PRISONERS TAKEN AT THE EL PORTAL

Jason Alexander and Gina Hecht

The old El Portal in NoHo is alive and well. For the next two weeks it will be available for a trip down memory lane with Neil Simon’s PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE. Gina Hecht and Jason Alexander as Edna and Mel Edison capture Simon’s serio-comic take on life in 1971 New York. It’s Neil Simon! The jokes come apace and the message, though subtle, remains. How does one survive when “the whole world is going out of business?”

Suffice it to say that a professional company in a professional set in a gorgeous theater adds up to two hours of fun. Forty years later, the issues of today are reflected in the issues of 1971 when Mel, almost 47, rants and raves about living on the fourteenth floor with noisy neighbors up, down and sideways. To add to the romp, as poor Mel loses his job and teeters on the brink of completely losing his mind, Alexander finds the nuances of comedy that would make Mr. Simon smile. Director Glenn Casale guides his cast fluidly, but it’s the text that makes the show.

In Act II the arrival of Mel’s sisters, Pearl, Jessie and Pauline, respectively: Annie Korzen, Carole Ita White and Deedee Rescher confronting and confronted by Mel’s brother Harry, the excellent Ron Orbach (who stops the show briefly to the delight of the audience) just want to help… but not too much. The only downside for me was the choice by one of the sisters, not Jessie, maybe Pauline? to smoke. It always looks contrived and this odd choice is no different. However the chorus of the three sisters, each with a separate agenda is hilarious.

Alexander will always be known for his work as You Know Who on the You Know What Show and is doing a fine job of getting beyond his impression of Larry David. Mel Edison simply wants a normal life and emotionally plummets like a stone when he’s summarily dismissed after years on the job. Alexander’s timing melds with Hecht’s (who is mercurial and gorgeous) as they fit together like... like things that fit together well! The play is a finely tuned instrument and even with all the revivals and the film made in 1975, it still holds up. It’s a professional staging. Professional actors make full use of Stephen Gifford’s New York apartment set with Jared A. Sayeg’s lights. It’s a must see for Neil Simon fans and for those who have not seen one of his plays, it’s a great way to start!

PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE
By Neil Simon
El Portal Theatre
5269 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA
Wednesdays through Sundays
Closes May 15, 2011
Tickets:
www.elportaltheatre.com
866 811 4111 or 818 508 4200
$55.00 Top

THE SON ALSO RISES AT EST-LA

For those old enough to remember Eric Burden and the Animals, it’s impossible not to hear the heavy bass arpeggio that leads into Burden’s singing, “There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun. It’s been the ruin of many a poor boy and me, Oh God, I’m one.” Tom Jacobson’s House of the Rising Son echoes this theme and in his unique polemic regarding the politics of the necessity of parasites in the ecosystem, we meet four actors playing eight characters who advance the theory that even the human race is parasitic. Unfortunately, unlike parasites such as tape worms and mites who conduct their business subtly, never taking more than the host can safely supply, Homo Sapiens may suck the planet dry unless we change our ways. The play points out, however, that Nature has a way of fixing Herself and though we human beings may think of ourselves as being above ‘nature’, we are most likely simply stepping stones to the next evolutionary cycle of the planet.

At rise we meet handsome Dr. Trent Varro, (Paul Witten) entomologist, ecologist and heir to a dynasty: the House of Varros, whose lineage may go back to ancient Greece! As he lectures at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum regarding garden variety parasites, he discovers that he is being blatantly cruised by Felix Martin (Steve Coombs), fifteen years his junior, who is a fund raiser for the museum. Dr. Varro is immediately attracted to Felix who has a great interest in ghosts and past lives. In a steamy pas de deux they find themselves that night in Felix’s realm, searching for remnants of the past in local cemeteries.

Concurrently, just beyond the Katrina disaster zone in New Orleans, we meet Garrett Varro (earthy John Patrick Hurley) and the translucent patriarch Bowen Varro (Rod Menzies) who appear to be the father and grandfather of Trent. Subtly designed kittywhompus and multipurpose set by Richard Hoover reflects the Ninth Ward, which may be a metaphor for the whole story. Jacobson’s writing brings all of these characters eventually to light, which is, at once, enlightening and, at first, confusing. Bowen is ill and as head of the Varro Clan has specific feelings about Trent and his life as a gay man. When Trent calls to announce that he is bringing Felix home to meet the family, epithets fly left and right, even when the couple arrives.

Jacobson, as he has done in Chinese Massacre [Annotated] opening concurrently next door at the AVT, has done his research and done it well. We learn more about parasites and parasitic behavior directly through Trent’s lectures, than we may have ever learned. Interestingly, the metaphor carries directly through the plot and into the lives of not only the four main characters, but their seconds as well.

Witten appears briefly as Maureen (possibly a woman?), whose necessity to the plot was vague. A knock later comes to the Varro’s door to introduce Hurley once again as the blustery Lendell, a New Orleans tour guide to the haunted places of the Crescent City. Is he another parasite, taking advantage of gullible tourists? In a dangerous turn, Coombs returns as a stealthy hustler, Rod, upon whom the plot thickens deeply. Finally, we meet Menzies again as Robert, an aging fairy, who, in his cups does his best to rally the gay constituents of New Orleans.

Michael Michetti directs his cast fluidly on Hoover’s earthy three quarter thrust stage. The cloying atmosphere of oriental rugs and rococo furniture lend a feeling of stereotypically tres gay décor. Some sight lines are difficult simply because in a set like this some action will, by its very nature, will be blocked.

The discomfort that the hegemonic heterosexual community may experience in seeing this play comes directly from limbic reactions that those of us stuck in our early impressionable experiences must overcome. In her program notes, Artistic Director, Gates McFadden, says, “We might find out the thing we fear is simply different and not harmful. Evolution takes time. This play might help us to nudge forward a bit.” Certainly, Tom Jacobson has the chops to help move things along.

THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SON
By Tom Jacobson
The Ensemble Studio Theatre – LA
At The Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Avenue
Atwater Village, CA 90039
April 23 through May 29, 2011
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 2PM
$25.00 Top
Thursday April 28 and Thursday May 5, 2011 Pay What You Can
Tickets and information
323 644 1929
www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org

MASSACRE AT THE AVT

Chinese Massacre [Annotated]

Take Ken Burns’ visual imagination, add an homage to Bertolt Brecht, fold in exquisite scenic design by Sibyl Wickersheimer, lighting by Tom Ontiveros and sound by Dennis Yen, all literally bursting on the stage and here you have a Los Angeles history lesson, a lesson in human behavior and an exciting evening of theatre. Tom Jacobson’s brilliant writing under the adept vision of director Jeff Liu’s innate sense of talent, humor and history bring these elements together beautifully. Chinese Massacre [Annotated] at Circle X Theatre Co. at the Atwater Village Theatre complex literally captures the audience.

When an actor agrees to become part of an ensemble, he may at once play a lead and in the next breath a supernumerary. The play’s the thing and when all of the performers are on the same page; in the same play, having a wonderful time (especially the annotators in this one), then the captured audience is in for a ride.

Director Jeff Liu’s vision breathes life into Jacobson’s play, animating the story, painstakingly researched thanks to the playwright’s fine attention to detail. Los Angeles, 1871, is, indeed a frontier town, inherently rough and tumble. Racial tensions and struggle for power bubble to the surface of the burgeoning City of the Angels. “Companies” (read gangs or Tongs) fight for ownership of unfortunate prostitutes as well as running other illegal activities. The Massacre of 1871 erupts from this cauldron of prejudice, anger and fear.

In his nod to playwright Bertolt Brecht, Jacobson casts his ensemble in multiple roles. Some step slightly outside the actual play as “annotators” who report the factual source of a speech or a particular situation to remind the audience that this is a true history for the intellect. Even though one may become emotionally involved with the goings on (and we certainly do), it’s the ‘stuff’ of the piece that Jacobson and the ensemble want us to remember. The talented cast often executes with precision a “Chinese Fire Drill” on stage, shifting from one character to another flawlessly with the quick change of a coat or a hat (or a queue) aided by precision lighting and sound, realistically bringing the audience directly to the heart of the matter.

The outstanding ensemble features Richard Azurdia, Warren Davis, Anna Douglas, Elizabeth Ho, Ross Kurt Le, Jully Lee, Alex Levin, West Liang, Johanna McKay, Silas Weir Mitchell, Gary Patent, Jack Sochet, Lisa Tharps, Marie-Françoise Theodore and Ryan Yu.

Dianne K. Graebner’s costumes are outstanding.

The Chinese Massacre [Annotated] is a must see, especially for Angelenos and those for whom a true theatrical experience has been rare.

THE CHINESE MASSACRE [ANNOTATED]
By Tom Jacobson
Circle X Theatre Company at the Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 2PM and 7PM
Runs April 22 through May 28, 2011
326 644 1929
www.circlextheatre.org
$25.00 top
Sundays at 2PM Pay What You Can

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Big weekend of theatre to follow. Two new shows at the Atwater Village Theatre featuring the Circle X Company and Gates McFadden's Ensemble Studio Theatre: Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday: April 22 and 23. Prisoner of Second Avenue at the El Portal in NoHo on Sunday, 4/24/11.

HAPPY PASSOVER AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL. (HAPPY EARTH DAY TO ALL OF YOU OPTIMISTS!)

The Chairs, a fond adieu

Deborah Strang / Geoff Elliott Photo by Craig Schawartz

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven. A time to be born and a time to die…” So says the Book of Ecclesiastes or The Byrds, depending on your personal experience. The correlation of how things change is reflected in the anticipation of the brand new Pasadena space currently under construction for A Noise Within: ‘a time to be born’ and the death of a theatre tradition in Glendale. The third production in this final season in Glendale for A Noise Within features long time favorites, ANW founder Geoff Elliott as Old Man and Deborah Strang as Old Woman directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. Written by Eugene Ionesco, and first produced in 1952 the play challenges the audience to discover the meaning of the story rather than simply absorbing it as we often do when attending the theatre.

Stephen W. Gifford’s rag tag peeling post-apocalyptic set borders off stage water. The Old Man hangs out the window because he likes to look at the water. A hand written sign barely visible on a chalkboard requires, “No Diving!” Indeed within the first few minutes of the play, Old Man practically violates the rule by half tumbling out the window. He is, of course, General Factotum, my darling and could have been the best of practically any important post had he only really wanted to. If he had taken some initiative, as Old Woman points out continually to her ‘darling’ he could have been anything.

Whether or not Old Man and Old Woman are indeed really a couple married for over seventy years or if they are actors simply playing at the end of the world may be an interpretation to be considered. They know each other so well (as do Elliott and Strang) and mutually subscribe to the absurd notion that they may be the last two people on earth. Or are they? They anticipate a multitude of visitors from every social station and are especially excited about the arrival of THE EMPORER for whom they prepare a virtual throne. Invisible characters arrive, brought to life by the Old Couple’s mutual acknowledgement as they prepare for The Orator (Andy Stokan) who has been employed to impart to not only the assembled throng, but the audience, as well, what may be the Meaning of Life! These are actually the Old Man’s insights, but he’s not so good at speaking, as he eloquently admits time and again.

Interesting, though inexplicable, Ken Booth’s lighting changes from time to time, climaxing with a flurry of pinwheels spinning madly, sound and fury, as more and more and more chairs and more visitors arrive until the stage is completely filled with chairs and invisible guests. At last, The Orator arrives in a grand manner. Welcomed by the Old Couple, he takes stage with authority.

The issue of who Old Man and Old Woman really are is never completely clear, probably Ionesco’s intention. We love their banter as they lovingly function smoothly and flawlessly as one. Elliott and Strang have worked together for almost twenty years. The simpatico is obvious. In an interview elsewhere, Elliott mentioned that being relieved of his often role as director of a show, simply acting in the hands of his capable wife, Julia, was a pleasure. Indeed, his focus and choices, perfectly compliment Strang’s, whose comedic versatility shines. Rodriguez-Elliott’s direction is crisp. With well seasoned actors in hand, the show simply works. What a pleasure. What fun the actors are having. And this, my darling is infectious to the audience.

As ANW departs Glendale to open this coming fall in Pasadena, it should be mentioned that the non-profit company is still slightly short of it’s $12Million fund raising goal. Contributions for this final push will be matched dollar for dollar by an Angel in Pasadena. Contact ANW for details and contribute as you may. This is regional theatre at its finest.


Eugene Ionesco’s The Chairs
Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott

Opened April 9; plays in repertory with
Comedy of Errors and The Eccentricities of A Nightingale
Wed.-Fri., 8 pm; Sat., 2 and 8 pm; Sun., 2 and 7 pm; through May 21.

A Noise Within
234 S. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203

Single tickets: $42-$46 (discount prices for seniors, students and groups).
818.240.0910, ext. 1
www.anoisewithin.org

Brook at The Broad Stage

Peter Brook has a brand and his brand is what drew me to The Broad Stage for two pieces directed by him. Bruce Meyers presented The Grand Inquisitor, a selection from a Dostoyevsky piece that describes the return of Christ to Spain during the Inquisition. To be read to, even very dramatically, for forty five minutes was enough to send many folks home during the interval. This is a shame because the presentation of five "Fragments" by Samuel Beckett, the best of the lot being Act Without Words II, presented by Meyers and Yoshi Oida with vigor and joy was well worth the wait. Press blurb calls them "illuminating the comedy and courage in characters who dare to face the void" which, of course, most of Samuel Beckett's work involves. Fragments features fine performances from Meyers, Oida and Hayley Carmichael.

The Grand Inquisitor / Fragments
The Broad Stage
1310 11 Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401

THU	|	APR 7	|	7:30 PM
FRI	|	APR 8	|	7:30 PM
SAT	|	APR 9	|	7:30 PM
SUN	|	APR 10	|	2:00 PM

TICKETS:
Premier $75 |Level A $60 |Level B $47 | Level C $32 Thurs Eve
Premier $95 | Level A $77 |Level B $57 | Level C $45 Fri Eve
Premier $120 | Level A $100 | Level B $75 | Level C $55 Sat Eve
Premier $95 | Level A $77 | Level B & C $57 Sun Mat

Box Office: 310 434 3200

http://thebroadstage.com/brook

Daddy O Dies Well at The Electric Lodge

Daddy O Dies Well

Murray Mednick’s continuation of his ‘Gary Plays’ holds forth at The Electric Lodge. Featuring the excellent Hugh Dane as Daddy O, this may be a Morality Play meant to bring the audience to personal insights and/or revelations. Just guessing. Daddy O has explored the otherworld via an ancient South American tea: Ayahuasca. (Google that!) Dane’s well crafted characterization is at once casual and intense which leads us to appreciate his vast experience. Daddy O is the epitome of ‘cool.’ There’s more going on here than meets the eye.

Daddy O is haunted by Antonio (protean Peggy A. Blow), the master of another world. Still and all, somehow, Daddy O seems to be able to control the inevitable. About this time the allegories and drama become somewhat hallucinatory and at once become fascinating and confusing by turns.

Is it Gary’s (Casey Sullivan) depression after a break up with ex-wife, Marcia (Melissa Paladino), that makes Daddy O want to expand Gary’s outlook? Certainly, Gary is depressed. Meanwhile, Gary’s first Ex, Gloria (Elizabeth Greer) mother of their murdered son, is in Chile reporting from her exotic location, which is present and distant at the same time thanks to the ayahuasca, the hallucinogenic that Gary has been administered by Daddy O. Enigmatic Dr. Jones (Jack Kehler) is ever on hand, reminding us that he is just a helper.

Earth Mother Strawn Bovee as Mama Bean, is peripheral and central at the same time. The deceased wife of Daddy O and mother of Gary she is present and absent. Each of the important people in Gary’s life serve in singular and multiple roles. The most impressive aspect of this show is that the actors are all well seasoned and under playwright Mednick’s direction, are perfectly focused. To a person every actor is fully engaged with the words and their role. The presentational style works well. What it all means is up for grabs. Puzzling out the argument is an individual quest as the curtain falls.

Ritual emerges as Antonio rolls in with magic and an ice cream truck. The spirits of the dead and the living commingle and though the essential argument of the play remains difficult to discern, the expert work of the actors and fine technical additions of Mark I. Rosenthal and Dan Reed combine with Mednick’s trippy script to make the evening pithy in the same way a vision quest might send us out of a long night’s vigil in the desert knowing that we’ve been privy to something, perhaps something important… even if we can’t figure out exactly what that is. Maybe it’s not a morality play after all? Rather it’s a mystery play following in the style of early mystery plays that were also produced in cycles?

DADDY O DIES WELL
By Murray Mednick
The Electric Lodge
1416 Electric Avenue
Venice, CA 90291
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 2PM
Through May 22, 2011
Tickets and Information 323 960 7724
www plays411 / DaddyO
$25.00 top

Peter Brook at The Broad! April 7 - 10, 2011

Director, Peter Brook, brings two pieces to The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. His seminal Midsummer Night's Dream years ago at The Ahmanson lives in my memory as a wonderful experience. Seeing his work at The Broad should be equally inspired. Contact The Broad for details:

An Evening of Peter Brook:

The Grand Inquisitor and Fragments

From Beckett to Dostoevsky

The Broad Stage

April 7 - April 10, 2011

The West Coast premiere of two of Peter Brook's most revered recent works in one extraordinary theatrical evening. It all begins with The Grand Inquisitor. Starring Bruce Meyers, the one-man show imagines Christ's return to earth during the Spanish Inquisition. Following intermission, Brook stages a quintet of Beckett's Fragments illuminating the comedy and courage in characters who dare to face the void.

TICKETS: $120 -$32 310 407 3083 for information

Neil LaBute's THE MERCY SEAT

Several definitions of “mercy seat” come up in a Google search. In Neil LaBute’s play now on stage at [Inside] The Ford, I’m having difficulty relating the title to the play itself. One definition has to do with a ledge where the faithful may rest during a required long stand in church. Another relates to the covering on the Ark of the Covenant where God met man in the Holy of Holies. I have not vetted this quote, but it may give us a clue to LaBute’s angle on what is going on with the two lovers who make up the cast of the play.

“…and I will commune with thee from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things..." Exodus 25:17-22

Does this definition have relevance to Ben (VS. founder Johnny Clark) and Abby (Michelle Clunie)? Was the 9/11 Attack a message from Above that drove them to face each other (two cherubim?) in a moment of Truth? Abby and Ben (he is unhappily married with children) have been lovers for more than three years as they rendezvous the day after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. Abby Prescott’s apartment, a stylish loft in lower Manhattan, is lushly decorated in Danny Cistone’s expensively appointed set. In fact, everything about the VS. Theatre Company’s West Coast Premiere of The Mercy Seat shouts First Cabin. Pre-show the audience is surrounded by projected images of the New York City skyline. A sound montage includes sirens and news reports of the aftermath of that terrible day. At rise, a small television set upstage recounts the ongoing problems in the city. A lot is going on all at the same time.

Ben sits with the dust of the tragedy on his pants legs, seemingly in shock. Abby enters in a whirlwind. She is full of anger. The two are colleagues in an office in the World Trade Center. She is Ben’s boss. In the relationship, defined and redefined in the almost two hours of dialogue, the struggle for some common definition of what the relationship is, has been and may be emerges. Power shifts back and forth, but mostly lands with Abby as the two of them play tug of war with emotions and the ultimate decision for Ben to “make the call.” They avoided being at Ground Zero the day before. But no one knows that they were not there.

LaBute is not Edward Albee. Ben and Abby are nowhere near the peaks and valleys we find with George and Martha in “Virginia Woolf.” Clark and Clunie create believable characters and steer them through the morass of emotions and ethics, already compromised for three years with their on-going affair, but it’s more of an acting exercise than a conceit that makes us much care about either of the characters. As an exercise in stage discipline, the two deserve applause. At Sunday’s matinee, Clunie, at the curtain call, was obviously exhausted. It was, indeed, hard work!

So.. An urban morality play? What is the ‘right thing’ to do? Who’s in charge? Two cherubim face one another at the Moment of Truth? An acting exercise well played? Mostly, the latter.

Director Ron Klier keeps the pace up and working, but has little opportunity for action with the exception of a moment of passion which inexplicably turns the blue sky crimson red; then fades as the dénouement arrives. Even so, the production values are excellent.

Applause to The Ford Theatre Foundation and the L.A. County Arts Commission with support from the National Endowment of the Arts for making [Inside] the Ford available for challenging new theatre. The venue lends itself to one set productions and I, for one, commend VS. Theatre Company as well as The Rogue Company's production of HYPERBOLE: origins and Theatre Neo's FREE produced there this season.

The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute
VS. Theatre Company at
[Inside] the Ford
2580 Cahuenga East
Hollywood, CA 90068
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 2PM
Through April 24, 2011
$20.00 Top
Tickets and Information
323 461 3673
www.fordtheatres.org

Eccentricities Of A Nightingale at ANW

L to R: Jason Dechert (John Buchanan), Deborah Puette (Alma Winemiller) Photo: Craig Schwartz


The Eccentricities of a Nightingale

The centennial anniversary of Tennessee Williams’ birth is cause for celebration. Theatres across the country are reviving his pithy gothic take on Southern Society. Everyone who has seen The Glass Menagerie has met the dominating southern matriarch. Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof may be the archetypical patriarch, Stanley Kowalski, the domineering Alpha Male. The delicate flowers of Laura and Stella. These are elegant archetypes sometimes reflecting one another from play to play.

Director Dàmaso Rodriguez stages the early 20th Century piece reconstructed from Williams’ earlier Summer and Smoke nicely employing supernumeraries in costume to facilitate scene changes and populate the story. Magic Lantern slides announce the scene and an imaginative use of silhouette illuminates off stage action.

Set around the time of World War I in a small town in the South we meet Alma Winemiller (Deborah Puette), upon whom the story turns: the Nightingale who sings with great passion and laughs too loudly and too often. Reverend Winemiller (Mitchell Edmonds) curses the fact that he’s sent her to the music conservatory. The Reverend’s treatment of women is immediately evident as he orders around his mentally failing wife played with demented distinction by Jill Hill in a delicate turn,

Independence Day fireworks and festivities are in the air as the Winemillers stroll the small town plaza. Alma’s childhood friend, John Buchanan (very natural Jason Dechert) has now returned to his hometown, having graduated cum laude from Johns Hopkins. He, like his father, is now a doctor. Over protective and class conscious, his doting mother, Mrs. Buchanan (sultry Christopher Callen) practically vamps her own son. John defends his friendship with Alma by saying he finds her ‘gallant.’

Alma mistakes John’s attention for a romantic interest and invites him to a meeting of a group of artsy cronies in an attempt to draw him closer and show him off to her friends.
The uncomfortable meeting of geeks and freaks played by Dave Kirkpatrick, Jacque Lynn Colton, Darby Bricker and David LM McIntyre attempts to codify their own importance by adopting a manifesto. The ennui is thick and echoes Alma’s lonely reaching out in her over zealous search for love.

Performances are top notch with Puette slightly over the top in the first act, moving comfortably into the character as Alma realizes the truth about her relationship with John. From prim and proper and trying too hard to please, to a woman of experience is a nice arc for the actress.

Rodriguez keeps the action moving smoothly on Joel Daavid’s Joseph Cornell inspired set which beautifully frames the story. Leah Piehl’s period costumes are luscious with a pink plume for Alma that may repeat through the entire ANW season from play to play. A nice touch.

THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE
by Tennessee Williams
A Noise Within
234 Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA
Opened Saturday, March 19 plays in repertory
through Saturday, May 28, 2011.
Tickets and information
818-240-0910 x1
www.ANoiseWithin.org
$46.00 Top

The Frybread Queen / Native Voices at The Autry

Kimberly Guerrero (as Annalee), Shyla Marlin (as Carlisle)
Photo by Tony Dontscheff

Native Voices has for many years held forth at the Wells Fargo Theater at The Autry Western Heritage Museum in Griffith Park. “Theater” is a slight misnomer, as the space is basically an auditorium where it’s difficult to mount a professional looking production. This is not to say that the company doesn’t do the best it can with what it has to play with. Playwright Carolyn Dunn’s The Frybread Queen has been in development for several years and has, at last found its way to The Autry. It is directed in a very straightforward way by Robert Caisley.

A mixture of ghost story and family competition unfolds as three generations of one family come together to bury Paul, the son of Navajo matriarch Jessie Burns (Jane Lind), Frybread Queen the first. We meet Jessie, who breaks the fourth wall to announce her traditional recipe for Navajo frybread. (Her finding a loaded pistol under the sink has nothing to do with frybread.)

Two daughters-in-law appear, Carlisle Emmanuel Burns (Shyla Marlin) Frybread Queen #2 and her ex-sister-in-law, Paul’s former wife, Annalee Walker Hayne (powerful Kimberly Norris Gurrero), Frybread Queen #3. Their connection to Jessie and Lily Savannah Santiago Burns: Paul and Annalee’s 17 year old daughter (punked out Elizabeth Frances) is by marriage. Annalee is her mother.

As the story unfolds, the rivalry turns on who deserted whom and why and what drove Paul to suicide… or was it? Lind’s heavy declamatory style is probably a creative choice worked out with her director. This style is not echoed so much by the other women. The whole presentation is certainly heavy on the dramatic with ghostly possession and strong physical performances presented throughout. The supposed rivalry of whose frybread is best is only an excuse for a deeper story. Carlisle, now living with Jessie's younger son in California, uses self- rising flour. Jessie calls it “Hollywood frybread." The audience enjoyed this reference a lot. For me, Jessie’s recipe was the one my Aunt Carolyn used and I’d eschew the self-rising flour, too. Annalee’s recipe using buttermilk sounds like one I’d like to try. I’d have been very happy to see these recipes come to fruition on stage with the aroma of bacon grease and frying dough wafting over the audience. However, it is not about the frybread at all. The frybread is simply a matrix for the issues plaguing these four women on many different levels.

NATIVE VOICES at The Autry speaks to and for the Native American Community. The Frybread Queen’s actors are strong, though the production values are marginal. At the intermission it would have been great to have samples of Jessie’s, Carlisle’s and Annalee’s frybreads for sale.

I just love fried bread!

THE FRYBREAD QUEEN
By Carolyn Dunn
Thursdays through Sundays
March 12 through March 27, 2011
Wells Fargo Theater
The Autry National Center
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, Ca 90027
Tickets and Information:
323 667 2000 Ext: 354
www.Nativevoicesattheautry.org
$20.00 top (discounts for students, seniors, military and Autry Museum members)

The Young Man From Atlanta

Producer/Director August Viverito of The Production Company opened Horton Foote's The Young Man From Atlanta tonight at The Lex Theater on Lexington at McCadden in Hollywood.

Because a good friend is in the cast, I agreed to not review the play. It was nice to sit back and just enjoy the show. It deserves an audience.

The Lex Theater
6760 Lexington Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90093
Opened Friday March 11, 2011
Closes Saturday April 16, 2011
$25.00 Top
www.THEPRODCO.COM
800 838 3006

A COMEDY OF ERRORS!!

(l-r) Gwenmarie White (Ensemble), Lauren Robyn (Courtesan), Christine Breihan (Ensemble) Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz

Madcap!!!

That’s what my friend, Jeannie, called it: William Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors now playing at A Noise Within. It’s always nice to have company when reviewing a show. Of course, I’d have said zany or outta sight or whacko… and eventually “madcap” would probably have popped up. Heck, it doesn’t take PhD to grab the ideal word right out of the air and have it fit just perfectly. But “Madcap” is just about perfect!

“Burlesque on Brand,” the ANW tribute to Shakespeare’s nutty comedy of mistaken identity, may be a sly tip of the hat to what the City of Glendale is really interested in: The nearby Americana’s glitzy faux-Disney kitch. After a short honky tonk piano serenade by David Bickford on the upright, who also provides sound effects (the “chain” being the most fun!) we literally meet the cast. Director Michael Michetti’s wonderfully mounted burlesque (the show is presented as a play within a play), introduces the actors individually as members of the Burley Q: the cast of the play. Ostrich plume fans deftly wielded by chorine cuties set the scene. Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes rock.

Reading the synopsis of A Comedy of Errors will do its best to just confuse. So, the thing to do is to simply follow the silly romp and once you ‘get it’ that the twins Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus, both and each played effectively by Bruce Turk (sons of Egeon, the well seasoned Michael Stone Forrest) are twins separated shortly after birth as explained in a terrific silent movie. The slaves: Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus are both played by Jerry Kernion, who, for a big guy takes some major pratfalls and takes them beautifully. Egeon, the Antipholuses delinquent father, is sentenced to death by the Duke (Ever eloquent Mr. William Dennis Hunt founder of The Company Theatre of Los Angeles) for crossing the border into Ephesus illegally! Evidently, they were tougher on immigration than even the folks in Arizona are today! Egeon narrates the silent film that explains his journey and desire to find his long lost twins. He has only hours to prove himself to the Duke. The hours are marked on set designer Kurt Boetcher’s cheesey clock that hangs over the doorway of the home of Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus. A Laugh In window above opens for some additional fun.

You can’t tell the players without a program and even then, you may find yourself referring back time after time to try to figure out who’s who. It really doesn’t matter though because the slapstick routines and The Bard’s couplets (along with a few contemporary references tossed in for good measure) round out the fast paced show. Vampy Adriana (gorgeous Abby Craden), married to the successful Antipholus of Ephesus is jealous and suspicious (rightly so!) of her spouse. Equally beautiful Luciana (Annie Abrams) plays her sister who is vamped by the other Antipholus (her brother-in-law’s twin!) After a dozen mix ups, each one funnier than the last including some missing money, a rope and a golden chain (bling!), the boys of Ephesus are given sanctuary in the Abby of Syracuse and guarded by angelic nuns (made up of some of the ensemble: Andy Stokan, Christine Breihan, Douglas Rory Milliron, Gwenmarie White and Sara-Lucy Hill?). About the middle of the first act I lost track of a couple of the characters. The actors are all are notable and mentioning the great ensemble work of the entire cast is a must. Paul D. Masterson as Balthasar and the 2nd Merchant.. (was he the ventriloquist?); P.J. Ochlan as Angelo/Doctor Pinch; Rene Ruiz as First Merchant and Lauren Robyn doing her best Judy Holliday impression as the Courtesan are all so much fun.

The Duke orders that the Abbess be summoned and the cry “Heyyyyy Abbessssss!” time travels a couple of decades from the twenties to the forties and briefly stops the show with the Abbott and Costello reference. Dragalicious Gibby Brand plays The Abbess as well as the randy Nell whose cap is set for one of the Dromios (oh wherefore art thou, Dromio?)

The eventual problem, of course, is how to present the final scene to reunite the twins of Syracuse and the twins of Ephesus all at the same time. Needless to say that in ANW’s Burlesque on Brand, this is not a problem. Twins are reunited, families reconciled and all’s well that ends well. Applause!

A Noise Within takes the company off to Pasadena in the fall of 2011 (they are still about a million bucks shy of their entire budget, but ground is broken and construction has begun.) A fund raising campaign is on to sign folks up for the “50/50 Coffee Club” ($50 a month for 50 months which will fulfill a matching donation) which will garner each donor free coffee at the theater for life! Coffee anyone?

A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Plays in repertory with Eccentricities of a Nightingale and The Chairs
Wednesdays through Sundays

A Noise Within
234 South Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91204
P: 818.240.0910
F: 818.240.0826
http://anoisewithin.org
$46 Top

A House Not Meant to Stand / The Fountain

A House Not Meant to Stand / The Fountain Theatre

Tennessee Williams may be the most notable American playwright in the twentieth century. His Streetcar and Glass Menagerie flow like honey and salt from the troubled spirits emerging from Williams’ rich imagination. He had an ear for the language of lost souls, at once poetic and pithy. In the current production of this last of the playwright’s plays mounted in the West Coast Premiere, by Simon Levy, long time artistic director of The Fountain, we meet more gothic characters who are sick with grief, filled with bombastic hubris, sexually frustrated and bigger than life. The poetry is not as rich as what we’ve heard in the more well known plays, but none the less, in the Fountain’s presentation, we are immersed in trouble and strife. The moldering home of Cornelius and Bella McCorkle is literally falling down around their shoulders.

Jeff McGlaughlin’s grubby living room and dining area extend to embrace the audience; reflecting ages of neglect that, for reasons not really explained, the leaking roof has not been fixed; the peeling wall paper exposes lath and one can almost smell the mildew and the mold. We expect to see vermin racing through the living room, but there are only memories.

Chips McCorkle is dead and Cornelius (Alan Blumenfeld) and his wife, Bella (the excellent Sandy Martin) slog in from Memphis where they have just attended Chips’ funeral. Upstairs, Chips’ near do well brother, Charlie McCorkle (Daniel Billet) can be heard in a sexual romp with his soon to be Baby Momma, Stacey (literally moist and fecund Virginia Newcomb). Cornelius is in bombast mode that seems to permeate the cast from his very first entrance and stays there for most of the play. In a small theater, shouting at the top of one’s lungs with little variation becomes strident and must be a burden for all of the actors. Only Stacey whom we don’t really meet until the second act attempts some variation as she eludes the horny Emerson Sykes (equally bombastic Robert Craighead) as he pursues her around the living room furniture.

Whenever a plot discusses hidden money and a shotgun is produced, dramatic tension level rises considerably. In delusions of grandeur Cornelius has aspirations to run for public office. If only he could get his hands on the Dancey money (perhaps a family myth from Bella’s side?). He is convinced his pre-dementia wife is hiding the stash from him. When elected he could become influential and give Charlie a cushy job and grant favors to his cronies.

This is pure Williams. Occasional asides break the fourth wall. Jessie Sykes (perfectly cast Lisa Richards) explains her recent cosmetic surgery and imagined fears regarding a sex fiend loose in the area, whom we suppose she would feint directly toward as she sighed “no no..”

Program notes discuss the business of the “Southern Gothic” of which Williams was a past master. These archetypical creatures, the blustery patriarch, the faded Southern mother, the ambitious but ineffectual son, delusional others, are all here. As in The Glass Menagerie when Tom’s father is mentioned, his photograph glows with memory, Bella has Charlie hang a family photograph in the scrimmed off dining area where, when examined with lighted candles, the family appears in ghostly black and white, fading as the candles are taken away. Later, as Bella’s failing mind runs her out the door to collide with a car in the rain and then comes back inside, she imagines her three young children projected into the dining room, taking their places at the dinner table, through her demented vision.

Williams’ ability to create strong characters is at work in this piece. My issue is mostly with the direction… or the actors seizing their own lead to shout the dialogue and keep the action at an almost fever pitch from the get go. Though no one would allow that Williams is ever very subtle, it seems that finding the peaks and valleys of this play would make it more enjoyable to watch. Director Levy’s ability as a director is well known. If it was his intention that the energy of the cast to be dialed up for much of the play, perhaps finding a few subtle moments might be an idea. The entrance of Emerson Sykes matched McCorkle’s bombast line for line, exhausting any chance for understatement.

Sandy Martin’s Bella virtually stops the show with her description of being in the room with her grandfather at the moment of his passing. This is a show that deserves an audience and as a Williams play that has been only marginally explored, takes the notion of Southern Gothic to the wall with all its might. Uncredited shady characters come looking for Sykes that seem a little out of place. One of whom we meet again as a tall bearded cop we might not expect to see in Mississippi in 1982. Chip Bent’s Officer “Pee Wee” Jackson adds a nice touch in the second act.

Over all this is a show to see and judge for one’s self. If you love southern accents (collectively all just fine) and Williams’ strong archetypes and a well mounted production, except for some highly accentuated volume... see it.


A House Not Meant to Stand
by Tennessee Williams
The Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90029 (East of Normandie on Fountain)

February 26 through April 17, 2011
Thursday through Sunday
Tickets and information 323 663 1525
www.FountainTheatre.com
$30.00 Top

The Adventures of Pinocchio / Deaf West

The current Deaf West production of Carlo Collodi’s classic is neither fish nor fowl. Director Stephen Rothman and the talented members of Deaf West Theatre Company, renowned for such presentations as Big River and A Streetcar Named Desire, have ventured into the land of children’s tales with mixed results. Admirably, deaf and hard of hearing actors present the story with one actor playing and signing the physical character and a hearing/speaking actor presenting the character’s voice. Signing Pinocchio, played by Amber Zion, is in a colorful costume while Pinocchio’s voice (Darrin Revitz) is in an almost identical costume in subdued colors. Not all the actors are doubled in this way. Some sign and also speak. Some sign as another actor speaks. Over all, the device pretty much works.

Walt Disney’s 1940 animated movie has indoctrinated many generations of us with a somewhat homogenized version of Collodi’s original story. The dark side is present in Deaf West's version from the outset. After being created from a rather imaginative tree branch, the puppet is just about as naughty as a kid can be. When Talking Cricket (Vae, who doubles as other characters as well) bounces in to tell Pinocchio that he needs to get an education and be respectful of Geppetto (Matt Henerson), the puppet chases her out the door and kills her with a big old mallet! In Act II the Ghost of the Cricket comes back to give more advice and gets the boot again.

Announced as a Commedia dell’Arte version of the story, I found traditional archetypes from Commedia lacking. Certainly, Puppetmaster (Henerson), the owner of the Magical Puppet Theatre is bombastic enough to be a Pantelone and Pinocchio himself a trickster like Harlequino. However, Commedia is an art form that calls for specific gestures and postures. In the entire production there was only one attempt (by The Puppetmaster) at a lazzi: a broad set theatrical piece that defines and expands the character.

It may be a trifle unfair to expect a full on Commedia presentation, but this is the issue of what this show really wants to be. The actors are all on the same page, in the same production, so to speak and some particularly outstanding. To benefit the deaf audience, the music (by Joe Cerqua) is wonderfully cranked with heavy bass that literally vibrates the entire audience. The issue, for me, is that this story is slightly lightweight for an adult audience and may be too heavy for kids.

Some outstanding performances may be worth the effort to go to see this show. My favorite was THE RABBIT OF DEATH (James Royce Edwards, also multicast) who rabidly explodes onto the stage in the second act, after a couple of bad guys (Lexi Marman and Vae) have literally hanged the puppet from a tree, effectively almost killing him. The Blue Fairy (also dead / also Lexi Marman) is wonderful. She wants him to take his medicine and the puppet refuses until menaced by the RoD!

Sets by Evan Bartoletti are flexible. James L. Moody‘s lights work very well. Show glides smoothly through many scenes. Shadow and lighting effects are professional.

As a fan of this company and appreciative of the hard work they have produced for twenty years, I want to applaud their effort, but would have liked to see the production presented either more in a classic Commedia style, and even darker. Or, even lighter if intended for a younger audience.
The Adventures of Pinocchio
Adapted from Carlo Collodi’s story by Lee Hall
Deaf West Theatre
5112 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601

Runs Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
through March 27, 2011

For tickets and information:
www.deafwest.org
Voice: 818 762 2773
Video Phone: 866 954 2986
$25 Top

The Models Cast "MLLE. GOD"

In Nicholas Kazan’s “Mlle. God” Lulu, (Annika Marks) the mademoiselle in question, worships at the Church of Sex. Kazan’s tribute to early 20th Century “Lulu Plays” by Frank Wedekind via the 1929 silent film “Pandora’s Box” with Louise Brooks directed by G.W. Pabst is, if nothing else, poetry in motion.

On the way into the theatre, as I walked by Scott Paulin, director of Mlle. God. I heard him describe the severe black bob and bangs worn by Louise Brooks, the star of Pandora’s Box. Born in 1906, Brooks was a product of early show business whose real life as a dancer and show girl who went on to become an actress in the twenties may have paralleled the life of the fictional. Marks makes no attempt to channel Brooks’ performance or look. This is a modern play set in “Not Quite Here” and “Not Quite Now” but has all the makings of a 21st Century time and place with video projections and cell phones.

The fascinating thing about this performance of Mlle. God and the characters in it on my second viewing is coming to the conclusion that Kazan is a poet. Not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that Steinbeck or Saroyan or more recently, John Irving are poetic in the way they capture the flow of language. Paulin’s direction makes use of fluid movements to echo the text. However, in this “Models” cast, it is hard to tell what makes some of the characters so difficult to capture.

As the artist, Melville, Robert Trebor’s efforts show. He is the first victim of Lulu’s charms we meet in his fifth floor studio (again kudos to the sets and lights design realized by Richard Hoover). The age difference between Melville and Lulu is too great, though it echoes Pabst film’s Doctor. Lulu is, at once genuinely enamored with the artist yet toys with his affections when he presents a beautiful sapphire ring with his marriage proposal. His request elicits “Can I keep it?” Lulu understands his intent and rejects the proposal. Even so the artist caves in offering even his soul if only she will agree to be with him on any terms. He threatens to leap from a window. To which Lulu casually reminds him that they are on the fifth floor.

Marks’s Lulu is wantonly sincere and at the same time a literally bouncing flibbertygibbet. She is sensual, sexual, awake, aware and guided by her own untraditional ethic. She communes at the Church of Sex. She attends unabashedly. She takes responsibility for her self and her own actions. She is free.

In Pandora’s Box, Louise Brooks as Lulu leaves a path of emotional and eventually physical destruction as she vamps her way reluctantly into a marriage with an older doctor. He has married her in a fit of passion, knowing that she will either be the death of him.. or he, in his drunken state of love may take his own life. Kazan morphs this moment in the film and transfers it to "Number 26" Charles (Lulu numbers her conquests), (William Duffy), who attempts to escape Lulu’s charms by proposing to the Harvard Legacy, straight laced, up tight Harriet (Laura Beckner). Lulu spirits Charles off to her bedroom for one last romp. Poor Charles, succumbing to the thought of Life without Lulu, defenestrates himself, leaving Lulu not only devastated, but possibly guilty in the eyes of the law, though we know that it’s only lust that has yanked Charles out the window to the street below.

We have met Charles brother, Trib (Gary Patent), whose character may be the most difficult to play. Naïve and shy, he quickly becomes intoxicated with Lulu’s allure. He swoons with the sweet, soft nectar of her lips. Later in this scene, we see the blue nosed Harriet fall victim to Lulu as she declares, “You were right about the nectar!”

Giving more actors time on stage is an admirable gesture. Paulin has his hands full coordinating blocking and timing with two casts. The actors who play only half of the time must work in such a way as to allow the full time players, Lulu/Marks, (The Prince) Kareem Furgusen, Will Harris (Kip) and John Neilsen (The Governor) to meld well. For the most part, it works. To compare the performances would be unfair. I missed seeing the Models cast's Eleanor (Jacqueline Wright) who comes to see Lulu in jail and noted that the ease with which the Muse cast’s Heather Robinson played Eleanor was notably different from the energies in other half timers in the Models cast.

Lewis (Keith Arthur Bolden), the tough jail guard has a totally different take on his role than Jon Kellan in the Muses cast. Again unfair comparison, leaving it up to a savvy audience to invest in seeing the show more than one time to make their own comparison.

The beauty of what EST/LA is up to here is that they produce Theatre. They are dedicated to putting actors on the stage in a professional setting, with challenging scripts and they succeed. Gates McFadden and her company seem willing to take chances and bring important theatre to Atwater. "MLLE. GOD" is not for the faint of heart. This is a place for new and exciting theatre. Pleasure and Punishment await.

See former review for performance dates and ticket information
Plays through March 6, 2011.

James Cromwell and Ed Harris Perform

It's the goal of onstagelosangeles to boost theatre and the arts when ever we can, mostly through reviews of local theatre. However, the upcoming event at the LA Theatre Center sounds pretty exciting.

This from Philip Sokoloff - Publicity for the Theatre:

On Friday, February 25, 2011 at 7:30 p.m., the Global Theatre Project will present a staged reading of a play, “Being Harold Pinter,” in support of the Belarus Free Theatre. The cast of “Being Harold Pinter” is toplined by famed actors James Cromwell and Ed Harris. It will be directed by Artistic Director Bari Hochwald.

The February 25 event begins with a brief presentation by Amnesty International on the situation in Belarus followed by the performance of “Being Harold Pinter” with a reception, catered by downtown’s Church & State Bistro, to follow.

Reservations for this event are available through suggested donation. More information can be found at www.theglobaltheatreproject.org or by calling 818 823 0891.

At Los Angeles Theatre Center, in its 320-seat Theatre 3, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. (Parking is available in several facilities immediately south of and also to the rear of the theatre). Friday, February 25, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

It is recommended that reservations be made by February 22.

"Mlle. God" at AVT

The Ensemble Studio Theatre / LA’s “Mlle. God” by Nicolas Kazan inaugurates a bright new space for theatre in Los Angeles.

EST/LA’s Artistic Director Gates McFadden, best remembered for her role as the alluring Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: TNG, along with Tim Wright of the Circle X Theatre Company have made a considerable investment to bring quality and challenging theatre to the community. The new Atwater Village Theatre is tucked away in a burgeoning industrial/residential/arts area located on Casitas Avenue between Glendale Avenue and Fletcher Drive in Atwater. Two waiver spaces and a smaller performance space are well appointed and look to become a magnet for the arts in Glendale.

Kazan’s play features the amazing Annika Marks as Lulu, the hot to trot “amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.” So says the cut line of the 1929 Louise Brooks film “Pandora’s Box.” The rise and inevitable fall of Lulu is beautifully examined in Kazan’s script based on the Brooks film which was based on a bawdy German play by Franz Wedekind. [German Theatre Scholar Professor Emeritus Kenneth W. Rugg points out that Wedekind was generally known as "Frank". Kazan refers to him as "Franz" in his program notes. In any case, The Lulu Plays are well remembered by Mr. Kazan.] Kazan says in his program notes that Wedekind worked and worked to revise his early 20th Century piece (The Lulu Plays) to meet a social standard that would allow a staged production. It never happened. We are fortunate for Kazan’s vision and that the EST/LA company has dedicated itself to presenting challenging theatre. As McFadden says, “Somebody has to do it.” The playwright, son of director Elia Kazan, speaks in his own unique voice. It is succinct and worthy of an audience.

PR for the show announces “Not for the faint of trousers.” and it’s true. This is an adult piece of theatre. The expert direction of Scott Paulin guides his actors directly through what in less capable hands could become a muddy route. Casting Annika Marks as the irresistible Lulu makes the show. Her absolute dedication to this at once amoral, yet sweet and enticing young woman flows through nuance after nuance while literally flaunting her brazen sexuality in our faces. It’s wonderful, especially the Flash as Lulu turns upstage to torment her artist suitor, Melville, (excellent Keith Szarabajika in the Muses cast… double casting for this show: Muses and Models), who, in his forties, is much too old and too much in love with her for his own good.

Act I "Pleasure" explores how Lulu manipulates and enjoys the men she has seduced. She numbers her prey. Melville is Number Nine. Charles (Andy Lauer), number 36, is, at once enamored with Lulu but has found Harriet (Harvardesque Kim Chueh) whom he intends to marry. We meet other lovers and applicants as the story moves toward what may be an inevitable climax in Act I. Charles’s brother, Trib (Tasso Feldman, trying just a little too hard) arrives and falls to Lulu’s charms. Bright spot in this scene is the appearance of The Prince (almost as naked as Lulu, Kareem Fergusen) who takes stage and flaunts his own brand of seduction.

Act II “Punishment”, turns south as the theatre is, literally, transformed into a dark gray arena. Video again is used to good advantage as Lulu discusses her ‘situation’ which could mean big trouble for her. As she meets her licentious keeper, Lewis (Jon Kellam); her turncoat brother, Kip, (big old Aussie, Will Harris) and another hot suitor, Eleanor (Heather Robinson), Lulu remains the vamp, never apologetic. She is never not her authentic self. With the appearance of The Governor (tough and powerful, John Nielsen) we become afraid for our heroine. It’s all about power, after all. It’s all about how one remains true to one’s self that prevails.

Professional and appropriate sets and lights by Richard Hoover and Production Design by Jason Thompson work beautifully. Director Scott Paulin’s choices are exquisite. Strong acting for the most part. Kazan’s excellent script: provocative and poetic. Two casts: Models and Muses should entice true patrons to see both versions of the show just to compare performances. Annika Marks plays Lulu in both casts.

Mlle. God by Nicholas Kazan
EST/LA
The Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Avenue
LA, CA 90039
Through March 6, 2011
Thursdays through Sundays
Tickets: 323 644 1929
www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org
$25.00 Top

FREE Inside the John Anson Ford

Neo Theatre Ensemble opens Inside the Ford with Barbara Lindsey’s quirky comedy, Free. Kurt Boetcher’s seedy motel room set becomes the stage for personal changes as Marshall “Free” Gunther (a very bearded Michael Earl Reid) storms madly in, burrowing under a mattress. “Free” is a floater. He floats. Literally.

His childlike frantic fears stoked by the embarrassment of being different have driven him to distraction as his old pal, handler, colleague, Stoney Madonna (Greg Albanese) tries and tries again to convince Free that they can make a fortune by exploiting Free’s extraordinary talent. All Free wants is to be left alone and to be ‘normal.’ He is not interested in becoming “the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Free is confronted by a loopy woman, Althea (Dagney Kerr), who longs to learn to float. Free’s no teacher and though Althea seems determined to learn and they may even get a little lighter during the scene, which flies all over the room, the ground is still their final resting place.

Patsy (Jane McPherson), the maid who cleans rooms, is a voice of reason and befriends Free (who now insists that he be called by his given name, Marshall). She gets him a job helping with housekeeping at the motel, leaving poor Stoney without a meal ticket.

Properly harnessed, the energy generated in this production would electrify a city block for a week. Director Wendy Worthington’s tight direction is consistent and the cast delivers.

The metaphor of floating may have spiritual ramifications. The actual effect that the audience anticipates pays off and the metamorphosis of Free from an anxious little guy into a new more confident person is not really discussed in the exposition, but there are changes.. the characters do evolve which may be what the whole thing is about.

“FREE”
by the Neo Ensemble Theatre
at [inside] The Ford Theatre
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East
Hollywood, CA
Thurs – Sat 8PM
Sundays 2PM and 7PM
Through February 27, 2011
Special Admission rates.. check www.fordtheatres.org
Or call 323 461 3673
$20 Top

NOISES OFF REDUX

For a very limited time audiences will have an opportunity to see ensemble work that shines. A Noise Within revives their own production of Michael Fryan’s Noises Off!
(Stephen Rockwell as Frederick Fellowes as Philip Brent.
Photo by Craig Schwartz)
Noises Off! is an inside look at the workings of a theatrical road company, all drawn together under the aegis of actress / producer Miss Dotty Otley starring as the maid, Mrs. Clackett. (Dotty/Clackett played by the ever energetic ANW mainstay Deborah Strang). Nothing’s On!!!s director, (Geoff Elliott as Lloyd Dallas), is one of those guys who is busy, busy, busy with more than one project at a time, as well as romancing more than one company member at the same time. The first act of Nothing On!!! is in rehearsal at rise. It’s the dress rehearsal, though some actors think it’s the tech as we continue to stop and start with interjections from Dallas. They have only a few hours before opening and then heading out onto the road with their fishy comedy. It’s about sardines! Sort of.

Excellent production values and solid performances combine to make for an evening of fun that will be very meaningful to anyone who has ever been in a play. Garry Lejeune (Mikael Salazar) squires the delicious Brooke Ashton (very sterotypically blonde Abby Craden) into the home of the well to do Philip and Flavia Brent (Stephen Rockwell and Jill Hill) for a quick tryst.

At this point all I can do is praise the rest of the cast and Geoff and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott’s fine tuned direction. Lenne Klingaman’s Poppy the Assistant Stage Manager is delicate and true. Shaun Anthony’s Stage Manager Tim Allgood keeps the pace moving.. and Apollo Dukakis as doughty old Selsdon Mowbray as The Burglar is just wonderful.

One has to keep referring back and forth from the program for the play within the play (Nothing On!!! in Noises Off) to keep the names straight. However, as the mayhem builds, it really doesn’t matter and keeping track of the actual plot becomes inconsequential to the fun and watching the three ring circus of events; missed cues and attempted murder evolve.

A final note to the benefit of A Noise Within’s dedication to excellence is Adam Lillibridge’s amazing set (which the audience must stay through the intermissions to watch the Run Crew: Lillibridge, Bernice Mendez, Katie Elsaesser, Dough Milliron, Stefanie Demetriades and Karla Menjivar transform like clockwork. Twice!

Soojin Lee’s costumes are perfect.

It’s just a fun show.

Playing now through January 30, 2011 ONLY
Fridays at 8PM
Saturdays at 2PM and 8PM
Sundays at 2PM and 7PM
A Noise Within
234 Brand Blvd.
Glendale, Ca 91204
$46 top
call theatre for group rates and discounts
240-0910 x1
Visit www.ANoiseWithin.org

New Season begins with Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams and Ionesco the end of February, 2011.