; this version is painfully
insipid. (LE3) Sunset Gardner Stages, 1501 N. Gardner St., Hollywood;
Fri.-Sat., 8:30 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m.; through June 28.
www.brownpapertickets.com or www.legrandguignolkabaret.com
GROUNDLINGS ENCHANTED FOREST This well-executed evening of comedy
consists of a random collection of skits by company member Laird
Macintosh and various co-writers. In “One Fifth Is All You Need,” a man
(Steve Little) who believes himself to be of Irish extraction lands in
Native-American heaven, where he discovers he's one fifth
Native-American and immediately acquires skills in weaving, archery and
hand-to-hand combat. In the predictable but nicely performed “Be
Grateful for the Good Times,” a couple (Macintosh and Wendi
McLendon-Covey) on the cusp of an amiable divorce end up at each
other's throats, while a mollycoddling divorce counselor (Ben Falcone)
tries to mediate. “Soft Butt Firm,” finds Melissa McCarthy on-target as
a sugar-tongued huckster of her recently acquired product — a
super-absorbent toilet paper. An alcoholic Dad (Little), drunk and
abusive at a Thanksgiving get-together, is urged by one and all to hit
the road, in “Giving Thanks.” Directed by Roy Jenkins, the ensemble
proves uniformly adept; while the material is generally amiable and
entertaining, none of the segments delivers a knock-out comedic punch.
(DK) Groundling Theater, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 8
& 10 p.m.; thru July 18. (323) 934-9700.
GO HALF OF PLENTY Anyone still trying to trace the
roots of the great economic collapse of 2007 can stop digging.
Playwright Lisa Dillman's somewhat schematic satire argues that the
monetary debacle responsible for crippling the markets and the
existential paralysis gripping her suburbanite protagonists were both
spawned by a common corruption of spirit rather than of finance. In
fact, the instability that drives Marty Tindall (John Pollono) and his
wife, Holly (Carolyn Palmer), to regroup in the ironically named Ardor
Park housing development (and postpone having a child) has more to do
with Marty's recent bout of alcoholism and his downwardly mobile new
job at the local box factory. Complicating their effort to rebuild
their lives — and marriage — is Marty's Alzheimer's-afflicted father,
Jack (Robert Mandan), whose presence forces Holly to be both caregiver
and co-breadwinner by taking on medical-transcription work. The crisis
comes when Holly seeks solace in a romantic correspondence via
transcription tape with an unseen albeit married doctor/client while
Marty joins the quasi-terrorist “Neighborhood Vigil,” enforcing
anti-immigrant, tract etiquette alongside the cell's creepily
charismatic Zooks (the very funny Ron Bottitta and Betsy Zajko).
Although a feebly bathetic denouement ultimately suggests Dillman is
more interested in the exposition of theme over character, Barbara
Kallir's crisp direction of a spot-on cast, aided by the polished
support of a fine design team (particularly Stephanie Kerley Schwartz's
trompe l'oeil set paintings), ably fills the gaps with laughs. (BR)
Theatre/Theater, 5041 Pico Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7
p.m.; through June 21. (323) 960-7774 or www.roguemachinetheatre.com. A
Rogue Machine production
HARRIETT LEVY — BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Todd Waddington is the
“chanteuse, priestess, lounge lizard and metaphysical life coach.”
Wait, I thought Dame Edna was at the Ahmanson?. Hudson Guild Theater,
6539 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru
July 19, www.plays411.com/harriettlevy. (323) 960-7792.
HE ASKED FOR IT Erik Patterson's study of HIV-positive gay men in
“Internet chat rooms, Hollywood back rooms and nightclub bathrooms.”.
Macha Theatre, 1107 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 7 p.m.; thru July 19. (323) 654-0680.
NEW REVIEW HEDDA GABLER
Photo courtesy of Ark Theatre
In
Henrik Ibsen's proto-feminist classic, poor Hedda (Julie Granata)
marries dull professor George (Darrel Guilbeau), and soon has reason to
regret it, as she's not remotely suited for the stultifying life he
offers her. With few career or personal options, the bored and bitter
hausfrau finds joys in manipulating her former lover Loveborg (Zack
Hamra) and school pal Thea (Shanti Bowes) — not merely just for her
own amusement, but also because she dreams of living vicariously
through them. Tragedy results. Director Les Miller's decision to
reset the play in the 1950s raises some awkward minor anachronistic
issues – after all, if Hedda lived in the '50s, she could sublimate her
boredom with a job or by getting an only slightly scandalous divorce.
The production is frankly more noteworthy for its intriguing depiction
of Hedda herself. In Granata's at times ferociously angry turn, we are
treated to Hedda as Mean Girl – a former high school bully and shallow
party gal, as much Hedda Locklear or Paris Gabler, whose breathy smiles
and glitteringly insincere simpers at her husband turn into venomously
terrifying rictuses of rage the moment his back is turned. Sadly,
Miller's production ultimately feels one sided, and Grenata's
multi-dimensional, harrowingly brittle Hedda often feels as though
she's in a totally different play from the one inhabited by the blander
supporting cast. Still, Bowes' sniveling Thea is just the sort of girl
whom one can see Hedda smacking around in school. Also engaging is
Peter Colburn's effortlessly oily turn as increasingly sleazy family
friend Judge Brack. Ark Theatre at the Hayworth, 2511 Wilshire Blvd.,
Los Angeles; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through July 11. (323)
969-1707. (Paul Birchall)
THE HIGH Teen-drama parody, “from OMG to LOL.”. ComedySportz, 733 Seward St., L.A.; Fri., 10:30 p.m.. (323) 871-1193.
GO THE IDEA MAN The unspecified manufacturing plant
at the heart of Kevin King's comedy-drama has a “Gillette account,”
referring to the razors and razorblades being produced there, among
other products. The detailed set design (credited to Elephant
Stageworks) includes welding stations lined along the walls of the tiny
stage. The realism in the design creates a naturalistic and enveloping
atmosphere of the workplace, which supports and, in subtle ways, also
stifles King's richly textured examination of the class divide within
that factory and, by implication, across America's dwindling
manufacturing base. When Al Carson (James Pippi), a bright machinist
and union rep, visits the salubrious home of plant manager Simmons
(David Franco), Al's awe and awkwardness are apparent in Pippi's
expressions, while behind him, we see welding machines, which is a
intrusion. As directed by David Fofi in a style that combines earthy
David Mamet/Steppenwolf Theatre realism with occasional hints of a
sitcom in the making, the ensemble is so good that the production rides
largely on the strengths of the atmosphere and the actors. Al has just
won the “suggestion of the month” prize, for a design generating
exponentially more efficiency in the production of razorblades. The
idea could be worth millions of dollars in potential savings to the
company, and for this, Simmons is willing to reward Al with a check for
$100 and a laminated plaque with his name on it — on the condition that
Al signs over the rights to his design. Al understands the insult; he's
no fool What ensues is a series of artfully conceived scenes between
the Al and staff engineer Frank (Robert Foster), who's task is to make
Al's idea “work” — a blue collar-white collar cat-and-mouse game in
which the roles of cat and mouse keep shifting. That Simmons would
invite top management to fly in from God knows where, this coming
weekend, no less, for a presentation on Al's suggestion — even before
Frank has had the opportunity to test it — reveals a management style
so reckless, it's hard to believe. Yet it's on this somewhat contrived
stress test that playwright King builds the play's suspense. King's
ideas are so fine, they deserve refining. (SLM) Elephant Theatre
Company, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., through
June 20. (323) 960-4410.
INSIDE OUT Jody Vaclav's “one-person show in two persons.”. Actors
Circle Theatre, 7313 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru
July 11. (310) 306-6298.
INVISIBLE HEROES Storytelling by Here and Now Theatre Company.
Studio/Stage, 520 N. Western Ave., L.A.; Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m.; thru June
28, www.hereandnowtheatrecompany.com. (323) 463-3900.
LITTLE BLACK VEIL David LeBarron and Abby Travis' “drag queen
romantic comedy musical.”. Ruby Theater at the Complex, 6476 Santa
Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru July 5,
www.littleblackveil.com. (323) 960-5774.
LOVE WATER In a drainage pipe near a park and a ditch that might be
a space-alien breeding ground, unloved Antonio (Joseph Vega) and overly
loved Lulu (Alina Phelan) hide out from their normal lives. He's a
teenager escaping his family, which includes a manic mother (Misi Lopez
Lecube), who may be lacing his food with poison, and a dad (Chuma
Gault) and sister (Jessica Martinez) who don't care either way. She's
fleeing a husband (Jon Beauregard) so devoted to her he leaves pies in
the park for her. “There's a lot of love in that pie,” Lulu tells
Antonio, which means something to playwright Jacqueline Wright, whose
allegories here are made of flotsam — her pieces are stitched together
with wild images that stir the imagination but don't quite absorb your
emotions. Wright is a clear talent, who delights in the theater medium.
Overhead Lulu and Antonio's hideout, a broken man bandaged from head to
foot describes the joy of bashing out brains in a skiing accident and
suggests — but doesn't quite advocate — that we jump off a building.
Meanwhile, a lonely lecher finds and hatches a gigantic egg, out of
which climbs a pale, naked English-speaking creature who demands
freedom and caramels. Sibyl Wickersheimer's austere set invites
movement, and director Dan Bonnell has his cast run — rarely walk —
from end to end. But with Bonnell allowing half the cast to use
Wright's dreamlike imagery and language as an excuse to heighten their
speech, while the other half recognizes the need to ground the
characters with natural performances, the production feels too bipolar
for us to commit to caring about why Dad eats paper, why Mom wears
Antonio's clothes and why Lulu pushes away intimacy. (AN) Open Fist
Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun.,
7 p.m.; through July 11. (323) 882-6912. A co-production of Open Fist
Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre — The L.A. Project
GO MADNESS IN VALENCIA We get a look-in on Spain's
Golden Age via playwright-poet Lope de Vega's 1590 farce about love and
lunacy, in David Johnston's pleasing and somewhat audacious 1998
translation. (Johnston's version adds a second, alternate ending.)
Across the English Channel at around the same time de Vega and Calderon
were fusing dreams and life in their writings, Shakespeare was toying
with similar ideas in both The Winter's Tale and A Midsummer Nights
Dream. In Madness, however, we get no magic potions concocted by the
sprites in order to fool mortals into believing that they're donkeys,
or “enamored of an ass.” De Vega worked from the presumption that
people are either mad, or pretend to be so, without any medicinal help.
Floriano (Michael Holmes) arrives in the woods around Valencia in a
panic that, for the love of a woman, he's murdered a local prince. He
confesses this fear to a young beauty, Erifila (Vivian Kerr) – a
trusting confession to say the least. Erifilia fled with a servant from
her father and his plans to bind her future to an arranged marriage.
(The servant strands her in the woods after robbing her of her jewelry
and outer-garments.) In order to escape notice, the pair choose to
seclude themselves in the safest place around — Valencia's famed
mental asylum – where the pair pretend to be nuts, and where the play's
enveloping metaphor for society, and for lovers, takes root. There's an
amiable goofiness in Suzanne Karpinski's staging of her 13-member
ensemble, and this is the right company to pull off a show so
influenced by the Italian Commedia clowning. Holmes' Floriano has a
hangdog charm that makes him both a persuasive leading man and idiot
savant, depending on whom he's trying to fool, while Kerr possesses a
vivacious esprit that spins, when needed, into the requisite arrogance
that accompanies sanctimonious betrayal. Kurt Boetcher's relies heavily
on burlap and cloth drapery to symbolize the woods, in hues of green
and purple. And though Karpinski's tone is a bit languid at the start,
the play's tangles of attraction, and their accompanying pangs of
jealousy, grow increasingly absorbing. For all the technical details
and the abundant merits of Karpinski's production, one does get the
feeling that the play has been more staged than interpreted. The canvas
on which the play unfolds contains few striking visual motifs that
offer an urgent idea of why this play is being performed – beyond the
obvious explanation that a few people sort of liked it. As such, it's a
delightful museum piece that could be much more, with a greater breadth
of vision. Terrific performances also by Laura Napoli, Juliette Angeli,
Grandon Clark, and Paul Byrne, among others. (SLM) Sacred Fools
Theatre, Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m. (added perf Sun., June 28, 2 p.m.); through
June 28. (310) 281-8337.
GO MERCURY FUR A cross between A Clockwork Orange
and the plays of Sarah Kane, British playwright Philip Ridley's
controversial drama, set in a dystopian London under siege, follows a
group of young men desperate to survive. Elliot (Edward Tournier) and
his brother Darren (Andrew Perez) clean up an abandoned apartment to
prepare for a party organized by their friend and gang leader Spinx
(Greg Beam). They are assisted by Naz (Jason Karasev), a friend who
happens to live in the building, and their drag queen friend Lola (Jeff
Torres), who arrives with a costume for the Party Piece (Ryan Hodge), a
barely-conscious “Paki” boy who becomes the center of attention. Once
Spinx finally arrives, along with The Duchess (Nina Sallinen), final
preparations are made for the Party Guest (Kelly Van Kirk) who will be
their salvation from this hellhole, but as the party starts, things go
awry in a series of twisted, violent events. Like the songs of the
British trance band Prodigy, one of which plays in the final scene, the
drama's layers slowly unfold, culminating in an apocalyptic climax that
is foreshadowed, yet nonetheless blows you away with its brutality and
horror. Dado's direction brings out the intensity of her actors who
throw themselves headlong into this nightmarish world and reveal their
characters to be at once gritty, reprehensible, funny, and pitiable. I
left the theater disturbed and affected, which after all is the point.
(MK) Imagined Life Theatere, 5615 San Vicente Blvd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 5 p.m.; through June 28. (800) 838-3006. BrownPaperTickets.com. A
Needtheater production.
NIGHTS OF NOIR: MARKED FOR LOVE/OF DICKS AND DAMES In this pair of
one-acts, writer-director Kasey Wilson parodies 1940s film noir by
introducing private eye Bolt (Scott Gerard), who though not exactly Sam
Spade, is nevertheless good for some laughs. In Marked for Love, the
impavid Bolt, who hasn't had a case in three months, is seen asleep at
his desk when he is visited by the seductive, black-clad Vivian
(Elizabeth V. Newman), who needs a purloined painting recovered.
Solving the crime is not easy, as Bolt must contend with a jealous
cohort (Mike Park), a shadowy thin guy (Drew Droege), deception at
every turn, as well as his own engaging ineptitude. Of Dicks and Dames
is not as cleverly written but still serves up its share of humor.
Here, Bolt is enmeshed in a megaconvoluted case involving a missing
woman (Lauren Leonelli), the murder of a sinister purveyor of porn
(Droege), a creepy, peg-leg German (Eric Charles Jorgenson), and Viola
Shylock (Jan Pessin), whose appearance comes courtesy of the Bard.
There is more style than substance here, but it eventually adds up to
an evening of fun and laughs. And for an added bit of spice, Wilson
(a.k.a. Honey Ima Home), does a smoking-hot burlesque routine between
acts. (LE3) Attic Theater and Film Center, 5429 W. Washington Blvd.;
LA. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through June 27. (323) 960-1055.
ONCE UPON A MATTRESS Princess-and-pea musical, adapted from the Hans
Christian Andersen fairy tale. Music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by
Marshall Barer, book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.
Lyric Theatre, 520 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2
p.m.; thru June 21. (323) 939-9220.
GOPOINT BREAK LIVE! Jaime Keeling's merciless
skewering of the 1991 hyper-action flick starring Keanu Reeves and Gary
Busey is loaded with laughs, as well as surprises, like picking an
audience member to play Reeves' role of Special Agent Johnny Utah. It's
damn good fun, cleverly staged by directors Eve Hars, Thomas Blake and
George Spielvogel. (LE3). Dragonfly, 6510 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.;
Fri., 8:30 p.m.; Sat., 8 p.m.. (866) 811-4111.
RANTOUL AND DIE Mark Roberts' bleak comedy has four great characters
and a half-dozen great speeches in search of a point. Set in Rantoul,
Illinois, it opens with Gary (Paul Dillon) counseling heartbroken bud
Rallis (Rich Hutchman) on his pending divorce from Debbie (Cynthia
Ettinger), who works down at the Dairy Queen. Gary is a redneck mystic
and self-described tiger; his approach to keeping Rallis from slicing
his wrists is to choke the fear of death in him. With the entrance of
the cruel and curvaceous Debbie (who's hell-bent on keeping the house
and Honda) and her cat-lady boss Callie (Lisa Rothschiller), Roberts
opens several inviting routes for his play to explore grief, guilt and
mercenary lust. Instead, it stalls, with repetitive arguments and
shocks that don't register as the nasty fun we crave. Director Erin
Quigley gets fun performances from her four leads and gives each their
moment to hold court over production designer David Harwell's
painstakingly accurate suburban ranch house, complete with dogs that
bark each time a character slams the front door in frustration. (AN)
Lillian Theatre, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 7 p.m.; through July 4. (323) 960-4424 or www.rantoulanddie.com.
GO SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK LIVE! TOO The original School
House Rock was a long-running kids' TV show that winningly combined
cartoon characters and songs with a high educational content. Here
director-choreographer Rick Sparks assembles six terrific, high-energy
performers — Harley Jay, Tricia Kelly, Jayme Lake, Michael “Milo”
Lopez, Lisa Tharps and Brian Wesley Turner — to employ all their skill
and pizzazz on songs about numbers, multiplication, parts of speech,
American history, government, the bones of the body, financial interest
rates, and a score of other useful topics, all turned into lively
entertainment. (A math song about multiplying is called “Naughty Number
Nine,” and the American Revolution is served up in “No More Kings.”)
There's a scrap of plot, about saving a financially failing diner, but
that's the merest of pretexts. Cody Gillette provides crisp musical
direction and leads the trio (with Anthony Zenteno, on guitars, and
Eric Tatuaca on drums) to provide infectious, hard-driving
accompaniments on Adam Flemming's handsome diner set. Clever costumes
are by Kat Marquet, and Daavid Hawkins provides hundreds of zany props.
If you already know that 7 x 9 = 63, you might feel, as I did, that 20
songs is a few too many, but the kids seem to love it. Greenway Court
Theatre, 544 N. Fairfax Avenue, L.A.; call for schedule; through July
26. (323) 655-7679, ext. 100, or www.schoolhouserockla.com.
SERIAL KILLERS: THE PLAYOFFS Facebook factors into this serialized
improv competition: Log in and vote each week on which serials
continue, until there is only one! (Final round and awards ceremony,
July 11.). Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Dr., L.A.; Sat., 11
p.m.; Sat., July 11, 8 p.m.; thru June 27. (310) 281-8337.
GO SETUP & PUNCH Director Daniel Henning
seamlessly moves the action between the past and the present in Mark
Saltzman's highly original new comedy. After a bitter 10-year breakup
with former writing partner Vanya (Hedy Burress), Brian (Andrew Leeds)
contacts her about the copyright to a children's show they co-produced.
Through a series of letters, the breakup of the once happy writing duo
is laid bare. The two met at Cornell, and Vanya followed Brian to New
York City to kick-start his Broadway aspirations. They audition for a
revue, but are told to collaborate with Jan (a mesmerizing P.J.
Griffith), a rock star and composer. As the twosome becomes a
threesome, Vanya's unrequited love for Brian, a deeply closeted gay
man, spills through. However, Jan, a sexual libertine, opens the closet
door for Brian. The sexual tension is one contributing factor to Vanya
and Brian's breakup, but when Vanya is hired for a TV series they had
both been working on, Brian goes ballistic. All of this is revealed
through a series of letters, which become e-mails, which become phone
calls, as the two draw near a rapprochement. Performed without an
intermission, Henning keeps the action moving at a brisk pace, even as
the two compose letters. Griffith also performs in the smaller role of
Miguel, a once-raucous Cornell classmate who has diverged onto a
spiritual path. (SR) Second Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd.,
L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through June 21. (323)
661-9827. A Blank Theatre Company production
SEX, RELATIONSHIPS, AND SOMETIMES … LOVE Monologues on all of the
above, by Joelle Arqueros. Actor's Playpen, 1514 N. Gardner St., L.A.;
Sun., 7 & 9 p.m.; thru July 26. (310) 226-6148.
THE SINGING SKELETON The first hour of Stefan Marks' satire of
actors and their odd relationship to theater finds hilarious truth in
the absurdity of the odyssey of inexperienced but emotionally connected
artists trying to find a path through Hollywood. Spouting eye-rolling
platitudes about acting techniques and script-writing, several
characters might easily become two-dimensional jokes, but Marks' ear
for actor lingo and a fine cast allow the play to weave a tight fabric
of reality out of the ludicrous. Most successful is Barrett Shuler,
with a brilliant, deadpan portrayal of Brandon, a first-time playwright
nearly as passionate about the work as he is about gorgeous Hannah
(Jessica Kepler), whom he hopes to cast (and kiss) as his star. Brian
Taubman as his clueless best friend; Mark Gadbois as an aging and
idiotic macho actor; and Matt Weight as an Australian pretty boy join
in to make this journey through Equity Waiver heartbreakingly funny.
The title is not metaphoric but literal, as a singing skeleton (Marks)
punctuates the play and play-within-a-play with pithy songs beautifully
sung to acoustic guitar. Sadly, Act 2 disintegrates into cheap sketch,
still garnering laughs, but from feeble jokes rather than clever
insights. Occasionally the foolishness pauses for a melodramatic
moment, but the play never regains the polish and painfully funny
beauty of Act 1. (TP) Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd.,
Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through June 27. (888) 201-0804.
Crooked Arrow Productions
SO HARD: A BLACK GAY MAN NAVIGATES WEST HOLLYWOOD IN A NEW AMERICA
Derek Ringold's multimedia performance mixes monologue, dance and
video. Zephyr Theater, 7456 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Wed., 8 p.m.; thru June
24. (323) 623-9036.
THE SOMETHING-NOTHING Fielding Edlow's romantic comedy set in New
York's West Village. Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.;
Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru July 2. (323) 960-7753.
THE STICKING PLACE As Shakespeare drafted Macbeth, he thought, “This
is solid stuff — but what if I set it in a swimming pool?” Or not. But
director Chris Covics has gone ahead and set it in one anyway for the
sole purpose of paralleling Macbeth's doom to the pool's water level.
As the Thane's guilt rises, the water surges from the floor and rains
down overhead on the four female ensemble (Brittany Slattery, Angela
Stern, Erica Stone and Amy Tzagournis) whose white robes tangle and
drag with the wet weight. For a few minutes, it's chillingly effective.
The ladies enter blindfolded, fumbling their way like primordial
lizards in a cave, as though Covics is prodding us to think about the
Macbeths' drive to survive and the centuries we've spent reliving their
fate. But the miserablist new setting has consequences: drains that
gurgle over speeches, distracting fears for the actors' safety, and
worst of all, the director's reliance on his gimmick to compensate for
the complete mess he's made of Shakespeare's play. It's impossible to
follow. Not just because the actors trade off roles fluidly in
mid-speech, but because they haven't been directed to articulate the
lines in either pronunciation or performance. Happy, scared, female,
male, Banquo or Lady M, everything is delivered in a fearful psychotic
squeal. At best, it's a Macbeth tone poem — an unpleasant one for
audience and actor alike. Or rather, since the 60-minute production
closes with the “Tomorrow” speech, Covics has deliberately made the
end-all of nouveau-nonsense Shakespeare adaptations, sending us out of
the theater with “Signifying nothing” ringing in our heads as a lesson
to the cock-eyed creatives. (AN) Unknown Theater, 1110 N. Seward St.,
Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 6 p.m.; thru June 27. (323)
466-7781.
GO STRANGER Keythe Farley and Eva Anderson's world
premiere musical (or more accurately a play with music) is set in the
Nevada town of San Lorenzo in 1847. A bandit named Lagarto (Michael
Dunn) has murdered the town's sheriff and kidnapped his daughter
Lucinda (Molly O'Neill). Lucinda's mother, Miranda, (Ann Closs-Farley,
who also creates the beautiful costumes) owns the local saloon and
takes in The Stranger (Cameron Dye) who wanders into town one day,
running from his own dark past. Lagarto is after treasure Miranda has
hidden away, but she refuses to give it up without a fight, rallying
the townspeople behind her, including The Padre (Joe Hernandez-Kolski),
a morally ambiguous figure. The ambiguity of the priest's motives, as
well as the style of the piece evoke, and simultaneously parody, the
“spaghetti Westerns” of the 1960s. Composer Anthony Bollas' blues licks
mixed with Western rock and Spanish guitar perfectly set the mood,
along with Rebecca Kessin's desert soundscape. Francois-Pierre
Couture's wood-slat backdrops that appear branded with a hot iron are
wonderfully evocative of The Ponderosa as well. Farley, who also
directs the piece, masterfully shifts between scenes and creates
arresting tableaux, using the set to its full capacity. Dunn
charismatically embodies a larger-than-life outlaw, delivering lines
full of humor and irony, and the rest of the cast shines as well, from
Dye's tough-as-nails demeanor and O'Neill's ferocity to Closs-Farley's
Mae West-like spunk and Hernandez-Kolski's silver tongue. (MK) Bootleg
Theater; 2220 Beverly Blvd., L.A.; Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.
(June 21 & 28 only); through July 4. (213) 389-3856.
www.bootlegtheater.com.
THE STUTTERING PREACHER/DAD Levy Lee Simon's one-acts: a comedy
about a Baptist pastor and a dramedy about a father and son. The
Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3
p.m.; thru July 26. (818) 731-7885.
THE TOMORROW SHOW Late-night variety show created by Craig Anton,
Ron Lynch and Brendon Small. Steve Allen Theater, at the Center for
Inquiry-West, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; Sat., midnight. (323)
960-7785.
TOUCH THE WATER The cause is great. The intentions are beyond
reproach. So why is it that so much of playwright Julie Hébert and
director Juliette Carrillo's eco-advocacy drama plays like preaching to
the choir? Perhaps it's because their protagonist isn't a human
character but a piece of city infrastructure — the much-abused and
long-neglected L.A. River. It certainly doesn't help that the city's
adoption of the 2007 Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan has,
in effect, already robbed the political storyline of its dramatic
thunder (which may explain why talky stretches of river-greening
exposition are about as entertaining as a press release). Still, even
sermons can have their charm, and choirs make beautiful music, and this
production is rich in both. There is the pleasure of Carrillo's
site-specific staging on the northern bank of the L.A. River
overlooking Frogtown (represented in Darcy Scanlin's river-refuse set)
and the rousing raft of original songs (music by Shishir Kurup, lyrics
by Kurup & Hébert) that animates the show's human story. There are
engaging, lead performances by Kurup and Page Leong as old, Frogtown
friends estranged by a riverbank gang killing, who are finally brought
together by the river's renewal. And there is the climactic coup de
théâtre, engineered by lighting designer Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz, and its
stunning moment of spine-tingling magic that is the raison d'être of
site-specific theater. (BR) Rio de Los Angeles State Park, Bowtie
Parcel, entrance adjacent to 2800 Casitas Ave., L.A.; Wed.-Sun., 8
p.m.; through June 21. (213) 613-1700, ext. 37.
GO TRAFFICKING IN BROKEN HEARTS There's something
hauntingly familiar about Edwin Sanchez's lowlife romance, and I don't
mean its pre-Giuliani, 42nd Street locale, so palpably invoked by
Sanchez and director Efrain Schunior's blistering stage poetry. The
block's sordid miasma of peepshows, seedy hotel rooms, gay movie houses
and Port Authority men's rooms — cleverly represented in designer
Marika Stephens' triptych of skeletal, neon-trimmed, box scaffolds —
comprises the track where Puerto Rican street veteran Papo (a soulful
Ramon Camacho) hustles the tricks of his rough trade. It's also where
he falls for Brian (Stephen Twardokus), a chronically repressed
attorney and 26-year-old virgin so tangled in the apron strings of a
domineering mother that he can't consummate a hooker-john liaison much
less engage in an openly gay relationship. In the meantime, Papo will
have to settle for the runaway, Bobby (Elijah Trichon), a 16-year-old
package of dangerously damaged goods, who only wants to make Papo a
good wife. The arrangement quickly develops into a volatile mix of
vulnerability, unrequited desire and wounded pride just waiting for the
inevitable spark. Of course, Papo is no hard-bitten Ratso Rizzo; he's
descended from an even more ancient line of Hollywood hokum: the
proverbial hooker with a heart of gold. Credit Schunior's skillful
sleight of hand, and riveting performances by Camacho and Twardokus for
selling such a shamelessly adolescent fantasy, which may be the
greatest hustle of the show. (BR) Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa
Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; through June 28.
(323) 957-1884 or www.tix.com.
TRUCK STOP CAFÉ Sharon L. Graine's stage adaptation of the film Bagdad Café. Playhouse Theatre Players, 600 Moulton Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru June 27. (323) 227-5410.
GO VOICE LESSONS Justin Tanner's very funny sitcom
shoots darts at a trio of characters who are tied to the dart board by
their transparent lunacies and hubris, which makes it an exercise in
almost pointless cruelty, though the broadness of Bart DeLorenzo's
staging may have contributed to the sense of this Punch & Judy Show
masquerading as a satire. In earlier plays, like Pot Mom,
Tanner stumbled onto an insight that unearthed the unseen side of a
stereotype. His skills at structure, one-liners and caricature are so
sharply honed, his persisting challenge is finding something worth
saying. Tanner's parody is directed at the vicious and deluded vanity
of a hopelessly obviously talentless and aging pop singer, Virginia
(Laurie Metcalf), trying to claw her way to TV fame. Can a target get
any easier? She cements her ambitions to a voice teacher, Nate (French
Stewart), whose initial mask of respectability and ethics slithers down
the greasy pole of his own personal desperation. Maile Flanagan further
inflates the farce, portraying Nate's zaftig live-in girlfriend,
setting up a catfight over the forlorn and increasingly sleazy teacher.
For all its petulant ambitions, the evening is wildly entertaining
thanks to the irrepressible talents of the cast. It's hard to see how
this play would survive without these actors. With a deep and slightly
nasal voice, and deadpan responses that should be copyrighted for the
mountain of silent thoughts they reveal, Stewart provides the perfect
foil for Metcalf's meticulously executed tornado of psychosis and
Flanagan's lovely cameo. DeLorenzo deserves credit for the comedy's
sculpted timing, and Gary Guidinger's set and lighting depicts with
realistic detail the frayed fortress of Nate's living room. (SLM)
Zephyr Theater, 7456 Melrose Ave., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun.,
7 p.m.; through June 28. (323) 960-7711.
WHO WROTE THIS SH!T Patrick Bristow directs an improv ensemble
through the Hollywood script process, from pitch meeting to DVD review.
Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs., 8:30 p.m.; thru
July 30. (800) 838-3006.
YA GOTTA GO HIGHER One-man show on addiction and recovery by
comedian Yul “Spencer.”. East Theatre at the Complex, 6468 Santa Monica
Blvd., L.A.; Thurs., 7:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 8 & 10 p.m.; Sun., 4
p.m.; thru June 28, www.yagottagohigher.com…
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED IN THE VALLEYS
THE APPLE TREE Three one-act musicals, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics
by Sheldon Harnick, book by Bock and Harnick. Crown City Theatre, 11031
Camarillo St., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru
June 28. (818) 745-8527.
GO BREAKING THE CODE Brilliant, eccentric
mathematician Alan Turing (Sam R. Ross) did vital work for British
intelligence during World War II, breaking the Nazi Enigma Code, which
saved thousands of allied lives, and materially helped defeat the Axis
powers. But because his efforts were top secret, he received only
posthumous public recognition. (Later, building on his work on the code
machines, he pioneered the modern computer.) But as playwright Hugh
Whitemore observes here, he broke other codes as well: moral, legal,
professional, and personal, including the homosexual's 20th century
code of silence. Gay, guileless, awkward, ruthlessly honest, and
socially inept, he was often oblivious of his effect on others. When a
sexual encounter with a bit of rough trade (Adam Burch) led to a police
investigation, he rashly admitted to the inspector (Armand DesHarnais)
that he had sexual relations with the young man. He found himself, like
Oscar Wilde, prosecuted for “gross indecency,” his life and career
wrecked. Writer Whitehouse and actor Ross provide an eloquent,
touching, richly detailed portrait of Turing, and director Robert
Mammana has assembled a fine supporting cast, including Sarah Lilly as
Turing's garrulous, loving mother, and David Ross Patterson as a
hilarious dim-bulb bureaucrat. (NW) The Chandler Studio Theatre, 12443
Chandler Boulevard, North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m.;
thru June 20. https://theprodco.com or (800) 838-3006. The Production
Company.
NEW REVIEW GO DOSTOYEVSKY'S NOTES FROM UNDERGROUNDPhoto by Zombie Joe
“I
am a sick man…I am a spiteful man.” Thus begins the narrative of one
of Fydor Dostevsky's most infamous characters, here portrayed with
unsettling energy and passion by Michael Blomgren. Director Zombie Joe
has infused a touch of modernity in this production, drawing mainly on
the text from the novella, but also adding many references to
contemporary time and places. The result is a piece that, although not
doing full justice to Dostoevsky's work — a near impossible task for
anyone — does artfully dramatize its core themes of alienation and
anti-rationalism. The opening tableau is jolting, with Blomgren nestled
at the feet of his maid Apollo (Noelle Adames), who sings “Ether,” a
delightfully grotesque dirge written by Christopher Reiner, with the
appropriate eerie musical accompaniment. Blomgren heats up the next 20
minutes with a blistering, full throttle monologue filled with
existential angst and rage, explaining the particulars of what amounts
to a wretched existence, and a perverse delight in his own suffering,
as well as that of others. A social gathering and a sexual liaison only
only add to the sense of desolation and madness. The production is
short, but it packs a punch from Blomgren's loaded performance.
Rounding out the cast are Heather Lehigh, Lauren Andrea Nelsen, Conrad
Lawson, and Lauren Vaughan. ZJU Theatre Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd.,
North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8: 30 p.m.; thru June. 27. (818) 202-4120.
(Lovell Estell III)
NEW REVIEW GO EAST OF BERLIN Inspired by
real-life stories (from writers Peter Sichrovsky's “Born Guilty” and
Dan Bar-On's “Legacy of Silence: Children of the Third Reich”), Hannah
Moscovitch's involving psychological drama revolves around an SS
doctor's son and his struggle to live with the knowledge of his
father's crimes. Teenage Rudi (Russell Sams) grows up in Paraguay
oblivious to his parent's past, until a more jaundiced classmate named
Hermann (James Barry) – also the son of a Nazi — decides to wise him
up. Profoundly disturbed, Rudi leaps into an affair with Hermann, but
soon decides to flee the country for Germany. There he takes on a new
name and falls in love with a Jewish-American girl named Sara (Carolyn
Stotes) whose mother was a Holocaust survivor. (Is this real passion,
or is he just looking for a way to atone? the play asks.) For fear of
losing her he conceals his lineage – a circumstance that brings his
guilt into even more agonizing focus, even more so when she learns
about it anyway. Effectively staged by co-directors C.B. Brown and
Sara Botsford, the script's strongest and most persuasive element is
Rudi's monologue, a vivid piece of storytelling that serves as the
piece's compelling spine. With his mien of wry detachment, Sams
delivers a credible performance that nonetheless lacks the depth and
nuance that make for powerful drama. Stotes is extremely appealing as
his love interest, and the scenes between them are among the best. NoHo
Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 3 p.m.; thru July 19. (818) 508-7101. A co-production of NoHo
Arts Center Ensemble and 49th Parallel Theater. (Deborah Klugman)
GO THE ELEPHANT MAN In his very romantic and even
sentimental Tony-award winning 1979 play, Bernard Pomerance challenges
our presumptions as to where monstrosity resides. A scientist named
Treves, portrayed by Andrew Matthews with bright-eyed, bow-tied
self-assurance, presumes he understands the entirety of a situation he
simply does not, when he rescues a the pathologically deformed John
Merrick (Daniel Reichert) from a carnival freak show in Victorian
London. Director John Demita stages the nine-member ensemble on the
tiny almost bare stage around a trio of portable, translucent screens,
like hospital screens, which come to represent the thin veneer of
privacy in the hospital clinic where Merrick spends his final days.
(Set designed by Steven Markus.) True to the Broadway staging, and in
direct contrast to David Lynch's 1980 movie, the monstrosity of
Merrick's condition is revealed without a spec of makeup or any
plastic-cloth constructions. Rather, Reichert contorts his body, down
to the fused fingers we hear about in the dialogue and see in projected
photographs. Pomerance's Merrick is a tortured angel, something of a
prophet. The production is meticulously acted, with superb performances
also by Abbey Craden as an actress who captures Merrick's heart, by
Norman Snow as hospital administrator Carr Gomm, by Brian George
doubling as Merrick's carney-barker patron-thief, as well as a local
Bishop. I wish it weren't so staid. The director introduces his
ensemble with the promising tones of a Street Violinist (Max Quill),
and a juggler (Aandrea Reblynn), who returns to show how Treves'
attempts to sustain funding for a ward are a juggling act, yet the show
doesn't quite push beyond the tone of the clinic where its action
finally settles — despite Kim DeShazo Wilkinson's lush and colorful
costumes. (SLM) Andak Stage Company at the New Place Studio Theatre,
10950 Peach Grove Street, North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3
p.m.; through June 21. (866) 811-4111.
INSIDE PRIVATE LIVES Audience members interact with infamous or
celebrated personages from the 20th century, as re-created in a series
of monologues. Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South
Pasadena; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru June 28, www.insideprivatelives.com. (866)
811-4111.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE Charles Michael Edmonds' solo show. Two Roads
Theater, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru June
27. (323) 960-5773.
THE MUSCLES IN OUR TOES High school, the cherished never-neverland
of pop culture, is the setting for Stephen Belber's hit-and-miss
comedy, here in its world premiere. On the occasion of their 20th high
school reunion, old friends Les (Daniel Milder), Rag (Michael Benyaer),
Dante (Al Espinosa), and Phil (Bill Tangridi) congregate in an old
music classroom to reminisce and trade shots of booze. This group is a
study in contrasts. Dante is a banker, a new convert to Judaism and is
full of swagger and attitude; his brother Phil is “atypically gay”; Les
works in theater as a fight coordinator; and Reg, an Iranian, works for
the federal government. Unfortunately, the bonhomie mojo of the moment
is tempered by the absence of their comrade Jim (Keith Ewell), a
tennis-shoe baron who's been kidnapped by rebels in Chad, supposedly in
retaliation for the U.S. government's detention of a terrorist. The
play's premise, already stretched thin, turns to rice paper when the
group hatches an insane plot to free their buddy. Most of the buzz here
comes from the raft of one-liners, testosterone-fueled antics and bawdy
humor, although it starts great in the absence of a viable plot. Cast
performances are fine under Jennifer Chambers' direction. (LE3) El
Portal Forum Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hlywd., Thur.-Sat., 8
p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m. through June 28. (866) 811-4111.
OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS Joe DiPietro's oft-produced
farce about Italian-American family life depends on a few minutes of
soppy sentimentality to balance out two hours of caricature.
29-year-old Nick (Ren Bell) spends every Sunday night in Hoboken for
dinner with both sets of grandparents – four nearly imbecilic
characters who fuss and rant, but never listen to their grandson, who,
in turn, constantly yells at them.. When Nick tells them he is moving
to Seattle for a big promotion, the old folks move into overdrive to
stop him – their big weapon: a blind date with the lovely Caitlin
(sweetly played by Alyse Courtney). She shames him for his mistreatment
of the grands, which leads to enough household calm to explore some
deeper emotions and finally tone the hollering down for the characters
to find resolution. The writing is quite funny in its Everybody Loves
Raymond style, and the over-the-top performances by Irene Chapman,
Robert Gallo, Michele Bernath and director Larry Eisenberg (filling in
on a Sunday matinee) garnered constant laughs from an appreciative
audience. While the script alternates between bombastic and cloying,
Eisenberg keeps his actors fully committed to each moment. Chris
Winfield's very naturalistic suburban living room set also helps keeps
the cast grounded in some reality. (TP) Lonny Chapman Group Repertory
Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun.,
2 p.m.; thru June 27. (818) 700-4878.
RED, HOT AND BLUE! Director-choreographer Joe Joyce tries to blow
the dust off Cole Porter's antiquated musical, but with mixed success.
The music and lyrics by Porter can't be faulted other than they have
little to do with Howard Lindsy and Russel Crouse's antediluvian book,
grafted onto a musical comedy. The very thin plot line concerns “Nails”
O'Reily Dusqusque (Allyson Turner) auctioning off the true love of her
life, Bob Hale (Kyle Nudo). These two are fine but some of the minor
roles are grating. Richard Horvitz (channeling Joe Pesci) plays the
comic foil way over the top. Worse though is Sandra Purpuro as Peaches,
who strives for a Betty Boop voice and achieves something more akin to
nails scratching a chalkboard. Choreographer Joyce does what he can on
a postage-stamp-size stage. (SR) Whitefire Theater, 13500 Ventura
Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. thru July 5. (800)
838-3006. By George Productions.
SEX, LOVE, AND TIME TRAVEL Five comedy one-acts by Daniel Weisman.
Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 7 p.m.; thru June 28. (323) 960-1054.
NEW REVIEW TALES OF AN UNSETTLED CITY: ENCOUNTERS If
there's a moral to director Carlos Martinez' late-night collection of
short meditations on urban alienation it's that one man's pain is
another man's comedy. For the playwright who takes this to heart, a
mother lode of laughs awaits; for everyone else, it's melodramatic
fool's gold. The lesson is lost on writer Sebastian Kedlecik, whose
“Angel City” and “Blue Eyes Turned Brown at Birth” assay out as
portentously turgid essays in adolescent angst. Norman A. Bert's
well-meaning “The Llano Estacado Blues” likewise misses the obvious
absurdist vein in its social-welfare critique. It is only in matters of
romance and its losers where the pieces finally pan out. These include
Phillip Kelly's “The Tender Creep is Me,” about a mousy but scarily
misogynistic misfit (the fine Charles Allen Hutchison) and the woman
(Liesl Jackson) resigned to dating him. Hutchison also shines as a
would-be Fred to Jennifer Kenyon's Ginger in Martinez' whimsical
“Tripping the Light Over Coffee and Tea.” Kenyon comes into her own,
first as a woman enduring a self-lacerating session before her dressing
mirror in Jenn Scuderi's “Pretty Face,” and again in Sharon Yablon's
“1:58 a.m.” when the actress literally stops the show (and gives new
meaning to the expression “cold shoulder”) as the utterly indifferent
object of clueless boor Jim Martyka's desire. Kenyon and Martyka's
flawless timing plus Yablons' 18-karat text strike unadulterated, comic
pay dirt. Avery Schreiber Theater, 11050 Magnolia Blvd., North
Hollywood; Sat., 10:30 p.m.; thru June 27. Produced by Theatre
Unleashed. (818) 849-4039 or www.theatreunleashed.com. (Bill Raden)
TRACING SONNY Young voice-over artist Sonny (Jacob Smith) has more
problems than a single play can accommodate. His parents adopted him
because his dad (Sebastian Kadlecik) was experiencing a spell of
impotence, which rendered children unlikely. Then, when the pressure
was off, Dad sired a daughter, who later died of a childhood illness.
Mom (Sylvia Anderson) blamed ever-angry Dad, and their marriage
foundered. Now Sonny has taken up with pretty, animated cartoonist Luci
(Vanessa Hurd), whom he met at the zoo, and they're engaged. When she
miscarries their baby, the resulting grief and guilt render Sonny
impotent. His efforts to remedy the situation are hindered by parental
voices reflecting Dad's anger and Mom's accusations of inadequacy.
Playwright Andrew Moore attempts to use both the cartooning and the
voice-overs as metaphors, but his plot meanders. Short scenes follow
one another without climaxes, scenes are interlarded with bits of old
animated cartoons featuring Porky Pig, Popeye, Betty Boop, etc., and
director Pamela Moore's direction fails to supply dramatic thrust.
Smith and Hurd provide charm and skill, making the most of their
material, but Anderson and Kadlecik are hindered by sketchy, one-note
characters. (NW) Avery Schreiber Theatre, 11050 Magnolia Blvd., North
Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through June 28. Produced
by Theatre Unleashed. (818) 849-4039 or www.theatreunleashed.com.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED ON THE WESTSIDE AND IN BEACH TOWNS
BABYLON HEIGHTS Munchkins go wild on the set of The Wizard of Oz,
by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanaugh. Garage Theatre, 251 E. Seventh St.,
Long Beach; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru June 20. (866) 811-4111.
NEW REVIEW BACH AT LEIPZIG
Photo by Enci
With
a few notes of sardonic humor, Itamar Moses' sketch about would-be
musical stars of the 18th-century, who ultimately fade into the shadows
of Johann Sebastian Bach, aims for for erudition, but too often lands
in tediousness. Four composers named Georg and three Johanns vie for
the post as Leipzig's organ master, a position that would guarantee the
winner the power to shape the musical, cultural (and, it seems
political) fortunes of the Holy Roman Empire – at least the valuable
German parts. Intrigues, reality-show-style alliances and betrayals
abound as the composers plot and prepare for an all-important audition.
Between connivances they spout literate, self-conscious oratory
covering the artistic soul in and out of relation to the growing feud
between Lutheranism and Calvinism. An interesting descent into farce is
undercut buy the author's too-precious self-comparison to Moliere.
Director Darin Anthony serves up almost balletic choreography, with
some success. The best moments, though, come from Ron Nagle powerhouse
performance as the only thoughtful character, and from Henry Clarke
who perfectly balances swagger and foppishness as a womanizing
nobleman. The production is visually stunning, through an array of
exquisite period costumes and wigs designed by A. Jeffrey Schoenberg.
Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., June
14, 7 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Aug. 9. (310) 477-2055. (Tom Provenzano)
CRACK WHORE BULIMIC, GIRL-NEXT-DOOR Marnie Olson's 1980s
coming-of-age story. Psychic Visions Theatre, 3447 Motor Ave., L.A.;
Sat., 8 p.m.; Fri., Aug. 7, 8 p.m.; thru Aug. 8. (310) 535-6007.
CINDERELLA: THE MUSICAL Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie's
family-friendly fairy tale. (Resv. required.). Santa Monica Playhouse,
1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica; Sat.-Sun., 12:30 & 3 p.m.; thru Dec.
27. (310) 394-9779.
DID YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK? Writer/performer Aaron Braxton has passion
and talent – both amply evident in this promising work-in-progress
about the difficulties of teaching in the urban classroom. A 13-year
veteran with L.A. Unified, Braxton builds his piece around his early
experience as a substitute teacher filling in for an old-timer – 33
years on the job – who one day ups and quits. A gift for mimicry brings
the performer's characters into clear comic focus: himself as the
beleaguered Mr. Braxton, several colorful problem students, their even
more colorful and problematic parents and another staff member — a
well-meaning elderly bureaucrat in charge of the school's
counterproductive testing program. At times Braxton steps away from
dramatizing the action to speak to the audience directly about the
frustrations of trying to make a difference, contrasting his own
upbringing as the son of a teacher, taught to respect education, with
the imperviously disdainful attitude of his pupils. He also sings 4
songs, displaying a beautiful voice. The main problem with the piece is
its disjointedness and discontinuity; the songs, reflective of
Braxton's message, are only tenuously connected to the narrative,
itself a patchwork collection of anecdotes juxtaposed against addresses
to the audience. This gives the show a hybrid feel – part performance,
part moral exposition, part musical showcase. Yet there's plenty of
power and potential here. Kathleen Rubin directs. (DK) Beverly Hills
Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
through April 18. (310) 358-9936.
FACING EAST Mormon husband and wife deal with their homosexual son's
suicide, by Carol Lynn Pearson. International City Theatre, 300 E.
Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru July
5. (562) 436-4610.
I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT Even by the standards of the
venerable 12-step confessional, Jonathan Coogan's one-man memoir of
growing up amid the pot smoke, promiscuity and pernicious parenting of
the freewheeling Hollywood of the '70s is fairly tepid stuff. Which is
not to say Coogan doesn't have a lot going for him as a performer. With
a wry, self-deprecating manner and an engaging stage presence, he
clearly knows his way around a one-liner. His autobiographical
material, however, just doesn't generate the highs — no pun intended —
or lows demanded by the shopworn victim-recovery formula. Perhaps
that's because, in the land of medical marijuana, having been a teenage
stoner turned weed dealer scared straight by a brush with the law seems
so, well, underwhelmingly ordinary. More likely it's because this
“addiction” story, at least as it's framed here by Coogan and his
co-writer, director Dan Frischman, seems to constantly shrink before a
pair of far more compelling characters always looming in the background
— namely Coogan's colorful, pot-smoking New York-Jew parents. In fact,
judging by the unresolved bitterness permeating the piece, its real
star is Rosy Rosenthal, Coogan's Ralph Kramden-esque wisecracker of a
father (tellingly, the mother's name is never uttered). Far more than
any clichés about a “higher power,” it is Rosy and his
spare-the-fist-spoil-the-child version of tough love that determines
the psychic trajectory of Coogan's life and is this tale's true heart
and soul. )BR) Beverly Hills Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly
Hills; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through June 27. (310) 358-9936.
THE MIRACLE WORKER The Helen Keller story, by William Gibson.
Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8
p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; Sun., June 28, 7 p.m.; thru June 21. (310) 399-3666.
A NUMBER A widower (John Heard) discovers that a hospital has bred
clones of his bachelor son (the aptly named Steve Cell), making him a
father to an unknown number of identical young men. The son, Bernard,
is confused, but open to meeting his brothers; the dad immediately
cries “lawsuit!” — allowing playwright Caryl Churchill to plunge
straight away into her themes about the boundaries, rights and values
of an identity. (And when Bernard suspects he's not the original, is
that even worse?) Churchill argues that personality is separate from
genetics and introduces us to three Bernards as distinct as Goldilocks'
bears: one bitter, one sweet, and one conflicted. Cell plays all three,
and it's hard not to interpret director Bart DeLorenzo's decision to
signify the role-switching by having Cell button, unbutton or strip off
his overshirt as a lack of trust in either the performer or the
audience. Their father is clearly hiding a secret, and Heard captures
him as a man defeated before the play even begins — he resolves every
confrontation by telling the Bernards what they want to hear. If there
is one truth under his lies, it'd be the play's only singularity: While
the clones share a disgust for him, it springs from different reasons.
“You don't look at me the same way,” the widower says of how he tells
them apart. But unlike him, we never see the clones or their father as
people, only players in a fable that's constrained by the very
dichotomies it wants to explore. (AN) Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S.
Sepulveda Blvd., W.L.A.; Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., through June
20. (310) 477-2055.
GO OUR TOWN Upon learning that one of L.A.'s most
daring theater companies, the Actors' Gang, is tackling Thornton
Wilder's beloved three-act stage perennial about life, love and death,
one is keen to witness the group's “take” on the play's universal
themes. This play is, after all, the hoop through which almost every
high school theater department must jump. Interestingly enough,
director Justin Zsebe's interpretation in his intimate yet powerful
production is one of surprising and sincere faithfulness to the play's
tone and mood. This is a beautifully rendered and moving Our Town.
Narrated by Steven M. Porter's genial yet crusty Stage Manager, the
play's story of life in a small New England town, centering on the
romance and marriage of sweet young Emily (a luminous Vanessa Mizzone)
and her beloved George (Chris Schultz), receives a staging whose basic
simplicity belies unexpected depths of subtly articulated feeling.
Zsebe admittedly tosses in a couple of visual conceits that might cause
Wilder to whirl in his grave: There's a character who performs a
dazzling yet wholly irrelevant acrobatic dance from a long sash,
seemingly just because it looks good; and, during the play's third act,
set in the underworld, the deceased characters hang from playground
swings, when simple chairs are called for in the script. Yet the
ensemble work is deft and subtle — and moments that are often corny in
other, lesser productions evoke laughter and tears here — from the
beautiful scene in which Ma Webb (Lindsley Allen) and Ma Gibbs
(Annemette Andersen) shuck their peas, to the touching one in which
Schultz's George suffers his wedding night-cum-fear of mortality
jitters at the altar. (PB) Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver
City; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m. (no perfs June 18-21); through
July 11 (310) 838-GANG. An Actors' Gang production.
THEATER SPECIAL EVENTS
BOTANICUM SEEDLINGS: A DEVELOPMENT SERIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS Public readings of new plays: The Power of Birds by Robin Rice Lichtig (June 7), How To Shoot a Bull Moose by Jonathan A. Goldberg (June 14), Awake
by Michael David (June 21). Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N.
Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Sun., 11 a.m.; thru June 21. (310)
455-3723.
FAKE RADIO: FATHER KNOWS BEST/ELLERY QUEEN Father's Day re-creation
of old-time radio shows. BANG, 457 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.; Sun., June
21, 7:30 p.m.. (323) 653-6886.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Staged reading of Oscar Wilde's comedy, to be recorded for syndicated radio series The Play's the Thing.
Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Brentwood; Through
June 19, 8 p.m.; Sat., June 20, 2:30 p.m.; Sun., June 21, 4 p.m.,
www.latw.org. (310) 827-0889.
PHIL CROSSON AND HIS MAGICAL REVUE . Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W.
Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre; Sun., June 21, 7 p.m.. (626) 256-3809.
THEATRE WEST PLAY READING SERIES June 9: Petain by Lloyd J. Schwartz; June 16: SLIP/KNOT by Dayle Reyfel; June 23: Fall Back, Spring Forward by Barbara Nell Beery; June 30: Two Gentlemen of Manhattan by P.G. Sturges; July 7: What Are Friends For? by Victoria Vidal; July 14: Moose on the Loose by Dina Morrone; July 21: There Is a Season by Doug Haverty; July 28: Abandon by Chris DiGiovanni; August 4: Grandma Good by Arden Teresa Lewis; August 11: Zeno's Paradox by Wendy Graf. Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, L.A.; Tues., 8 p.m.; thru Aug. 11. (323) 851-7977.
X REPERTORY THEATRE SPEAKER SERIES In person: actor John Stamos,
producer Neil Meron, talent manager Danny Sussman, talent agent Brandt
Joel and director Andrew Bernstein. XRT, 1581 Industrial St., L.A.;
Wed., June 24, 7 p.m….
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