THE UNREQUITED
Cornerstone Theater Company returns to Watts with Shishir Kurups's staging of Lynn Manning's new play The Unrequited (Between Two Worlds) – an adaptation of S. Ansky's The Dybbuk,
set in Watts during Depression-era 1930s. The production is presented
in association with Watts Village Theater Company. Previews begin April
28; the production opens May 4 and runs through May 22 at Youth
Opportunities High School (YO Watts) in the Mafundi Auditorium, 1827 E.
103rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90002.
HOMELESS TALENT
On Friday, April 15, Create Now will host The Transformers Talent Show
at the L.A. Family Housing Shelter in North Hollywood. Confirmed guests
include British Consul-General Dame Barbara Hay, celebrities and
special government visitors from Egypt and Morocco, along with most of
the 60 families at the LAFH shelter. More information here.
For COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS press the More tab directly below.
COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS FOR April 15 – 21, 2011
Our critics are Pauline Adamek, Paul Birchall, Lovell
Estell III, Rebecca Haithcoat, Mayank Keshaviah, Deborah Klugman, Amy
Lyons, Steven Leigh Morris, Amy Nicholson, Tom Provenzano, Bill Raden,
and Neal Weaver. These listings were compiled by Derek Thomas
Productions are sequenced alphabetically in the following
cagtegories: Opening This Week, Larger Theaters regionwide, Smaller
Theaters in Hollywood, Smaller Theaters in the valleys , Smaller
Theaters on the Westside and in beach towns. You can also search for any
play by title, using your computer's search engine.
OPENING THIS WEEK
CABARET DOMA Theatre Co.'s sexed-up take on the Kander-Ebb musical.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 22,
(323) 960-5773, plays411.com/cabaret. MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave.,
L.A., theMETtheatre.com.
CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS Newly revised version of Sam Shepard's
surreal comic melodrama about the end of the American Dream. Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through June 4. Open Fist
Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (323) 882-6912, openfist.org.
THE DOUBLE DOUBLE SONNET PROJECT The Global Theatre Project invites
L.A. residents to participate in a group theatrical presentation,
combining Macbeth's witches scene with Sonnet 116 in English and other
languages, in conjunction with the Stratford-Upon-Avon Shakespeare
Birthday Festival. Sat., April 16, 9 a.m.-noon,
theglobaltheatreproject.org. Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring
St., L.A., (866) 811-4111, thelatc.org.
GEORGE GERSCHIN: ALONE Gershwin's life and legendary songbook,
starring Hershey Felder. Starting April 19, Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.;
Saturdays, 4 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m. Continues through May
9. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, (626) 356-PLAY,
pasadenaplayhouse.org.
HAMLET Shakespeare's tragedy set in modern times, presented by Player
King Productions. Starting April 18, Mondays, Tuesdays, Sundays, 7:30
p.m. Continues through May 10, (310) 909-8629,
brownpapertickets.com/event/166103. Belle Varado Studios/Stage 22, 2107
Bellevue Ave., L.A..
I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER The New American Theatre (formerly Circus
Theatricals) presents Robert Anderson's 1968 family drama. Starting
April 16, Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 3 p.m.; Sun., May
22, 8 p.m. Continues through May 22, (310) 701-0788,
NewAmericanTheatre.com. McCadden Place Theatre, 1157 N. McCadden Pl.,
L.A., mccaddentheatre.com.
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK Sean O'Casey's tragicomedy about a working class
Dublin family during the 1920s Irish Civil War. Starting April 16,
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 7 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.;
Wed., May 4, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 15, 7 p.m.; Wed., May 18, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 2 p.m.; Wed., May 25, 8 p.m. Continues through June 5. Odyssey
Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., (310) 477-2055,
odysseytheatre.com.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Man-eating-plant musical, book and lyrics by
Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken. Starting April 16, Sat., April 16, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m.; Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8
p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m. Continues through May 1. La Mirada
Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, (562)
944-9801.
LONESOME TRAVELER World premiere of James O'Neil's musical tour, from
the backwoods of Appalachia to the nightclubs of New York, the 1920s to
the '60s. Starting April 16, Sat., April 16, 7 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.;
Wednesdays, 2 & 7 p.m.; Thursdays, Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2
& 8 p.m. Continues through May 8. Rubicon Theater, 1006 E. Main St.,
Ventura, (805) 667-2900.
MAXWELL STREET Cake Theatre Center presents Willard Manus' story of a
venerable Chicago bluesman and the white kid who idolizes him. Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, noon. Continues through May 1. Barbara
Morrison Performing Arts Center, 4305 Degnan Blvd., Ste. 101, L.A.,
(310) 330-0178.
ORIXAS: GODS OF CANDOMBLE Leopold Nunan explores the Afro-Brazilian
mythology and religious folklore of Rio de Janeiro. Fri., April 15, 8:30
p.m.; Sat., April 16, 8:30 p.m. Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th
St., Santa Monica, (310) 315-1459, highwaysperformance.org.
QUIDAM Return of Cirque du Soleil's 1996 acrobatic spectacle. (Also
at April the Citizen's Business Bank Arena in Ontario, April 27-May 1.).
Wed., April 20, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., April 21, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., April 22,
3:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Sat., April 23, 3:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April
24, 1 & 5 p.m. Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, 300
E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, (562) 436-3636.
THE REVEREND'S GOOD WIFE Towne Street Theatre presents a reading of
Felton Perry's comedy. Tue., April 19, 7:30 p.m., (213) 624-4796, RSVP
to info@townestreet.org. Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd.,
L.A..
SHOE STORY Ben Snyder's look at the dark side of New York shoe
culture in the 1980s, where a new pair of sneakers could cost you your
life. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through May
22. Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A., (323) 856-8611,
theatreofnote.com.
SPECTACULAR SUPERHERO VARIETY HOUR Captured Aural Phantasy Theater
presents dramatic readings of vintage comic book stories, with live
sound effects, music and projected art. Fri., April 15, 7:30 p.m.; Fri.,
April 22, 7:30 p.m., capturedauralphantasy.com. Bootleg Theater, 2220
Beverly Blvd., L.A., (213) 389-3856, bootlegtheater.com.
SWIMMY, FREDERICK, AND INCH BY INCH Puppet show based on the stories
of Leo Lionni, presented by Nova Scotia's Mermaid Theatre. Sat., April
16, 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. Pepperdine University, Smothers Theatre, 24255
Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu, (310) 506-4522, arts.pepperdine.edu.
THE TEMPERAMENTALISTS West Coast premiere of Jon Maran's play about
homosexuality in the 1950s, based on the relationship of Harry Hay and
Rudi Gernreich. Starting April 16, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays,
2 p.m. Continues through May 22. The Blank's Second Stage Theater, 6500
Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (323) 661-9827, theblank.com.
THE VISIT Staged reading of Friedrich Durenmatt's 1956 play on
justice and morality. Sun., April 17, 7 p.m. Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga
Blvd. West, L.A., (323) 851-7977, theatrewest.org.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER LARGER THEATERS REGIONWIDE
THE ALL NIGHT STRUT! Fran Charnas' musical that carries us through
the Depression, World War II, and the postwar boom. Thursdays-Saturdays,
8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 1.
Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third St., Burbank, (818) 558-7000,
colonytheatre.org.
NEW REVIEW THE BLUEST EYE
Photo by Steve Cicneros
People
often use others to mirror themselves. Pecola (Sola Bamis), the pivotal
figure in Lydia R. Diamond's stage adaptation of Toni Morrison's 1970
novel, is a dark-skinned black child perceived as ugly by others — and,
unfortunately, by herself as well. Growing up in Ohio in 1941, she
longs for blue eyes to help redeem her from her pariah status.
Eventually she obtains them — but not before she's undergone a series
of brutal, self-annihilating events. Diamond's narration-laden script
hews to the book, telling much of the story from the vantage of other
characters, chiefly Pecola's kind and more fortunate friend, Claudia
(Tekquiree Spencer), and Claudia's sister, Frieda (Tiffany Danielle).
The result is a talky drama in which the most horrific — yet most
dramatic — elements are pushed into the shadows. (One reason may be
that the play initially was created for young audiences.) Perhaps a more
consummate ensemble would have transcended these shortcomings, but as
directed by Janet Miller, they appear obvious. Shamika Franklin is
notable for her crisp, three-dimensional portrait of Pecola's wounded
mother, while Kwesiu Jones and Willie Mack Daniels are uniformly
professional in various roles. One highly enjoyable scene involves
Danika Butler making a splash as the pretty light-skinned
middle-schooler whom everyone envies. But Bamis' ingenuous victim needs
nuance, and Spencer, carrying the burden of language, does an able job
but without the polish and pacing needed to keep us rapt. Phantom
Projects, Miles Memorial Playhouse, 1130 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica;
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat.-Sun, 2 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m., thru April 24.
(714) 690-2900, phantomprojects.com. (Deborah Klugman)
BOOMERMANIA Debbie Kasper and Pat Sierchio's lively musical revue
about baby boomers is much like the boomer culture itself — fluffy and
pleasant, but also somewhat sad. The show purports to be a lighthearted
gambol down pop-culture memory lane, from the 1950s through the '90s,
with the road of boomer excess ultimately leading to a palace of wisdom
furnished with Sugar Pops, Mr. Spock, Saturday Night Fever and the
Summer of Love. The decades roll by, depicted in a series of quirky
skits and punctuated by renditions of rock songs whose lyrics parody the
absurdities of eras past. Act 1 is fluff itself: In “Sugar Pops,
Captain Crunch,” a group of 1950s teens croon their affection for newly
invented sugar cereals to the tune of “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.” Later, a
dazed married couple warble “Talking 'Bout My Television,” a song
depicting near-hypnotized enchantment with their brand-new TV (sung to
the tune of “The Beat Goes On”). However, when Act 2 moves into the
later decades, Kasper and Sierchio's satire takes on a more melancholy
tone, particularly during a sequence at a 10-year high school reunion,
in which a few adult boomers come to grips with boomer shock: They're
not as special as they thought they were. The show's cast consists of
strikingly youthful performers who appear too young even for their first
legal cocktail, let alone speedballs at Studio 54. Yet, thanks to Mary
Ekler's tightly focused musical direction, their powerful voices evoke
far richer emotions than the material they're often asked to sing. While
many of the musical skits are crisply performed, the narrative material
often falls flat, with frequent allusions to other boomer-dated shows
like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hair only pointing out those
musicals' far more inventive scores. (Paul Birchall).
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 15,
(866) 811-4111, boomermaniathemusical.com. El Portal Theatre, 5269
Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, elportaltheatre.com.
GO BURN THIS Lanford Wilson was poetic even in his
passing. The playwright, who premiered Burn This at the Mark Taper Forum
24 years ago, passed away on March 23, 2011, the night the Taper began
previews of its first revival production of the play. Even the play's
premise feels eerily symbolic: Shaken by the unexpected death of their
friend Robbie, three friends find themselves confronting their paralyzed
lives. Anna, consumed by her career as a dancer, struggles to create an
exciting personal life, but chooses a safe lover in Burton. Wilson
introduces an unlikely savior: Robbie's runaway train wreck of a
brother, Pale. Crashing wildly into Anna's loft after an all-nighter,
Adam Rothenberg's Pale is the hot, pounding heart of this production: As
the radiator hisses on, he tells Anna, “I deliver water. I put out
fires… but sometimes you just let it burn.” Clutching at his heart,
which is “fucking killing” him, and continuing on a coke-fueled rant
that ranges from trash-talking the neighborhood to shedding tears over
his brother's death, Pale finishes his first scene with a seduction so
sexy that he's clearly throwing wood, not water, on this fire. Brooks
Ashmanskas, as Anna's gay roommate Larry, is flamboyantly funny but
still fleshes the character beyond campiness. Ken Barnett's Burton is
purposefully boring. Zabryna Guevara's Anna, with her canned vocal
inflections and forced emotion, is the stiffest of the cast. A special
nod to Ralph Funicello's set, whose vast, underused space perfectly
suits the characters' stunted lives. Coursing with adrenaline, Burn This
spurs you as if a firecracker nearly went off in your hand. Live,
Wilson shouts, NOW. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Sundays, 7 p.m.;
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Continues through May
1. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A., (213) 628-2772.
NEW REVIEW THE CHAIRS
Photo by Craig Schwartz
Eugene
Ionesco's slice of absurdity and futility receives a faithful staging
at A Noise Within. Over the course of this 80-minute, one-act play, an
aging couple drags out dozens of decrepit chairs to accommodate a crowd
of distinguished guests — who prove imaginary. Old regrets surface from
the depths of their memories, and the Old Man lapses into melancholy
and grief when recalling the loss of his mother. Company members Deborah
Strang and Geoff Elliott (directed by ANW Artistic Director Julia
Rodriguez-Elliott) seldom evoke amusement, even when lewdly flirting
with their invisible visitors. A gloomy mist pervades a set of dingy,
peeling gray walls. Stephen W. Gifford's set and prop design and Ken
Booth's lighting suggest a postapocalyptic setting (supported by a
single line in the play) and the sense they are isolated in a circular
building surrounded by water. Costume designer Angela Balogh Calin
clothes the two leads in layers of rags and ratty furs, once sumptuous,
now shabby. Ionesco's fixation with solitude, nothingness and the
insignificance of human existence results in a stark experience. I
prefer theater — even absurdist comedies about the end of the world —
to come with at least some levity and relief from the obvious. A Noise
Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale; in rep, call for schedule, thru
May 21. (818) 240-0910, anoisewithin.org. (Pauline Adamek)
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Richard R. George's children's
play, adapted from the fantasy by Roald Dahl, performed by SCR's Junior
Players. Sat., April 16, 1 & 4 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 1 & 4 p.m.
South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa, (714) 708-5555,
scr.org.
THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE Among the hazards of dramatizing hot topics,
shelf life can be the most bedeviling. The time it takes to get a
scalding current event from headline to script to stage virtually
assures that the initiating, blood-boiling public outrage will have
long-chilled into yawning audience indifference. Such is sadly the case
with playwright Donald Freed's stale speculative tale about Panamanian
General Manuel Noriega (Robert Beltran) and his infamous attempt to seek
sanctuary with Archbishop Jose Sebastian Laboa (Tom Fitzpatrick) in the
Papal consulate during the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. As the
ailing archbishop prostrates himself in evening prayers, the sounds of
gunfire and circling U.S. military helicopters (effectively piped by
sound designer John Zalewski) announce both the expected, albeit dreaded
arrival of the freshly ousted dictator and besieging U.S. marines. The
exasperated prelate would like nothing better than to turn over his
volatile guest to the invaders. The general eventually agrees to leave,
but only if the Vatican's former grand inquisitor first hears his side
of the story and adjudges the general to be as diabolical as charged.
During the ensuing confession, Freed spins a historical web of colonial
collusion between church and state ranging from Columbus and Balboa to
Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Director Jose Luis Valenzuela pulls
out all the production stops ― including Francois-Pierre Couture's
decrepit, blood-splashed set ― but not even veteran talents like Beltran
and Fitzpatrick can compensate for the urgency or allegorical lift that
Freed's excursive text so sorely lacks. (Bill Raden).
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through April 24,
(213) 489-0994. Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring St., L.A.,
thelatc.org.
GO THE COMEDY OF ERRORS A strongman, a
ventriloquist, three showgirls and a mimic with 1,000 voices make up
just half of the Burlesque on Brand troupe, which enters, grandstands
and immediately plunges into Shakespeare's shortest and most slapstick
comedy about two pairs of long-lost twins crisscrossing in Ephesus.
Here, servant Dromio (Jerry Kernion) wears a plaid toga, argyle socks
and saddle shoes. (The four credited costumers have done fantastic
work.) When Dromio vents to hero Antipholous (Bruce Turk) that the
chubby kitchen wench (Gibby Brand) who claims she's his betrothed “is
spherical, like a globe — I could find out countries in her,” their
banter smacks of Abbott and Costello. Director Michael Michetti's
dynamite ensemble is held together by Turk's leading man, who, like his
Errol Flynn mustache and the production itself, is playful and
self-mocking, but never ironic. Michetti inventively turns bereft father
Egeon's (Michael Stone Forrest) tale of how he lost his four sons — the
longest speech in Shakespeare's canon — into a silent black-and-white
film, but the director's not above showing a pie in the face. And he
even gets laughs for Adriana (Abby Craden) and Luciana (Annie Abrams) in
their usually thankless roles. In the first few scenes, the play
threatens to become a musical, but once past the momentary misstep of
two musical numbers, the production settles into the most droll and deft
staging of The Comedy of Errors I've seen in a decade. (Amy Nicholson).
Fri., April 15, 8 p.m.; Sat., April 23, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., April 24,
2 p.m.; Sun., May 1, 2 & 7 p.m.; Thu., May 5, 8 p.m.; Fri., May 6, 8
p.m.; Sat., May 14, 2 & 8 p.m. A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd.,
Glendale, (818) 240-0910, anoisewithin.org.
NEW REVIEW GO THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN
Photo by Craig Schwartz
If
you think Los Angeles is an unkind city, you should try Inishmaan, the
seemingly quaint and picturesque Irish village setting of Martin
McDonagh's compelling drama. There, the villagers' otherwise adorable
eccentricities have abraded on each other to the point of sparking
near-psychotic frustration. By rights, the play should be a sentimental
tale, but McDonagh's ferocious writing artfully skewers expectations of
stereotypes, instead crafting a character-driven toxic dance of hope and
despair. In this tiny island town, circa 1934, young orphan Crippled
Billy (Tadhg Murphy) has been raised by two spinster “aunties” (Dearbhla
Molloy and Ingrid Craigie), following his parents' tragic death at sea
years ago. Within his claustrophobic and incredibly impoverished
community, Crippled Billy's dreams have not gone much further than the
hope of a kiss from bad-tempered (and possibly psychotic) town floozy
Slippy Helen (Clare Dunne), the Egg Man's assistant. However, when
Hollywood moviemakers arrive on a nearby island to make a film about the
“real” Ireland, Crippled Billy pulls out the stops to become a star —
though the results of his scheme take an unexpectedly tragic turn.
McDonagh's gorgeously lyrical dialogue is full of one-liners, quirky wit
and biting irony, while also capturing the understated sorrow of people
who believe life is nothing but suffering punctuated by loss. Like the
writing, director Garry Hynes' taut, often explosive yet intimate
staging boasts both impeccable comic timing and heartrending pathos —
often within a few seconds of each other. Galway's Druid Theatre Company
cast is extraordinary, crafting an ensemble of small-village archetypes
who appear lovable at first but whose seething undercurrents of spite
and malice become all too evident. Murphy offers a sweet and idealistic
turn as Crippled Billy, but the supporting figures are startlingly
multidimensional as well, from Craigie's tough Aunt Kate to Dunne's
abjectly terrifying Helen, and including Dermot Crowley in a hilarious,
towering turn as the town's reprehensible gossip. A Druid Theatre
Company and Center Theatre Group presentation. Kirk Douglas Theatre,
9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8
p.m., Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m., thru May 1. (213) 628-2772, centertheatregroup.org. (Paul Birchall)
CYCLOPS: A ROCK OPERA Ancient Greek satyr play turned rock opera,
presented by Psittacus Productions. (In the Carrie Hamilton Theatre.).
Saturdays, 11 p.m.; Thursdays, Sundays, 9 p.m. Continues through May 8.
Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, (626) 356-PLAY,
pasadenaplayhouse.org.
THE DOUBLE DOUBLE SONNET PROJECT The Global Theatre Project invites
L.A. residents to participate in a group theatrical presentation,
combining Macbeth's witches scene with Sonnet 116 in English and other
languages, in conjunction with the Stratford-Upon-Avon Shakespeare
Birthday Festival. Sat., April 16, 9 a.m.-noon,
theglobaltheatreproject.org. Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring
St., L.A., (866) 811-4111, thelatc.org.
GO THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE It's New
Year's Eve in Tennessee Williams' drama, and Alma Winemiller is
enchanted by the crisp snaps of “frosty branches crackin',” but she's so
flushed with an inner flame she's shed jacket, scarf and gloves.
Deborah Puette's Alma is burning, set alight by a firecracker the
recently graduated doctor John Buchanan (Jason Dechert, in a role made
for him) casually tosses at her during Glorious Hill, Mississippi's
Fourth of July celebration. But Alma isn't like the pretty, simple girls
who have surrounded the eligible Buchanan up north. Nearing
spinsterhood, she's the town eccentric, who scatters crumbs for birds in
the square and is given to heart palpitations that seem a result of the
fluttery bird beating about in her own chest. Simultaneously attracted
(“The light keeps changin' in [her eyes]”) and repelled (“It's not lit,”
he says in the heartbreaking penultimate scene, crudely referring to
his sexual desire), Buchanan engages with Alma as an almost scientific
experiment. Yet Williams refuses to allow such cold sterility, and in a
scene so charged it leaves you smoldering in your seat, Buchanan
examines a frantic Alma, uttering possibly the most erotic three words
ever written by a playwright. Director Damaso Rodriguez dances the
entire production through the play's musicality on a stage lit
beautifully by James P. Taylor in the soft gauziness that Williams'
“romantic clichés” demand. In fact, the only slip is that early on,
Puette rests on an overactive accent. But by the second act, even that
flaw is forgiven, and as Williams' ever-tragic tide begins to come in,
the only thing to do is let it wash over you. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Sat.,
April 16, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 2 p.m.; Wed., April 20, 8 p.m.; Thu.,
April 21, 8 p.m.; Fri., April 22, 8 p.m.; Sat., May 7, 2 & 8 p.m.;
Sun., May 8, 2 p.m.; Sun., May 22, 2 & 7 p.m.; Thu., May 26, 8 p.m.;
Fri., May 27, 8 p.m.; Sat., May 28, 8 p.m. A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand
Blvd., Glendale, (818) 240-0910, anoisewithin.org.
THE ESCORT Jane Anderson's new play about a high-class call girl.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m.
Continues through May 8. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave.,
Westwood, (310) 208-5454, geffenplayhouse.com. See Stage feature.
GEORGE GERSCHWIN, ALONE Gershwin's life and legendary songbook,
starring Hershey Felder. Starting April 19, Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.;
Saturdays, 4 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m. Continues through May
9. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, (626) 356-PLAY,
pasadenaplayhouse.org.
GOD OF CARNAGE Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia
Gay Harden, the original Broadway cast, reunite for the Los Angeles run
of Yasmina Reza's comedy of manners. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.;
Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1 & 6:30 p.m. Continues through
May 29. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A., (213) 628-2772,
centertheatregroup.org.
NEW REVIEW GO GOODBYE, LOUIE … HELLO
Photo by Thomas Mikusz
The
late playwright Allan Manings was blacklisted and forced to move to
Canada. There, he worked on a horse farm till 1961, when he was able to
return to Hollywood and forge a successful career in television. So it's
not surprising that he should focus on the doings of the House
Un-American Activities Committee in this, his final play. Actor-comedian
Louis Berns, née Bernstein (Alan Freeman), has reached retirement
years, and spends his days with his children, son Scott (Paul Denniston)
and bossy but loving daughter, Aimee (Maria Kress), and his lifelong
friend and fellow comic, Benjy Gordon (Steve Franken), with whom he
plays a daily gin rummy game. For much of Act 1, the play seems to be a
gentle, funny Jewish character comedy. But when Scott's journalist
friend David (Roy Vongtama) sets out to write a profile of Louie, his
research reveals that Louie was called to testify before HUAC in 1951,
and named his old friend Benjy, resulting in Benjy's being blacklisted
and the destruction of his career. When this information is revealed,
catastrophe results. John Gallogly directs a fine cast in a richly
nuanced production, with wonderful performances by Freeman and Franken
as the two old actors. Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Boulevard West,
Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., thru May 8. (323) 851-7977, theatrewest.org. (Neal Weaver)
GO JAMAICA, FAREWELL For some people, the American
promise lives on. Jamaican-born Debra Ehrhardt always dreamed of coming
to the United States, and in 85 animated minutes she relates how a
combination of luck and pluck enabled her to do just that. Constructed
around this single burning desire, the first part of her
autobiographical solo show tells of her formative years in Kingston as
the church-going daughter of a gentle religious mom and a Dad whose
drinking and gambling escapades frequently left his family without
furniture (his forfeited collateral) or food. In her teens, and
frustrated by bureaucratic barriers to obtaining a visa, Ehrhardt began
to look around for that magical panacea — an American male to marry her
and carry her off to America. While all these coming-of-age anecdotes
are engaging, it is really the second half of her story that intrigues,
as it spins into a harrowing adventure filled with brothels, a
near-rape, smuggling and the CIA. Throughout, Ehrhardt assumes multiple
roles, ably shifting between characters, notwithstanding her sometimes
rapid-fire delivery, under Joel Zwick's direction. Unfortunately the
wide proscenium at this particular venue fails to foster the intimacy
that would serve this story best. (I was sitting towards the back). With
their tropical flavor Francois-Pierre Couture's set design and J. Kent
Inasy's lighting are attractive to view, but Couture's backdrop of
horizontal slats ultimately distracts our focus from the performer,
whereas Inasy's timid lighting changes don't adequately dramatize the
many transitions in her performance. (Deborah Klugman).
Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m. Continues through April
17. Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Dr., Burbank, (818) 955-8101,
falcontheatre.com.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Man-eating-plant musical, book and lyrics by
Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken. Starting April 16, Sat., April 16, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m.; Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8
p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m. Continues through May 1. La Mirada
Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, (562)
944-9801.
LONESOME TRAVELER World premiere of James O'Neil's musical tour, from
the backwoods of Appalachia to the nightclubs of New York, the 1920s to
the '60s. Starting April 16, Sat., April 16, 7 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.;
Wednesdays, 2 & 7 p.m.; Thursdays, Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2
& 8 p.m. Continues through May 8. Rubicon Theater, 1006 E. Main St.,
Ventura, (805) 667-2900.
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE F. Murray Abraham stars as Shylock in this
updating of Shakespeare's play, directed by Darko Tresnjak. Fri., April
15, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., April 16, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 2
p.m.; Tue., April 19, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., April 20, 2 p.m.; Thu., April 21,
7:30 p.m.; Fri., April 22, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sat., April 23, 2 &
7:30 p.m.; Sun., April 24, 2 p.m. Santa Monica College Performing Arts
Center, Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica, (310) 434-3414,
thebroadstage.com.
[#] N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK In 2002, three UCLA students collaborate on a
racial stereotype-inspired performance piece that blends theater,
stand-up comedy, poetry and hip-hop. A scant two years later their show
has transferred to the Los Angeles Theatre Center and garners rave
reviews. Before long the trio is touring 32 states, selling out venues,
and a grassroots phenomenon is born. As part of that tour, the show with
the name people are still uncomfortable to say aloud returns to Los
Angeles for a third time since its inception. The brainchild of Rafael
Agustin, Allan Axibal and Miles Gregley, as well as their former mentors
Liesel Reinhart and Steven T. Seagle (who both direct), the show
features new additions Dionysio Basco and Jackson McQueen who, along
with Agustin, keep audiences rolling with laughter. Since the show first
opened, we have seen the rise of Obama and Sotomayor, yet we've also
seen open racial slurs from elements within the Tea Party and the
passage of SB 1070, Arizona's strict immigration law. Two steps forward,
one step back. So more than ever, we need a show that embraces,
dismantles and remixes the racial stereotypes that simmer beneath the
surface. The three actors do a fabulous job of squeezing in sentimental
moments of poignancy, but revert back to comedy before they become trite
or preachy. Reinhart and Seagle's direction keeps the actors
efficiently darting in and out of the Mondrian curtain of colored
squares that serves as backdrop, and Kristie Roldan's nimble lighting
keeps pace, even if the actors sometimes don't quite find their marks.
N.W.C. is most definitely in the house, and you'd be wise to catch them
before they're Audi once more. A Speak Theater Arts Production. (Mayank
Keshaviah). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through April 23, (818)
495-4925, nwclive.com. Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., L.A..
THE PRODUCERS Mel Brookes' Tony-award-winning backstage comedy.
Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues
through April 17. Fred Kavli Theater, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
(Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza), Thousand Oaks, (805) 449-2787.
QUIDAM Return of Cirque du Soleil's 1996 acrobatic spectacle. (Also
at April the Citizen's Business Bank Arena in Ontario, April 27-May 1.).
Wed., April 20, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., April 21, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., April 22,
3:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Sat., April 23, 3:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April
24, 1 & 5 p.m. Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, 300
E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, (562) 436-3636.
RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES Epic tribute to the Fab Four, direct
from Broadway. Through April 15, 8 p.m.; Sat., April 16, 2 & 8 p.m.;
Sun., April 17, 1 & 6:30 p.m. Pantages Theater, 6233 Hollywood
Blvd., L.A., (213) 365-3500, broadwayla.org.
GO A RAISIN IN THE SUN When it premiered on
Broadway in 1959, Lorraine Hansberry's moral fable about class, racial
identity and black aspiration was a play perfectly pitched to the
political spirit of its time. In her depiction of South Chicago's
Younger family, and through the device of a divisive financial legacy,
Hansberry neatly collapses five generations of African-American struggle
into a stirring stage anthem potently attuned for a Civil Rights
movement then entering the climactic decade of its fight for social and
economic justice. Director Phylicia Rashad's powerful and poignant
revival makes a convincing case that, 52 years later, Hansberry's play
has lost none of its melodramatically charged punch. As the family
matriarch, Lena, L. Scott Caldwell's performance is a sterling study in
faith and fortitude, a woman bowed but unbroken by a lifetime of
selfless toil in pursuit of an elusive dream of a better life for the
extended family sharing her cramped apartment. That dream finally seems
within her grasp thanks to a ten-thousand-dollar settlement of her late
husband's life insurance policy. Instead, the windfall only aggravates
the generational divide between Lena and her bitter firebrand of a
self-absorbed son, Walter Lee (a forceful Kevin Carroll), who has his
own ideas of how to use the money to better the lot of his pregnant
wife, Ruth (Deidrie Henry) and 10-year-old son, Travis (Brandon David
Brown). The stellar ensemble shines in a production enriched by lighting
designer Elizabeth Harper and scenic designer Michael Ganio, whose
hauntingly lit tenement towers loom over the Younger household like the
crushing weight of history itself. An Ebony Repertory Theatre
production. (Bill Raden). Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.
Continues through April 17, ebonyrep.org. Nate Holden Performing Arts
Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., L.A., (323) 964-9768.
NEW REVIEW SILENT SKY One of the cardinal sins in
playwriting is allowing the audience to get too far ahead of the story.
Any but the tautest of grips on the narrative leash will exact its toll
in attenuated tension and let loose the dogs of boredom. So it is with
playwright Lauren Gunderson's feminist-flavored rehabilitation of
pre-World War I Harvard astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (Monette Magrath)
in this harmless and anodyne commission by South Coast Rep, now playing
on its main stage. In real life, Leavitt was one of Harvard astronomer
Edward Charles Pickering's all-women “human computers” engaged in
number-crunching drudgery while actual telescope time was reserved as a
bastion of male privilege. The play presents her as a poet and
frustrated dreamer whose determination to circumvent the unseen
Pickering during her off-hours condemns her to spinsterhood but results
in “Leavitt's Law,” the critical astronomical yardstick that would
enable later scientists to fix our place in the limitless expanse of the
cosmos. Colette Kilroy and Amelia White lend fine support as the
heroine's closet-suffragette computer cohorts, and Nick Toren is
suitably spineless as the romantic interest who is both smitten by
Henrietta's rebellious wit and threatened by her superior intellectual
ability. Costumer David Kay Mickelsen contributes meticulous period
detail to director Anne Justine D'Zmura's sleek production, while York
Kennedy's lights and John Crawford's projections animate the evening
firmament spinning above John Iacovelli's spare, rotating turntable set.
All that moving spectacle can do little, however, to help the overly
familiar text catch up to an audience left waiting at the final blackout
for the work to add up to something greater than the sum of its wiki
facts. South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa;
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Tues., Wed. & Sun., 7:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun.,
2:30 p.m., thru May 1. (714) 708-5555, scr.org. (Bill Raden)
SLOW CHILDREN CROSING Six weeks of “inappropriate humor,” courtesy
the sketch-comedy troupe. Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through May 15. King
King, 6555 Hollywood Blvd., L.A., (323) 960-9234,
kingkinghollywood.com.
THE SUNSHINE BOYS Dick Van Dyke stars with his brother Jerry in Neil
Simon's vaudeville comedy. Through April 15, 8 p.m.; Sat., April 16, 6
p.m.; Sun., April 17, 5 p.m., brownpapertickets.com/event/164876. Malibu
Stage Company, 29243 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu, (310) 589-1998.
SWIMMY, FREDERICK, AND INCH BY INCH Puppet show based on the stories
of Leo Lionni, presented by Nova Scotia's Mermaid Theatre. Sat., April
16, 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. Pepperdine University, Smothers Theatre, 24255
Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu, (310) 506-4522, arts.pepperdine.edu.
THE THREE SISTERS Staged reading of Chekhov's family drama, to be
recorded for L.A. Theatre Works' radio series. Through April 15, 8 p.m.;
Sat., April 16, 2:30 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 4 p.m., (310) 827-0889,
latw.org. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Brentwood,
skirball.org.
THE UGLY DUCKLING Interactive kids' musical by Lloyd J. Schwartz and
Adryan Russ. Saturdays, 1 p.m. Continues through July 9, (818) 761-2203.
Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, L.A., theatrewest.org.
THE VISIT Staged reading of Friedrich Durenmatt's 1956 play on
justice and morality. Sun., April 17, 7 p.m. Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga
Blvd. West, L.A., (323) 851-7977, theatrewest.org.
WAITING FOR GODOT Samuel Beckett's existentialist classic.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through May 1.
Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, (562) 494-1014,
lbph.com.
GO A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO Sitting half-naked
in a cardboard box painted to resemble a bathtub, Herbert Siguenza
launches into an imagined weekend in the life of Pablo Picasso in a
manner that seems entirely fitting: balls out. Siguenza ― a painter and
impassioned fan of Picasso who's known for his work in the performance
group Culture Clash ― bases his solo show on a collection of utterances
by the mercurial, prolific co-founder of the Cubist movement, setting it
in the artist's studio on the coast of France in 1957. Tasked with
creating six paintings and three vases in less than three days, Picasso,
at the age of 76, becomes a whirling dervish of work and wild
philosophizing. Though the countless famous quotes (including many
heavy-handed statements about love, war and politics) and the
protagonist's streak of two dozen Eureka moments in 90 minutes sometimes
lends an air of staginess to the work, getting to watch Siguenza paint,
prowl the stage and lovingly channel the spirit of an eccentric icon
more than makes up for the moments of inauthenticity. Scenic designer
Giulio Cesare Perrone creates an art studio fit for a legend and
Victoria Petrovich's projection design synchs perfectly with the
boldness of Siguenza's performance. (Amy Lyons). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through May 1. Los Angeles Theater
Center, 514 S. Spring St., L.A., (866) 811-4111, thelatc.org.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED IN HOLLYWOOD, WEST HOLLYWOOD, AND THE DOWNTOWN AREAS
ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. SUNDAY Jordan Black directs the Groundlings
Sunday Company. Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Groundling Theater, 7307 Melrose
Ave., L.A., (323) 934-9700, groundlings.com.
GO THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT 2050 Stories about
dystopian societies often risk seeming contrived, but playwright Tania
Wisbar's beautifully detailed and elegiac tale depicts a world that
might believably exist, say, 100 years after a Nazi takeover. In the
future, poverty and disease have been eliminated, but the world is
instead organized on entirely practical lines, with your right to
survive being decided by the number of “points” you earn every year. On
the 75th birthday of family matriarch Teresa (Salome Jens), her devoted
daughter Marsha (Elyssa Davalos) thinks she has collected enough points
from her two sisters and family to allow Teresa to live another year.
More than just being the emotional center of her clan, Teresa is one of
the last living rebels who recalls life before the odious new order came
to pass. Marsha's hopes are threatened when unexpected complications
amp up the charge for Teresa's right to life. In director Jonathan
Sanger's beautifully melancholy staging, what could be a mechanical
exercise in high-concept plotting becomes a wistful tale of how easy it
would be to purge memory of the past from the world. Sanger's smoothly
executed production boasts many rich details: Set designer Kis Knekt's
calculatedly sterile living room is replete with decorative video
screens that show 1984-esque messages from the genially sinister
bureaucrat (Jeffrey Doornbos) who oversees the family's doings. Knekt's
set, in conjunction with composer Karen Martin's eerie incidental music,
crafts a world that's just plain crazy. The ensemble work is just as
assured. Apart from Jens' powerful turn as the ferociously nonconforming
grandmother, Davalos' complex performance as Marsha is exceptional: Her
character is seemingly an upbeat chirper, but her good mood is so
clearly artificial, it seems as though she's always about to weep. Also
engaging in supporting roles are Katrina Lenk, as Marsha's venomously
selfish younger sister, and Demetrius Grosse, as a guilt-haunted
security agent. (Paul Birchall). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7
p.m. Continues through April 17, (323) 960-7733, plays411.com. Skylight
Theater, 1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave., L.A..
BLINK & YOU MIGHT MISS ME You've seen Larry Blum before ― in
fact, I'd bet $20 bucks you've seen Blum on TV a dozen times. But unless
you know who you're looking for, you might not have noticed him. When
his one-man show about his career opens with footage of Meryl Streep's
2010 Golden Globes win and Blum struts out and asks, “Did you notice who
took Meryl to the stage?” the audience does a double take. Blum is an
on-camera talent escort, a hired gun who makes sure no star snaps a
stiletto on her way to accept an award. Before that, he was a dancer,
and earlier still he was a celebrity-obsessed gay Jewish teen in late
'60s New York who lost his virginity to a sailor in an alley behind a
Nestle truck. (“Every time I have a cup of cocoa, I still get hard,” he
reminisces.) Blum's good-humored, self-deprecating show has the patter
of a dinner party guest who's told his stories a few too many times, and
director Stan Zimmerman could get Blum's one-liners to sound more
off-the-cuff. Still, Blum's got bite and it's lucky for him that among
the many, many stars he dishes dirt about, at least half are dead or too
old to bother calling a lawyer (Roseanne Barr, Raquel Welch and Dionne
Warwick should stay away). Though in his youth he hoped to become
famous, Blum doesn't paint himself as a has-been, never-was or will-be.
He's proud to pay his rent by pursuing his dream ― and by being a
shameless residual check hound who even joined Susan Lucci's fan club to
make sure he made every nickel from taking Lucci's arm during her big
Emmy win. (He elbowed her husband out of the way for the honor.) Blum's
cascade of quick clips keeps multimedia operator Matthew Quinn busy as
they stack up to build a scrapbook of the busiest actor you'd never
recognize. (Amy Nicholson). Fridays, 8 p.m. Continues through May 27,
(323) 960-7612, plays411.com/blink. Asylum Lab, 1078 Lillian Way, L.A.,
theatreasylum-la.com.
“bonded” Bolstered by director Jon Lawrence Rivera's unadorned, precise
vision, Act 1 of Donald Jolly's homoerotic slave narrative set on a
Virginia plantation in 1820 is a piece of earnest, thought-provoking
theater. Jolly's frank but lovely storytelling graces the genre with
fresh insights about the lives of slaves, traveling beyond the
dehumanizing stories of sexual abuse and unspeakable human violence
penned so powerfully in the firsthand accounts of Frederick Douglass and
Harriet Jacobs, taking us instead to a slightly reimagined slice of the
old South, where sexual freedom becomes nearly as urgent as freedom
from human ownership. Sonny (Terrence Colby Clemons), Lily (Toyin Moses)
and Jack (Carl Crudup) are the last remaining slaves on a rapidly
crumbling Virginia plantation. Enter Asa (Eric B. Anthony), a New York
“house boy,” whom the three plantation slaves quickly dub “new nigger.”
Accustomed to fetching cocktails and completing other indoor chores, Asa
melts down after being shackled and scrubbed, whipped by Jack (a
70-something, self-proclaimed “true African” who wants to keep the
uppity Northerner in his place) and forced to keep impossibly long hours
plowing fields. When Sonny and Asa begin to bond emotionally, sexual
tensions arise and eventually explode. Sadly, Act 2 is a bundle of
redundancies, a drawn-out series of melodramatic manipulations that
don't do justice to the first act's promise. Bob Blackburn's sound
design, Adam Blumenthal's lighting and John H. Binkley's set serve the
story well. (Amy Lyons). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 3
p.m. Continues through April 17, playwrightsarena.org. Los Angeles
Theater Center, 514 S. Spring St., L.A., (866) 811-4111, thelatc.org.
Cabaret: DOMA Theatre Co.'s sexed-up take on the Kander-Ebb musical.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 22,
(323) 960-5773, plays411.com/cabaret. MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave.,
L.A., theMETtheatre.com.
GO CABARET IDOL “There's nothing better to watch
than a performer who loves to perform, except two good-looking people
having sex,” says host Scot Young. And in week four of season two of
this live competition, Young and the packed crowd of fans, friends and
family watched 14 performers anxiously take the stage and sing a number
for the judges. At the end of the evening there were 12 survivors,
another cull in the quest for the grand prize: new head shots, a
management contract and a two-night solo show. The performance's theme
was, perversely, “No Show Tunes,” which had the contestants in
paroxysms. Said one without a hint of sarcasm, “There really aren't that
many songs that aren't show tunes!” But try they did, belting out
Broadway-esque versions of Journey and Whitesnake and Cyndi Lauper
before a scoring panel that didn't let them off the hook. “I want you to
do a damn country song,” grumbled a judge in mock exasperation. There
were some good voices — and a few great ones — but the audience was
there to tap their toes, vote for their favorites and maybe even grab
some dinner or a stiff drink if they could flag down one of the waiters
zipping around in the standing-room-only dark. (Amy Nicholson). Sundays,
7 p.m. Continues through April 24. Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill,
6122 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A., (323) 466-9917.
GO CAUGHT In the aftermath of Proposition 8
passing in November 2008, one of the regrets of those who fought
valiantly for gay marriage and against the proposition was that enough
wasn't done to “normalize” gay couples. And while the events in David L.
Ray's world-premiere play take place in July 2008, Caught furthers the
cause by dramatizing one of those healthy relationships. In it,
Angelenos Kenneth (Corey Brill) and Troy (Will Beinbrink) are on the eve
of their nuptials, a ceremony that will be officiated by their friend
Splenda (Micah McCain), who is ordained via the Internet. This blissful
scene is interrupted by a visit from Kenneth's estranged sister, Darlene
(Deborah Puette), who is very Southern and very Christian, as well as
her daughter, Krystal (Amanda Kaschak). In the interludes between
scenes, we also see Darlene's husband, T.J. (Richard Jenik), preaching
to his conservative congregation in Georgia. Secrets, lies and
surprising revelations fuel the drama. Director Nick DeGruccio deftly
takes Ray's strong and likable characters from page to stage, sparingly
playing up stereotypes for comedy without ever reducing the characters
to them. Adding to the authenticity are Adam Flemming's delightfully
detailed set and Katherine Hampton Noland's colorful couture. Adding to
the emotional investment in the story is a talented cast; standouts
include Puette, for her rich and intense portrayal of Darlene; McCain,
for balancing divalike comedy with deep sincerity; and Kaschak, for
combining fresh-faced innocence and a willfulness to create a very
believable teenager. (Mayank Keshaviah). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through May 15, (800) 595-4849,
CaughtThePlay.com. Zephyr Theater, 7456 Melrose Ave., L.A..
COPENHAGEN Black Cat Productions presents Michael Frayn's
“exploration of history, science and the human spirit.” Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through April 23, (323)
960-4420, plays411.com/copenhagen. The Attic Theatre and Film Center,
5429 W. Washington Blvd., L.A., attictheatre.org/tickets.
CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS Newly revised version of Sam Shepard's
surreal comic melodrama about the end of the American Dream. Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through June 4. Open Fist
Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (323) 882-6912, openfist.org.
DOUG LOVES MOVIES Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m., Free. Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, 5919 Franklin Ave., L.A., (323) 908-8702.
THE ELEPHANT MAN Just minutes into director John Drouillard's
revival of Bernard Pomernace's 1979 drama, a man in a worn hospital gown
whose face is fixed in an expressionless stare is introduced as John
Merrick and then shuffled off the stage. Not long afterwards, Mr.
Merrick (John Hoagland) is on display, with his grotesque deformities
itemized in a frosty, clinical manner to an audience of gawkers after
undergoing a breathtaking transformation into the “Elephant Man.” The
contrast is a nice turn by Drouillard; the fact that it's also an
intensely unsettling moment is a tribute to the genius and artistry of
the play's make up designer, Barney Burman. The play chronicles the
final stages of Merrick's life after he is given permanent shelter at
the London Hospital Medical College and placed under the care of Dr.
Frederick Treves (Alex Monti Fox). The play isn't so much about
Merrick's condition and dehumanizing “thingification” as much as it is
about the transformative effect he had on those closest to him and our
often cynical sense of morality. Though neatly-packaged, Drouillard's
production lacks the requisite emotional resonance; too often it feels
as if we too are dispassionate examiners of Merrick's plight instead of
being emotionally drawn into it. On balance, cast performances are quite
good. Sean Hoagland is impressive as Merrick, and Hillary Herbert does a
wonderful turn as Mrs. Kendall, the actress and caretaker who provides
Merrick with genuine tenderness. The complex relationship between
Merrick and Treves is the soul of this play, but Fox is convincing only
in patches, and seems completely out of his depth for this enormously
critical role. Vali Tirsoaga has fashioned a simple yet effective set
design, and Pheobe H. Boynton's costumes are equally well-crafted.
(Lovell Estell III). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7
p.m. Continues through April 24, theelephantmanplay.com. El Centro
Theatre, 804 N. El Centro Ave., L.A..
GO ENDGAME A successful staging of Samuel
Beckett's absurdist classic requires a director who can mine the play's
comic and lyrical elements, and effectively meld them with the author's
relentlessly harsh vision. Here, director Paul Plunkett does just that,
aided by an excellent cast which maintains that crucial balance
throughout. Endgame is about four pitiful characters trapped in a dismal
room as the outside world collapses in decay and sterility. Unlike the
forlorn tramps in Waiting for Godot, there is no expectation of relief
or purpose, just the slow passage of time ending in an inevitable,
painful demise. Confined in a pair of battered, industrial containers,
the ghoulish-looking Nagg and Nell (Barry Ford and the striking Kathy
Bell Denton) emerge sporadically to break the tedium of the central
“action,” which unfolds on a rickety caricature of a throne. There, the
blind, crippled Hamm (Leon Russom) is unable to move and has his needs
tended to by the perpetually besieged Clov (David Fraioli), in a
bizarre, ongoing ritual of servitude. When, toward the end, Hamm asks
about his painkiller, and is told by Clov that there isn't any more, we
know that, for this outing anyway, the laughs are balm enough. As
effective as Plunkett's direction is, this fine revival really soars on
the wings of the cast's terrific performances. (Lovell Estell III).
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 7 p.m. Continues through
April 23. Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Dr., L.A., (310)
281-8337, sacredfools.org.
FACEBOOK The weekly show formerly known as MySpace. Wednesdays, 9:30
p.m., $5. Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, 5919 Franklin Ave., L.A.,
(323) 908-8702.
FIVE BY TENN One-Act Festival: Five short plays by Tennessee
Williams. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through
May 1. Theatre 68, 5419 Sunset Blvd., L.A., (323) 467-6688,
theatre68.com.
GO GIRLS TALK Roger Kumble's new seriocomedy sets
out to debunk that famous feminist promise that women can have it all —
the career, the family and their sanity. As lights go up on a beached
Brooke Shields, a milk pump attached to each breast, Kumble softens up
his audience with broad comic strokes and entertainment industry
in-jokes. He even pokes fun at racism before settling in to a serious
examination of four power moms in Brentwood, and the dilemmas they face.
As mother of three Lori, Shields shows up in a pink hoodie and Uggs,
but pretty soon sky-high wedge heels and hefty designer handbags take
over the stage (costumes by Ann Closs-Farley). She slobs about the
solid, trilevel set (design by Tom Buderwitz) as the other, more
pretentious moms arrive. Meanwhile Lori's former writing partner, Claire
(Constance Zimmer), wants to lure her back to the cutthroat world of TV
with an irresistible opportunity — a meeting with Oprah herself. But
what about Lori's commitments to her eldest kid's preschool fundraiser?
Eileen Galindo is underused as Lori's uncomprehending temp nanny. Andrea
Bendewald is magnificent as alpha mom Jane, especially when she
unleashes her vicious tongue, completely annihilating Scarlett (Nicole
Paggi), the needy Southern mom who is trying so hard to be Jewish
(“Holla for challa!”). But Jane gets her comeuppance, courtesy of
Claire, a fearless non-mom. This play is full of squabbly little
victories, some distasteful, some victorious. It concludes abruptly on a
cliffhanger, but by then Kumble has well and truly made his point.
(Pauline Adamek). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues
through May 7, (800) 595-4849, tix.com. Lee Strasberg Institute,
Marilyn Monroe Theatre, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A..
GO GLORY DAYS The thing about the Golden Age of
one's life is that when it's happening you think it will never change —
but somehow it always does, and rarely for the better. Composer Nick
Blaemire and writer John Gardiner's unusually wise and energetic musical
is all about the inevitability of growing up and how we frequently
outgrow even our most valued friends. A year after high school
graduation, four small town pals reunite on the local football field,
intending to perform a silly prank at the next day's varsity game. Group
ringleader Will (Derek Klena) is deeply nostalgic about his friendship
with his old pals, all of whom remember him fondly but have moved on:
Wisecracking cynic Skip (Alex Robert Holmes) is attending an Ivy League
college, while strong, silent Jack (Ian Littleworth) appears to have
lost his zest for the old pals. Only red-haired frat boy Andy (Matthew
Koehler) seems to be interested in keeping the friendship going, and
he's turning into a bit of a thug. Things take a turn when one of the
pals makes an unexpected revelation that pretty much reduces the
friendship to post-it-in-the-memory album status. Director Calvin
Remsberg's brisk, vivid staging beautifully conveys the passion and
vigor of youth — and musical director James May's lively interpretation
of Blaemire's sometimes haunting, sometimes ferocious rock musical
score, artfully captures that moment when silly teenagers suddenly
realize they're becoming somebody else. This is indeed the sort of show
in which the four characters, archetype man-boys all, could easily have
strayed into sentimental cliché, but the ensemble limn the sort of
tautly defined, personality-rich figures whom you will swear you recall
from your own high school days. Klena, a likable young actor, possesses a
powerhouse voice and his belts, particularly in the opening and closing
numbers, show great range and harmony. Nicely sensitive turns are also
offered by Holmes's sardonic, but warm Skip (a Jughead surrogate if ever
there was one), and by Littleworth, whose rendition of “Open Road,” a
song about a year spent wandering the country, is the show's evocative
highlight. (Paul Birchall). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.
Continues through April 24, (323) 960-7792, plays411.com/glorydays.
Lillian Theatre, 1076 N. Lillian Way, L.A..
GO GROUNDLINGS SINGLES CRUISE Sketches by the
Groundlings' “A” cast of master improv artists reliably fall into three
categories: “inspired” — in which all the right notes of exaggeration,
situation and universal recognition ignite an uncontrolled chain
reaction of belly laughs; “merely great” — in which an incisive
caricature carries the potential for critical comedy frisson but melts
down before the finish; and “back to the workshop” — or not recommended
for public viewing at this time. Fortunately, this edition racks up
enough of the first and so few of the last that it warrants a medical
warning for laugh-induced abdominal cramps. At the top of the heap are
the pieces that bear the writing credits of Andrew Friedman, Michael
Naughton or Mitch Silpa. In “Honeymoon,” Friedman and Silpa's irritating
preteen ghost twins, Kevin and Kyle, hilariously connect the horrors of
The Shining to the hauntings of Eros-deflating parenting. With
“Q&A,” Naughton and Friedman expertly excoriate the absurd
insipidity of play readings and those who attend them. “The Terrys”
features Jillian Bell and Silpa striking satiric pay dirt in the surreal
fashion faux pas and entertainment non sequiturs perpetrated by TV
comedy variety shows of the early '70s. Charlotte Newhouse, Lisa
Schurga, Jill Matson-Sachoff and Edi Patterson all shine in respective
leaps into the perverse depths of depraved feminine grotesquerie. And
director Mikey Day keeps it all moving at a comedy-conducive clip …
not counting the tediously long scene blackouts, when audiences must
bide their time with the tasty licks of musical director Willie Etra and
his jam-seasoned band. (Bill Raden). Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8
& 10 p.m. Continues through April 23. Groundling Theater, 7307
Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 934-9700, groundlings.com.
HAMLET Shakespeare's tragedy set in modern times, presented by Player
King Productions. Starting April 18, Mondays, Tuesdays, Sundays, 7:30
p.m. Continues through May 10, (310) 909-8629,
brownpapertickets.com/event/166103. Belle Varado Studios/Stage 22, 2107
Bellevue Ave., L.A..
HELL MONEY To attend Ruth McKee's comedy of young, unglamorous
poverty, you take an elevator up six floors to a small, one-room loft
that places you squarely in the apartment of Katie (Elia Saldana) and
Julie (Jennifer Chang). Well, sort of small ― it's the “Friends-style
version that's more than the ten by ten they could afford,” cautions the
company's rep during a pre-show announcement. The girls, 19 and freshly
out of the foster care system, are so broke they live on ketchup and
ramen, but they've got big dreams ― at least Julie does ― of graduating
college and defying their low expectations. McKee flirts with deeper
emotions, like Julie's fear of abandonment and distrust of men ― when
she pulls a knife on their neighbor Norman (Ewan Chung) and warns the
beautiful, brainless Katie against dating, we sense the pain in her
past. But the comedy, directed by Jen Bloom, is all shriek and little
substance, a loud melodrama, with an edge of menace from Burt Mosely's
turn as a Nigerian drug dealer who put Katie through basic training as a
hospital orderly so she could steal him pills. There's a sneaking
suspicion that Saldana is a deft comedian, but there's so much shouting
that it's hard to tell. (Amy Nicholson). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through April 24, chalkrep.com. Agenda Loft,
400 South Main Street, Studio 601, L.A., (213) 626-0071, agendaloft.com.
Hitchcocked: Improv inspired by the films of Alfred Hitchcock, directed
by Patrick Bristow. Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through May 7, (323)
960-7612, plays411.com/hitchcocked. Asylum Lab, 1078 Lillian Way, L.A.,
theatreasylum-la.com.
A HOUSE NOT MEANT TO STAND Empty butterscotch wrappers scattered on a
cheap coffee table, an afghan in shades of brown clutching a grubby
couch, an old Christmas-themed popcorn tin catching one of the ceiling's
countless leaks — Misty Carlisle's prop design is so on-target, if she
isn't from the South, she must have spent summers there. Yet her
efforts, and Jeff McLaughlin's picture-perfect set, can't save the soul
of this production of Tennessee Williams' tragicomedy. The premise is
dyed-in-the-wool Williams: Hard-driving father Cornelius (Alan
Blumenfeld) and his regressed-from-depression wife, Bella (Sandy
Martin), arrive home from burying their gay son in Memphis. (“You
encouraged him to design clothes [and] try 'em on,” Cornelius berates
his wife.) Their youngest, kinda sneaky, kinda sweet son (Daniel Billet)
is home (after losing another job) with a similarly out-of-work
girlfriend (Virginia Newcomb). The play, Williams' last, isn't his best;
soliloquies directed at the audience weaken the action and disrupt the
script's flow. But in not clearly revealing the kind of seminal
Williams-esque conflict between a deep well of despair and the
near-instinctual impulse to hide anything unpleasant, director Simon
Levy has ignored the desperate sadness here, turning the play into a
carnival of caricatures. Fortunately, Lisa Richards, a cougar before the
term even existed, soft-pedals her approach as a nosy neighbor, and her
scene near the end with Bella is the first in the production that
intrigues. The real shame, in fact, is that Martin's performance as the
mentally clouded yet still feisty Bella is stranded in this production.
Tennessee Williams always saved his best for his women, and Martin more
than does him justice. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through May 22, $25-$35; $18 students.
Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A., (323) 663-1525,
fountaintheatre.com.
NEW REVIEW THE HUMAN VOICE (LA VOX HUMAINE)
Photo by Ed Krieger
The
old Tin Pan Alley tune “Hello! Ma Baby” (more recently popularized by
the singing frog in the Warner Bros. cartoons) might be an appropriate
score for this 1930 Jean Cocteau play in which an unnamed Woman feels
trapped in a room with a telephone that is a lifeline to her physically
and emotionally distant lover. Adding to the Woman's slow devolution is a
shoddy connection that both drops her call multiple times and crosses
wires with other conversations. Lady Gaga, she is not. She wants her
lover on that telephone. She needs him on that telephone. Badly. Yet
what Cocteau wrote as an exploration of the human voice (as well as a
showcase for the divas of his day) here at times sounds more like an
extended Verizon commercial. “Can you hear me now?” Yes, but what are
you saying and why should we be invested in it? Speaking in a typewriter
staccato and landing on her words with labored deliberateness, actress
Ho-Jung has a hard time consistently demonstrating the heightened
emotion necessary to bring the piece to life. Director Dan Bonnell
perhaps errs too far on the side of subtlety, failing to elicit that
desperation from her. At the same time, Anthony Wood's translation may
be partially responsible for trite expressions of love torn asunder,
which undermine the depths of sorrow in Cocteau's original. At least set
designer Melissa Ficociello's room nearly collapsing on itself — with
its sea-foam-blue walls, which resemble dirty clouds — is a clever nod
to both period hues and the Woman's situation. A Bunch of Artists
Production. Elephant Space Theater, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m., thru April 24. (323) 960-7863, Plays411.com/humanvoice. (Mayank Keshaviah)
I GET KNOCKED DOWN . . . When writer-performer Evan McNamara first
appears in this one-man show, he's wearing a T-shirt that reads “ARISE”
and pointy elf ears. He is, he tells us, a member of an elf clan, and
his sister, Raven, is a vampire who for years drained him of vitality.
He then assumes the role of a Guardian Angel who revels in his own
self-esteem. “God loves me,” he claims, “because I make heaven look so
cool.” The elf tells about the woman he loved, hard-hearted Hannah, who
married him and bore him two children, but then announced she'd been
unfaithful from the start. We then meet Evan's other suffering alter
egos: a prisoner shackled till he frees himself through an act of will, a
martyr who embraces his pain, a scholar who alternates between raging
against his fate and philosophic acceptance, a clown who wraps himself
in a cloak of protective humor, and a hipster in stylish shades who
doesn't contribute much to the story. McNamara is an appealing and
energetic actor, but his bromidic ending is announced (self-knowledge is
the key) rather than dramatized, so the show, though pleasant, seems
both short (40 minutes) and slight. Director John Coppola might have
been wise to insist on more substance. (Neal Weaver). Saturdays, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through April 24,
igetknockeddown.eventbrite.com. Studio C Artists, 6448 Santa Monica
Blvd., L.A., (323) 988-1175.
I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER The New American Theatre (formerly Circus
Theatricals) presents Robert Anderson's 1968 family drama. Starting
April 16, Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 3 p.m.; Sun., May
22, 8 p.m. Continues through May 22, (310) 701-0788,
NewAmericanTheatre.com. McCadden Place Theatre, 1157 N. McCadden Pl.,
L.A., mccaddentheatre.com.
IN THE AGES OF THE EARTH A new performance by Mary Lynn Rajskub.
Fridays, 11:30 p.m. Continues through April 30. Working Stage Theater,
1516 N. Gardner St., L.A., (323) 851-2603, workingstage.com.
JUST IMAGINE Tim Piper's John Lennon impersonation, including
performances of Beatles hits and Lennon's solo work. Fridays, Saturdays,
8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through April 24, (323) 960-4442.
Hayworth Theatre, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., www.thehayworth.com.
KEEP IT CLEAN COMEDY Hosted by JC Coccoli. Mondays, 10:30 p.m., Free.
1739 Public House, 1739 N. Vermont Ave., L.A., (323) 663-1739.
L.A. VIEWS IV SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through May 1. Company of Angels Theater, 501
S. Spring St., L.A., (323) 883-1717.
GO LA RAZON BLINDADA (THE ARMORED REASON) How does
a prisoner survive without hope? Writer/director Aristides Vargas drew
inspiration for this poignantly horrific black comedy from the
experience of his brother, a political prisoner in Argentina during that
country's military dictatorship. Confined in solitary, prisoners were
permitted a brief respite on Sunday, when they could meet and talk,
albeit while remaining seated and with their hands on the table. That
setup provides the physical framework for this luminously surreal
80-minute one-act in which two incarcerated men come together to
role-play — one calling himself De La Mancha (Jesus Castanos Chima), the
other Panza (Arturo Diaz de Sandy). The actors remain seated
throughout, navigating across the stage on wooden chairs with wheels.
Within these loosely assumed personae, the pair frolic through a
hallucinatory landscape, clowning their way through speculations about
madness, sanity, heroism and human bonding, and conjuring an elaborate
fantasy of regency over an island that brilliantly mocks the nature of
power. In the end, the aim of the game is survival — not as rational
beings, because reality would be too painful, but as madmen whose lunacy
frees them from the shame of powerlessness. The performances are
consummate and the staging, as eloquent as the text, features a
videographed landscape over which their sunken shadows pass, and Faure's
Elegie for Violoncello and Orchestra to underscore the pathos. (Deborah
Klugman). Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through April 30. 24th Street
Theater, 1117 W. 24th St., L.A., (800) 838-3006,
www.brownpapertickets.org.
LUST 'N RUST The Trailer Park Musical: A new musical by Frank Haney,
Carol Kimball & Dave Stratton about relationships and our troubled
economy. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 7 p.m.; Sun., April
24, 7 p.m. Continues through April 30. Lyric Theatre, 520 N. La Brea
Ave., L.A., lyrictheatrela.com.
MAGIC STRINGS Bob Baker's marionette variety revue, featuring puppet
horses on a merry-go-round, an opera diva on roller skates, a “Day at
the Circus,” and an all-American grand finale. Saturdays, Sundays, 2:30
p.m.; Tuesdays-Fridays, 10:30 a.m. Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W.
First St., L.A., (213) 250-9995, www.bobbakermarionettes.com.
NEW REVIEW MASSACRE (SING TO YOUR CHILDREN) At the
start of Jose Rivera's mystical melodrama, the room goes black for 60
seconds of offstage screaming. Like the play that follows, it's a bold
idea that can't resist going deadeningly over the top. Seven murderers
— four men, three women — tumble into the room, covered in blood,
clutching machetes and crowbars and pipes and knives, and vibrating with
the rush of killing Joe, the tyrant who has spent five years
terrorizing their small American town. But their chest bumps and
self-congratulations quickly fade into the quiet fear of realizing that,
sans scapegoat, they now have to think for themselves — and worse,
take ownership over whatever miseries befall them. (Surely they can't be
any worse than Joe, who has raped the women, killed the children and
slashed the population by a third.) This is a heightened world staged
too casually by Richard Martinez, who plunks this gory metaphor in a
suburban rec room and encourages his cast to pivot from slang to grand
speechifying. It's as though the play and this production are so
concerned with the big strokes that all the details are scrambled: The
characters are inconsistent and their relationships murky. Minutes after
one growls to another that they don't know each other and should keep
it that way, a cheery five-year flashback to before the Reign of Joe
makes the gang look as tight as the cast of Friends. And it's worth
noting that only the men get the good speeches — while they recant
their painful stories, the ladies just give them massages. Underlying it
all is: How culpable are we in our own captivity? Rivera burns with the
need to demand an answer but douses his own flames. An Urban Theatre
Movement production. Underground Theatre, 1312-1314 N. Wilton Place,
Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m., thru May 15. (323) 369-0571, urbantheatremovement.com. (Amy Nicholson)
MAXWELL STREET Cake Theatre Center presents Willard Manus' story of a
venerable Chicago bluesman and the white kid who idolizes him. Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, noon. Continues through May 1. Barbara
Morrison Performing Arts Center, 4305 Degnan Blvd., Ste. 101, L.A.,
(310) 330-0178.
THE MERCY SEAT Neil LaBute, a writer renowned for his lacerating
portraits of narcissistic cads and the arrested adolescent within,
doesn't exactly spring to mind when one speaks of a “9/11 play.” So it
comes as something of a relief that this 2002 drama set in lower
Manhattan on the day after the terrorist attacks is less concerned with
collapsing office towers than it is with the imploding illusions of its
feuding pair of illicit lovers. In fact, the only disaster in sight
turns out to be of the emotional kind. The curtain opens on Ben (Johnny
Clark), a husband and father so paralyzed by callow self-pity and
passive-aggressive guilt that he is unable to answer his incessantly
ringing cell phone or move from his armchair for nearly the entire play.
Turns out that he was only spared from dying in the conflagration
because he skipped a meeting at Ground Zero for an early-morning
assignation with his boss and mistress, Abby (Michelle Clunie), at her
luxury loft. When Ben compounds his callous indifference to the loss of
life outside by cynically seizing on his own presumed death in a scheme
to abandon his family and run off with her, Abby is finally jolted into a
belated reappraisal of their three-year affair. Clunie all but steals
the show with an artfully nuanced performance that galvanizes Abby's
tough exterior with affecting currents of wounded vulnerability and
frustrated yearning. Unfortunately, with the exception of exhilarating
flourishes provided by Derrick McDaniel's poetic lights, director Ron
Klier's staging is so weighted down by Danny Cistone's distractingly
overelaborate and hyperrealistic set that the production rarely achieves
LaBute's intended metaphoric lift. (Bill Raden). Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through April 24. [Inside] the Ford,
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., L.A., (323) 461-3673, fordtheatres.org.
THE MOTOR TRADE Alex Morris and Dan Martin star in Norm Foster's
“black comedy.” Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues
through April 24. Theatre/Theater, 5041 Pico Blvd., L.A., (323)
422-6361, theatretheater.net.
GO THE NEXT FAIRY TALE Writer-composer Brian
Pugach uses a fractured fairy tale to deliver a message of tolerance and
acceptance. Four Fairy Godmothers assemble, under the direction of
their den mother/director Minerva (a formidable Gina Torrecilla), to
create a new fairy tale. The Magic Mirror (campy and flouncy Charls
Sedgwick Hall) announces that the hero of the new tale is to be Prince
Copernicus (sweetly sappy Christopher Maikish), who doesn't believe in
fighting: His weapons are smiles and hugs. When homophobic Minerva
learns that Copernicus' true love is another male, Prince Helio (Patrick
Gomez), she's appalled and determined to foil their match, lest the
world's children be corrupted by a gay fairy tale. She assigns him Hazel
(Rachel Genevieve), the most incompetent of the fairy godmothers, to
ensure his failure and employs magic spells (including a poisoned apple)
to stop him. Director Michael A. Shepperd stages Pugach's goofy musical
with an engaging faux naivete, ably assisted by a lively ensemble and
richly enhanced by Raffel Sarabia's whimsical fairy-tale costumes. (Neal
Weaver). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through
May 8. Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (323)
957-1884, celebrationtheatre.com.
ORINOCO: Bilingual Actors Repertory Theater Company presents Emilio
Carballido's comedy. Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Continues through April 30,
(323) 401-5139 or (323) 462-6203, bartcousa.com. Stages Theatre Center,
1540 N. McCadden Pl., L.A..
PLAY DATES Sam Wolfson's offbeat love story. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through May 1, (323) 960-7784,
plays411.com/playdates. Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A..
GO POINT 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). Fridays, 8:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 p.m., (866)
811-4111, www.theatermania.com. Dragonfly, 6510 Santa Monica Blvd.,
L.A., thedragonfly.com.
POSTMODERN FAMILY Sketch comedy by Rob Belushi, Andy Cobb, Celeste
Pechous, David Pompeii and Katie Neff. Fridays, 8 p.m. Continues through
June 24. Second City Studio Theater, 6560 Hollywood Blvd., Second
Floor, L.A., (323) 464-8542.
QUICK AND IN MY ARMS/ENDLESS NIGHT Two plays by Peter Roth, presented
by Fresh Baked Theatre Company. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues
through April 30, brownpapertickets.com. MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford
Ave., L.A., (323) 957-1152, theMETtheatre.com.
GO RE-ANIMATOR: THE MUSICAL Re-Animator: The
Musical is based on Stuart Gordon's 1985 film, and Gordon is on hand to
direct the new musical. The centerpiece is a love story (of course)
that's a joke on every love story ever written. Idealistic young
hospital intern Dan Cain (Chris L. McKenna) has a poor time accepting
the death of patients. Standing by a gurney, over the body of a woman
who has flatlined, Dan administers CPR in vain, prodding her with
electro pads, until the chorus of medics has to sing, “She's dead,
Dan/Get it through your head, Dan.” His distress over the cessation of
life becomes an obsession that threatens his impending marriage to
beautiful Meg Halsey (Rachel Avery), daughter of the local university's
dean (George Wendt). Big Dean Halsey is an amiable, conservative fellow
who's accepting of Dan as a potential son-in-law, despite his lack of
old-money social credentials. Well, amiable until he's accidentally
murdered, as he later interrupts a gooey romantic interlude between Meg
and Dan by crashing through the door as a psychotic zombie. The romance
is wrapped around a conflict between dueling scientists: self-proclaimed
plagiarist Dr. Hill (Jesse Merlin, in a mop wig, whose pinched facial
expressions would creep out the most openhearted social worker) and a
newcomer to Hill's lab, Herbert West (Graham Skipper, possessing the
salty charm — and costume — of an embittered undertaker). While Hill
drools over Meg, West rents a room from Dan (since Meg won't move in
until they're wed). When the romantic couple's pet cat disappears, then
ghoulishly reappears post-mortem via West's experiments (props by Jeff
Rack), Dan enters a Faust-like partnership with West, seeing the
potential fulfillment of his God-defying desire to harness the science
of immortality. Mark Nutter's music and very witty lyrics (recalling
songs by Tom Lehrer) careen from modern opera to light opera, from
melodramatic wailing to — when the story gets really gruesome — Gilbert
and Sullivanstyle patter songs. The special effects (by Tony Doublin,
John Naulin, John Buechler, Tom Devlin and Greg McDougall), such as a
body decapitated with a shovel and intestines unstrung from a corpse,
are about as good as it gets — gory without being so naturalistic as to
bypass parody. The keys to this kingdom, however, are the combination of
the brilliant comic ensemble and Gordon's pristine craftsmanship as a
director, supplemented by Jeff Ravitz's lighting and musical
director/arranger Peter Adams' building of suspense. Adams performs the
score on a synthesizer tucked into the side of the hall, creating the
slightly cheesy ambiance that's the life force of Grand Guignol. (Steven
Leigh Morris). Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Continues through May 29, (800)
595-4849. Steve Allen Theater, at the Center for Inquiry-West, 4773
Hollywood Blvd., L.A..
RENT Jonathan Larson's Tony Award-winner about the lives of
idealistic starving artists, living in the squalor of Manhattan's Hell's
Kitchen, is much better suited for presentation in a small theater than
one of those cavernous Broadway houses. A more intimate venue, like the
comparatively modest Hudson Backstage theater that director Jerianne
Banson uses in her otherwise uneven production, allows the audience to
better connect with the characters and the music. Banson's
intermittently chaotic staging crackles with the very, vital passion of
youth. Some of the show, however, is an exercise in what happens when a
great deal of enthusiasm collides with a lack of leavening experience.
Larson's musical concerns a group of Hell's Kitchen bohemians, residing
either on the means streets or in a filthy cold loft, who try to make
ends meet while staying faithful to their beloved art. Young filmmaker
Mark (Anthony Michael Knott) finds himself in a bizarre love triangle
when his girlfriend leaves him for another woman – while Mark's aspiring
songwriter roommate Roger (Matt Pick) falls for beautiful, but unwell
stripper Mimi (Dominique Cox). Apart from the show's most obvious
question — how do these kids afford wraparound head microphones, but not
hot water — the strength of director Banson's production is totally
connected to the vivacity of her youthful cast and their unabashed love
for the material. On the other hand, Shoshona Zisk's musical direction
frequently falters: Although some of the songs are powerful —
particularly Pick and Cox's meet-cute number “Light My Candle,” many of
the other numbers suffer from maladroit execution and weak harmonics.
Notwithstanding the performers' omnipresent mics, the band frequently
upstages the singing, drowning out the performers, who are forced to
sing-holler louder to compensate. The show is double cast. (Paul
Birchall). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through
April 23, (323) 960-7822, plays411.com/rent. Hudson Backstage Theatre,
6539 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., hudsontheatre.com.
THE REVEREND'S GOOD WIFE Towne Street Theatre presents a reading of
Felton Perry's comedy. Tue., April 19, 7:30 p.m., (213) 624-4796, RSVP
to info@townestreet.org. Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd.,
L.A..
RIDING THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS WITH BILLY HAYES The author of Midnight
Express, who was held captive in a Turkish prison for five years,
retells the story in own words. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Continues through May
12, (323) 960-4442, plays411.com. Hayworth, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.,
thehayworth.com.
SERIAL KILLERS Late-night serialized stories, voted on by the
audience to determine which ones continue. Saturdays, 11 p.m. Continues
through April 23. Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Dr., L.A.,
(310) 281-8337, sacredfools.org.
SEX, RELATIONSHIPS AND SOMETIMES . . . LOVE Monologues on all of the
above, by Joelle Arqueros. Thursdays, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. Continues
through May 12, (323) 769-5566. The Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd.,
L.A., www.complexhollywood.com.
SHOE STORY Ben Snyder's look at the dark side of New York shoe
culture in the 1980s, where a new pair of sneakers could cost you your
life. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through May
22. Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A., (323) 856-8611,
theatreofnote.com.
SIGNS OF LIFE The Little Theater L.A. presents Deborah Brevoort's
“comic meditation on faith, doubt and spirituality.” Fridays, Saturdays,
8 p.m. Continues through April 16. The Black Box Theater, 12420 Santa
Monica Blvd., L.A..
GO SMALL ENGINE REPAIR Laced with casual
expletives, John Pollono's one-act play packs a powerful punch. When a
trio of longtime mates from Manchester, New Hampshire get together for
some heavy drinking in Frank's car mechanic workshop ― David Mauer's
beautifully realized set ― they reminisce about old times and chat about
women, the internet and the virtues of social networking. The pals,
confident Frank (John Pollono), ladies man Swaino (Jon Bernthal) and
nervy guy Packie (Michael Redfield) indulge in trading insults and
mocking digs as they chew the fat. Inappropriate comments, harsh words
and hasty apologies are exchanged, but nobody's sure why Frank is
busting out the good whiskey. A young college kid (Josh Helman) arrives
to do a quiet drug deal with Frank and all of a sudden the scene erupts
into terrifying violence. Pollono's script is an exquisitely-modulated
gem of a play, gripping the viewer with a storyline that is both
shocking and sobering in its commentary on modern interactions in the
technological age. Director Andrew Block extracts such realistic
performances from his cast that we almost forget we are watching a play,
as the appalling action unfolds mere inches away. (Pauline Adamek).
Mondays, 8 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 10:30 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.
Continues through April 30, (323) 960-4424, roguemachinetheatre.com.
Theatre/Theater, 5041 Pico Blvd., L.A., theatretheater.net.
SOME SWEET DAY Billed as “a love triangle between two people,” Flip
Kobler and Cindy Marcus' romantic comedy Some Sweet Day is actually a
tale about a middle-aged guy who goes back in time. Ken (Flip Kobler)
still holds a torch for his childhood sweetheart Jenny (Kate McCoy), who
suffered an untimely death. Having spent twenty years perfecting a
portable time machine, Ken gets struck by lightning and catapulted back
to his past. Once there he tries to convince Casey (Nicaolas Smith), the
younger version of himself, not to let the girl of his dreams get away.
The premise is good and co-writer Marcus, who also directs, does well
with the casting, as the two actors playing Ken/Casey are dead ringers.
But Marcus stumbles with the tone of the play, which strives for
farcical heights but instead suffers from wildly broad acting and
shouting delivery. The rapid-fire repartee feels contrived and the jokes
are pedestrian, with exchanges such as “Mom, you are not psychic!” “I
knew you were going to say that.” Even the sight gags are leaden. McCoy,
however, shines as the sexy and vivacious Jenny, who's certainly
deserving of a trip back to yesteryear. (Pauline Adamek). Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 6 p.m. Continues through April 24.
Knightsbridge Theater, 1944 Riverside Dr., L.A., (323) 667-0955,
knightsbridgetheatre.com.
THE SONNETEER Nick Salamone's play examines the ways in which
homophobia, guilt, self-delusion and hypocrisy cause the gradual
disintegration of the Cardamones, a first-generation Italian-American
family. Louie Cordero (Paul Haitkin), his younger brother, Michael (Ray
Oriel), and their friend Joey (Ed Martin) go off to serve in World War
II. Michael and Joey, serving in France, secretly become lovers. After
the war, Louie marries his sweetheart, Livvy (Sandra Purpuro), but he
also discovers the relationship between Michael and Joey, and his
virulent homophobia is aroused. Pressured by salty, bossy older sister
Vita (Cynthia Gravinese), who wants to save him for middle-class
respectability, Michael marries a sweetly naïve hospital nurse, Ella
(Victoria Hoffman), whom he'd like to love, but doesn't. Meanwhile,
Livvy, desolate over Louie's death, writes sonnets to relieve her pain.
Director Jon Lawrence Rivera sensitively explores the rich characters
and understated subtleties of Salamone's play, with fine assistance from
his able and faithful cast. Haitkin, in particular, scores as both
homophobic Louie and his scholarly pro-gay son. (Neal Weaver). Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through April 17. Davidson
Valentini Theatre, 1125 N. McCadden Pl., L.A., (323) 860-7300,
www.lagaycenter.org.
SPECTACULAR SUPERHERO VARIETY HOUR Captured Aural Phantasy Theater
presents dramatic readings of vintage comic book stories, with live
sound effects, music and projected art. Fri., April 15, 7:30 p.m.; Fri.,
April 22, 7:30 p.m., capturedauralphantasy.com. Bootleg Theater, 2220
Beverly Blvd., L.A., (213) 389-3856, bootlegtheater.com.
GO STREEP TEASE If you're a fan of Meryl Streep
you'll like director Ezra Weisz's campy homage to the academy award
winning actress. The show debuted two years ago and is the brainchild of
stand-up comedian Roy Cruz, who has added a few tweaks without altering
any of its ticklish appeal. The show uses seven male actors who perform
monologues from a sampling of Streep's oeuvre.. This reviewer is a big
fan and has seen all of the movies selected (which helps in appreciating
the saucy humor on display), although even if you're not familiar with
Streep's work, Streep Tease offers lot of fun and laughs. In addition to
the performances, Cruz picks audience members to participate in a
contest to test their “Streep Wise,” worthiness, with a gift going to
the winner. Matthew Nouriel, does a riotously funny take on Sara
Woodruff, from the French Lieutenant's Woman (complete with the foggy
backdrop), and then does an even funnier version set in a Muslim country
with all the customary restraints. Miranda Priestly from The Devil
Wears Prada is brought to life by Cruz, who does a wickedly bitchy turn
salted with just the right tinge of icy detachment. And who could forget
the nun from hell, the bossy, fussy bullying Sister Aloysius Beauvier
from Doubt, here fully realized with knuckle-busting ruler, two rosaries
and bonnet, by Bryan T. Donovan. (Lovell Estell III). Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Bang, 457 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A., (323) 653-6886, bangstudio.com.
SUPER SUNDAY Stephen Collins' comedy about a Vietnam vet turned ad
executive whose wife takes an interest in a younger man. Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 6 p.m. Continues through May 15. Moth
Theatre, 4359 Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 666-6684, moththeatre.com.
THE TEMPERAMENTALS West Coast premiere of Jon Maran's play about
homosexuality in the 1950s, based on the relationship of Harry Hay and
Rudi Gernreich. Starting April 16, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays,
2 p.m. Continues through May 22. The Blank's Second Stage Theater, 6500
Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (323) 661-9827, theblank.com.
TIGER TIGER BURNING BRIGHT Peter S. Feibleman's play set in
midcentury New Orleans. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.
Continues through May 22, (323) 960-7740, plays411.com/tiger. Stella
Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., L.A..
TREASURE ISLAND June Chandler's Fairy Tale Theatre presents Steve and
Kathy Hotchner's audience-participatory pirate tale. Saturdays, 11 a.m.
Continues through April 16. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre
Blvd., Sierra Madre, (626) 355-4318, sierramadreplayhouse.org.
NEW REVIEW WALLOWA: THE VANISHING OF MAUDE LERAY
Photo courtesy of Son of Semele Ensemble
An
artist obsessed with chasing a story typically results in one of two
outcomes: The director emerges from the dark forest of creation on top
of the mountain (see Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan), or the artist
delves so deep within so as not even to recognize being lost.
Unfortunately, Son of Semele Ensemble's latest world premiere, a
collaboration with playwright Oliver Mayer, falls into the second
category. Director Don Boughton conceived the play after reading an
article about a 76-year-old woman who disappeared in Oregon's Wallowa
Mountains, home to Chief Joseph's Nez Perce Tribe. Even after an
extensive search, no trace was found of the missing woman. Conducting
interviews with locals and interweaving those with the myths of the
region, Boughton and SOSE built a story around “Maude LeRay's”
mysterious vanishing. The staging is a blend of those two elements: the
factual — rescue teams gathering, her husband, Howard (Alexander
Wright), being questioned; and the mystical — cast members double as
animals that talk to and spirit Maude (Dee Amerio Sudik) to and from the
mountain's nooks and crannies. The material doesn't stretch far enough
to fill a 90-minute play, but the bigger problem is the subject matter
itself. Though something like a theme surfaces three-quarters of the way
through (after Maude tells the animals she wants to go home to “WalMart
runs” and other mundane tasks, one asks, “You sure you want this?”),
it's one Thornton Wilder did too famously in Our Town to recycle.
Whether the theme is supposed to be more or less important than the
story, the company must give the audience a reason to care as much as
the creators do. Son of Semele Ensemble, 3301 Beverly Blvd.; Fri.-Sat., 8
p.m., Sun., 4 p.m., thru May 8. sonofsemele.org. (Rebecca Haithcoat)
WISH I HAD A SYLVIA PLATH Rogue Machine presents Edward Anthony's
comedy about tragedy. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.
Continues through April 17, (855) 585-5185, roguemachinetheatre.com.
Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A..
WOMEN ARE CRAZY BECAUSE MEN ARE ASSHOLES World premiere of Brad T.
Gottfred's study of the sexes. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5
p.m. Continues through April 30, (323) 244-2987, cyur.com. Imagined
Life, 5615 San Vicente Blvd., L.A.
GO THE YOUNG MAN FROM ATLANTA Hollywood has
trained us well: Midway through Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning
play, your mind is racing ahead, tugging at a loose thread in the
plotline, guessing what twist lies underneath. But Foote's storytelling
style is like a lazy Southern Sunday afternoon spent on the front porch:
He lays the play's cards on the table right from the start, then sits
back and lets its stories draw you in like the mesmerizing
back-and-forth of a rocking chair. Will Kidder (Dick DeCoit) and his
wife, Lily Dale (Eileen Barnett), have just settled into a grand new
house in Houston, mostly in an effort to avoid painful reminders of
their only son, who recently drowned. The title character, their son's
roommate who's never seen in the play, is a boogeyman. Though a comfort
to Lily Dale, Will squeezes his eyes tight against his existence, hoping
he'll just go away. The play's themes are proposed so subtly — aging
(“Thirty-eight years … where'd they go?” Will asks), race relations (one
of Lily Dale's old maids, played by Cyndi Martino, smiles warmly, “You
haven't changed a bit! And look at me, wore out from cookin' in others'
kitchens”), religion, homosexuality, generational conflict, gender roles
— that you only feel their full impact upon later reflection. Director
August Viverito wisely allows the play's inaction to stand, but his
finest decision was casting DeCoit to lead the cast. In less capable
hands, Foote's chunks of text easily could bore an audience; but as
DeCoit navigates them, verve giving way to slumped shoulders, the
crumbling descent of Will's life is just as riveting as it is
heartbreaking. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays,
3 p.m. Continues through April 17, (800) 838-3006, theprodco.com. Lex
Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave., L.A..
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED IN THE VALLEYS
ALL IN THE TIMING A collection of comic one acts by David Ives.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 1, 3 p.m. Continues through May 1.
Crown City Theatre, 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood, (818)
745-8527, nohoartsdistrict.com/theatreweb/crowncity.htm.
BAR TALK Jay Parker's comedy set in a local bar. Fridays, 8 p.m.;
Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m., lizardtheater.com. Lizard
Theater, 112 W. Main St., Alhambra, (626) 457-5293, lizardtheater.com.
GO THE BIRTHDAY BOYS Stop me if you've heard this
one: Three U.S. Marines walk into an Iraqi storage room. OK, they don't
walk. They get dragged into it. Point being, there are three of them,
and they're together in this room. “Seems a bit dark and serious a
scenario for a punch line,” you think to yourself, but you would be
wrong, because Aaron Kozak, who won the “Fringe First” award at last
year's Hollywood Fringe Festival for this play, makes it much funnier
than you would expect. Without being disrespectful to the gravity of
military service or the war in Iraq, Kozak finds dark humor in the
humanity of three Marines –privates Chester Gullette (Gregory Crafts),
Lance Tyler (Sean Fitzgerald) and Colin Carney (Jim Martyka) — who have
been captured from Al Asad air base by members of the Mahdi Militia. All
three are bound hand and foot with duct tape and blindfolded, which
limits their interactions but generates some solid physical comedy, such
as when Lance tries to fight Colin and they end up writhing around like
angry inchworms. Director Jacob Smith's spot-on timing effectively
modulates transitions from lighter discussions of women and home lives
to darker topics such as war and impending doom. Fitzgerald, as the most
intense and combative of the three, genuinely makes us dislike him at
times; Martyka, though quiet for long spells, believably exudes shame
for attempting to abandon his brothers; Crafts, as the most mature and
levelheaded of the men, pleasantly subverts the stereotypical Marine.
And to top it all off, there's an unexpected twist that takes the comedy
to a whole new level. A Theatre Unleashed production. (Mayank
Keshaviah). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through April 30, (818)
849-4039, theatreunleashed.com. NoHo Stages, 4934 Lankershim Blvd.,
North Hollywood, noho-stages.us.
BLIND SPOTS Sibling rivalry and one-upmanship reach sinister heights
when two sisters with diametrically opposed beliefs clash in Colette
Freedman's patchy black comedy. The setting is a small, East Coast
university town. Gretchen (Vanessa Waters), a gay journalist, becomes
incensed and decides to publish an editorial damning the anti-gay
decrees from the liberal-arts college president. Problem is, this
president is her abusive, homophobic older sister Kate (director Elise
Robertson). Gretchen's act of public humiliation ignites an all-out war
between the sisters as the pair dredge up recriminations, accusations
and even threaten blackmail. Meanwhile Gretchen's cute and sporty young
lover Janna (Jade Sealey) is unaware she might get hit by some shrapnel.
Playwright Freedman co-stars as Gretchen's BFF Frieda, giving us a
hilarious drunk act and some deliciously bitchy put-downs. Freedman
punctuates the often inane banter and heated arguments with plaintive
1960s folk tunes by Cat Stevens and Jesse Colin Young, performed live by
Logan Lozier (doubling as the sisters' tragically departed brother).
Placing Lozier upstage center, on a raised platform, lends him an
angelic presence. Freedman's play features powerful themes and quirky
characters (notably the Afro-centric wacky mom Birdy, played by Helen
Mary Wilson), but the writing isn't nearly as strong as her ideas.
(Pauline Adamek). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues
through April 24, (818) 381-3024, blindspotsplay.com. Sherry Theatre,
11052 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.
NEW REVIEW GO THE CRUCIBLE
Photo by Byron Turk
Director
Sean Branney grabs hold of Arthur Miller's red-scare allegory, wringing
emotionally charged, angst-ridden performances from the talented cast.
Young Abigail Williams (a brilliantly conniving Sarah van der Pol) and
her gaggle of naive girlfriends extricate themselves from an oceanic
amount of hot water by explaining their late-night woodsy romp with
Barbadian servant Tituba (Hollie Hunt) as a ritual in which Tituba
conjured the devil, whom they claim walked side by side with scores of
local women. A witch hunt ensues and the girls point their adolescent
fingers at any woman they want hanged. John Proctor (Shawn Savage),
whose love affair with the conniving Abigail comes back to bite him,
sets out to debunk the witchcraft accusations when his wife, Elizabeth
(a steadfastly stony Karen Zumsteg), becomes Abigail's target. Branney
masterfully creates chaos, pitting neighbor against neighbor, husband
against wife and holy man against lawman in what amounts to a town
battle of holy-war proportions. Van der Pol's Abigail is so full of
vicious vengeance that she practically hisses her misguided intentions
to win the affections of Savage's skillfully choked-up Proctor. Fear
drives the outrageous events of the play, and Branney relentlessly
shines light on the fatal foolishness of a fear-driven society. The
Banshee, 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3
p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., thru May 15. (818) 846-5323, theatrebanshee.org. (Amy Lyons)
DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD Bert V. Royal's
unauthorized parody of the “Peanuts” comic strip. Fridays, Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Continues through April 17. Avery Schreiber
Theater, 11050 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 766-9100.
ELIZABETH BATHORY: THE BLOOD COUNTESS Writer/director Bea Egeto's
hourlong historical account of the 16th-century serial killer Elizabeth
Bathory takes the audience through a fun chronology of blood, lust and
justice, but falls short of capturing the complexity of the subject. The
Countess Bathory had an obsession with staying young, convincing
herself that the blood of young maidens could sustain her youth. She and
her small circle of cohorts began kidnapping girls and covering up
their disappearances. Eventually enough people suspected her of
wrongdoing that she was locked away, claiming her innocence right up
until she died in prison, without trial. A large, fantastic cast and
razor sharp staging keeps the pace moving, and both Charlotte Bjornbak's
young Bathory and Leaha Boschen's storytelling-prisoner Bathory, tap
into the historical countess' dangerous psychosis with aplomb. However,
at the top of the play when Bathory, rotting in prison, implores us to
listen to her side of the story, what follows is such a straightforward
interpretation of events, when she finally asks us to judge her, we
never really get a sense of why she feels so steadfastly innocent. (Luis
Reyes). Saturdays, 8:30 p.m. Continues through April 30. ZJU Theater
Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 202-4120,
zombiejoes.com.
FETISH An evening of new plays about unusual, consensual sex. 18+
only. Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through April 30. Whitefire Theater,
13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 990-2324. See Stage feature
FIREHOUSE Unlike police officers, who are so often feared or
mistrusted, firefighters almost always engage the appreciation and
respect of the people they serve. Playwright Pedro Antonio Garcia's
message-minded melodrama jump-starts around the community's perceived
betrayal of that covenant, and the pressure brought to bear upon a
firefighter named Perry (Kamar de los Reyes) to make a bogus choice
between loyalty to his unit and loyalty to his Puerto Rican ethnic
group. A 20-year department vet, Perry is on the cusp of retirement when
a crisis erupts at the South Bronx firehouse after a colleague named
Boyle (Gerald Downey) rescues another firefighter from a burning
building but leaves behind a 12-year-old child. Boyle steadfastly
maintains he didn't see the girl for the smoke, but his credibility is
open to question — in no small part because of his personal history as a
former cop who was tried and acquitted for shooting an unarmed
civilian. Whereas the community, represented here by Perry's fiancée,
Aida (Jossara Jinaro), a criminal defense attorney, is up in arms, most
of Boyle's buddies give him the benefit of the doubt and pressure Perry
to do the same. Garcia gleaned aspects of his story from real-life
headlines in this effort to offer up an intrepid examination of how our
native prejudices cloud our judgment. Too often, however, the characters
seem mere profanity-riddled mouthpieces for one side or another's point
of view, a problem exacerbated by Bryan Rasmussen's overheated
direction. Most discrepant is Jinaro's counselor-at-law, unconvincing as
a perspicacious professional not only by virtue of her mini-skirted and
otherwise revealing attire but in her strident insistence that Perry
take her side for personal reasons rather than principled ones. (Deborah
Klugman). theatermania.com Fridays, 8 p.m. Continues through May 27,
(323) 822-7898, theatermania.com. Whitefire Theater, 13500 Ventura
Blvd., Sherman Oaks.
HAVING IT ALL At Gate B26 in an airport convincingly designed by
Stephen Gifford, five women sit judging each other's clothing. The lady
in Prada pumps (Jennifer Leigh Warren) assumes the woman in sneakers
(Shannon Warne) must be an immature free spirit; the woman in sneakers
is convinced that Prada pumps is a rotten mother. The entrance of a
country girl in awkward heels (Kim Huber) provokes condescension; a
hipster with crutches (Lindsey Alley) moves Warren to sneer she's a
“30-year-old yenta dressed up like the cast of Rent.” And when a dizzy
hippie (the very funny Alet Taylor) bops in with her yoga mat, the
ladies are aghast that she's barefoot. Still, between snipes, each looks
at the others and sighs, “How I'd love to be in her shoes.” The
metaphor of footwear for femmepowerment is staler than the olives at
Carrie Bradshaw's fave martini bar, but at least David Goldsmith and
Wendy Perelman's well-intentioned musical about the hair-pulling
pressure to “have it all” is blessed with a gifted cast, which Richard
Israel directs with energy and bite. The ensemble sings numbers about
motherhood, marriage, J-Date and downward-facing dog. It's all pleasant,
but the show is held back by the homogeneity of the songs, in both John
Kavanaugh's music and Gregory Nabours' musical direction, which takes
five strong voices and molds them all to the same Broadway bombast. The
audience for the musical already knows everything it aims to say; it's
simply an excuse to rally a gang of girlfriends for a night at the
theater, which seems to suit this production just fine. (Amy Nicholson).
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 29.
NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 508-7101,
thenohoartscenter.com.
IT'S JUST SEX Jeff Gould's comedy takes the underpinnings of sexual
fantasy, fidelity and money and puts all of those nuances onstage in a
contemporary comedy about three married couples. The wife-swapping plot
is straight out of Hugh Hefner's pad, circa 1975. That the play
resonates today, in the ashes of the sexual revolution, is one
indication of how little has changed, despite how much has changed.
(Steven Leigh Morris). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.
Two Roads Theater, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City, (818) 762-2272,
tworoadsgallery.com.
NEW EYES Yafit Josephson gives an accomplished performance in her
solo show about a Jewish actress facing down Hollywood's cultural
stereotypes. It's marred only by a poorly designed slide show. Josephson
slips easily into various personae, combining characters with
caricatures to good comedic effect. The opening has her switching from a
formidable military officer to her nervous young self on her first day
of compulsory military training in the Israeli army. Highlights include a
hilarious mime sequence where she uncomprehendingly attempts yoga and
another scene where she gives a goofy impression of a macho guy in an
Israeli nightclub. Josephson's tall, slender build, piercing eyes and
chiseled face lend her a commanding presence, but it's her prominent
proboscis that relegates her to the usual gamut of villainous roles,
from terrorist to evil witch — “And no, they didn't have to use a fake
nose,” she jokes. Her adult journey takes her from the New World back to
Israel, where she touches base with her culture, returning to Hollywood
with newfound strength of character. Beneath the comedy lies a serious
undercurrent stemming from the ongoing war in the Middle East: Land
equals identity. (Pauline Adamek). Thursdays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through June 26, (310) 500-0680,
neweyesplay.com. Whitefire Theater, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.
OH, MOMMA! & OBAMA Penned by Derek Reid, Nicholas Zill and
Kenneth McLeod, this send-up of Barack Obama's female-infested household
is fraught with familiar grievances and worn-out jokes, stumbling
blocks that prevent the material from growing a serious pair of
satirical legs. Barack Obama's (Derek Jeremiah Reid) mother-in-law,
Marian Robinson (Lakendra Tookes), meddles in matters of state and
thinks she knows best when it comes to her granddaughters, Malia (Alexis
Matthews) and Sasha (Nay Nay Kirby). Her daughter, Michelle (Constance
Reese), tries and fails to keep the peace between hubby and mom. When
Marian gets busted snooping through classified documents, the commander
in chief decides enough is enough and sends her to Guantanamo Bay.
Meanwhile, Malia and Sasha are up to no good. Reid's Obama parody is the
best thing about the production — he's spot-on vocally and physically.
Tookes comes out of the gate with an over-the-top shrillness that never
ceases and quickly grows tiresome. A standout of the supporting cast is
Natascha Corrigan as Sarah Palin, but the material's trite ring (Sarah
Palin is stupid! Sarah Palin talks funny! Sarah Palin is not to be taken
seriously!) hinders her. Bill O'Reilly (Robb Wolford), Bill Clinton
(Phillip Wilburn) and George W. Bush (Wolford) all appear, but nothing
new or striking is revealed about any of them. Piped in music by Howard
Bennett and the Rock 'n' Ridicule Band feels canned and flat; Laura
Pinho's choreography is clumsy. A TV intermittently broadcasts the
real-life people being impersonated onstage, a puzzling device that
smacks of mistrust of the audience. (Amy Lyons). Fridays, Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 1, (866) 811-4111. Fremont
Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena,
fremontcentretheatre.com.
OUR TOWNThornton Wilder's chronicle of life in Grover's Corners, New
Hampshire, 1901 to 1913. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through
April 16. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra
Madre, (626) 355-4318, sierramadreplayhouse.org.
THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE Neil Simon's rat race comedy. Fridays,
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Continues through May 29, (323)
960-7862, plays411.com/prisoner. GTC Burbank, 1111-B W. Olive Ave.,
Burbank, gtc.org.
GO PURSUED BY HAPPINESS Sensible shoes and
charmingly dorky delivery aside, Frank Orlis (Mark St. Amant) cuts a
dashing figure during the courtship dance. “I have zero recollection of
any day but the day at hand,” he tells the object of his single-minded
pursuit, fellow biochemist Julie Moore (Avery Clyde), while
simultaneously informing her he's been watching her. The layup works,
even if Frank couldn't be less of a Romeo; women, even stoic, serious
ones like Julie, respond to feeling like they alone are worth
remembering. Keith Huff's new play wriggles in these insights
unobtrusively, even if the big-picture ideas (“We're not pursuing
happiness as much as happiness is biologically pursuing us”) are a
little too obvious. But the play is a nice change of scenery from
traditional rom-coms: The whirlwind romance is actually a practical
plot, and the measured Frank and Julie don't ride off into a fairy-tale
sunset. Family visits give the design team a chance to show off (Craig
Siebels' set, Adam Flemming's projection, and Jocelyn Hublau's costumes)
are so evocatively detailed, but they do feel a little device-y, and
leave too many unanswered questions, including one that leaves the
audience squirming as well. Still, agile in their double duty as both
sets of parents, Elizabeth Herron and Tom Knickerbocker easily could've
been Huff's sole motivation for writing the ultimately unsatisfying
scenes. Robin Larsen directs. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Fridays, Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through May 14, RoadTheatre.org.
Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818)
752-7568.
GO ROCKIN' WITH THE AGES 3 This is the third in a
series of musical revues designed to give older performers a chance to
prove they can still kick up their heels and shine: All (except the
instrumental combo) are over sixty years of age, but they are all solid
pros, with impressive resumes and a treasure trove of skills. The book,
by director Bill Reid and musical director Mark Rodriguez, is totally
predictable, but it's enlivened by the large ensemble's terrific
performances, and by a wonderful array of golden oldies from the 1960s
and 70s, including “My Guy,” “Hit the Road, Jack,” “Stop in the Name of
Love,” “I'll Be There,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “It's My Party, and
I'll Cry if I Want To.” The show's first two editions tended to be a bit
old-fashioned and tinged with amateurism, but this time around, it's
slicker, faster, and more consistently entertaining, and audiences
respond with fervor and enthusiasm. Raquel Brussolo supplies the crisp
choreography, and instrumental accompaniment is provided an energetic
combo headed by Mark Rodriguez on keyboards, Ma'Ryia Mahome on bass,
James Munoz on guitar, Leslie Pereira on drums, and Rene Van der Tas,
second guitar. (Neal Weaver). Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through May 1, (818) 606-6679. Victory
Theatre Center, 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank,
thevictorytheatrecenter.org.
GO SCHMUTZIGEN DUTSCHE KABARETT This latest,
late-night creation from sardonic, surrealist director-choreographer
Amanda Marquardt is so straightforward and simple in its concept and
execution that it's a wonder no one thought of it before. Take the
Kander & Ebb musical classic Cabaret, jettison the treacly and
preachy Joe Masteroff book, and stage the results as a brisk and breezy,
melodrama-free evening of simulated Weimar nightclub entertainment. The
schmutzigen is provided by the indecently flamboyant Luke Wright, who,
from opener “Willkommen” through his solo on “I Don't Care Much” to the
show's finale, vamps his way through an endless string of double
entendres to stake a creditable claim to the role of MC that made
Broadway stars of Joel Grey and Alan Cumming. Marquardt herself appears
as Sally Bowles (replete with Liza-like false eyelashes), displaying an
appealing set of pipes on such signature numbers as “Don't Tell Mama,”
“Cabaret” and “Mein Herr.” Wright returns (wearing little more than an
uncredited but campy pair of tuxedo briefs) with chorines Skye Noel
(also credited as dance captain and co-choreographer) and Eva Ganelis,
as the trio strut their comic stuff in “Two Ladies.” But, you might ask,
if there's no book, what about the musical's politics — and what does
that have to do with us? Relax. Marquardt gets in her licks, and puts
the Deutsche Kabarett, political-satire bite back into Cabaret with
“High Chancellor,” a hilarious, show-stealing strip number, with Jonica
Patella in Hitler drag, bumping, grinding and goose-stepping to the Nazi
march “Erika.” (Bill Raden). Fridays, 11 p.m. Continues through April
22. ZJU Theater Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818)
202-4120, zombiejoes.com.
SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD The RED Stamp presents Jason Robert Brown's
musical journey, “from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a
ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue.” Sat., April 16, 8 p.m., (626)
344-7330. Travis Auditorium, 180 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena.
URBAN DEATH Horror show by Zombie Joe's Underground. Saturdays, 11
p.m. Continues through May 28. ZJU Theater Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd.,
North Hollywood, (818) 202-4120, zombiejoes.com.
THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES Eve Ensler's pussy play, benefiting the East
Los Angeles Women's Center and the Spotlight Campaign: Women & Girls
of Haiti. (In English, Thurs.; in Spanish, Fri.). Fri., April 15, 8
p.m. East L.A. College Edison Performing Arts Center, 1301 Avenida Cesar
Chavez,, Monterey Park, elawc.org.
VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE Post-suicide-attempt life in an insane
asylum, based on the book by Paulo Coelho, adapted for the stage by
Taylor Ashbrook and Beth Ricketson. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays,
7 p.m. Continues through May 15. Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel
Canyon Blvd., Valley Village, (818) 508-3003,
eclecticcompanytheatre.org.
WAIT UNTIL DARK Frederick Knott's mystery about con-men trying to trick a
blind woman. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues
through May 8. Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank
Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 700-4878, thegrouprep.com.
WEIRD ON TOP Improvisational comedy by Danielle Cintron, Tiffany
Cole, Mason Hallberg, Kerr Seth Lordygan, Sarah McCann and Alex Sanborn.
Thu., April 21, 8 p.m.; Thu., May 12, 8 p.m.; Thu., June 9, 8 p.m.;
Sun., July 17, 8 p.m.; Thu., Aug. 18, 8 p.m. Eclectic Company Theatre,
5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village, (818) 508-3003,
eclecticcompanytheatre.org.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED ON THE WESTSIDE AND IN BEACH TOWNS
THE BOYS NEXT DOOR Art Attack Foundation presents Tom Griffin's
tragicomedy about four mentally disabled men living in a group home.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through April 17,
artattackfoundation.org. Redondo Beach Playhouse, 750 Inglewood Ave.,
Redondo Beach, (310) 937 -6606, redondo.org.
GO BROKEN GLASS Arthur Miller's searing 1995 drama
ostensibly deals with the theme of Jewish assimilation and the price of
ignoring evil in the rest of the world. In the end, though, the issue
is a metaphor for the moral rot fragmenting a loveless marriage. In
1938, American Jewish housewife Sylvia (Susan Angelo) reads in the
papers of the atrocities taking place in Germany and develops what
appears to be a hysterical, psychosomatic paralysis. Sylvia's husband,
uptight mortgage broker Phillip (Michael Bofshever), is justifiably
alarmed, but as he seeks help from kindly Dr. Hyman (Stephen Burleigh),
the real problems underlying his wife's condition begin to emerge. For
his part, Phillip is contemptuous of his own Jewish heritage and is so
self-hating he pretends to be Finnish, rather than Polish, even as he's
forced to suck up the subtle anti-Semitism at his workplace. In director
Elina de Santos' beautifully empathetic staging, the pacing is
unhurried, but the emotions rise in tension and pitch until, finally,
they reach Shakespearean heights of tragedy. There's so much simmering
below the surface here — especially the notion of how, under certain
circumstances, self-loathing and guilt can actually be physically
manifested. The acting work crackles with subtext and organic emotion.
At first the prickly, unforgiving Phillip seems monstrously dismissive —
but in Bofshever's increasingly subtle, pragmatic turn, we gradually
start to realize the insecurities underlying his self-loathing. The
show's engrossing moral center, however, is Angelo's wonderfully
vulnerable performance as Sylvia, who is played as part giggling ingénue
and part world-weary social activist trapped in a life that, for the
most part, she cannot control. (Paul Birchall). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8
p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through April 18, (323) 821-2449. Pico
Playhouse, 10508 W. Pico Blvd., L.A., picoplayhouse.com.
DADDYO DIES WELL Murray Mednick's poetic, philosophical comedy, the
fifth in his series of eight Gary Plays, seems to take place in several
spheres at once, ranging from the Amazonian jungle, to the Andes, to
Santa Monica to the afterlife. Salty, aging hipster DaddyO (Hugh Dane)
has been run down by a hit-and-run driver, and now he's dying. He
summons his actor step-son Gary (Casey Sullivan) to participate in an
Indian soul-cleansing ritual involving the hallucinogenic,
vomit-inducing drug Ayahuasca. Also somehow present, physically or
spiritually, are DaddyO's deceased wife, the ruefully benevolent Mama
Bean (Strawn Bovee), his kindly-but-misanthropic shrink (Jack Kehler),
and Gary's two ex-wives, Gloria (Elizabeth Greer), who is on a vision
quest in the Andes, and the forbidding and judgmental Marcia (Melissa
Paladino). Presiding over all is the angel of death, Antonio (Peggy Ann
Blow), who appears as an ice-cream vendor in a red jump-suit, and as a
masked Indian shaman. Mednick's play is always interesting as it
circles, playfully and endlessly, around various life-and-death issues,
but it's sometimes so personal as to be hermetic. Dane is engaging and
funny as the play's most fully-developed character, and the cast
skillfully fleshes out the other inhabitants of his drama. (Neal
Weaver). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through
May 22, (323) 960-7724, plays411.com/DaddyO. Electric Lodge, 1416
Electric Ave., Venice, electriclodge.org.
GO HOBOKEN TO HOLLYWOOD: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE
GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK The big-band show in this musical (book by Luca
Ellis, Paul Litteral and Jeremy Aldridge) is staged as a
behind-the-scenes live taping of a late-1960s television special with a
star identified in the program only as “The Crooner.” James Thompson's
authentic set comes with sound booth, TV cameras, microphones, lighting,
a spacious bandstand and stage, overhead video screens and neon
applause signs. Adding to the realism is lots of backstage banter,
numerous gaffes, miscues and retakes, and some well-placed comedy and
drama played out between director Dwight (Al Bernstein) and his
overworked and underappreciated assistant Andy (Pat Towne). There are
also cheeky commercial breaks for Shmimex watches and the all-new Ford
Mustang. Musical director Litteral and his nattily dressed 12-member
band (Jessica Olson's costumes are entirely on cue) combine into a
flawless, robust performance redolent of the best of Ellington or Basie.
Luca Ellis is a knockout from start to finish as the Crooner. How good
is he? If you close your eyes while he sings familiar tunes such as
“That's Life,” “New York, New York” and “Fly Me to the Moon,” you'd
swear the Chairman himself had come back for one last encore. As
masterfully woven together by director Aldridge, the material is so good
that the applause signs aren't really needed. (Lovell Estell III).
Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 p.m.
Continues through April 23. Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main St.,
Santa Monica, (310) 399-3666, www.edgemarcenter.org.
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK Sean O'Casey's tragicomedy about a working class
Dublin family during the 1920s Irish Civil War. Starting April 16,
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 17, 7 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.;
Wed., May 4, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 15, 7 p.m.; Wed., May 18, 8 p.m.;
Sundays, 2 p.m.; Wed., May 25, 8 p.m. Continues through June 5. Odyssey
Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., (310) 477-2055,
odysseytheatre.com.
L.A. CAFE PLAYS Ruskin Group Theatre concocts five short plays in 10
1/2 hours. Third Sunday of every month, 7:30 & 9 p.m. Continues
through Dec. 18. Ruskin Group Theater, 3000 Airport Dr., Santa Monica,
(310) 397-3244, ruskingrouptheatre.com.
GO LOCKED AND LOADED Ever hear the joke about the
two guys with terminal brain tumors who decide to beat death to the
punch? A Jew and a WASP dress up in tuxes, rent a presidential suite
stocked with their favorite booze and call some hookers to help them go
orgasmic into that good night. OK, so the subject matter and setup of,
and even the quietly heartbreaking backstories in, actor-playwright Todd
Susman's play are a little derivative — Leaving Las Vegas and Marsha
Norman's play 'Night, Mother spring to mind — but some very clever
writing and smart performances make this West Coast premiere much
funnier and more mystical than the approach its predecessors took.
Particularly interesting is Susman's deliberate trafficking in
stereotypes. Old-monied Dickie Rice (Andrew Parks) is haughty as he
hurls three strikes in quick succession at an African-American hooker,
sniffing, “Do you know who I am?” and referring to her “Aunt Jemima”
style of speaking. Sad-clown sitcom writer Irwin Schimmel (Paul Linke)
turns his poison pen on himself and his Jewish heritage, and Catorce
Martinez's (Terasa Sciortino) inability to understand English subtleties
is the source of many jokes. But in electing Princess Lay-Ya (a very
sharp Sandra Thigpen) queen pin, Susman gives the underdog the upper
hand, which Lay-Ya uses to force the superficialities aside to reveal
the very real, raw pain coursing beneath. After such deep diving, the
resurface at play's end is a little easy; nevertheless, the whole
shebang is a much more entertaining evening than the premise portends.
Chris DeCarlo directs. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Continues through April 16. The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse,
1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica, (310) 394-9779.
MUTANT OLIVE Katselas Theater Company presents Mitch Hara's one-man
show. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through May 7. Beverly Hills
Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills.
ORIXAS: GODS OF CANDOBLE Leopold Nunan explores the Afro-Brazilian
mythology and religious folklore of Rio de Janeiro. Fri., April 15, 8:30
p.m.; Sat., April 16, 8:30 p.m. Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th
St., Santa Monica, (310) 315-1459, highwaysperformance.org.
OTHELLO William Shakespeare's tragedy. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Continues through April 16, latensemble.com. Powerhouse Theatre, 3116
Second St., Santa Monica, (310) 396-3680.
RETURN FROM THE ASHES Brad Geagley's adaptation of Hubert
Monteilhet's novel about a woman impersonating a woman impersonating
herself. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through
April 24. Theatre 40 at the Reuben Cordova Theater, 241 Moreno Dr.,
Beverly Hills, (310) 364-0535, theatre40.org.
RUMORS Neil Simon's comedy about a suburban dinner and a dead body.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Continues through May 8.
Theater Palisades' Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Road, Pacific
Palisades, (310) 454-1970.
SUMMER OF LOVE Roger Bean's take-a-decade-and-run-with-it-musical
about the '60s. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 p.m.; Sundays,
2 p.m. Continues through April 17. Musical Theatre West, 4350 E.
Seventh St., Long Beach, (562) 856-1999, musical.org.
NEW REVIEW TARTUFFE A few minutes into Jon Kellam's
rendering of Molière's classic farce, you know you're not in for a
routine production. There's the flowery, drawn-out introduction by
Steven Porter, spoken in French with audio translation; the colorful
mass of balloons heaped at center stage; and sound effects from the
“noisy corner,” courtesy of Jef Bek, who plays various percussion
instruments and keyboard organ. All nice touches in this tale about a
hypocritical scoundrel who by dint of pious pretense and subterfuge
wreaks havoc on a respectable Frenchman and his family. However, Kellam
has his sights on underscoring the work's timelessness via David Ball's
breezy adaptation, which bestrides the author's 17th century, our own
era and various points between. The effect is more of an imposition than
an illumination. It's also interlarded with much that is digressive and
not at all funny. The physical comedy is effectual — to a point — but
it starts to wear especially thin in the languorous Act 2, along with
Bek's seemingly endless potpourri of sound effects. Cast performances
are lively and engaging, the one exception being a flat Pierre Adeli
(who in all fairness was brought in a week earlier in place of the
ailing Scott Harris), in the critical role of Tartuffe. Fully memorable
are Ben Kahookele's gorgeous costumes, and Mary Eileen O'Donnell's
smattering of props, which are cleverly designed and used. The Actors'
Gang, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m.,
thru April 30. (310) 838-4264, theactorsgang.com. (Lovell Estell III)
UNSCRIPTED REP Impro Theatre's improvised, full-length plays in the
styles of William Shakespeare, Tennesee Williams, and Stephen Sondheim.
Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.
Continues through May 29. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.,
L.A., (310) 477-2055, odysseytheatre.com.
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