WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT TAKE TWO SHARON LAWRENCE

 Because of the unique presentation of  this "experiment' / "experience" :  One actor, no director, no rehearsal, one performance : a cold read, I must offer full  disclosure, this is my second review. 

After seeing Sandra Tsing Loh's inspired performance and having been  a fan of Sharon Lawrence, I asked to see her  present the same script that Sandra performed.

Sharon Lawrence did  not disappoint!

Sharon is 63 and looks younger. It's in the play. 

That said, I must recommend more highly White Rabbit Red Rabbit  because in the now two performances I've attended, the feelings.. the atmosphere in the room is so affected by the script that the depth of the author's message is undeniable. 

It's a challenge to accept the task of holding forth on a stage essentially flying  blind without a net to mix a metaphor.   Ms Lawrence succeeds! The audience succeeds. Clap hands.

The author, Nassim Soleimanpour,  addresses the audience through the actor. He is Iranian and wrote this piece in 2010. There is a dark undercurrent presented as Ms Lawrence comes upon it, she  fearlessly presses on.

The reason this is 'important' theatre is because both the audience and the actor involve each other facing decisions and questions about authority and even what 'art' is or what it might be. 

Lawrence mostly sits.  She presents the action of the play flawlessly.  My bias goes back to NYPD Blue and her  gritty role as Sylvia Costas.   I was very interested to see how she'd fare in this experiment. Her complete commitment and instant communication is impressive.

A guy who did a sort of curtain speech never introduced himself. The play doesn't really need a warm up guy.  After the show he stood at the exit to the theatre with a cell phone camera soliciting reactions.  

Don't watch them.  

Entering this arena tabula rasa is vital. This piece is an important adjunct to the Art of Theatre because of the unique experience of neither the actor nor the audience having any preconceived notions.  

I met the reviewer from Curtain Up and asked him his lead line. Without dropping a stitch, he said, "The Play's the Thing"..  Truer words . True Words. 

Just go!  Participate in  this experience. There's baklava after the show!

 WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT 

by  Nassim Soleimanpour 

WHEN:
May 11 through June 22:
• Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 p.m.
• Sundays at 2 p.m.
Every Monday, the Fountain will roll out the names of the “rabbits” (performers) on their website and social media who are set to take the stage that week.

WHERE:
The Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90029
(Fountain at Normandie)

TICKET PRICES:
$25 – $45:
• Premium Seating: $45
• Regular Seating: $40
• Seniors 65 or older: $35 (regular seating only)
• Students: $25 (valid ID required)
• Monday nights: Regular seating ($40) and Pay–What–You–Want (subject to availability)

PARKING:
• Secure, on-site parking: $5
• Street parking available in the neighborhood north of Fountain Ave.
• No parking after 6 p.m. on Mariposa or Alexandria Avenues south of Fountain Ave.
• Allow extra time to find street parking; make sure to read all parking signs

HOW:
FountainTheatre.com
(323) 663-1525

Posted by Sheehan at 3:54 PM

ARE YOU AS MAD AS HELL? GRT : network

 

NETWORK . the award winning film  comes to the NHo stage at Lonny Chapman's Group Repertory Theatre.

Network Cast  Photos by Doug Engalla

Set in 1975, Paddy Chayefsky's  genius via Lee Hall's adaptation, gets off to a rocky start with the lead actress unable to go on, leaving it to the amazing Anica Petrovic as Diana, book in hand embracing the driven television  executive Diana Christiansen.. orgasm and all.   

Howard Beal (Bert Emmett) is a veteran news caster for UBS television.  UBS is tanking in the ratings and Howard's job is on the chopping block. Alcohol may be a factor. 

Suddenly, the 'Truth' as seen through the experience of author Paddy Chayefsky's vision emerges.

Memories of the film are impossible to not recall.  The stage version of NETWORK  is  extremely cinematic with short  episodic scenes. The stage crew moving as fast as they can creates inevitable pauses.

2025 celebrates the fifty-second year in production by the intrepid GRT company. For longevity alone accolades  are in order. In the spirit of The Show Must Go On!  Anica Petrovic as Diana shreds the part  with such enthusiasm that her referencing the script was never an issue. 

A subplot with program exec Max Schumacher       (Larry Toffler)) falling for Diana shows her true colors.

Larry Toffler, Anica Petrovic_Photo by Doug Engalla

Again, Ms Petrovic shines.

As Howard climbs the ratings ladder pronouncing radical ideas from 1975: he sends up red lanterns to alert the public to the issues of the day. The polemic blossoms with real issues that we, here in 2025, may find familiar.

With over twenty  members of the cast, director Tom Lazarus (who also designed the set), has his hands full..   As we tumble into  a climax, the combination of the excellent tech by  Sammy Strittmatter and some fine performances from a dedicated cast brings the show off ultimately: well done.

Please support this intrepid company and tell them I sent you.

  CAST:

Howard Beale            Bert Emmett*

Arthur Jensen             Fox Carney

Max Schumacher       Larry Toffler  

Louise Shumacher     Belinda Howell

Khan The Terrorist     Cathy Diane Tomlin*  

Frank Hackett             Tack Sappington  

Diana Christiansen      Anica Petrovic

Director                       Mimi Kmet      

Harry Hunter               Hudson Long

Schlesinger                  Melissa Lugo

Ed Ruddy                     Kevin Michael Moran

Warm Up Person/Continuity/Announcer      Bob McCollum

Floor Manager              Linda Alznauer*   

Jack Snowden               Patrick Anthony*

Sheila, Production Assistant           Stevie Stern

ELA Robbery Terrorists                 Danny Salay Sherrick O’Quinn

Kidnapped Heiress                       Amy Shaughnessy

Make-up                                         Angie Lin    

Wardrobe                                        Cynthia Bryant

Newsroom Tech/Camera Person    Tom O’Shea

 CREW

Production Team

Tom Lazarus (Director/Set Design)

Stevie Stern (Producer)

Ellen Monocroussos (Lighting Design)

Shon LeBlanc (Costume Design)

Mikaela Padilla (Sound Design)

Sammy Strittmatter (Audio/Visuals)

Denise Downer (Marketing)

Nora Feldman (Public Relations)

Doug Haverty (Graphic Design)

Suzy London (Artistic Council Liaison)

Kristin Stancato (Webmaster & Online Marketing)

Doug Engalla (Promotional Video & Photography)

Jackie Shearn (Social Media)

Dan O’Connell (Sound Consultant)

Lee Redmond (Set Build Foreman)

Cathy Diane Tomlin (Production Stage Manager)

Tori Austin (Assistant Stage Manager)

NETWORK  by Lee Hall adapted from the 1976 feature screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky. 

Directed by Tom Lazarus.

The Group Rep Theatre – Main Stage (first floor) is located at 10900 Burbank

Blvd., North Hollywood 91601. General Admission: $36. Students/Seniors with

ID: $30. Groups 10+: $25. Purchase Tickets: thegrouprep.com Reservations &

Information: (818) 763-5990. Free street parking and free limited early bird lot

parking next to the theatre.

Performance Schedule 

Friday, May 23 at 8:00pm – Opening Night Reception Backstage After Performance

Saturday, May 24 at 8:00pm

Sunday, May 25 at 2:00pm – Talkback with Cast & Staff after the matinee

Friday, May 30 at 8:00pm

Saturday, May 31 at 8:00pm

Sunday, June 1 at 2:00pm – Talkback with Cast & Staff after the matinee

Friday, June 6 at 8:00pm

Saturday, June 7 at 8:00pm

Sunday, June 8 at 2:00pm

Friday, June 13 at 8:00pm

Saturday, June 14 at 8:00pm

Sunday, June 15 at 2:00pm

Friday, June 20 at 8:00pm

Saturday, June 21 at 8:00pm

Sunday, June 22 at 2:00pm

Friday, June 27 at 8:00pm

Saturday, June 28 at 8:00pm

Sunday, June 29 at 2:00pm (Show Ends)

The Group Rep Theatre – Main Stage (first floor) is located at 10900 Burbank Blvd., NoHo 91601.  Look for the bright multi-cultural mural on the outside of the building.

 

LOVE'S END.. at The Odyssey

 

French playwright Pascal Rambert's LOVE'S END as a multinational hit chimes in with the current presentation of White Rabbit Red Rabbit at The Fountain. Each production has had years of successful productions  presented in dozens of languages. International Hits! Impressive!

Featuring Beejan Land and Ann Sonneville 

Beejan Land and Ann Sonneville Photo by Cooper Bates

in what might be deemed a 'two hander' but.. the style and the challenge of the dialogue  with. Beejan, the  partner..  first declaring that what was love is now not love even though the foundation of the relationship is fraught? with loving? is delivered in a monologue. It's rough.

Ms Sonneville, as the other partner listens as Land  spends the first half of the piece  free associating sharply moving to divorce while Sonneville....   Listens.  

Attias's static direction  leaves the couple virtually motionless, the physical distance approptiately wide and vacant.  Land rages:  angry and resolute, with little variety demanding the distance  between  his needs and desires that dismiss those of Ann. He also demands "stuff."  A chair. A charcoal drawing.

Beejan lays out his piece and Ann, having been made to suffer his heavy slings and arrows stops him as he attempts to exit the stage.

A breath.. 

Ann has absorbed what Beejan has had to say.. his attempt at cruelty.. his demands.. and in her own 'poetic way'    Ann responds.. It's brutal. 

My difficulty with this second part of the discussion regards where Beejan winds up physically: way down right  With his lambasting Ann, we see much of the reactions in her, but Beejan, now, is in the dark and as Ann lays out her slashing retort .. She takes stage with a vengeance; pounding away with memories and vitriol.

 Ow.

Playwright Pascal Rambert has said, "“The play does not pit one lover against the other. That would be too easy. I’m trying rather to draw two trajectories that, at a certain point, find a form of freedom after an impossible suffering. That story is not the same as the story of a couple splitting up.”

Oh? Really? It's complicated.

The remarkable skills of both Land and Sonneville accomplish an odd expression of love. The essence and the vibration permeate the piece. "I hope you have an inner life.." says Ann.

Returning to The Odyssey, artist in residence director Maurice Attias with a long list of credits  brings a human element to this sad tale. The choice to keep the action static: placing Land in the dark as Sonneville's retorts ebb and flow .. razor sharp filled with passion that slices and dices the man now incapable to escape, makes it difficult to see his physical reactions. They are felt. Perhaps that was the goal.

Is it about the craft of acting? Is it  about life? Yes.. and it's about uncomfortable stuff that the less poetic of each of us at one time or another might  growl. "Oh Yeah? What about YOU?!"

Please plan to experience this excellent production: two well tuned artists delivering amazingly potent lines.. The feat of memory alone is worth a trip to the Odyssey.. 

 Crew:

• Set Design: Stephanie Kerley Schwartz
• Costume Design: Denise Blasor
• Lighting Design: Jackson Funke
• Stage Manager: Jennifer Palumbo
• Poster Artist: Luba Lukova
• Produced for the Odyssey by Beth Hogan and Lucy Pollak
• Presented by Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

  : 

Love's End

(‘Clôture de l’amour’)
• Written by Pascal Rambert
• Translated from the French by Jim Fletcher and Kate Moran
• Directed by Maurice Attias
• Starring Beejan Land and Ann Sonneville
• Produced by Beth Hogan and Lucy Pollak
• Presented by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Beth Hogan, Acting Artistic Director

WHEN:
May 17 through June 15
• Previews:
Thursday, May 15 and Friday, May 16 at 8 p.m.
• Performances:
May 17 through June 15
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. / Sundays at 2 p.m.

WHERE:
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025

TICKET PRICES:
• $20-$43
• Friday, May 23 and Friday, June 6 : Odyssey Theatre “Wine Nights” feature complimentary wine and snacks after the show as well as Pay-What-You-Want admission to the performance.

OTHER:
A post-performance conversation with playwright Pascal Rambert will take place on Friday, June 13.

HOW:
OdysseyTheatre.com
(310) 477-2055 ext. 2

 

 

WHITE RABBIT , RED RABBIT AT THE FOUNTAIN

Nassim Soleimanpour's   White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a trip to the Circus unlike any scripted theatre piece I've ever seen or heard about.  It's a challenge for the actor and for the audience. Really.. and very exciting.. 

According to Raymond O. Caldwell, Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre..  it is not a play but AN EXPERIENCE.. True true true.. 

Virtually anything might happen. Actually, this was a wonderful challenge for me personally as a critic and a member of the audience.  Dramatic tesion falls to the actor reading the script for the first time and the audience ..hopefully.. right on board. One performance for each actort. One shot.

 

Poor you!!!  

and grateful me.. 

Sandra Tsing Loh was up ..  her one performance. A totally cold read. Sandra was handed the script in a sealed envelope and away we went. 

This 'review' is of a one time experience.  Only I and about 43 other audience members now are a band of brothers and sisters who are uniquely bonded by the circumstances of a Sunday trip to.. the Circus.. Tsing Loh is an exceptional performer. Others in the audiece participated.  The  Bear and the Rabbit rocked.   Cheers!

 

    Every production is Opening Night. Every show is brand new. Every iteration features only one actor.  No director.  There's a brightly stark beauty of a set echoing the white rabbit red rabbit theme.

The press release says that this is an examination  of power and authority and our reaction to the author's message. He speaks personally to us through his text.   His blood type is O+..

This caveat comes with the press invitation:

" (from the playwright): This play is NOT overtly political, and should not be portrayed as such. It operates on a deeper, metaphoric level, and very expressly avoids overt political comment." 

 

Wow!

The beauty of this amazing idea is that the flow and success of the script turns on how committed the actor is to following the stage directions and to what degree the audience comes to their aid.  Totally presentatonal.. except maybe the rabbit and the bear briefly.. It all worked.  

The business of the White Rabbit and Red Rabbit experiment is a little hard to report. I wish I had the script to refer to. I'd like to see if I could report it properly.  Science:  Behavorial Science is this part. When you go to see YOUR perforance, pay attention..     Bring a carrot. 

There may or may not be poison. There may or may not be danger. The contemplation of seventeen plus one ways to commit suicide are delivered fraught with the question "What if.." Pay attention.. Lives may be at stake!  

Sandra Tsing Loh

Sandra Tsing Loh

was the featured actor for this performance. She's a pistol from NPR and her other ventures including a lot of books and a Christmas show I loved at East West Players a while back.   

Check your expectations at the door and wade in prepared to be challenged to participate. Please pay  careful attention to the metaphor of the Rabbits. 

Irene Lacher was tasked to read the final few pages of the scriptt, enthusiastically acted out by Ms Loh.  Irene was as fully committed as Sandra had been to the  directions in the script.  Great Hair!

Set design and lighting by The Fountain Staff.

You'll want to see it again.  I hope the Fountain may entertain an idea to encourage appreciative audiences to return.  I hope to. And, there's baklava!

Photo credit Simon Levy

WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT 

by  Nassim Soleimanpour 

WHEN:
May 11 through June 22:
• Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 p.m.
• Sundays at 2 p.m. except Sunday, May 11 which is at 7 p.m.
Every Monday, the Fountain will roll out the names of the “rabbits” (performers) on their website and social media who are set to take the stage that week.

WHERE:
The Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90029
(Fountain at Normandie)

TICKET PRICES:
$25 – $45:
• Premium Seating: $45
• Regular Seating: $40
• Seniors 65 or older: $35 (regular seating only)
• Students: $25 (valid ID required)
• Monday nights: Regular seating ($40) and Pay–What–You–Want (subject to availability)

PARKING:
• Secure, on-site parking: $5
• Street parking available in the neighborhood north of Fountain Ave.
• No parking after 6 p.m. on Mariposa or Alexandria Avenues south of Fountain Ave.
• Allow extra time to find street parking; make sure to read all parking signs

HOW:
FountainTheatre.com
(323) 663-1525

ANTAEUS IN GLENDALE PRESENTS THE GLASS MENAGERIE

 

It's been over eighty years since The Glass Menagerie first went up on Broadway.  It's a classic. Deep and wide.

Josh Odsess-Rubin and Emily Goss 

Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz Photography

 

Alex Barlas plays The Gentleman Caller in the current production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie at Antaeus Theatre Company on Broadway in Glendale.  Why bring this guy into the review when it's his appearance in the second act that brings the show to a downbeat close? 

Well..  In a quandry .. as I am about this production.. mentioning the memorable set by Angela Balogh Calin that reflects the ambitons of Tom Wingfield (Josh Odsess-Rubin)  the narrator, whose memories are all brought to life in the production.. It is probably TW's voice of the past and ennui?  Jim  O'Connor just doesn't look Irish?  Tom lauds the O'Connor's bravado..which Barlas brings full steam ahead. and his high school popularity.. and confidence.. admirable if a little boffo.. before we meet Jim in the second act,  Director, Carolyn Ratteray, has Tom introduce Jim at the outset on  stage? Tom says he's the most realistic character in the play...

The production with Jim's heavy handed final scene with Laura,  the symbolism of the crystal critters that she tends  so carefully works. Reality meets fantasy.

 

Is Tom, in fact, a sad gay guy.. and is Amanda Wingfield (Gigi Bermingham).. really such a harridan as she flitters into middle age with the glowing  image of Tom and Laura's departed daddy on the wall..  (Daddy sent a postcard "Hello. Goodbye..").  The three of them  live in  a St. Louis apartment.. , St. Louis still a stronghold for segregation. and bigotry until the seventies.. Is this sadness the cloud that literally shapes the story with ..at last.. the electricity going going gone because the bill has not been paid?  

 

If this all sounds a bit free form and wonky as a review of this theatre piece performed a thousand times or more.. it's because this play is a classic and this production .. YES.. recommended..  comes with a caveat. Something's missing.

Contradictions are us. Four excellent actors.. The depth of angst and unhappiness so beautifully written.. Each character with deep desires and the foundation of the past they all share?  It is a challenge.

Does Amanda really need to become Blanche Dubois on steroids all the time?  Does Laura (Emily Goss) need to be over the top stumbletom clunky and falling down  freaked out.. all the time. slowly brought to rein by Jim.. but then.. slapped silly and back to her sad little collection  of delicate treasures? 

Beryl Brachman's period costumes are terrific. The tech that foreshadows the darkness to come works, but we are never quite sure if it's supposed to be a part of the show:  the flickering lights before they are extinguished by neglect?

We come to the theatre with expectations.  To digress.. it's like having read any song lyric and imagining the song..and then.. When the full production of the song lands, we are shocked that it did not sound the way we'd imagined it in our head?

 

The Glass Menagerie was a hit on Broadway in the forties.  Famous actors have played the parts.  The 1950 film was literally illuminated by Gertrude Lawrence as Amanda Wingfield, Jane Wyman as Laura Wingfield, Kirk Douglas as Jim O'Connor, and Arthur Kennedy as Tom Wingfield.

Wow.. Of course, the film, now seventy five years old! .. had the luxury of being more  realistic than the intended dream/memory quality of any stage production..  Comparison is not proper.. but the point is that this deep and moving piece of American Theatre.. to me.. must be nuanced in such a way that the infirmities: the flaws that each of the characters  must live with: survives with? They are complex and deeply three dimensionally flawed.

We can identify with each one to one degree or another. Why, then.. do these characters, shouting almost from the get go not feel three dimensional?  The actors are all competent. They all behave in a style that  reflects what the company agreed upon.  The costumes ..especially Amanda's flowing organdy ball gown and her charming hustle of The Gentleman  Caller .. who to a deep South Southern Belle from Blue Mountain, Mississippi might bring up some ..  questions for her?

Why do all of the words sound like one of the most popular of Tennessee Williams' plays and ..mostly work. but the energies and the strong physical  and emotional .. broad indicators.. struggle to convince?

Is this a wonderful example of Tennessee Williams' ouvre?  Yes.. it is.

Should the house be packed nightly with the memory of the last time you saw or read this piece  of Literature?  Of course. It's American History. American Memory. It's important because it brings to light the deep feelings of the times as the playwright remembered them and created them. How can we not wonder if Tom.. abandoned by his father at the age of sixteen .. if he may have questions regarding his sexual identity?  How can we not feel deeply for Amanda's daily struggle to maintain her dignity and high hopes for both Tom and Laura?  And.. because of a crippling disease, each of us has suffered or known of...  some infirmity that has reshaped our selves.. or that of someone we love?  Tone and presentation in this play call for a subtle undercurrent that drives each of them to where they live  in the middle of challenges to their essential well being. "Subtle" is the key here.  The over the  top approach to each of these people is more superficial than evocative. We know the characters.  We may have studied the play in school?  We understand the basics of protagonist and antagonist. they are clear in The Glass Menagerie. There are no final answers except that when one is  deeply disappointed, we go back to a safe harbor and leave the next day to itself.

That Barlas does not look  Irish and .. with the others over the top in presentation,  falls to the intention of Ms Ratteray and the agreement of the cast. They all perform  as actors with their indiviudal motivations. Each actor is more than competent. It's the agreement to style and presentation that I may quibble with and at the same time encourage everyone who knows and appreciates Tennessee Williams and our excellent local: Antaeus Theatre Company.. to go. There are talk backs and opportunities that educate and inform us.

Is this a mixed review?

Why! Yes it is.. I hope it is fair and that readers will find a way to discuss the show  in a deeper way.  

Michael Sheehan

onstagelosangeles

 

CAST:

JIM O’CONNOR: Alex Barlas

AMANDA WINGFIELD: Gigi Bermingham*

LAURA WINGFIELD: Emily Goss

TOM WINGFIELD: Josh Odsess-Rubin*

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Director: Carolyn Ratteray

Scenic Designer: Angela Balogh Calin

Costume Designer: Beryl Brachman

Lighting Designer: Karyn Lawrence

Sound Designer: Jeff Gardner

Properties Designer: John McElveney

Composer: John Ballinger

Assistant Lighting Designer: Saoirse Sterbinsky

Production Dramaturg/Assistant Director: Jen O'Brien

Production Stage Manager: Jasmine Leung

Assistant Stage Manager: Jessica Osorio

Press Relations : Courtney Agustin

 

The Glass Menagerie 

by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Carolyn Ratteray

 
Antaeus Theatre Company

Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center

110 East Broadway

Glendale, CA 91205

Previews: April 27 - May 2

Performances: May 3 - June 2
Tuesday at 8pm: April 29 (Preview)

Wednesday at 8pm: April 30 (Preview)

Thursdays at 8pm: May 1 (Preview), May 22

Fridays at 8pm: May 2 (Preview), May 23, May 30

Saturdays at 2pm: May 17, May 24

Saturdays at 8pm: May 3 (Opening), May 10, May 17, May 24, May 31
Sundays at 2pm: April 27 (Preview), May 4*, May 11, May 25, June 1

Sunday at 6:30pm: June 1
Mondays at 8pm: May 12**, May 19, June 2 (Closing)

*After Words: A casual post-show discussion with Artistic Director Nike Doukas, exploring how the show resonated, raising new questions, and continuing the conversation.

**Meet the Artists: A post-show conversation with the actors, where they share insights, behind-the-scenes stories, and answer your questions.