STARMITES AT THE OPEN FIST

 

“The Banshees”
L to R: Sophie Oda, Elle Engelman,
Sarah Martellaro and Emily Rafala
Photo courtesy of Open Fist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Picture, if you will.. another reality .. (in the voice of Rod Serling?) where the challenges of good and evil lurk in fantastic tunes.  "A moving picture (sic) fantasy?"  "Cosmic Visions (sic)? "

Open Fist in Atwater is full of surprises, not the least of which is this sparkly Broadway Musical: Starmites!  It's a 35 year old sort of high school show with broad characters and some sort of a message that is basically, good overcoming evil and all shall be well. 

The audience loved it on opening night.  

 Scott Peterman directs (and designed the expensive and impressive and workable set housing live musicians and glorious projections that keep the ball in the air.)  The energy for the good guys (The Starmites!) and the bad girls with dangerous hair and jungle talons (The Banshees) has an air of effort that I think the director may intend. We all know that this is a pretty good  show with a pretty good score and some cute numbers. Clearly cut good guys and  bad girls are sort of tongue in cheek and the audience is in on the joke.   

Eleanor (Talia Gloster who also plays Bizarbara and Milady) is addicted to grahic novels: comic books. Her mom Cat Davis (wicked also as Diva, the powerful witch), is fed up with Eleanor's apparent obsession and puts her library collection up on EBay! There's a bidding war!  Eleanor should be doing more with her life. Because of an SOS sent out from Innerspace by the Starmites,  Eleanor is drawn to this Other World as a Super Hero to aid the Starmites in their quest to defeat the Shak Graa (the resident villain and, darn it  whom we don't know plays the part!) to seek out the The Cruelty (a powerful floating guitar) and all shall be well. It's almost classic Joseph Campbell, heavy on the Camp.

There's a lot of exposition in the musical numbers. We meet the mostly lizardly Gollum, Trinkulus (Brendan Mulally), who signs on to guide the gang into a dark scary forest that I forgot the name of  to find The Cruelty.  Trink's headgear was an issue but no one seemed to mind.

Thanks to music director Jan Roper on keyboards and Andrew Crawford, drums  with ?? on guitar, in front of  huge projection screens that delineate the settings, the live music carries the day.

Lines like the Banshees singing, "We're workin' up our juices for your tender young cabooses! " and the broad presentational aspect set the tone for some Broadway fun.

Cast of Characters
Eleanor/Bizarbara...Talia Gloster
Mother/Diva ...Cat Davis*
Space Punk ...Bradley Sharper
S’up S’up Sensaboi ...Alex Hogy
Ack Ack Hackerax ...Rieves Bowers
Diggety Razzledazzle ...Jasper Wong
Trinkulus ...Brendan Mulally
Shotzi ...Sophie Oda*
Balbraka ...Lindsey Moore Ford
Canibelle ...Elle Engelman
Hollaback ... Sarah Martellaro
Banshee Swing ... Emily Rafala
Shak Graa  ... ???
Droids ...Jack David Sharpe

The Band

Keys ... Jan Roper

Drums / percussion ... Andrew Crawford

 

STARMITES

 
• Music and Lyrics by Barry Keating
• Book by Stuart Ross and Barry Keating
• Directed by Scott Peterman
• Music Direction by Jan Roper
• Choreography by Becca Sweitzer
• Fight Choreography by Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum

OPEN FIST THEATRE

Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039
• FREE parking in the ATX (Atwater Crossing) lot one block south of the theater.

Previews: May 27–June 1

Performances: June 2–July 8
• Thursday at 8 p.m.: June 1 (preview)
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: June 2 (opening); June 9; June 16; June 23; June 30; July 7
• Saturdays at 3 p.m.: June 3 and June 24
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: May 27 (preview); June 10; June 17; July 1; July 8 (no evening performance on June 3 or June 24)
• Sundays at 3 p.m.: May 28 (preview); June 18; June 25; July 2 (no matinee on June 4 or June 11)
• Sundays at 7 p.m.: June 4 (Gala Performance with pre-show reception at 6 p.m.) and June 11

• FREE parking in the ATX (Atwater Crossing) lot one block south of the theater.

TICKET PRICES:

• All performances except Sunday, June 4 and previews:
  • General Admission: $35
  • Seniors: $30
  • Students/Children: $25
  • Family Pack (2 adults and 2 children): $100
• Opening Weekend Gala Performance (Sunday, June 4): $50 (includes pre-show reception)
• Previews: Pay-What-You-Want (minimum $10)

 
www.openfist.org
(323) 882-6912

“No Place Like Gandersheim” at the Skylight

Editor's Note:

This review is somewhat patchwork, not unlike the backdrop for a play to be produced within the production itself.  Rather than edit for clarity, because there are still questions about this play, please read with a kind eye.  It is intended to shed light on the production, but may look a little like a chicken. 

///////////////////////////

 

“No Place Like Gandersheim”  by Elizabeth Dement .. with apologies to The Rocky Horror Show..  "Let's Do the Time Warp Again.." 

In three or four "scenes" the play becomes an  ambitious take on creativity. The world of theatre meets Show Biz. and then!!  (thanks  to  Buzz Lightyear: )   "To Infinity and Beyond."

Shades of Hildegard von Bingen, a German nun whose interest in music and extraordinary  talent later got her canonized, Sister Roz's (Jamey Hood) satirical play gives an historic bent to where a woman's  place.. especially in a cloistered 10th Century German convent, might be. Von Bingen was a musical prodigy with a  mystical take.  Sister Roz  is a playwright who may have learned Latin and / or Greek from the plays of a thousand years earlier by the liberated Roman slave,Terence.  Roz says that her play is a satire. She hopes to make Mother Superior Berga's (Shannon Holt) big wig Uncle Otto,  The Holy Roman  Emperor, laugh.

Jamey Hood, Lauren Gaw and Shannon Holt

Dement's dialogue flowing at counterpoint to the historical times is creatively anachronistic.    There is a sapphic spin.   Roz likes women... even more than Jesus! Madlen (Lauren Gaw)   resists the idea of playing the lacivious 'pots and pans' guy in Roz's comedy. When Otto exits the performance of Roz's play, I'm still not sure why.. Roz sees this as the imposition of the patriarchy.  "In a world ruled by men, women will never be safe," says Roz to the overly devout Madlen. 

 Theophanu (Charrell Mack)appears with her third baby at her breast and in her hip and casual way extols the virtues of Greek culture. The Greeks use masks!

Then:

Impressive effects by Shannon Barondeau blast us  forward a thousand years.  

Present day: Hollywood.

Roz is a lesbian mom, the mother of fifteen year old Thea (again, Lauren Gaw).  Roz is the showrunner for a popular network television show that may be getting Emmy buzz: "The Order", which is.. Surprise! revolves around nuns in Tenth Century Germany.   The predominance  of people with penises in power is still problematic. In this present day situation, Mallory (Shannon Holt), over the top "Queenpen  to be" of The UBC Television Network, fulfills the stereotypical personality of every network executive.. almost ever. (Tartikoff might have been a mench?) High energy abounds. . Holt does an amazing one eighty from Mother Superior Berga, the abbess of the Gandersheim Abby. Playwright Dement's exposure of how Hollywood "works" is spelled out clearly as the tables turn with secrets exposed that deep six Roz's television series. Oh Well.

 

As we are spun into what seems to be a happily dystopian future,  the issues of where Artificial Intelligence may be headed, especially with recent discussions regarding what Siri and her pals are up to, is chilling. In this future scenario,  the holodeck that entertains the denizens of more than one Star Trek series, the ability to interact with virtually any time, space or person  becomes Roz's final challenge as a writer.  "Have you been uploaded?" Vita (again Ms Mack), wants to know, sporting a great kiester in her 25 year old body. Immortality rocks!? 

 

Propaganda? Preaching to the world? To the choir?

Thomas Berger's "Regiment of Women" posits a world where women have risen to despotic ranks,   , of power, emulating the sterotypically gross male personae, while men are "assigned" to frills and makeup. What happens in this mildly pedantic theatre piece is for the audience to reckon a time when creativity and daring may begin to turn the tide.  Hello Ms Rhimes? Ms Campion? Tina Fey?

Will there be a time when men and women may stand on a level playing field? The good humor of Dement's characters and the lessons, especially from Theophanu (and interestingly, as well as from Kaya & Vita),   that victory may be reserved only for the truly bold. 

We all stand on the shoulders of others. Excellent performances by each actor (dare I say actress?) make the evening worth while. And, like it or not,  we still live in a patriarchy. 

 

In his Opening Night curtain speech, Artistic Director, Gary Grossman applauds, as does the audience, that this production, in development for many years, is produced in all aspects, by  women. A 'forty year marathon' has kept  The Skylight Theatre alive! with goals for forty more years. Right on !

If this show is any example of what strong and dedicated women can do, more power to the distaff. The characters in the 'present day' segment of the play are interesting stereotypes.  Recalcitrant and moody daughter, Thea, named for Tenth Century Theaphenu;  High Energy and crusty Mallory and Roz. the now modern and thoughtful and successful TV showrunner.  Toss in the next generation of successful and hard working women, Roz's excutive assistant Kaya, and we begin to see women responding with strength, as well as women reaching back to show appreciation.  

The next to final scene that spins us psychedelically into the future of being uploaded into a Cyberverse where one is happy all the time is so fraught with message that poor Roz, with the touch of a button, opts to fly  back, back, back to Gandersheim and the love of Berga with the presence of daughter, Thea,  to complete the circle game. 

I am often asked, "Was it a good show?"  

Please? Define good?  We have an excellent  set, lights and effects; erfect costumes; strong dedicated performances thanks to the keen eye of director Randee Trabitz.  The polemic of gender roles and sexual preference?  Clearly, politicized. Theme? What is the theme?  Shoot for the stars? There's no place like home:  Gandersheim? 

So? What good is, is relative.  

Should audiences plan a time to attend this production!?  Absolutely!  

Parking is a bitch, so plan ahead.  "...Gandersheim" is an excellent presentation of ideas that float  upon our patriarchal times with a message. Maybe this medium is the message?

 

Cast:

JAMEY HOOD as Roz
LAUREN GAW as Madlen/Thea  

CHARRELL MACK as Theophanu/Kaya/Vita
SHANNON HOLT as Berga/Mallory

Creative Team:
DeAnne Millais (Scenic Design)
Shannon Barondeau (Lighting/Video Design)
Mylette Nora (Costume Design)
Alma Reyes-Thomas (Sound Design)
 Joyce Hutter (Properties Manager)
Victoria Hoffman (Casting)
Cedes Sifuentes (Production Manager)

“No Place Like Gandersheim”
Written by Elizabeth Dement

 Directed by Randee Trabitz
Skylight Theatre, 

1816 ½ North Vermont, 

Los Angeles, CA 90027
Opening at 8:30pm on Saturday, May 20, 2023 with reception to follow
8:30pm Saturday, 3:00pm Sunday, 7:30pm Monday through June 25, 2023
(No performance on Monday, May 22, 29)

Tickets and information

(213) 761-7061or online at SkylightTix.org

THE BOOK OF WILL / A Noise Within Pasadena

Lauren Gunderson.'s "The Book of Will" at A Noise Within in Pasadena imagines a time that seems incredible to me. Fact is that this production shines almost like no other I've ever seen at the Pasadena venue.  The pristine space, the magnificent set by Frederica Nascimento; enhanced by Ken Booth's lights that almost become another character, make for a standing O for co-directors Geoff Elliott and  Julia Rodriguez-Elliott.  Simply put, it's a wonderful production.  Geoff has again cast himself in a lead, Business Manager of The King's Men, John Heminges. At counterpoint,  Jeremy Rabb plays the less practical  actor Henry Condell.   Heminges, the former actor, out of necessity has become the  company manager of the King's Men. He plays  antagonist to the idea (at first)  to save Shakespeare's ouevre.

From time to time I note that these reviews are about not only the production on the stage, but my entire experience.  During the first act of the play I wondered what the tiny crackling sound was that seemed to be coming from directly behind me? At the interval, I watched a young woman  folding what may have been miniature paper cranes.  Thankfully, crinkling origami did not ruin the performance  nor the beautifully staged choreography as the entire cast sets to: moving props and furniture  to and fro and all around "..this wooden O..."  And!? At the reception,  I served, former exectutive director of the National Repertory Theatre Foundation, Raul Espinoza, a little dumpling!! 

It's been  three years since the Shakespeare's death in 1616, Burbage (excellent Frederick Stuart) and Shakespeare's pals sit drinking in the Globe Tap House: watering hole for The King's Men. These are the actors who within them  reside every shade of Hamlet & Lear; Lady Macbeth & Juliet. Actors!

How the plays of William Shakespeare may have been collected and  saved from oblivion by true love tells the tale.  For scholars, jokes about Pericles abound. I had to look Pericles up.  Yikes!

In Jack Grapes's "Circle of Will" (1989) we examine a roundabout conundrum.  Will and his pal, Christopher Marlowe play an existential  motif.  Gunderson's "The Book of Will" is more practical. Where are the scripts?.. Some of them  are only in the memories of the actors who actually acted in the plays!  Who owns the rights to publish and to perform?? A folio?

Burbage, The Master Thespian, is ready to throttle the 'Boy Hamlet' (Kelvin Morales also rocking the clown:  Marcus!) who opens the show with an embarrassing recitation that will set on edge the teeth of any patrons even vaguely familiar with  Hamlet.  Ouch.. The now exuberant Burbage elevates the tavern with his rendition of To Be.. and Richard III and other familiar characters to spontaneous applause. 

Outstanding Kacey Mahaffy as Crane .. at first dismissed as a simple scribe, turns out to have the project well in hand, literally! showing up with pieces of almost all of the plays that must be preserved. "Love's Labors Lost" however, is lost. Paper is everywhere! Imagining scribes like Crane who hand copied oceans of text is overwhelming, let alone the task of setting into type the copious lines we have come to love these four hundred years later. 

Kelvin Morales, Jeremy Rabb, Geoff Elliott
Photo by Craig Schwartz

Almost everyone plays more than one character.  The women are all excellent.  Deborah Strang steadfast  as Rebecca, the wife of Hemenges (later Anne Hathaway).   Elegant Trish Miller plays Emilia Bassano Lanier (The Dark Lady and former lover of The Bard.)  

Dialed up to Eleven.. as maybe, he ought to be, new to the cast, Alex Morris as Ben Jonson: impatient, bombastic, drunken  Poet Laureate of England,  makes sure that he is heard!  

Angela Balogh Calin's gorgeous costumes  are.. well.. gorgeous! 

Not being prone to superlatives, this will be an exception with a call to see the play. Celebrate the 400th birthday of the First Folio!

CAST:

Henry Condell: Jeremy Rabb*
John Heminges: Geoff Elliott*
Richard Burbage/ William Jaggard / Horatio: Frederick Stuart*
Elizabeth Condell/Emilia Bassano Lanier/
Fruit Seller/Marcellus:  Trisha Miller*
Rebecca Heminges/Anne Hathaway Shakespeare: Deborah Strang*
Ralph Crane/Barman/Compositor/Francisco:  Kasey Mahaffy*
Alice Heminges/Susannah Shakespeare: Nicole Javier*
Ed Knight/Isaac Jaggard :Stanley Andrew Jackson*
Ben Jonson/Barman 2/Sir Edward Dering: Alex Morris*
Marcus/Boy Hamlet/Crier/Bernardo: Kelvin Morales 

Creative Team:

scenic designer Frederica Nascimento

 lighting designer Ken Booth

 sound designer Robert Oriol

 video designer Nicholas Santiago

 costume designer Angela Balogh Calin

 wig and make up designer Shelia Dorn

 dialect coach Andrea Odinov

dramaturg Miranda Johnson-Haddad. 

rehearsal stage manager: Deena Tovar.

THE BOOK OF WILL

by Lauren Gunderson  

Co - directed by Geoff Elliott & Julia Rodriguez-Elliott

A Noise Within

3352 E Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91107

Performances May 13–June 7
• Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.: May 10* ONLY (Preview)
• Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.: May 11 (Preview); May 25; June 1 (dark May 18)
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: May 12 (Preview); May 19**; May 26**; June 2**
• Saturdays at 2 p.m.: May 20; May 27; June 3 (no matinee on May 13)
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: May 13 (Opening Night); May 20; May 27; June 3
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: May 7 (Preview); May 14; May 21**; May 28; June 4

**Post-performance conversations with the artists every Friday and on Sunday, May 21 (included in ticket price)

Tickets and Information:
www.anoisewithin.org
(626) 356-3100 

 

 

Rogue Machine can i touch it ?

can i touch it (sic)  by francisca da silveira (sic who may have no shift key) brings urban  issues  to the stage with strong polemics and my still trying to figure out what "Woke" means. 

Struggling with the term, I find this:  "African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning 'alert to racial prejudice and discrimination' ". 

 

Yes!! this is a Brilliant Woke  Production that takes time to alert us to the particular trials and tribulations of Shay (On Point! Safiya Fredericks) upon whose shoulders rests her intimate beauty supply sanctuary for local women in her long time African American  Boston neighborhood.

Front to back: Iesha Daniels and Suzen Baraka

                             Photos by Jeff Lorch

 Props to John P. Flynn and Rogue Machine Theatre for stepping up with this heavy discussion regarding the plight  of this specific Boston neighborhood plagued by money grubbing money grubbers to the detriment of this community!

You can't tell the players without a program (and the excellence in the doubling of this cast of actors makes it no small task). Jargon is peppered with tought language that, is, evidently simply a way of talkin'.  Epithets are no longer vulgar language, they're just a cultural way to express one's identity.  I think? 

Bitch!

Assisted by outspoken Meeka (Amazing Suzen Baraka who also plays Beth, the tight-assed banker who may be white?), Shay runs her African beauty store that "smells like comfort" along Dudley  Street in Boston.  Shay's store is an integral part of a community where things have been uncomfortably changing for some time now.  Shay is a widow:  the single mom of her teen daughter, Ruth (spot on Iesha M. Daniels / equally cool as far out Lili).  Shay needs a Small Business Loan to keep her shop afloat.    Good luck with that!

With double casting, we keep the women  characters separated by wig changes. There are a LOT OF WIGS. 

Frustrations emerge regarding the changing times and some obvious bias (Shay directs her final speech to the audience. We all may be guilty) that still weighs on  people of color attempting to retain their cultural values. (It reminded me of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins "Neighbors") This lays the groundwork for what folks must do to survive. Meeka, the fireband to the fore!!  I wish I understood Twitter or Tweeker or whatever it is. Social Meida!  To the rescue!

 Scott Victor Nelson plays kindly and practical Mark, limning nicely Nicky and Leo as well.  He is the only guy in the cast. The challenge of playing multiple roles is tackled beautifully by every member of the company. When only four actors take the curtain call, it's a bit of a shock!

 Mark Mendelson's   spectacular scenic design smoothly morphs locations featuring huge turning panels. The budget is on the stage!   Excellent lights by leIgh allen shift scenes easily from Shay's shop to a bank to a meeting room to a park bench.  Excellent tech!

"can i touch it"  asks other "Questions" that are answered with an arcane ritual that I did not understand. But!  I appreciate the commitment of the actors. There's also some odd business that has to do with magic and a sort of earthquake? that happens, but went right over my head. The physical presentation and choreography of the questions is terrific!

 

CAST:

Shay:  Safiya Fredericks
Mark/Nicky/Leo:  Scott Victor Nelson
Ruth/Lili:  Iesha M. Daniels
Meeka/Beth: Suzen Baraka
Tory B voice recorded by Stanley Andrew Jackson

 “can i touch it?”
Written by francisca da silveira
Directed by Gregg T. Daniel
Produced by: John Perrin Flynn and Guillermo Cienfuegos
Associate Producer: Mildred Marie Langford
A Rogue Machine Production

Opening: 8pm on Saturday, May 6, 2023

8pm Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays;  3pm Sundays

(No performance on Monday May 8)

Continues through June 11, 2023

Note the generous Monday dates that invite other theatre companies to  attend when their shows may be dark.

 

Rogue Machine 
7657 Melrose Ave

 Los Angeles, CA 90462

 

Face masks are optional but encouraged.

 

Producers: John Perrin Flynn & Guillermo Cienfuegos
Director: Gregg T. Daniel

Associate Producer: Mildred MarIe Langford
Assistant Director: Vanessa K. Hanish

 

Scenic Design: Mark Mendelson

Lighting Design: Leigh Allen

Sound Design: Chris Moscatiello

Costume and Wig Design: Wendell Carmichael

Prop Design: Ashley Crow

Movement Design: Joyce Guy

Dramaturge: Lindsay Jenkins

Casting Director: Victoria Hoffman

Technical Directors: Dane Bowman & Joe McClean

Production Manager: Rachel Ann Manheimer
Dramaturg: Lindsay A. Jenkins
Graphic Design: Michelle Hanzelova-Bierbauer 

Stage Manager: Ramón Valdez

 

UNDER THE SKIN AT ICT / LONG BEACH

Under the Skin at the International City Theatre welcomes the spring with questions that most of us would prefer not to have to consider.  "Anyone got a kidney to spare?"  Just what are "the boundaries of the body and the limits of love?" Does "jerking somone's chain" mean that the jerker and the jerked are connected? I had to remind myself of the term "declamatory" but a declamatory style factors in a little bit, too.

These questions  and others delve into the 'business' of what makes us: maybe all of us? connected?  Please go to see this play and watch for the clues that lead us to a very special ending.  What playwright Michael Hollinger has created is a scenario to elevate the human spirit.  While it may be slightly pedantic,  the experience of four talented actors serves up seven characters, one of whom steals the show with an undeniable attitude. This is worth a trip to Long Beach! The entire evening is  worth while. 

I wonder why Timothy Mueller's starkly elegant monochromatic set is so far upstage? This play, because of its very intimate nature, could be closer to the audience, especially because the playwright has chosen to dissolve the fourth wall from time to time to include us all.  Because the ICT is a very large space, to bring an intimate play close to the audience would be .. well.. more intimate.

Opening night energy kept the show moving a pace. We pretty much hit the ground running with exposition that fuels the conflict that keeps us guessing.   Well, me, anyway.

Lou's angry daughter, Raina (Allison Blaize) has a special cell phone app that chimes to remind her.. and us? to take a moment to come to center and focus.  It worked for me.  The issue?  Who will donate a kidney to Lou?

Tony Abatemarco and Allison Blaize
Photo by Kayte Deioma

Gorgeous Tanya Alexander as Marlene, Dr. Badu and The Barista  transforms effortlessly from one moment to the next.    

 Marlene's son, Jarrell (Julian Smith also playing Nurse Hector) splits the characters easily.

Alex Reger, eat your heart out.  Tony Abatemarco as Lou brings home the grit: the stuff of nuanced performance.  We learn the word 'volute'.. the carved 'curlicue' at the bottom of a banister.  Lou is a complex guy and versatile!  Having been taught carpentry by his father, Lou has managed to build a comfortable business. It's this darned renal failure that has him and everyone in a tizzy.

Allison Blaize and Tanya Alexander
Photo by Kayte Deioma

Director caryn desai keeps the action moving, though a bit broad at first, we find that the  mystery of this play may need that energy ... to keep us on an even keel. (she has always used lower case,okay?)

CAST:
Lou Ziegler: Tony Abatemarco
Marlene Hayes/Dr. Badu/Barista: Tanya Alexander
Raina LaMott: Allison Blaize 
Jarrell Hayes/Hector: Julian Smith 

CREW:

Set designer Timothy Mueller

Lighting designer Donna Ruzika

Costume designer Kim DeShazo

Sound designer Dave Mickey 

Prop designer Patty Briles. 

Casting  Michael Donovan, CSA and Richie Ferris, CSA. 

Production Stage Manager John Freeland, Jr.. 

UNDER THE SKIN
• Written by Michael Hollinger
• Directed by caryn desai
• Produced by caryn desai [sic]
• Presented by International City Theatre

Previews: April 26 and April 27 at 8 p.m.
Performances: April 28-May 14•
 Wednesday at 8 p.m.: April 26 ONLY (preview)
• Thursdays at 8 p.m.: April 27 (preview), May 4, May 11
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: April 28 (Opening Night), May 5, May 12
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: April 29, May 6, May 13
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: April 30, May 7, May14

INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE
Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center
330 East Seaside Way
Long Beach, CA 90802

TICKET PRICES:
• Opening Night (April 28): $55 (includes post-show reception with the actors) or $125 (includes pre-show Gala dinner in addition to post-show reception)
• Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (except Feb. April 28): $49
• Sunday matinees: $52
• Previews: $37
Tickets and information:
www.InternationalCityTheatre.org
(562) 436-4610

ROBERT PATRICK PLAYWRIGHT

 April 24, 2023

A friend died last night.  

Robert Patrick, late of Los Feliz and well before that Roswell, New Mexico.. he may have been an alien.. is gone in a flash of blue thunder .  No fan fare, just gone. Dead in his sleep.

I went to see his short one act at a dive bare, The Silverlake Lounge,, a short time ago and was charmed by the idea: A zoom interview between a clueless 'influencer' and a guy who was on another page.  

Before the shows (there were four short pieces)..Robert, dressed all in black with a wide brim black hat,  was sitting outside and sometimes mistaken for the Security / Gate keeper.  

Always friendly and engaging , I teased him about smoking, "Those things will kill ya!".. the last words I spoke to him.  

At one time the most produced playwright in New York City, he'd stopped writing plays and only recently moved into the 21st Century.  "Side By Side"  ? Was that the name of the piece?  I hope the actors who put it up at the Silver Lake Lounge will rehearse and do it again.  He was pleased with the effort.  

I will miss his poetry daily on Facebook  and his emails with >>>>>>>> coming and going. 

Flights of Angels.. 

 Applause.

michaelsheehan

onstagelosangelse

 

 

 

PRIVATE LIVES AT INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Noel Coward (1899 - 1973) ..in a word? Classy.. The Brit was just a classy guy with classy ideas and classy moves. Noel Coward exuded Class in the early 20th Century.  Known as a raconteur and playwright and singer and actor and as a Class Act, the guy brought the Drawing Room Comedy to the Broadway stage and later with plays like Blithe Spirit, the opportunity for community theatres and colleges and even high schools to enjoy broad characters who exude clever and classy reparté .. 

The Independent Shakespear Company's revival of Private Lives, with some adjustments by ISC, presents an opportunity to see this 93 year old romp and enjoy the sly and flamboyant way "sophisticated" folks remarked in "clever quips" and the genius that set the standard for drawing room comedy so long ago.. 

 

 left-right: Brent Charles (Victor Prynne) & Asha Noel Iyer (Sibyl Chase)

Evidently, ISC has engaged with the Noel Coward estate to make some adjustments to the script & the characters (originally spoiled white folks) with  one racially diverse performer.  Also.. a 'safe word' that Elyot (David Melville) and Amanda (Melissa Chalsma) make up to quell their firey exchanges: "Jackson Pollack !!" later abbreviated to "Pollocks!" seems odd in that Pollack, born in 1912 was not yet a famous artist? 

It's a situation that color blind moderns will recognize as what happens when self involved privileged people are left to their own devices.  All we know is that there are age issues and over the top personalities that, for the times in 1930 entertained theatre goers. Victor (Brent Charles) and Sybil (Asha Noel Iyer) (spoiler alert / see photo), as with the inevitable bend of fate, wind up with a major clash inherited  from Elyot and Amanda, who.. well.. it's a situation that drives the narrative with vigor.

Of course, with a look and an attitude, Louise, the Mexican housekeeper (Noriani Estevez), steals the show...  briefly.

The upside of this revival is that what was once a three act romp with a lot of acting going on has been reduced to a slightly more comfortable ninety minutes with one intermission for a major set change.  There's a lot of 'acting ' going on, as, I am pretty sure was Noel Coward's intention. Broad strokes and broad characters  with broad gestures and some terrific action in the second act are pretty funny.  Thank goodness director Nikhil Pai has allowed Elyot and Amanda, as well as their young castaways, to get into it physically!   

Revivals are tricky.  Basic sets are not credited. Appropriate lighting by Bosco Flannagan seems to be deliberately secondary to the acting which explodes in a very stylized way. 

Please note 7:30 PM curtain time.

CAST:
Melissa Chalsma as Amanda Prynne
Brent Charles as Victor Prynne
Asha Noel Iyer as Sibyl Chase
David Melville as Elyot Chase
Noriani Estevez as Louise

CREW:
Stage Manager: Samantha Barrientos
Costume Designer: Katelyn Lopez
Lighting Designer: Bosco Flannagan
Director: Nikhil Pai

Noël Coward’s Private Lives 

directed by Nikhil Pai

 

ISC STUDIO

3191 Casitas Ave. Ste 130

(between Fletcher Drive and Glendale Blvd.)

at the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex

Los Angeles, CA 90039

Free, ample lot and street parking.

 

Apriil 6 – May 7

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm; Sundays at 2pm

Press Night: Saturday, April 15 at 7:30pm

 

 

Weekday ticket prices - General Admission: $27.50; Generous Admission: $37.50

Weekend ticket prices - General Admission $35; Generous Admission $45

Student discounts available by request. For details: indyshakes@iscla.org

For tickets, please call (818) 710-6306 or reserve online at www.iscla.org

 

#PrivateLives #NoelCoward #ISCStudio