Steven Leigh MorrisNEW REVIEW GO TRAVELING CARNIVAL FREAKSHOW
Photo by Chelsea Sutton
If Tod Browning and the Brothers Quay had collaborated on a stage version of The Island of Dr. Moreau,
the results might have resembled this whimsical Gothic fairy tale by
writers Questa Gleason & Chelsea Sutton (Sutton also directs).
Though billed as a “holiday-themed show,” the production's most
refreshing aspect is the absence of a Santa or a sleigh or a shred of
tinsel. Rather than the North Pole, the setting here is a carnival
freak show (courtesy of Lucila Caro's sideshow-tent set) run by the
nefarious barker and black witch, Rena (assistant choreographer
Danielle Cintron). The dominatrix-like Rena's form of vivisection comes
via a knife thrust from her magic dagger, which reverses H.G. Wells by
turning hapless humans into grotesque beasts. Her victims include
Wilhelmina (Beth Ricketson), who has been transformed into a crone
Tarot reader, the henchmen/slaves Santo (choreographer Mason Hallberg)
and Freak (Sahar Yousefi), and star attraction Zada (Gleason), “The
Wooden Monstrosity.” When Rena's itinerant hell show crosses paths with
the penniless Edwin (Jeff Newman), however, his love-at-first-sight
passion for Zada may just prove the white magic of Rena's undoing.
Hallberg's charming dance sequences and the addition of a weekly guest
burlesque artist (this evening featured the fetching, temporarily
tulle-attired Bebe Firefly) inject some appealing spectacle, but the
star of the show is designer Lori Meeker and her vividly expressive
monster masks and costumes. Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel
Canyon Blvd., Valley Village; Fri.-Sat., 9 p.m.; Sun., 8 p.m.; thru
Dec. 19. (818) 508-3003 or eclecticcompanytheatre.org. (Bill Raden)
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NEW THEATER REVIEWS scheduled for publication December 9, 2010
NEW REVIEW GO A CHICAGO CHRISTMAS CAROL In 1906, Upton Sinclair Jr's muckraking novel The Jungle exposed the appalling and oppressive conditions workers faced in the unsanitary U.S. meatpacking industry, and the furor that followed led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. William A. Reilly has devised a clever merging of this backdrop with Charles Dickens' story “A Christmas Carol.” With lyrics by Gary Lamb and directed by Brent Beerman, Reilly's musical transplants the familiar yuletide plotline from London to 1908 Chicago, where the stone-hearted, money-grubbing Scrooge (Lamb) is busy raising rents and turning people out on the street. With corrupt cops in his pocket, Scrooge keeps rabble-rousing union workers such as Timothy Cratchit (Mikhail Roberts) under his shoe. When Scrooge is visited by the imposing ghost of his former partner Marley (a seemingly 8-foot-tall Dave Berges with a nice basso profundo) Scrooge reflects on the decisions of his past and his lost love. The cast of 13 is well-costumed by Tanya Apuya and Caitlin Erin O'Hare, but less well served by the tame choreography and unimaginative, unambitious songs, one of which (“Memories Past”) borrows liberally from “Baby It's Cold Outside.” Yet Paton Ashbrook as Scrooge's intended, Isabella, shares a lovely duet with him in “When We Are Wed” and Sadie Calvano shines as the little girl cast onto the street. Crown City Theatre, 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood; Sun., 3 & 7 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Dec. 19. (818) 745-8527. (Pauline Adamek)
NEW REVIEW GO EXIT 10
Photo courtesy of Theatre 68
The formula for a classic country song is simple: hard livin', hard lovin' man, born with a rambler's soul and a soft spot for whiskey and women, leaves his long-suffering lady because he knows he's no good for her. Playwright Daniel Dean Darst was a studio music writer in Nashville, so he's built his semi-autobiographical world premiere on just that premise. When he steps onstage as Mike, Stetson shadowing his sunglass-shaded eyes, weaving stories in a slow, low voice reminiscent of the voice of God (if God once had a pack-a-day Marlboro habit) and singing songs that blanket the audience in a haze of longing, you lean forward to breathe in every word he sighs out. But when he passes the stage on to the past, and a younger version of himself, it's a rude awakening from the sweet, sad nostalgia he's conjured. As Young Mike, Paul Teodo still has Darst's poetic words to speak, but not his gift of storytelling. Bryan Bellomo, who plays persnickety to perfection (he uses an oil rag to answer the phone in the garage in which the two men work), is more nuanced eating a donut in semi-darkness than Teodo is in a monologue venting his frustration to his deceased father. In Act 2, set designers Jade and Patricia Altman awe with a 1960s diner that's faithful down to its handwritten chalkboard menu (the plastic Coke bottle spied behind the counter the lone errancy), and Darst's reappearance draws relief. Too bad it's momentary. Go, but be prepared to leave wanting more of him, not this particular production. Michael Altman directs. Theatre 68, 5419 Sunset Blvd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun, 7 p.m.; thru January 23. (323) 501-0511. (Rebecca Haithcoat)
NEW REVIEW GO KEN ROHT'S 99 CENT-ONLY SAME-O: AN ELECTRIC BALLAD
Photo by Ashley West Leonard
Writer-director-choreographer-composer Ken Roht originally launched his series of annual extravaganzas as shows utilizing mostly cheap materials available from the 99¢ Only Stores, but this year to dramatize sustainability, he's added a subtitle, Paper Not Plastic, and added a dazzling array of paper and cardboard from Green Paper Alliance. The results are wondrous. To craft this “whimsical-surrealist theatrical collage,” Roht has assembled a cast of 18 versatile actors, singers and dancers, co-written the stirring score with musical director John Ballinger, provided the lively choreography, and assembled a huge cadre of designers and visual artists. They've concocted a show that suggests the Ziegfeld Follies on acid. David Offner has designed the handsome set of butcher paper and corrugated cardboard, and designer Ann Closs-Farley created the ingenious and eye-popping paper costumes, awash in butterflies and flowers. As a response to the passing of Proposition 8, Roht builds his show around a pair of male lovers, Eddie and Fred (Max Faugno and Stephen Heath), and for a finale he provides them with a lavish gay wedding. Like all the 99¢ Only shows, this is a holiday celebration, if not exactly a Christmas show. It's more like Mardi Gras or the Winter Solstice. Bootleg Theatre, 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru December 19. (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org Neal Weaver)
NEW REVIEW THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT
Photo by Ed Krieger
Stephen Adly Giurgis sets his play in Purgatory, where Judas is on trial for his betrayal of Jesus, with events and characters filtered through a decidedly modern, urban sensibility. For most of Act 1, it's engrossing stuff, but Giurgis' tone grows uncertain, and he seems to be playing both ends against the middle: After establishing an irreverent, sassy, revisionist tone, he veers into a reverent, earnest mode. And the piece goes on too long, well past the point of diminishing returns. Fortunately director Jeremy Aluma has given it a terrific production, with a huge and sterling cast. Tony Gatto shines as the irascible judge, Nick Mills is a flamboyant prosecuting attorney, and the defense attorney played by Jessica Culaciati defends her client by indicting everybody else, from Mother Teresa (Angie Light) to Caiaphas the Elder (Adam Tsekhman) and Pontius Pilate (Paul Tully). Levi Sochet's Satan is a smooth, glad-handing hipster, Lowam Eyasu is a Saint Monica with attitude, and as Judas, Vincent Mentry gives texture and credibility to a role that is largely passive till near the end. Fred Kinney and Staci Walters provide the fancifully handsome set, with ominous sound design by Adam Smith. The Alexandria Hotel, 501 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru Dec. 12. Produced by Urban Theatre Movement with Company of Angels. urbantheatremovement.com (Neal Weaver)
NEW REVIEW OUR BEDS ARE CROWDED There's never exactly two people in a relationship. Some days, a couple's crowded by memories of their exes; other days, they're together but feeling alone. Christie Perfetti's seven short plays about relationships are at these two extremes: these floundering lovers are thinking of someone else, or more often, talking directly to the audience as though their amour didn't exist. What's rare is a moment of two-person connection — for every intimacy Perfetti invites us to witness, there's a complicating soliloquy where one partner attempts to predict and elude the other's reaction. And lest we connect to these 14 struggling souls as people, she's stripped them of their names and dubbed them The Receptionist, The Russian and The Mistress, etc. In “The Neighbor,” a bored artist (Liana Johnston) is waiting for the boy next door (Gregory Guardino) to tick her off and then try to get in her bed. In “The Proposal,” an overworked doctor (Tracey Silver) tries to outwit her girlfriend's (Diane Chernansky) fight-starting emotional tests. Perfetti's stories are shot through with cynicism and a small, furtive hope that love could somehow, maybe, one day, be simple. But director Stefan Lysenko can't heat up these icy tales, and the stiff ensemble and nearly three hour running time aren't helping. Still, Annie O'Neil's solo performance in “The Magazine” sticks with you after the curtain. She plays a bereaved mother who discovers her teenage son's porn subscription after her death. These lesbian leather nudie mags are first a toast to her boy's secret joys, then a painful monthly reminder, then an opportunity for her husband to play hero, and lastly, a symbol of the youth she traded in to be a mother. As her feelings evolve, we feel lucky to be let into her inner journey. Write Act Theater, 6128 Yucca St., Hlywd.; Mon.-Tues., 7:30 p.m.; thru Dec. 21. (323) 469-3113. (Amy Nicholson)
NEW REVIEW THE STORIES OF CESAR CHAVEZ Staged sparely, with no director credited, writer-performer Fred Blanco's solo show looks at the life of Cesar Chavez, interspersing his ruminations with portraits of other people who played a significant role in this notable man's life. Blanco frames his chronicle around a prayerful communion between Chavez, a steadfast Catholic, and the Virgin of Guadalupe, whom he turns to for strength and guidance during one of his fasts, protesting the inhumane treatment of Hispanic farm workers. First developed as an educational vehicle, the story harks back to Chavez's Texas childhood, when he was physically chastised in school for speaking Spanish, and up through his adolescence, when he and some friends were harassed for sitting in the “whites only” section of a movie theater. We follow his transformation into a national labor leader. The show's most dynamic moments paradoxically came not from Blanco's portrait of the storied hero but instead from his portraiture of Chavez' nemeses – one of them a ruthless employer with zero respect for the workers' humanity, and the other a rival activist, whose rage against injustice brought forth a call for violent action that Chavez firmly opposed. Both monologues serve as solid showcases for Blanco's skills as a performer, more so than his rendering of Chavez, a performance which lacks immediacy. Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Dr., L.A.; Sun., 7 p.m.; Tues., Dec. 7, 8 p.m.; Tues., Dec. 14, 8 p.m.; thru Dec. 12. (310) 281-8337. (Deborah Klugman)
NEW REVIEW GO TRAVELING CARNIVAL FREAKSHOW
Photo by Chelsea Sutton
If Tod Browning and the Brothers Quay had collaborated on a stage version of The Island of Dr. Moreau, the results might have resembled this whimsical Gothic fairy tale by writers Questa Gleason & Chelsea Sutton (Sutton also directs). Though billed as a “holiday-themed show,” the production's most refreshing aspect is the absence of a Santa or a sleigh or a shred of tinsel. Rather than the North Pole, the setting here is a carnival freak show (courtesy of Lucila Caro's sideshow-tent set) run by the nefarious barker and black witch, Rena (assistant choreographer Danielle Cintron). The dominatrix-like Rena's form of vivisection comes via a knife thrust from her magic dagger, which reverses H.G. Wells by turning hapless humans into grotesque beasts. Her victims include Wilhelmina (Beth Ricketson), who has been transformed into a crone Tarot reader, the henchmen/slaves Santo (choreographer Mason Hallberg) and Freak (Sahar Yousefi), and star attraction Zada (Gleason), “The Wooden Monstrosity.” When Rena's itinerant hell show crosses paths with the penniless Edwin (Jeff Newman), however, his love-at-first-sight passion for Zada may just prove the white magic of Rena's undoing. Hallberg's charming dance sequences and the addition of a weekly guest burlesque artist (this evening featured the fetching, temporarily tulle-attired Bebe Firefly) inject some appealing spectacle, but the star of the show is designer Lori Meeker and her vividly expressive monster masks and costumes. Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village; Fri.-Sat., 9 p.m.; Sun., 8 p.m.; thru Dec. 19. (818) 508-3003 or eclecticcompanytheatre.org. (Bill Raden)
NEW REVIEW GO WEST SIDE STORY If you've ever come across a letter or diary entry written by a younger version of a parent or grandparent, a whole new window into that person opens up, humanizing them in a way that may otherwise have seemed impossible. This touring production of the 2009 Broadway revival does the same for Jerome Robbins' musical set in 1950s New York and loosely adapted from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In fact, librettist Arthur Laurents, who both revived it and directed the Broadway version, stated, “The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every member of both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now they actually will be.” And indeed they are: menacing, libidinous, unvarnished and raw. However, grit is not the sole element of heightened authenticity in this revival. The translation of a large portion of Laurents' book and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics into Spanish (courtesy of Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of In The Heights, itself an echo of West Side Story) rounds out the Puerto Rican sabor of the Sharks and their girlfriends, taking them beyond caricature and stereotype–not to mention the indignity of being played in brownface. In a sense, this production, which also reproduces Robbins' original choreography courtesy of Joey McKneely and a talented cast, could be considered more faithful to Robbins' original vision than any major one to date. David Saint's direction is crisply paced and lightly played, crescendoing at the appropriate moments without spilling over into brassy Broadway-gasms. James Youmans' 'industrial minimalism' scenic design features strong diagonals that are accentuated by Howell Binkley's angular lighting, which radically and beautifully shifts during the prismatic dream ballet of “Somewhere.” “America” features particularly gorgeous three-part vocal harmonies that feature the delicately powerful soprano of Ali Ewoldt (Maria), whose voice plays nicely against the resonant baritone of Kyle Harris (Tony). Musical director John O'Neill skillfully utilizes them both in holding the musical numbers close to climax without providing a release until the last possible moment. And though their contributions are more theatrical than vocal, Mike Boland (Krupke) and Christopher Patrick Mullen (Lt. Schrank) serve as the properly menacing long arm of the law, instead of the stooges they are often played as. As a result, the overriding authenticity of the piece keeps this classic as dangerous, edgy and relevant in 2010 as it was in 1957. The Pantages Theater, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; Dec. 21 – Jan. 2 (holiday schedule): Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m.; Thurs., 2 & 8 p.m.; Fri. 2 p.m.; Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; thru Dec. 19 (800) 982-2787. BroadwayLA.org (Mayank Keshaviah)
GO THE WOOSTER GROUP: VIEUX CARRE
Photo by Nancy Campbell
Multimedia staging of Tennessee
Williams' memory play about a young writer in a New Orleans boarding
house. REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., L.A.; Wed.-Sat., 8:30 p.m.; Sun., 7
p.m.; thru Dec. 12. (213) 237-2800. See Theater feature on Wednesday.
NEW REVIEW THE ZOMBIE HOLIDAY SPECIAL This irreverent departure from the customary Yuletide faire has some gleaming moments of comedy, but not enough to leave a lasting impression. It's formatted as a Christmas TV special hosted by a family whose members consist of the living and the undead. Mom and Dad (Patrick Bristow and Peggy Etra) have that squeaky clean '50 sitcom look, as does son Gavin (Grant Baciocco), daughter Merry (Vanessa Whitney) and lovable ol' Grandma (Alison Mork). There's even a token Jew named David (Matt Vlahakis), who sports a yarmulke and prayer shawl. The comic sizzle comes from the Jayne Entwistle as Holly, and Chris Sheets as Grandpa — both are green-faced zombies joining the festivities post-mortem. Despite Director Bristow's best efforts to sustain the humor, overkill sets in, and the jokes wear thin. The cast really shines during the improvisational segments. In one hilarious instance, the family puts on a display of culinary pizzazz, accompanied by a hilarious musical ditty. Improvatorium at Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Dec. 18. (323) 960-7612. (Lovell Estell III)
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