FIFTY CHAIRS

On July 31, 2010 Vlatka Horvat spent the entire day in the Los Angeles River with fifty chairs.

She started at nine in the morning and with only brief breaks, moved the chairs around the thirty thousand foot space where the River flows under Fletcher Avenue near the 2 Freeway. Throughout the day, on-lookers watched from the bridge or wandered down to the River’s edge as Vlatka created pattern after pattern with blue skies, swifts and egrets for company.

Julie Deamer of Outpost Contemporary Art sponsored the installation with a reception in the burgeoning art district developing in China Town.

Every cliché one can think of has been uttered about art at one time or another. To call Horvat’s performance an installation; her installation a performance, performance art or by any other name, is to diminish it. The Work was in the moment. For one short day in July the art was mostly in the artist who generously included appreciative patrons warmed by a perfect California day.

In eight hours' time, moving steadily at a dancer’s pace, Horvat arranged each piece of her ever changing puzzle one or two chairs at a time. The patterns, moment to moment improvising, ever calculating her next move evolved kaleidoscopically. Patterns in the design, emphasized by the gently flowing River, occasional applause as she completed one pattern, was not acknowledged.

The Artist, the medium and the River all flowing together, punctuated a moment in time: the reflection's come and gone.

michael sheehan

IN & OUT, IN & OUT

Juan Pope as Malcolm Jennifer May/ Reel Sessions

Writer/Director David Wally’s examination of life in these United States is at once cynical and arcane. IN & OUT The USofAlienation currently playing Tuesdays at The Whitefire challenges the audience to ride along through a morass of notions that never become completely clear in the text nor in the action. In a series of at once associated and disparate scenes we encounter the ‘alienation’ which is the foundation of Wally’s work.

A program note mentions that the only character who remains consistent in the play is Malcolm, portrayed by an effective Juan Pope. Malcolm appears and stirs the social pot with various other characters by asking intimate questions that all come back to the absence of civility in the United States today. Some scenes work better than others. Two vignettes with Gregor Manns (Bartender and Rod) work well. One scene examines the origins of ‘us vs. them.’ Later as a homeless former security guard the feeling of quiet desperation and dignity prevail. His portrayal of Rod, the former Security Guard, is touching and certainly civil. Manns is a really large guy who quips that one of the ladies in the latter scene might just take him home and turn him into a professional football player.

A mysterious Black Satchel seems to arrive and depart in each scene on its own. It draws attention to itself making us think that an actor may have missed a prop cue. In fact The Satchel belongs to Malcolm, the one consistent character in the sundry scenes. In the final scene we learn that he is, in fact, a research doctor for the CDC in Atlanta possibly bringing (in the satchel?) dark foreboding. His purpose in the piece may be designed to make the audience ask themselves difficult questions about the end of life.

Interstitial music (Don McLean’s American Pie plays as the audience enters the theater) may deliver clues as to the playwright’s intent vis a vis why our society has become so compartmentally uncivilized. Unfortunately, even with some decent performances and believable scenes, including a poignant but gratuitous lesbian tryst, the show lumbers along with only an occasional glimmer of the argument that each of us, indeed all of us must find a way to communicate and to be a little nicer to one another.

Laura Fine Hawkes’ bare bones set design leaves everything to the imagination. The stars and stripes hang above the stage: red tire treads and white handprints on a blue field. Nice. Uncredited over amped sound may have held clues as to the intent of the play, but became cacophonous in between scenes.

IN & OUT The USofAlienation
Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Runs Tuesdays only at 8PM
Closing September 14, 2010
Reservations: (866) 811-4111
$20.00 Top

Yellow at the Coast

L to R David Cowgill, Kristen McCullough, Evie Louise Thompson and Luke McClure


Del Shores has been writing plays for a long time. In 1983 "Daddy's Dyin' and Who's Got the Will?" opened to stunning reviews at Jeff Murray’s Theatre/Theater in Hollywood. Del has been prolific on the theatre scene as well as having produced and directed at least one film and worked on high stakes television shows. His ability to round out a character and at once make an audience think, laugh and weep continues to develop with time.

YELLOW, written and directed by Shores at The Coast Playhouse, examines a modern southern family, the Westmorelands, of Vicksburg, Mississippi: the father Bobby (David Cowgill), Katie, his wife (excellent Kristen McCullough), football hero Dayne (Luke McClure), and his frantic sister, Gracie (enthusiastic Evie Louise Thompson). As Dayne enters his senior year of high school, Bobby, a former NFL football player turned PE Teacher/Football coach, has high hopes for his son. The kid is a natural and both are dedicated to a great final season.

Gracie is a fifteen year old “actress” whose histrionics as a fanatical high school drama student burst like IEDs in an attempt to get her parents’ attention. Hormones raging, her sibling rivalry with big brother Dayne reaches fever pitch causing their parents to sigh and shake their heads. It’s a phase.

As the Westmorelands celebrate their wedding anniversary, a brief feeling of situation comedy permeates early in the play. We then meet Kendall (tres gai Matthew Scott Montgomery), Gracie’s gay guy pal. Kendall is an aspiring musical comedy star who can quote the plot line of any Broadway show and sing a number to document his love of the genre. Gay through and through, Kendall facilitates one issue through which Shores develops a theme of tolerance evolving into a strong polemic.

The play takes a sharp turn to the right as Kendall’s mother, Sister Timothea Parker (the evangelical Susan Leslie) appears. Sister Timothea is a fervent fundamentalist Christian Woman who can quote both Testaments to prove any point. There’s a fine line between parody and a sincere portrayal of this type of character. Leslie treads this line with frightening perfection.

Shores’ ability to direct his own work, simply, works. From time to time his actors deliver lines directly upstage and some other choices either by the direction or that the actors have made are slightly distracting, but the play works. The message works. The actors are all on the same page at the same time.

Robert Steinberg’s contemporary set is perfect, capturing the middle class status of the Westmorelands. Kathi O’Donohue’s always excellent lighting design accentuates and isolates individual scenes flawlessly.

That YELLOW has been extended for six weeks and had a full house for a Sunday matinee speaks to the fact that good press and word of mouth have done their job. The sensitivity with which Shores intertwines familiar themes of his past work: fidelity, homosexuality and fundamentalist religion, continues to leave audiences laughing and emotionally involved. Themes in this play don’t hit us over the head, but lead us to come to our own conclusions. Redemption and forgiveness are only available when even our deepest feelings are given an opportunity to find their way to new understandings.

YELLOW written and directed by Del Shores
Coast Playhouse
8325 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood

Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 2PM and 7PM
Extended through Sunday September 5, 2010
Tickets: www.yellowbydelshores.com / www.tix.com or by calling 800 595 4849
$34.99 Top

A NOISE WITHIN ... PASADENA!

Geoff Elliott (left) shares A Noise Within's Commendation from Mayor Bogaard and the City of Pasadena.






When the Mayor of Pasadena and the artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse turn out with a couple of hundred other folks on a warm July morning to a construction site, something big is going on. In 1991 Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott with three thousand dollars of their own money found their way into the old Masonic Temple on Brand Avenue in Glendale with the dream of making a theatre dedicated to the classics. Over time, the Elliotts, their resident artists and crew along with their dauntless Board of Directors of A Noise Within, currently led by Chairman Terry Kay, have moved steadily toward creating a modern and comfortable space to do their valuable work.

With ten million dollars pledged, they still need another three million to get to a finished product for the fall of 2011. With the enthusiastic gathering at the ceremony on Tuesday, it looks like their goal is well within sight. The ground is broken. Construction has begun.

The differences between Glendale’s marginal support of the arts and the way that Pasadena takes giant steps to embrace A Noise Within are like night and day. There may have been opportunities for the City of Glendale to entice the Elliotts to stay in the city, but witness the new parking regulations that prevented patrons from parking near the theater at Brand and Colorado for more than two hours. And, then observe the Glendale City Council that seems to have so little interest in any of the arts that no one made the slightest effort to find a space for the company within the city limits. Of course, art flows to where arms fly open. Apparently, arms in Glendale were folded to the company and an ideal opportunity blossomed in the City of Pasadena.

The ceremony opened with a performance by members of the Resident Company. Supporters then told stories of how the past nineteen years have been on ‘the threshold of a dream.’ The dream of A Noise Within now moves in a material way to a beautiful permanent home under way at Sierra Madre Villa and Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena. In a complex designed by Edward Durell Stone (designer of Radio City Music Hall as well as the Museum of Modern Art and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC) the new 33,000 square foot complex space will feature a sweeping thrust stage surrounded on three sided by the audience. A state of the art theater with flies and advanced technical capabilities will be an arts destination convenient to the Gold Line.

Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard presented the company with a proclamation welcoming them to the city. Bogaard was praised by others for his championship of not only ANW, but the arts in general in Pasadena. Sheldon Epps, artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse, in attendance indicates the acceptance of a sister company which can only assist the embattled Playhouse by drawing more attention to Pasadena.

Glendale’s loss is certainly Pasadena’s gain. A Noise Within is on par with regional theatre anywhere in the country and with this new space opening in the autumn of 2011, we can expect even more inventive and creative productions in the future. At the risk of sounding like a fan.. the remaining three million dollars needed to make this jewel sparkle may easily be made in modest donations from each of us. Contact A Noise Within Development Department at 818 265 7959. For further information, link to www.anoisewithin.org/capitalcampaign.html

Congratulations to A Noise Within for never letting go of their dream.

Round and Round and Round in the Circle Game

Jack Grapes (far right) and Company in a quiet moment before Circle of Will at The Macha Theatre. Photo by Alexis Fancher.


Circle of Will

Many years ago I participated in a production of “Impromptu” by Tad Mosel. It’s a one act that places four characters on a bare stage and makes them figure out who they are and what they are supposed to do. It’s a great exercise in an existential examination of who we are and what we are doing and where we are going. Of course, we’d go nuts if we spent too much time dealing with this stuff. However, a few great playwrights: Beckett, Ionesco, Pirandello... did that and basically made the audience do a lot of the work about figuring out who Godot might be, if he exists and if, ever, he might come, etc. Circle of Will is a less cumbersome play than any of the aforementioned writers' efforts, but it does bring up some issues and addresses them in a most amusing and entertaining way. Okay, an hilarious way. Way hilarious.

I loved this show.

Written by Jack Grapes & Bill Cakmis, Circle of Will features Grapes as Will and Joe Briggs as Richard “Dirk” Burbage at The Macha Theater in WeHo. Formerly, The Globe, this crusty little theater survives with its art. It’s a perfect setting for Circle of Will in that the feeling of The Globe (Shakespeare’s Globe) persists for what is … at least for a time… between 1610 and 1616. The Tempest was written in 1610.. happy 400th to Caliban (whom I saw in the persona of John Ritter in this very theater before we came to know what Ritter could really do), Miranda and all.

Notable as Eunuchs One and Two, Cuthbert (John Brocato) and Quincey (Josh Grapes), entertain and introduce the play. A rich atmosphere of 1970's Renaissance Pleasure Faire permeates their foreplay. Juggling takes practice. (Note to Eunuchs: practice juggling.)

Shakespeare struggles as he attempts to cobble together ideas he’s had brewing for a long time with what may become his last play, “Gonzago and the King” (which Burbage dubs a ‘footstool’ because it weighs a ton and looks like… well… a footstool.) Then, troubles are afoot as the argument morphs, literally into a quantum continuum exploration of the meaning of meaning, more or less.

Director Brian Herskowitz keeps his actors in the moment, which, as the play progresses becomes more and more of a challenge. Martin C. Vallejo’s set allows for some farcical shenanigans. “Shenanigans” being the best description of the entire goings on. There are lots of shenanigans, clever puns and literary references. And, as the story bounds and leaps and leaps and bounds through time, some very interesting deeper thoughts emerge. A lot of scholarly thought has gone into this script and the business that every play encounters with every audience becomes problematic. What’s real? What’s fantasy? Where are we now? When are we going to get there? And, then? What then?

Eavesdropping on any actor symposium will find us discussing ‘being in the moment’ and playing the reality of the characters. Will and Burbage go round and round (it’s a Circle of Will, after all) in the attempt to satisfy Dirk’s enormous ego and get this last endeavor of the Bard’s together in time for previews in a few days. Burbage is tired of playing women and just wants to be a leading man for a change. As Will and Burbage deconstruct (or self destruct), the question of who’s who and what’s what becomes more entangled. Simply put, it’s wonderful. At the risk of trying to be too clever, the only way find yourself breathless with laughter and at the same time questioning what Life is really all about is to go to see this show. Check into the Time Warp and then decide for yourself.

Appearances of a large ephemeral cast, feature Stephanie Nguyen doubling as some body and the stage manager, Steve Roland (Gonzago), Bob Downing as The King, Peter Funt plays Nicholas Bishop, Bert Connors is Thomas Heywood, and Michael Kzynenski as Julius Caesar. Cynthia Tyson limns Lady Macbeth, the androgynous C. J. Potter (a flawless Ophelia). Pam Bohusalv is regal as The Queen, Romona of Verona is played by Christiana Bolaslavsky (no relation to Richard with an ‘e’), Sherrod Klippel as Prospero. Lady Prospero disappears as Lucinda van de Velde, Cynthia Connors plays Miranda of Naples, Capulet (Omar Truzdale) and Grizelda of Beaujolais (Christa Marsh) round out the cast.
Lynda Goodfriend does not appear in this production.

Costumes by Anasuya Engle and Sound and Lighting by Carey Dunn are all just fine.

Just go see this play.

Circle of Will
Macha Theater
1107 N. Kings Road
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Thursday through Saturday at 8PM
Sundays at 7PM
Reservations: 323 960 7822
www.Plays411.com/circleofwill
Through August 15, 2010
$30 top

THE PLAYHOUSE RISES ONE MORE TIME

This from Patty Onagan at the Pasadena Playhouse:

PASADENA PLAYHOUSE, THE STATE THEATER OF CALIFORNIA EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY.
NECESSARY ON-GOING FUNDRAISING EFFORTS BEGIN WITH AN ANONYMOUS $1 MILLION MATCHING PLEDGE CAMPAIGN

PASADENA, CA (July 8, 2010) – Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theater of California, announced that its Plan of Reorganization was approved yesterday by the United States Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles and emerged from Chapter 11 after nearly two months.

Future plans, including a Fall 2010 production, will be announced at a later date.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Support of The Pasadena Playhouse is vital to the cultural scene of California.

Choices for productions that the Playhouse has made are not always ones that I’ve found exciting. How to provide an interesting season and keep the doors open and the curtain going up is certainly a challenge. Part of the problem, as I see it, is mounting very expensive shows when saving a few bucks might be a good idea.

Peter Brook extols the virtues of The Empty Space and many, many years ago, I recall his A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Ahmanson that carried audiences back to Shakespeare with great good humor. If “the play’s the thing,” then finding The Play might be an idea. Recently, Glendale’s A Noise Within remounted an amazing romp, Noises Off! which might easily transfer to the Playhouse. If the reception of sold out houses at ANW is any indication, the Playhouse might want to speak with them about re-opening by mounting their production. Coincidentally, the Glendale theatre company will break ground for a new modern space at 3360 Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena in a couple of weeks, which may draw more theatre goers to the area when they open there in a year or two.

Finding audience pleasing shows and still maintaining some version of a cutting edge in theatre is a challenge. Ron Sossi has kept his Odyssey Theatre going for more than thirty years, seldom settling for easy productions. Of course, he’s on the west side of town which may have something to do with his success. My observation is that The Playhouse has mostly been about getting the seats filled and that means sometimes doing less challenging work. I refer readers to the Canadian television series “Slings and Arrows” for insights. Available on Netfix it asks the question “Can Art and Commerce exist side by side?”

Congratulations to Playhouse director Stephen Eich and his Playhouse team for hanging in and to the anonymous donors who opened their hearts and their wallets to do the right thing. Donations to the cause are still welcome, so if you have the means to help, please contact Mr. Eich and make a contribution to our State Theatre of California.

Sheehan

This from Patti Onagan at the Pasadena Playhouse:

PASADENA PLAYHOUSE, THE STATE THEATER OF CALIFORNIA EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY.
NECESSARY ON-GOING FUNDRAISING EFFORTS BEGIN WITH AN ANONYMOUS $1 MILLION MATCHING PLEDGE CAMPAIGN

PASADENA, CA (July 8, 2010) – Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theater of California, announced that its Plan of Reorganization was approved yesterday by the United States Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles and emerged from Chapter 11 after nearly two months.

Future plans, including a Fall 2010 production, will be announced at a later date.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Support of The Pasadena Playhouse is vital to the cultural scene of California.

Choices for productions that the Playhouse has made are not always ones that I’ve found exciting. How to provide an interesting season and keep the doors open and the curtain going up is certainly a challenge. Part of the problem, as I see it, is mounting very expensive shows when saving a few bucks might be a good idea.

Peter Brook extols the virtues of The Empty Space and many, many years ago, I recall his A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Ahmanson that carried audiences back to Shakespeare with great good humor. If “the play’s the thing,” then finding The Play might be an idea. Recently, Glendale’s A Noise Within remounted an amazing romp, Noises Off! which might easily transfer to the Playhouse. If the reception of sold out houses at ANW is any indication, the Playhouse might want to speak with them about re-opening by mounting their production. Coincidentally, the Glendale theatre company will break ground for a new modern space in Pasadena in a couple of weeks, which may draw more theatre goers to the area when they open in a there in a year or two.

Finding audience pleasing shows and still maintaining some version of a cutting edge in theatre is a challenge. Ron Sossi has kept his Odyssey Theatre going for more than thirty years, seldom settling for easy productions. Of course, he’s on the west side of town which may have something to do with his success. My observation is that The Playhouse has mostly been about getting the seats filled and that means sometimes doing less challenging work. I refer readers to the Canadian television series “Slings and Arrows” for insights. Available on Netfix it asks the question “Can Art and Commerce exist side by side?”

Congratulations to Playhouse director Stephen Eich and the Playhouse team for hanging in and to the anonymous donors who opened their hearts and their wallets to do the right thing. I’m sure that donations to the cause are still welcome, so if you have the means to help, please contact Mr. Eich and make a contribution to our State Theatre of California.

Neverland!

Peter Pan flys again in Fullerton starting July 14th.

A dear friend, Linda Dangcil, played with Mary Martin on Broadway, making Peter Pan dear to my heart..

so... if you refuse to grow up, a trip to Fullerton may be in order.

Tickets are ten dollars. Here's the information:

Peter Pan
Presented by Fullerton Children's Repertory Theater at Little Theatre

July 14-July 25, 2010

Wed thru Sat 7:30 PM

Sat and Sun 1:30PM

800 N. State College Blvd. Fullerton, CA 92831

714 641 1084

Free Readings! Theatre West

This from Phil Sokoloff for Theatre West. Their last shows reviewed here.. are archived. I enjoyed them.
This is a sturdy little professional company. They try new things and this summer looks like some interesting stuff.


LAY READING SERIES AT THEATRE WEST IS FREE TO PUBLIC

The Theatre West Writers’ Series presents rehearsed play readings of new and developing works by the company’s resident writers, utilizing Theatre West actors and directors. The events are free and open to the public. Reservations are not necessary. Readings take place on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 7 p.m. Here is the current schedule:

Tuesday, July 13 at 8 p.m.: “Teddy & Twain: Luncheon at the White House.” Written by Frank Denson and Alan Freeman. Directed by Marcia Rodd.
Tuesday, July 20 at 8 p.m.: “Aftershocks.” Written by Doug Haverty. Directed by John Gallogly. Cast: Caitlin Gallogly, Mary Garripoli and Barbara Mallory.

Sunday, July 25 at 7 p.m.: “Bard of Blood.” Written and directed by Lloyd J. Schwartz. Cast: Heather Becker, John Cygan, Yancey Dunham, Daniel Keough, Jack Kutcher, Barbara Mallory, Mary Linda Phillips, Elliot Schwartz.

Tuesday, July 27 at 8 p.m.: “Aftermath.” Written and directed by Chris DiGiovanni.
Sunday, August 1 at 7 p.m.: “A Teachable Moment.” Written by Nalsey Tinberg. Directed by Alan Freeman.
Sunday, August 8 at 7 p.m. : “The Magic String.” Written by Nicole Hoelle.
Tuesday, August 10 at 8 p.m. “Favorable Company: A Trilogy.” Written by Kent Hamilton. Cast: Yancey Dunham, Jason Galloway, David P. Johnson, Elsa Raven, Corinne Shor and Sandra Tucker.

Sunday, August 15 at 7 p.m.: “Beshert.” Written by Julie Daniels.

Tuesday, August 17 at 8 p.m. “Deli Cats.” Written and directed by David P. Johnson Cast: Elizabeth Bradshaw, Maria Kress.

The series is coordinated by Chris DiGiovanni and Doug Haverty. Theatre West executive director: John Gallogly.

Theatre West is located at 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, in Los Angeles 90068. Free parking is available in a lot across the street. Phone: (323) 851-7977. Website: www.theatrewest.org

Culture!

After having had a marathon of culture with back to back productions of King Lear at Antaeus, I should let you know that the company has lined up a summer of interesting readings starting July 6th. Works in Process and First Looks are ongoing examinations of plays that Antaeus is dedicated to explore and audiences are invited to attend. Check the Antaeus website for titles and times.
www.antaeus.org or call them at 818 506 1983

Supporting this theatre company and all dedicated local venues is part of what OnStageLosAngeles is all about. However, make no mistake, the reviews are not fluff. Check out the Antaeus schedule for the summer and stop by for a little culture. These folks are dedicated professionals. For lovers of classic theatre, this is an opportunity to see works in progress and then, perhaps, see a finished product in the future.

Michael Sheehan

Madmen at Anteus

King Lear Director, Bart De Lorenzo must have a strong constitution. To tackle King Lear for one production is daunting at best. To do two versions of the same play at the same time is a major challenge. The up side is that, for the most part, he has turned his Antaeus crew into a well tuned machine that, pretty much succeeds in both presentations: The Fools alternating with The Madmen. Seeing two productions of King Lear back to back gives one the opportunity to observe not only production strengths but their weaknesses as well. It’s impossible to not compare the performances.

Harry Groener as the Madmen’s Lear approaches the king from a more physical aspect than Dakin Matthews does. Groener’s dementia advances viscerally and his mad scene toward the end of the play at once elicits sympathy and some well earned laughs. After a somewhat slow start, the performance moved a pace with the unapologetic Cordelia again well limned by Rebecca Mozo. Mozo’s contrast to her conniving sisters, Regan and Goneril (Jen Dede and Allegra Fulton each spot on and nicely textured) is reserved and cool. Very impressive is Gregory Itzen as Lear’s loyal and loudest Earl of Kent who is banished and then returns in disguise to help his king. His not so subtle aside to the audience when he reappears is a nice touch.

Stand out JD Cullum as The Fool, like Mr. Bo Jangles, lightly touches down with his lyric observations in song and dance. He’s a welcome grace note, as he should be.

It should have been mentioned in the first review that A. Jeffrey Schoenberg’s well crafted costumes land somewhere around Edwardian, Victorian, and Desert Storm, purposely obscure and excellently done. Principals in each production have custom tailored wardrobe that works well.

The wicked storm in both productions has some issues that may be for a reason, but it’s tough to figure out what Lighting Designer Lap Chi Chu had in mind by draping tangled orange extension cords around tin lamp shades hanging from the flies. They are visible from the time the audience enters the theater. A couple of them drop down and swing into action during the raging storm. In nature, we see the flash and then may hear the thunder. Sound Designer John Zalewski has chosen to make the flash and thunder crashing simultaneous. The wildly swinging tangles of orange more distract from the storm than enhance it.

John Sloan as Edgar and Daniel Bess as his bastard brother Edmund have big shoes to fill. Ambitious Edmund cons the loyal Edgar who runs off and disguises himself as “Poor Tom” to avoid capture. The brothers' father, the Earl of Glouster, well played by Madmen’s Robert Pine, has now been prejudiced against his true son, Edgar. Glouster now embraces the evil Edmund in a sub-plot that addresses filial loyalty and parental gullibility. Ideally, the sons might rise to the fine aspect of Pine's Glouster. Neither really does.

TJ Marchbanks’ staged fighting is virtually the same as it is in The Fools version of the play. Stiff and barely in step with the beats laid down by DeLorenzo’s tight direction, it needs a dose of reality. Any real danger in this combat looks more about the acting than the fighting.

To experience age appropriate actors, many familiar faces from features and television, working for the love of theater itself is a gift to our community as well as an important present to the tradition of classical theatre itself. The feeling of ensemble permeates this cast as it does in the cast of Fools. Each deserves an audience ..

See both shows and make your own comparisons.

Through August 8, 2010
Deaf West Theatre
5112 Lankershim Blvd.
NoHo 91601
www.antaeus.org
818-506-5436
$34.00 Top

What Fools!

What Fools!

Antaeus Founding Creative Director Dakin Matthews and well known actor Harry Groener each hold forth as King Lear in the current Antaeus dual productions of the play at Deaf West Theatre. In an unusual move, the company presents the play in alternating performances with two essentially different casts. The Fools (with Matthews as Lear) opened last night. The Madmen with Harry Groener as the King open tonight, Friday. That review will follow closely to this.

King Lear is the first full Shakespeare production by this talented theatre company with impressive individual credits. Fools opening night found Matthews with director Bart DeLorenzo’s well coordinated cast ready for battle. Individual performances from this cast were all on the same stage, the same page and for the most part all at the same time. Basically, the story of an ancient British king with three daughters, Goneril (Kirsten Potter) and Regan (Francia DiMase) both and each conniving, enlist to enhance their personal greed falls to the overly dramatic. Loyal Cordelia (Rebecca Mozo), refusing to flatter their aging father, falls into disfavor. And, off we go!

The professional quality of the entire production is such that you practically forget that you are in a storefront in NoHo. The tiny Deaf West space is barely thirty feet wide with seating for fewer than 99. Tom Buderwitz massive and protean set with the company’s dedication to crisp production values works. Lighting designer Lap Chi Chu has created an effect for the storm that’s a bit bizarre, but we have a contract with the players to suspend our disbelief and when we do, then storms and battles and all are immediate. T.J. Marchbanks’ stage combat and brief grand guignol with Glouster need to rise to the bar set by the whole production. In such a tiny space, perhaps, drawing back from that edge was on purpose. The knives and swords look real. The fighting not so much.

The actors, most seasoned professionals, keep the action moving. Out of the gate, Stephen Caffrey as the Fool is a little over the top, but energy is high on opening night and things fell quickly into place. This fine cast works evenly as an ensemble. Shakespeare’s language is not always easy to absorb, but the ease with which the actors comport themselves, physically and emotionally, words are not always necessary to convey meaning. We owe it to ourselves to indulge the rougher Bard from time to time and this is an opportunity to observe not only “How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child.” but, perhaps to imagine ourselves in situations where saying the right thing may not always be the right thing to do?

Through August 8, 2010
Deaf West Theatre
5112 Lankershim Blvd.
NoHo 91601
www.antaeus.org
818-506-5436
$34.00 Top

VERY LIMITED EDITION

Iris Rose is an artist, director, playwright, performer whom I've known a long time. If she says that her friend, Brian Dewan, is worth going to the West Side to see, that is enough for me. Evidently, there will be no tickets at the door.

* * * ** *** * ** ** * *


Brian Dewan Filmstrips and live music

Friday, June 25 & Saturday, June 26
7:30pm & 9:30 pm shows both nights

Museum Of Jurassic Technology
9341 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

all tickets $25
very limited seating
purchase tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/116033
(tickets unavailable at the door)

Sweet Grapes

Los Angeles poet/playwright/author, Jack Grapes, will play Shakespeare in his play CIRCLE OF WILL opening at the Macha Theatre, 1107 N. Kings Road, 90069 on July 16, 2010. Watch this space for more news.

Previews July 15 at 8 p.m. Opens Friday, July 16, 2010 at 8 p.m., runs through Sunday, August 15. Regular show times: Thurs.- Sat. at 8, Sun. at 7.

ADMISSION: $30. Preview $20.

RESERVATIONS: (323) 960-7822.

ONLINE TICKETING: www.Plays411.com/circleofwill

ESTIMATED RUNNING TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Broad Stage in Santa Monica

The Broad Stage is an exciting venue which I've only just discovered. Currently, they present Daddy Long Legs on the Main Stage as well as the interesting show discussed below in The Edye. The "I Wonder" presentation I reviewed a couple of weeks ago with Artistic Chair Dustin Hoffman, David Milch and Herman Leonard was one of the most interesting times I've spent in the theatre in a long time.

Stand by for reviews of the Anteus double productions of King Lear. One with Daiken Matthews as The King and the other with Harry Groener as Lear. Two completely separate casts.

This "In Their Own Words" at The Broad sounds like fun.

THE BROAD STAGE PRESENTS 21ST CENTURY CABARET CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS TO PERFORM MONDAY, JUNE 21 AND JULY 19 AT THE EDYE SECOND SPACE AT THE BROAD STAGE

CAST FEATURES
MICHAEL URIE ("UGLY BETTY" STAR), RITA WILSON, FRED WILLARD, EUGENE PACK, LARAINE NEWMAN, DAYLE REYFEL, BROOKE SHIELDS, FLORENCE HENDERSON, LESLEY ANN WARREN, AND ALAN ZWEIBEL

NEW BOOKS ADDED TO REPERTOIRE FOR 2010
INCLUDING AUTOBIOGRAPHIES BY
SARAH PALIN AND CARRIE PREJEAN,
AND TIGER WOODS'S HOW I PLAY GOLF

THE NEW YORK TIMES CALLS IT
"BIG-YUKS ENTERTAINMENT!"

WINNER 2009 DRAMA DESK AWARD
2010 BISTRO AWARD

(Santa Monica, CA – June 18, 2010 ) The Edye Second Space at The Broad Stage will be entirely transformed into a stylish boîte, complete with tables, mood lighting and a well-stocked bar, when “The 21st Century Cabaret” takes up residence for intimate evenings of singular voices breathing new passion into a beloved genre. The smash New York hit “Celebrity Autobiography” makes its home in The Edye repeatedly throughout the year.
The 2009 Drama Desk Award winner and 2010 Bistro Award winner Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words will perform shows on Monday, June 21 at 7:30pm and 9:30pm and Monday, July 19, at 7:30pm and 9:30pm at The Edye Second Space at The Broad Stage. The 7:30pm shows are sold-out!

A Critics Pick in New York, this “merry compendium of the witlessness and wisdom of the rich and famous” (New York Times) returns home to LA with a rotating roster of comedy titans. Kristen Wiig, Rita Wilson, Laraine Newman, Brooke Shields, Rhea Perlman, Fred Willard, Rachel Dratch, and Ryan Reynolds are among the A-listers channeling the tell-all memoirs of noted authors Sylvester Stallone, Star Jones, Elizabeth Taylor and Mr. T. And let’s not forget the poetic stylings of Miss Suzanne Somers. The hit comedy show where celebrities perform the actual memoirs of other celebrities! Created by Eugene Pack, winner of the 2009 Drama Desk Award for “Unique

The casts are scheduled as follows:

Monday, June 21 at 7:30pm and 9:30pm
Michael Urie ("Ugly Betty" star), Rita Wilson, Fred Willard, Eugene Pack, Laraine Newman, Dayle Reyfel, Brooke Shields, Florence Henderson and Alan Zweibel

Monday, July 19 at 7:30pm and 9:30pm
Scott Adsit (30 Rock), Lesley Ann Warren, Fred Willard, Dayle Reyfel, Eugene Pack, Brooke Shields and more.

The comedy sensation Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words features a line-up of rotating performers who interpret the actual words and stories written by the famous and the infamous, in both solo and ensemble “chamber” pieces. Some of the “authors” that are featured include Ivana Trump, Vanna White, Mr. T, Star Jones, Kenny Loggins, Tommy Lee, Sylvester Stallone, the Jonas Brothers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, David Cassidy, Neil Sedaka, Britney Spears, Madonna, Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson, as well as the infamous memoirs of Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds, which are edited together to create a Rashomon-esque playlet in the participants’ own words.

New books are being added to the Celebrity Autobiography repertoire for 2010 including Tiger Woods’s How I Play Golf and Carrie Prejean’s Still Standing.

Celebrity Autobiography is playing to sell-out audiences and rave reviews at the Triad Theater. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called the show “big-yuks entertainment” and a “merry compendium of the witlessness and wisdom of the rich and famous.” Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News called it a “potent comic cocktail…you weep with laughter.” The New Yorker called it “inspired.” And Sam Thielman of Variety wrote, “Audience members hyperventilate. It should lead a long and happy life.” The show has been featured by numerous media outlets, including ABC’s “The View” and “Nightline,” NPR’s “Morning Edition,” CNN’S “American Morning,” New York 1, WNBC’S “News for New York” at 11pm, and Bravo’s “A-List Awards.

Native Voices

Native Voices is an important venue for the theatre from All Nations of First American People.
We review their work when we can. If you attend, please submit your impressions here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATIVE VOICES AT THE AUTRY PRESENTS ANNUAL
“PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS”
CULMINATING WITH PUBLIC READINGS
IN LOS ANGELES

Saturday, June 26, 1 PM and
Sunday, June 27, 1 PM and 4 PM
followed by Panel Discussion on “Modern Natives in Media” at 6 PM

AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER (LOS ANGELES)

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theater company, continues its tradition of excellence in developing works by new and established Native American playwrights at its highly regarded PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, culminating in public readings of three new works on Saturday, June 26, 2010, 1 PM, and Sunday, June 27, 1 PM and 4 PM, at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. A special panel discussion entitled “Modern Natives in Media” featuring noted members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) concludes the festival on June 27 at 6 PM. (The retreat is held at San Diego State University, and earlier readings of the plays take place at the La Jolla Playhouse.)

I WONDER at The Broad

The Broad Stage at Santa Monica City College, 1310 11th Street in Santa Monica is a unique and comfortable venue dedicated to the performing arts. In my experience, interviews, even with adept moderators are often a love fest for the interviewee. The beauty of the discussion with Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman and writer / producer David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood and the new HBO series Luck with Hoffman) on June 5th , which included photographer Herman Leonard, was that these guys are peers. Their mutual respect and the depth of their individual approaches to creativity was, at once, engaging and inspirational.

Topics ranging from belief in God to the tragic Gulf oil spill brought anecdotes from the participants and later brief audience participation.

Anecdotes were pretty much the order of the day. Spinning from Milch’s guaranteed key to inspired writing to Hoffman’s retelling of an Isaac Bashevis Singer story and discussing his experience as an attendant in a mental hospital the scheduled ninety minute program went on for over two hours.

The discussion turned from Hoffman’s telling of a Singer story to Milch vaguely comparing the Holocaust to his dealing with ants in his kitchen. Mention of the Holocaust may sound like a moment for a reverential pause. However, Milch’s logic regarding the vastness of the universe and beyond, without being irreverent, gave food for thought. Milch discussed his notion of how each of us, either as individuals or as groups ranging from sports fans to theatre audiences to national entities become “anthropocentric”

“Wait a minute,” Hoffman interrupted. “What’s anthropocentric??”
“Self involved,” said Milch.
“Why couldn’t you just say ‘self involved?’”
“Because it’s not exactly the same thing.”

At first I thought that Milch had made a reference to his ants: “antropocentric” but, as he made his point, it occurred to me that not unlike ants, we all march to the beat of whatever tribe or herd or colony we may be attached to: wired for survival. Which led to the discussion of how British Petroleum seems to be, as a group, if not as individuals involved in pumping oil, as sociopathic in nature. Wired to do business and make money at any cost.

Herman Leonard’s contribution brought visual art into the picture, literally, with his telling of how as a young man he was apprenticed to the Canadian photographer, Yousef Karsh. Leonard has gone on to photograph luminaries, many in the world of Jazz. Unfortunately, thousands of Leonard’s prints were lost in Hurricane Katrina. Some, which were framed, sustained partial damage from the flood. Mold advanced only part way into the frames, making them “works of Herman” collaborating with Mother Nature, which Mr. Leonard said was fine with him.

The Broad Stage http://www.thebroadstage.com/ continues with programs of professional theatre and events. Hopefully, producers will invite Mr. Hoffman (a SMCC dropout) to engage other creative colleagues to continue what may become an “I Wonder” series of events in the future.

Dusty and David

Next Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 4PM at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Dustin Hoffman will discuss with David Milch the sources of creativity in a program called "I Wonder." To hear these two giants of the entertainment world discuss their work should be insightful and very interesting. My report on the talk will appear here next week.

For reservations call:


The Broad Stage
1310 11th St.,
Santa Monica, CA 90401
213-446-0774

Synge, Sing, Synge

Lindsay Gould (Pegeen) and Michael Newcomer (Christy Mahon)
Photo by Craig Schwartz

John Millington Synge’s Playboy of the Western World, currently in rep at A Noise Within sings with the rhythmic language of the Irish. In the great traditions of Joyce and Yeats, director Geoff Elliott skillfully brings the story of a wayward “playboy” to the stage with all the gusto that one expects from this well tuned professional theatre company. Stephen Gifford’s earthy set, a little pub in County Mayo on the foggy west coast of Ireland, greets the opening night’s guests. It’s the turn of the last century. One can almost feel the chill.

Pegeen Mike (fiery Lindsay Gould), somewhat against her will, tends her father’s pub, the gathering place for locals to ward off the chilly days and nights. Shawn Keogh (appropriately lumpy Brian Hostenske) arrives to make his moves, mostly unwelcome, upon the comely lass. Michael James Flaherty (versatile Apollo Dukakis in his most convincing turn) Pegeen’s da, is of the mind that Shawn should keep Pegeen company as he and his besotted pals, Philly Cullen (William Dennis Hunt) and Jimmy Farrell (Tim Venable) stumble off to attend a wake: a fine auld Irish tradition.

And, so it goes. The real crux of the story turns on Synge’s definition of “playboy.” Unlike our immediate vision of busty playmates with bunny ears, it turns out that the appearance of Christopher Mahon (oddly charismatic Michael A. Newcomer), cold and hungry, covered with the travels of a man on the run, becomes the one we come to know as a “true Playboy of the Western World,” Begorrah! Christy confesses in time that he’s killed his poor father, buried him and run away. This fascinates the locals, including the Widow Quin (lusty Jill Hill) and, in time, other eligible colleens, as well as the tough Pegeen. It seems that a playboy these fifty years before Hefner is a person who pulls off a fantastic feat. And, that, Christy has done.

Stage fog drifted about the actors like the dust cloud that surrounded Pigpen in Peanuts. If this was on purpose or an effect gone awry is unclear, but over all, once the fog had lifted, the energy and hard core acting skills bring the show along apace. The plot takes a couple of wicked turns with big surprises. Geoff Elliott appears as Old Mahon turning the story of the playboy on its ear, much to the appreciation of the opening night audience.

Soojin Lee’s earthy costumes work just fine. Ken Booth’s lighting is warm and cool all at the same time.

Through May 22nd in repertory with Much Ado and Awake and Sing
A Noise Within
234 S. Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA
Tickets and information 818 240 0970 x1
www.anoisewithin.org

The Poetry of Pals

Langston and Nicolas

Town Street Theatre’s current ambitious World Premiere Production of Bernado Solano’s “Langston and Nicolas” explores the long friendship of the American poet and the Cuban, Langston Hughes (Justin Alston, the younger and Brian Evaret Chandler, the older Langston) and Nicolas Guillen (Chris Rivas, the younger, Armando Ortega, the older Nicolas and Carlos San Miguel, the senior Nicolas). Currently running at the Stella Adler the play is, at best, a very ambitious production.

Conceived and directed by Nancy Cheryll Davis, the story spans over forty years of the two poets friendship obliquely discussing shades of homosexuality; the passions of poetry and politics as well as a strong polemic regarding racial discrimination.

Seventeen members of the cast include multiple casting for not only Hughes and Guillen as younger and then older men, but with the supporting cast appearing in many guises. The script leaps back and forth in time, each time announced in voice over accompanied by images of Harlem and Havana (mostly Havana) created by Nathaniel Bellamy. Director Davis keeps the audience guessing with split focus on the overly wide stage. Action in some scenes center stage in pantomime takes unintentional precedence over the important meat of the scene going on far to one side or another. Choreography by Nancy Renee is professional and enthusiastic.

A passionate recitation of one of Hughes’ poems, "The Negro Mother," by Tené Carter Miller (poetry of both men is featured in several scenes of the play) brought a strong reaction from the near capacity audience for Sunday’s matinee.

Over all, however, a diversity of acting styles and the plethora of characters detracted from, rather than added to the presentation of the piece.

Even with the very professionally designed program by Forrest Gardener of 3AM Sound (he also designed sound for the show), it was difficult at times to figure out just who was who and when was when and where we were at any given time.

The Town Street Theatre’s dedication to the promotion of plays by and for the African American community is to be applauded, along with their continuation of their TST Musical Theatre Camp 2010 to be held for local youth from July 10th until August 14th.

Langston and Nicolas
A Town Street Theatre Production
At The Stella Adler Theatre
6773 Hollywood Boulevard (Second floor)
Hollywood, CA 90038

Friday and Saturday at 8PM Sunday at 3PM
Through May 2, 2010
Reservations: 213 624 4796
$25 Top

Boleslavsky Lives!

Emily Bridges and Beau Bridges

Acting: The First Six Lessons

In a curtain speech Beau Bridges and his daughter, Emily, take the stage to a hometown welcome. Beau’s been a member of Theatre West, he says, for at least forty years and this is his first time on stage there. He’s affable and tells the story of how he was introduced to the company by his godmother, Betty Garrett and as a young man did scenes with her. He told the audience that his parents (his full name is Lloyd Bridges III) always supported his being an actor and his dad, Lloyd, gave him, at the age of ten, a copy of Boleslavsky’s Acting: The First Six Lessons. The play, as adapted by Beau and Emily, has been in the works for a couple of years. They designed the set, a well functioning unit that serves as the Teacher’s (Bridges’) study, as well as a movie set, an elevator and the top of the Empire State Building.

At rise The Creature (well tuned Emily Bridges) arrives in The Teacher’s (equally impressive Beau Bridges) study with a burning desire to act. She wants to create art, to live art, to BE art.. The teacher is mildly sympathetic but tells his new charge that Talent is the key to success on the stage .. one must not only become completely observant, but adapt to the nuances of each character one is challenged with and to find a way to Concentration.

In the course of the ninety minute production, we see the Creature expand, contract, fumble and grow. Emily, a Fordam grad, shows that talent must run in the family and under the tutelage her mentor (her proud father glowing under his stage persona) finds nuance after nuance in her work (after some chilling stuff at the top of the show as she limns King Lear.. not one of the daughters, but the King himself), later advancing to a more suitable role: Ophelia. She performs the scene once which sounds mature and well prepared, though she says it’s not right. She then finds grace notes and subtle fineries suggested by The Teacher. She does the scene again that reaches to the depths and heights of Ophelia’s deep and dark feelings. The audience is swept away.

For actors, students of acting and aficionados of the art and craft of theatre the Bridges bring Boleslavsky’s First Six Lessons to life.

The production is dedicated to Betty Garrett, a founding member of Theatre West, whom I was fortunate to sit beside and hear stories of Beau’s early days with the company. Initially, Beau was rejected for membership because he was so young! This, his first effort on the main stage of Theatre West ably directed by Charlie Mount is, simply, a must see.

Through May 16, 2010
Fridays at 8PM Sundays at 2PM
In Repertory with Kres Mersky’s The Life and Times of A. Einstein
Theatre West
3333 Cahuenga West
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Reservations 323 851 7977
$25 Top

Albert's Birthday

Kres Mersky

We call women who act ‘actors’ now. We used to call really good actresses ‘actors’ as a compliment. Kres Mersky is truly an actor who brings her “The Life and Times of A. Einstein” to the Theatre West stage triumphantly. Her career as an actor blossoms the way a fine wine caresses the palate and the warmth of a summer’s day lingers in the twilight.

Over the years Kres has done versions of her one woman masterpiece and it has only gotten better with time. Having first seen her at the Taper, Too several years ago, it was refreshing to see that time has been good to her.. she’s still playing beyond her age in years. As Einstein’s loyal secretary, Ellen Schoenhammer.. (“beautiful hammer” in German), she greets members of the press (the assembled theatre audience) who have come to interview The Professor on the occasion of his birthday. Ellen vamps as Einstein is not in residence and Anna, the new housekeeper has screwed up the cake order.

We segue in time as Ellen’s tenure in Einstein’s employ advances from ten to seventeen to twenty-seven years. Her final scene is poignant and dignified.

Mersky commands the stage with angst and good humor as time after time she has to make excuses for her employer's absence. As time goes by, we learn that she has absorbed some of Einstein’s theories and with a wry smile explains them… sort of. She charms us as she explains how she met the great man and was awarded her job where they met standing by a lake in Germany… Einstein in sandals… Ellen with a gun… She is mesmerized by the scientist’s toes!

A family affair, Mersky's husband, Paul Gertson, directs. The beats and pauses are flawless. Yancey Dunham’s simple lighting subtly sustains the mood on an uncredited set.

The ninety minute show rolls smoothly from start to finish with the ebb and flow of silly moments and serious. Mersky’s professional sense of timing surprises us with her efficiency as a secretary. She draws us into this affable character whom she has created from the wonderfulness of her vivid imagination. This is a tour de force performance that lovers of theatre and even lovers of science should put at the top of their list of evenings for pure entertainment.

The Life and Times of A. Einstein
Written and performed by Kres Mersky
In Repertory with Acting: The First Six Lessons with Beau and Emily Bridges
Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 7PM
Theatre West
3333 Cahuenga West
Los Angeles, CA 90068
$25 Top
Reservations: 323 851 7977
Through May 16, 2010

CUBA AT THE COMPLEX: RETRIBUTION

Cuba and His Teddy Bear

Playwright Reinaldo Povod became a protégé of Joseph Papp at The Public Theatre in 1977. Cuba and His Teddy Bear emerged in 1986. It's a tough look at the life of a single dad, Cuba (Brian Burke): drug dealer/drama queen and his son. Aided by his old pal in crime, Jackie (Kyle Heffner), Cuba, at once attempts to be a father and best friend to Teddy, his sixteen year old son, well played by Dave Alfano. Director Charles Reed greets the audience to say this play has been workshopped by The Actors Collective for eight months. The hard work pays off on stage with performances that stand up as an ensemble as well as in each of the individual actors even as the play itself fails.

The story turns on Teddy, who exhibits his burgeoning maturity by helping to keep Cuba organized, playing the part of his pop’s butler and at once star struck by Che (flamboyant Brandon Alter), a Tony Award winning playwright and heroin junkie. The odd situation of Jackie cutting cocaine on the kitchen table and stashing two pounds of pot under the sink with Teddy blasé as a part of the scene smacked (excuse the pun, heroin factors in later) of Povod’s possibly being influenced by David Mamet, but, alas, he is no Mamet.

Strong performances by Josh Davis (Redlights) big time Puerto Rican pimp, his main squeeze, Lourdes (red hot Melissa Camilo) and bigger than life J. David Shanks as the strung out gay Dealer keep the show moving apace with vitriolic energy. The issue is why anyone should care. The “retribution” that Teddy tries to teach Cuba about (Cuba made a promise to never sell drugs again, but broke his promise and now is feeling the squeeze from the Universe or God or the Virgin Mary or karma or something) and aside from the over the top drama, the screaming, the angst, the rants and raging… after all is said and done, it’s the story of a drug dealer, his somewhat whacky pal and his son, just sitting in silence as the lights fade to black. It’s not the acting, the acting is very well done. It’s not the production, the bare bones set and lights serve the actors just fine. Director Reed has his ensemble completely up to speed and on the same page. It’s just that the play is more of an ordeal than an evening of seeing at least one character’s arc resolve into something better or, at least... different.

Cuba and His Teddy Bear
The Actors Collective Theatre, at The Complex,
6470 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Wilcox), Hollywood, CA 90038.
Valet parking optional (Fee is charged).
Fri. through Sun. at 8 p.m.
Closes April 4, 2010.
$15.00
RESERVATIONS: (323) 463-4639.

Louise DiTullio The Hollywood Flute!!!

Slightly off topic..

I’m no music critic, but I can attest that the CD Launch Party at the Pasadena City Women’s Club for Louise DiTullio on Friday was an affair to remember. Schmaltzy as that sounds, producers Ronald Royer (who also directed) and Dr. Jeannie Gayle Pool of Jayegaylemusic found one of the classiest places in town for wine and goodies. Located a block away from the impressive Pasadena Masonic Lodge, celebrities like Betty Rose, the widow of composer David Rose, and other well wishers chatted and enjoyed Ms DiTullio’s beautiful music.

For lovers of classical flute and composers like David Rose (Le Papillon), John Williams ( Hook), Jerry Goldsmith (Rudy, Sleeping With the Enemy) and Danny Elfman (Charlotte’s Web), it’s a perfect match.

On Lance Bowling's Cambria Master Recordings ( www.cambriamus.com) this is a must have for the discerning collector of music from the movies.

WIDE AWAKE

Left to Right Len Lesser and Adam Silver
Photo by Craig Schwartz

AWAKE AND SING, the second offering in repertory at Glendale's A Noise Within hits a solid triple with Clifford Odets’ ode to family and the struggle for individuality. Familiar company members round out the cast with Bronx accents and excellent period costumes by Julie Keen. Michael C. Smith’s set is rich and nicely warmed with James P. Taylor’s lighting.

It’s 1935. The Berger family is presided over by no-nonsense and manipulative matriarch Bessie (dynamic Deborah Strang) whose strength and power steam roll over her long suffering husband, Myron, (a bit too wimpy Joel Swetow), daughter Hennie (dynamic Molly Leland) and young son, Ralph, (thoughtfully played by Adam Silver).

Grandfather and lover of opera Jacob (an excellent Len Lesser) rounds out the immediate family. Times are tough. Ralph (probably Odets, who was only 29 when he wrote the play) longs for his freedom and to be in love. He describes his lady love as being “like French words.” Unfortunately, the girl of his dreams is an orphan with no immediate family. This makes her unacceptable to Bessie who torpedoes Ralph’s attempts to successfully have a relationship.

Fine writing draws us into the tense Berger dynamic as the pot is stirred by the boarder, Moe Axelrod (appropriately rough around the edges Daniel Reichert). Moe’s got a wooden leg (actually three: the government gives ‘em away) because of a wound he suffered on the day before the Armistice of WWI. Moe is sweet on Hennie, but Hennie has problems of her own that Odets reveals in obliquely couched terms that stir Myron to tears and Bessie is driven to just find Hennie a husband, pronto. Not Moe!

The heart of the family, Jacob, may be aging, but his belief in Karl Marx and the equality of all men blossoms in his love for his grandson, Ralph. He dishes out advice and encourages Ralph to become the man he wants to be. “Awake and Sing, ye that dwell in dust!” He promises Ralph a windfall when he dies.

Uncle Morty (spot on Alan Blumenfeld) is a successful businessman and loves to flaunt his wealth. Capitalism versus the heart of society taking care of its own rears its head between Morty and Jacob, with Jacob retaining the better part of valor.

Bronx accents which started out a bit difficult to handle, eased up as the play moved along. Bessie has gotten Hennie married to a nice Jewish boy, Sam (bigger than life David Lengel) who is diligent as the new baby’s dad, not realizing that even though the kid may look like him, the baby came with the bride.

Tough decisions come at the climax with important decisions by Hennie and Jacob, and Ralph's emancipation into the world.

Odets was a member of The Group Theatre founded by Harold Clurman and a band of socially active New York actors, including Stella Adler in the ‘30s. Clurman encouraged Odets to write and the poetry of the young actor’s life emerges beautifully in his brusk and poetic1930s voice. Robust performances make this second production of the company’s three production season another impressive installment for lovers of Classical Theatre. Apt yet never heavy handed direction by Andrew J. Traisters keeps his cast moving apace. Had the entire company taken a note from Len Lesser’s hint of the Bronx, perhaps the business of their accents might have been not such an issue. In defense of the actors, their accents did mellow somewhat as the play went on.

AWAKE AND SING
By Clifford Odets
A Noise Within
234 Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91204

In repertory with Much Ado About Nothing and soon to open Playboy of the Western World through May 23, 2010
Tickets 818 240 0910 X1
$44 Top

CHARMED?

THE CHARM OF MAKING by Timothy McNeil

The director and cast in this production by the Stella Adler Los Angeles Theatre Collective have a list of credits that stretch the length of Hollywood Boulevard. Their inaugural effort, The Charm of Making by Timothy McNeil is, at best, an effort that may have looked better on the page than it does upon the stage. Alain Villeneuve’s set speaks to us as the audience settles. Empty picture frames and odds and ends set pieces may reflect the oddball Mississippi family, but it basically seemed to say that this was a set done quickly and inexpensively. The opening scene has Elvin (Thor Edgell) and his quirky sister Morgan (Bonnie McNeil) seated in a theatre audience listening to Romeo and Juliet played by Timothy McNeil. (His character’s name is Romeo and Juliet. He also wrote the play)… R and J recites the last lines of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Elvin is in tears. Shakespeare’s tragic romance, somehow the spine of this off beat theatre project, immediately puts the audience on notice that they are in for a ride that will not be altogether comfortable.

The plot explores, among many things, the weird circumstance of Morgan’s sitting on the roof of the church naked and Elvin’s unexpressed gay yearnings (except for his arrival in a tight sparkling gown, though most cross dressers would argue that dressing up has nothing to do with being gay) and then in the second act when an antiques dealer, Paul (Alfredo J. Orrego) shows up and some smooching with Elvin commences. One unfortunate casting choice was May Quigley Goodman as Lottie, the pixilated elderly matriarch (twice the actress's actual age) in a really bad wig who attempts to seduce a shy eighteen year old, Cameron (Nicholas Hargous) whose discomfort with his character as well as just being uncomfortable on the stage adds to the confusion. The introduction of Elvin’s brother, Samuel (Jon Boatwright), the Baptist minister, who eases his his ulcer with Pepto and his wife (T.M. Rawlins) eventually lead to Morgan’s demise by shipping her off to the looney bin. Almost.

Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams may be spinning in their graves while Ionesco does a slow turn as to whether or not The Charm of Making may or may not be Theatre of the Absurd. The characters ramble in southern accents on tangents that occasionally make sense, but mostly just don’t. McNeil’s use of Shakespeare to move the piece along must have been a device that made sense to him. His occasional appearance as Romeo and Juliet, apparently only visible to Elvin, reciting Shakespeare and singing was just odd. The whole play is odd. The up side is that the actors were committed to their roles and to Director Justice’s credit, though the southern accents were not that great, they were, consistent.

THE CHARM OF MAKING
World Premier
Through April 25, 2010
Stella Adler Theatre
6773 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028
For tickets call: 323 360 7735
$20.00 top

URBAN STORIES AT THE AUTRY

Darrell Dennis (Shuswap)

PHOTO CREDIT Tony Dontscheff for Silvia Mautner Photography

Tales of an Urban Indian

Twenty some years ago I attended a preview of a one man show at Theatre West called A Bronx Tale. It was written and performed by Chazz Palmeteri. Directed by Mark Travis, Chazz brought to life a dozen or more of the colorful wise guy characters he’d met as a kid in the Bronx, New York. Each character had a specific voice and a signature gesture that blossomed with the young actor’s unstoppable energy. His transitions were crisp and immediately identifiable.

Darrell (Shuswap) Dennis’s one person show Tales of an Urban Indian currently at Native Voices at the Autry directed by Herbie Barnes (Ojibway) is similar with a marked difference. It has a theme and characters that Dennis is able to project, but the snap in the delivery and the flow of the piece seemed to lack the energy necessary to capture an audience.

Crude graphitee on bricks appears on the upstage wall, indicating in no uncertain terms that this is a tale set way off the Reservation. Stereotypical Indian images including the Land O’ Lakes Princess and the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo are then projected as Simon Douglas (Dennis) observes with us, shaking his head and then interrupting the slide show to explain that hackneyed old labels just don’t make it. And, thus, Simon's story begins.

For anyone to mount the stage all by himself for an hour and a half is a major undertaking. Dennis as Simon explains his circumstances at once portraying many, many characters, each of whom he limns, some more convincingly than others, moving through the history of his life’s urban encounters. Whether the problem was the pace or the length of the show is uncertain, but there were moments when it was difficult to figure out just who was who and how it all fit together. Dennis’s portrayal of characters from different tribes must have been right on as the Opening Night audience reacted with enthusiasm.

Simple set by Beowulf Borritt with Christine Plunkett is bare bones efficient. R. Craig Wolf’s lights, given the minimal stage technology at the Autry is very simple, but accentuated scene changes nicely. I was very impressed with costume designer Christina Wright’s credits. Her choice of a T shirt and jeans for Dennis was pretty much a slam dunk.

Native Voices marks ten years of sustaining productions by and about Native Americans.

Through March 28, 2009
Wells Fargo Theater at the Autry Western Heritage Museum
Griffith Park
866 468-3399
$20.00 Top

Notes about Something at A Noise Within

Terri Higginson (Beatrice) JD Cullum (Benedick)
Photo by Craig Schwartz

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
An uneven production of any Shakespeare play still has the words. If the actors can get the words out, the show is ahead of the game. Fortunately, director Michael W. Murray’s hand is firmly on the tiller within the gorgeous confines of Kurt Boetcher’s efficient set, well delineated by Ken Booth’s lights making for only a few minor issues and, in fact, a production that friends of the Bard should make time for. As Shakespeare does now and then, this story of love; star-crossed lovers… though Beatrice (the vigorous Tori Higgenson) and Benedick (agile JD Cullum) are mostly crossed up by themselves, provides for an entertaining two and a half hours of Much Ado About Nothing.

Because Murray has set the play in the early 20th Century I had some issues with somewhat intrusive recorded music that could have been provided by an on stage musician or even a Victrola. As we hear the actors easily from the stage, the music sometimes took precedence when its purpose, mostly, should have been to support the scene. However, Julia Rodriguez-Elliott’s choreography and the ability of the actors to dance and deliver lines at the same time shows the professionalism that we’ve come to expect from the soon-to-be-absent-from-Glendale Classical Theatre Company.

Don Pedro (Patrick O’Connell) has come to visit his old friend, Leonato (Apollo Dukakis), the Mayor of Messina. In his retinue are Benedick and Claudio (sincere Brandon Hearnsberger), who is immediately smitten with Leonato’s dimutive daughter, Hero (Lindsay Gould). The title of the play may come from an early exchange between Claudio and Benedick when Claudio asks if Benedick has ‘noted’ Hero. Benedick, the sworn for life bachelor says that he ‘looked on her, but noted her not.’ And goes on to say that Leonato’s niece, the stormy Beatrice, was attractive to him if it weren’t for her contrary nature. Thus, "noting" and "looking upon" evolve to the final scene where both Beatrice and Benedick have composed ‘notes’ of love to one another. Much Ado About "Noting."

Highlights of the production spark groundlings like me when Dogberry (spot on Mark Bramhall) and his crew, including Verges, his constable (Mitchell Edmonds), arrive at the beginning of Act II and over hear one of Don John’s (well greased and all in black Stephen Rockwell), henchman, Borachio (Steve Weingartner) brag that he’s been paid to make Hero look like a harlot the night before her wedding to Claudio. Shakespeare is most fun in his presentation of misspoken utterances and pure slapstick. Bramhall stops the show. His Dogberry is worth seeing again.

Run away ‘bowers’ and general good humor make this production a must see for friends of the company and fans of Shakespeare who can roll with the punches. More attention to wigs might be an idea as well as keeping the music acoustical.

Continues in repertory with Awake and Sing (opening March 20th) and Playboy of the Western World (Opening April 17th) through May 21, 2010.

A Noise Within
234 S. Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA
818 240 0910 x 1
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Sheehan