JITNEY: A BUMPY RIDE

Larry Bates, Charlie Robinson & Ellis E. Williams in August Wilson's "Jitney" 

 Photo: Henry DiRocco. 

August Wilson’s Jitney arrives at the Pasadena Playhouse from South Coast Repertory Theatre  shucking and jiving with a slightly disco beat as the playwright discusses Pittsburgh in the seventies.   Becker (spot on Charlie Robinson) runs a jitney station:  gypsy cabs that ferry locals in the black community where licensed cabs won’t go.  The pay phone rings.. and rings.. and rings and someone, whose turn it is to drive answers “Car Service.” 

Wilson has garnered acclaim for his personal and well written examinations of working class folks who are, coincidentally, African American.  Jitney discusses generations  of characters whom we come to truly appreciate. We sympathize, empathize and laugh, to find our hearts engaged as the plot works out conflict and love, separation and reunion.  Ellis E. Williams as Turnbo gets up into everybody’s ‘bizniss’.  Meddling for a guy like this is inevitable.  Generations of working class Americans are represented here. They're just trying to make a go of life in a little business that is about to be shut down to Urban Renewal, but not if Becker has his way.  Tired of being pushed around by the establishment, the men band together, in spite of some major personality conflicts to keep their jitney station going.

Shaun Motley’s functional set design is perfectly fine.  Trouble with fluorescent lights was a minor distraction in otherwise successful lighting by Brian J. Lillienthal.  Dana Rebecca Woods’ costumes from the seventies brought knowing chuckles from the audience. 

Director Ron OJ Parson keeps the action and intentions focused but at over two and a half hours, the Playhouse challenges the audience to struggle in their threadbare seats for way too long.  Opening night audience was in for the long haul, but the very real pain of the length of the show makes for less than a fun evening.  

Bring a pillow.

JITNEY by August Wilson

The Pasadena Playhouse

39 S. El Molino Avenue

Pasadena, CA

Through July 15, 2012

626 356 7529

$59.00 top

Rush Tickets One Hour before Curtain $15.00

Pasadena Playhouse goes back in time: The Heiress

The Heiress

Henry James’s novel, Washington Square, was written in the late 1800s.  In 1947 Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz adapted James’s novel for the Broadway stage calling it The Heiress.  It tells the melancholy story of a lonely young woman struggling reluctantly to find herself through the appreciation of others.

The proscenium is cloaked with a beautifully painted drop depicting the toney New York City neighborhood of  “Washington Square 1850.” It is very impressive. We then discover John Iacovelli’s gorgeous set, an elegantly beautiful reproduction of a Victorian townhouse in Wedgewood Blue. Leah Piehl’s fantastic costumes, especially for the women of the company in change after change, with every detail attended to; antique furniture reflecting the wealth of the good doctor’s success; all extend the promise of a classic piece of theatre.

Fair warning has been announced that the play with an intermission will run almost three hours.  Polite applause by the invited audience as the stars make their entrances is traditional. We meet the chilly patriarch, Dr. Austin Sloper (Richard Chamberlain) as he discusses the issue of daughter, Catherine’s (Heather Tom), inept social graces with his sister, Aunt Lavinia (the excellent Julia Duffy).  Soon we are joined by Catherine and the slow and deliberate movement of exposition begins.

The first honest moment of the play is expressed by a five second dash across the stage. It’s the completely professional Elizabeth Tobias, as Maria, the crisp and efficient maid.  Unfortunately, The Heiress is not about Maria.

The plot moves slowly, possibly by director Tàmaso Rodriguez’s design. And, though presented in beautiful images, the story of how Miss Sloper is swept off her feet almost immediately by the fortune hunter, Morris Townsend (slick Steve Coombs); spurred on by the romantic notions of Aunt Lavinia, and all, it takes much too long to tell.

Chamberlain cuts a fine figure on the stage, handsome, yet hard pressed to give love to Catherine, whom he blames for the death in childbirth of his beloved wife. The doctor’s knowledge of his own impending death, “I am never wrong about these things.” he says, elicits a fine audience response.  And, then, time passes. Townsend returns (in the novel as a fat and balding ne’er do well, but in the play not much the worse for wear) to give it one more shot with Catherine, only to be unkindly snubbed. Pace was the issue on Opening Night.  Hopefully, as the show progresses, the energy will pick up.  

The Heiress

By Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz

The Pasadena Playhouse

39 El Molino Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91101

Through May 20, 2012

Rush Tickets available one hour before curtain: $15.00

Tickets $29 to $59.00  Premium Seating $100.00

For performances and information:

626 921 1161

www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org

 

Is Love an Illusion? Corneille says Maybe

Deborah Strang and Nick Ullett Photo Credit Craig Schwartz

Pasadena’s A Noise Within’s dedication to bringing the ‘classics’ to life is well played this season.  This third entry for the season is a winner.  Pierre Corneille’s The Illusion, adapted from the French by Tony Award Winner Tony Kushner, moves smoothly exploring the difference between Reality and Illusion.  In Margery Williams’s  story The Velveteen Rabbit asks “What’s Real” to learn that Love may be the answer.  Corneille is more cynical, saying that “Love is an Illusion: a demonic black disease.” The story would argue the contrary, however, as the splendid Nick Ullett (“Uh Lut” s’il vous plait) as Pridamant goes to a lot of trouble to try to find and reconcile with his son, Calisto/Clindor/Theogenes (broad strokes by Graham Hamilton).  We learn that all of the conjurings by the sorceress Alcandre (brilliant Deborah Strang, Deborah Strang!  Deborah Strang!!  Deborah Strang loves to pose and her theatrics are delightful here) that make up this sweeping chronicle may be themselves simply Illusions.  The scenes conjured by Alcandre are reminiscent of The Fantastiks where the boy, Matt, is bounced through the rigors of the world every which way through El Gallo’s vision “I Can See It.”

You can’t tell Corneille’s characters without a program and even then, keeping track of who’s who playing whom and when and where may be a bit of a challenge.  Effervescently rising to the top is a dark haired beauty, the exquisite Abby Craden as Elisa/Lyse/Clarina, somewhere along the line more or less swapping social stations with the equally impressive Devon Sorvari as Melibea/Isabelle/Hippolyta.  Action is magical and well paced.  The audience’s keeping up is almost as much fun as the actors are having on the stage.

Alan Blumenfeld in a complete 180 from his recent turn in Baby Doll, is funny and charming as Matamore.  Multiple turns by Freddy Douglas and Jeff Doba are impressive. Ensemble members beautifully facilitating scene changes are the able Katherine Lee, Alex Parker and Michael Sanchez.

Major kudos to the ANW tech staff:  Keith Mitchell’s verdant drops and Jeremy Pivnick’s ever shifting lighting design combine with impressive sounds from Doug Newell, Zipline Sound. Julie Keen’s lush costumes are… well.. lush.

Casey Stangl’s direction kept things moving, but stage pictures were sometimes off by just a hair.

When all is said… and done…  to mount three shows with major scene and lighting shifts necessary night after night is a gift.  A little culture is good for us.  That ANW culls these somewhat obscure plays from theatre history and makes them work is to their credit.  

The Illusion by Pierre Corneille adapted by Tony Cushner

A Noise Within

3352 East Foothill

Pasadena, CA 91107

Runs in repertory with The Bungler and Antony and Cleopatra

March 18 – May 19, 2012  See website for specific dates

Tickets and information www.ANoiseWithin.org

626 356 3400 Ext. 1

$46 Top

Second Annual High School Theatre Fest @ The Playhouse

As a former High School Drama teacher, I highly recommend seeing these kids in action. The camaraderie that holds these young actors together is like nothing you've ever seen. I count the participation of my students in the High School Drama Festival at Cal State Long Beach produced by Professor Ken Rugg as life changing.

It's happening early in the day, but it will be worth the effort to make it to Pasadena to see Theatre at its best.

Michael Sheehan

This from Patty Onagan and Joel Hile, Publicists for The Playhouse:

The Second Annual High School Theatre Festival is on Saturday, May 12, 2012, at The Pasadena Playhouse (39 S. El Molino Avenue).

The event is from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and the doors open at 8:30 a.m.

All tickets are $5.00 general admission, and are available for purchase online at www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org, by phone at 626-356-7529 or by visiting The Pasadena Playhouse Box Office.

For more information, contact The Pasadena Playhouse Development Office at HSTF@pasadenaplayhouse.org or 626-921-1156. Information on all current Outreach and Development events is available by visiting www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org.

Tennessee in the Summer: Hot Stuff

Joe Besecker’s dramatic romance with the life of playwright Tennessee Williams directed with a fluid hand by Sal Romeo currently comes to life at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Toluca Lake. I have not vetted how accurate Besecker’s research has been, but the creative effect of showing Williams as the boozy egomaniac he might have been and simultaneously as a sexually charged barefoot nymphet clad only in a slip lends electricity and insight to Tom’s journey.

Lacey Anziec’s simple set with empty picture frames, shabby furniture and mottled gray walls is strewn with discarded pages; well illuminated by Paige Selene Luke’s simple lighting design. The pages, ripped from his old Remington, are rejected attempts by Williams (powerful Jack Heller) and his alter ego, The Woman, (lithe and sexual Tamara Braun) to continue to work as he struggles with drugs and alcohol; success and failure. The pressure of Williams coming from a family of lunatics at once gives insight into possible sources for Amanda, Blanche and Maggie the Cat: each of whom appear here in other forms. Rose (Williams’ psychotic sister) is portrayed gently by Louise Davis who also limns the Nurse and Tennessee’s mother, the equally batty Edwina.

Set initially in 1972, Williams struggles with issues of bad reviews of his Small Craft Warnings and is taunted by his alter ego, The Woman, posing seductively in a window facing out from a New York hotel room. She lures a boy to come up to play. The voice of Williams seems to be channeled by Besecker using phrases like “my writing is the universe” and “I want to get my goodness back” which may have been direct Williams’ quotes. Romeo’s pacing and stage pictures, especially the image of the crucifixion of The Woman confined in a mental hospital for his over indulgences ties the work together.

Robert Standley finds three strong attitudes with his Youngman, Frankie (Merlo) and Dakin, Tom’s brother. Frankie and Tennessee meet at a party where the young Sicilian hunk offers himself to the writer on a silver platter. They stay together for fourteen tumultuous years with Frankie at once a trifle and also the Love of Tennessee’s life, though shared with a myriad casual lovers who never seemed to quench the writer’s insatiable sexual appetites.

Not for the prudish, the work in this production is professional and deserves an audience. The closeness of the seating to the stage allows for subtle and moving moments as well as literally feeling the heat of the characters as they smolder and occasionally burst into flame.

Whether or not to take the story literally is optional. For any student of Classic American Theatre, even the casual mention of “Streetcar” or “Menagerie” are enough to become immediately enveloped in the larger than life characters who, at once, are familiar and completely honest and truthful to their stories. It’s about the drama of the Drama, after all, and Tennessee Williams will remain, himself, a Classic American Dramatist.

The turmoil suggested in Tennessee in the Summer is testament to where the Drama must have come from. The play presents an equally fervent illustration of the passions, not always uplifting, that created its tragic hero.

TENNESSEE IN THE SUMMER

By Joe Besecker

Directed by Sal Romeo

Sidewalk Studio Theatre

4150 Riverside Drive

Burbank, CA 91505

Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM

Sundays at 3PM

April 13 – May 20, 2012

Tickets: $20

For information and tickets: 800 838 3006

www.Brownpapertickets.com

or

818 558 5702

www.sidewalkstudiotheatre.info

The Bungler! What a Farce!!

(l-r foreground) JD Cullum (Mascarille) and Michael A. Newcomer (Lelie) PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Schwartz

A Noise Within, it seems, has to the Restoration been and dedicates two plays: this Bungler by Molière and coming up Illusion by Corneille which sadly does not rhyme, but in good time will be revealed that couplets rule The Bungler and not unlike George of the Jungl(er) swings in farce, some Commedia tossed in for which director Julia may try to fool ya with some fair tricks, the outcome of the which may leave her audience in stitches, if not rolling in the aisles as her company beguiles.

Richard Wilbur’s translation of Molière’s The Bungler begins sans mots justes with Tuba Guy (could it be David O Composer/Musical Director??) on his tuba heralding what’s to come: French farce and then some. A nod immediate must be bowed to John Iacovelli (design quite swelly and Ken Booths lights, forsooth.) Their festive scenery that sets the stage with silly moving greenery and quick unsubtle tech works by Andrew Ellis whose many cues he never shirks . I just now found a credit for the tuba man. With Mr. O I'm now engaged and have became a fan.

The argument’s impediments are few. The actors are not new to farce and Wilbur’s sentences all parsed with couplets carry on quite well of course.

Okay.. The Bungler, Lelie (Michael Newcomer plays the part) is a fun play with all the elements of farce that made Molière a star. Costumes, lights, mixed up stuff all folderol with rhymes and fine use of the somewhat Brechtian approach moves apace. You can’t tell the characters without a program and even then, remembering who is whom may be a challenge. It’s all tied together by charming and conniving valet Mascarille (fluid and funny J.D. Cullum) whose every scheme to help his master, Lelie, find his way to love and happiness is thwarted one way or another by the poor Lelie himself.

For the life of me I cannot put the other actors with their characters, but encourage lovers of Molière to make their way to Pasadena (where the grass is greener) to applaud this romp. If the original play in French was in rhyme, translator Richard Wilbur has captured that essential element beautifully. Director Roderiguez-Elliott keeps the flow flowing flowily and a good time is had by all!

The Bungler

By Molière (Translated by Richard Wilbur)

In Repertory with Antony and Cleopatra and The Illusion

Through May 27, 2012

A Noise Within

3352 East Foothill Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91107

Tickets and Information: 626 356 3100 Ext. 1

www.anoisewith.org

$46.00 Top

Circle X Goes Naked Before God

Naked Before God, Circle X Theatre’s World Premiere at [Inside] the Ford is slightly reflective of the issues in the raunchy cable sitcom Californication. There are laughs and an odd family situation that just might work for Reality TV.

Playwright/Director Leo Geter has conceived a situation steeped in silly dramatics that hits the stage at sixty miles an hour and for two fast paced acts seldom lets up. There are sex jokes, plot twists and moments of base stupidity.

Kristen (effusive Jennifer A. Skinner) and Vinnie (spot on Larry Clarke) are former Adult Film stars, who, through a miscalculated on set ejaculation twenty years ago have created a son, (a studly, not gay, gay porn star wannabe who doesn’t have the shoulders to be a ‘top) Duncan (Morgan McClellan), who is now almost nineteen years of age.

In the first five minutes, dildoes retrieved from a pot of boiling water foreshadow what’s to come. Duncan, after filming his first audition (it’s for the Internet!!) brings home his sex scene partner “Nick from Kansas” (equally studly Christopher Foley) who says he’s on the lam from his angry uncle back home for having sex with his, Nick’s, cousin who isn’t related by blood. Really?

Why this ménage is set in Phoenix is not clear. It’s equally hot in Chatsworth in the summer time as heat has something to do with risky business in the second act involving helicopters and the Afghan translator, Octavio (Aly Mawji), holding folks at gunpoint in the back yard by the pool.

The plot gets curiouser and curiouser (my spell check would like to substitute “curio user” and “carouser” here!!) with the arrival of news of … well, that would be a spoiler alert that leads to more histrionics from Kristen whose only excuse for going over the top is that she is… AN ACTRESS !!!! Christian radio personality, Barry (William Salyers) and Jen Kays as Duncan’s preggers wife, Carly, keep up the frantic pace. To his credit, director Geter manages to have his actors all on the same page. Performances are dedicated and consistent.

Circle X tries new things. Good on them. This World Premiere is from their writers’ group attached to the company. It is a bold first effort. Naked Before God, a broad farce, is immature and masturbatory, which may have been the goal. Decent tech credits from Brian Sidney Bembridge.

Naked Before God

Written and directed by Leo Geter

Presented by Circle X Theatre Company

Opened Mar 24, 2012

Plays Thur-Sat 8 pm; Sun 2 pm and 7 pm

Through Apr 28, 2012

Tickets: $25

[Inside] the Ford at the Ford Theatres complex,

2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood 90068

323-461-3673 (323-GO-1-FORD). www. FordTheatres.org.

***Recommended for mature audiences, 17+

World Premiere The Many Mistresses of MLK

Ensemble Studio Theatre L.A.’s world premiere of The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King by Andrew Dolan is a very well placed step toward keeping the essence of important theatre alive. At rise Janine (beautiful Judith Moreland) addresses the audience: a lecture hall full of students who may (or most likely may not) have done their homework. She discusses the essential job of the Chorus in Greek Drama and in so doing, she acts, at least in part, as the Chorus herself.

Dolan’s play is about race. The title of the play mirrors the title of a novel written by the maverick college professor, Simon, intensely portrayed by Philip Casnoff. The book, also provocative, discusses the indiscretions of Reverend King through the eyes of his paramours.

Director, Rod Menzies’s, gentle hand elicits the best from his players. A fine cast brings the text to life. They embody their characters beautifully. The only problem with the script has to do with time. In the first scene we discover the relationship between Simon and the terrific Tracey A. Leigh as Lashawna in full bloom. Then, oddly, with a scene change, student Lashawna arrives at the professor’s home to turn in a late assignment. Flashbacks and oddly disjointed scenes eventually come together, but the linear pathway has been abandoned, leaving the audience to do more work than might be necessary. Not that a challenge to chronological order is a bad thing, but in a couple of circumstances, figuring out Who’s on First becomes the focus when in a more linear presentation, the basic argument might have made more sense. It seemed to be a device for the sake of the device. Though the considerable age difference between Lashawna and Simon might have some tongues wagging, the fact that Lashawna is a black woman and Simon is white man might also add to the chatter.

Time slips and slides. Two couples, Lashawna married to Simon and Janine to Augustus (Carlos Carasco) are all teachers at an unnamed university. They socialize. In a minor subplot, Simon’s teen daughter, lost to divorce, is drawn to Janine and Augustus’s twenty year old son. Friction regarding race and stereotypes emerges with the introduction into the household of Lashawna’s brother, Anquan (Theo Perkins), an aspiring basketball player and petty thief.

This is a heady play with ironic twists and turns, mostly well laid out. Though not impossible to follow, references to the assassination of MLK in 1968 and Simon’s book coinciding with his book tour regarding the supposed sexual dalliances that the Civil Rights leader climax with heavy emotional results.

Excellent set by scenic designer, Tom Buderwitz. Well executed lighting by J. Kent Inasy.

World Premiere

The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King

By Andrew Dolan

Presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre L.A.

Atwater Village Theatre

3269 Casitas Avenue

Atwater Village, CA 90039

Through April 29, 2012

www. ensemblestudiotheatrela. org

Phone 323 644 1929

$25.00 Top

WALKING ON TURTLE ISLAND

Walking on Turtle Island

From the ‘res’ to the land of lakes to the great north west to a prison cell, actor/ playwright Robert Owens-Greygrass tells his stories of Native Americans, shape shifting through many ‘skins’ with poise and purpose.

ROBERT OWENS-GREYGRASS
Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz

His mild polemic discourses the peaceful lives of the red man in the Old Days living with the Old Ways in harmony with Mother Earth in peace and happiness. Then, the coming of the white man and the white man’s edicts pushing and shoving onto the North American Continent: Turtle Island. More money has been spent on Susan Sharpf’s well constructed set than necessary. An empty space, a simple bench, a table and a rocking chair would have easily been brought to life with the actor’s expertise. Owens-Greygrass takes stage with simple rituals and honed acting skills guided subtly by director Kevin Sifuentes. The audience is welcomed into the circle, into the ceremony of respect for each other and Mother Earth.

With simple and subtle changes of attitude, Owens-Greygrass brings us to know a young Rosebud boy, a dreamer who is taught the Old Ways by his grandfather, as they stand one foot in modern times and the other in ancient lands.

In Minnesota, we hear the story of Night Flying Woman, Ojibwe, beginning with her in her eightieth year and then easily swung back into her childhood where overwhelming conquerors seek to tear her from her roots.

In Oregon, The Warrior, Tyee John decries being displaced from pillar to post and back again, angry and confused at the so called laws that now govern Turtle Island, where before the western expansion and the yellow metal fever, there were no cages, no prisons.

In a no-name jailhouse, perhaps in Gallup or points south, Jesse White Toes, a drunken ‘breed, rambles unhappily until Spirit Grandfather appears to guide him through his sad state of affairs.

Finally, Res Boy returns, now a man, a discharged medic home from Iraq to honor his grandfather’s grave with his story of becoming a western medicine man at Stanford: a doctor.

Without a doubt, the inevitable invasion of Europeans across the North American continent has wreaked havoc among the First Americans. To see Owens-Greygrass’s portrayal of each of these characters, sculpted, fine tuned with sincerity and passion is a moving experience. The playwright / actor brings his stories to life with precision, good humor and deep pathos. What a pleasant surprise to experience one person owning the stage for just the right length of time to charm his audience and share his tales. Walking on Turtle Island is a must see.

Walking on Turtle Island

With Ghostlands of an Urban NDN

Written and performed by Robert Owens-Greygrass

Wells Fargo Theater at The Autry National Center

4700 Western Heritage Way

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Tickets and Information

www. nativevoicesattheautry.org

323 667 2000 ext. 299

$20 Top ($10 students/military/seniors)

Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra at ANW

(l-r) Diana Gonzalez-Morret (Iras), Susan Angelo (Cleopatra), Geoff Elliott
(Antony), and Jill Hill (Charmian) Photo: Craig Schwartz

A Noise Within in Pasadena opens its spring repertory season with Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Tom Buderwitz’s stark scenic design features broken columns which may foretell the harsh dissolution of the lovers (Geoff Elliott: Antony and Susan Angelo : Cleopatra) through the oft told story of their stormy relationship. Directed jointly by ANW’s founders Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, their innovative staging mostly works through the almost three hour production. The story of the historic lovers meanders through early years of what might easily be called the couple’s debauchery and on to harsher times.

Aldous Huxley once said, “Old Shakespeare for example. How many critical brains have been deceived by the quickness of his tongue? … We credit him withphilosophy, a moral purpose and the most penetrating psychology. Whereas his thoughts are incredibly confused, his only purpose is to entertain…” He goes on to credit the Bard with creating a ‘real’ character from real life, Cleopatra, and says, “His (Shakespeare’s) boundless capacity for abracadabra has deceived innumerable people into imagining that all the other characters are as good.”

I could not disagree more. Though the validity of the Works of Shakespeare may be doubted, debated and otherwise taken to task, to me, Cleo is marginal in her authenticity. I choose to find Will’s more familiar characters much more three dimensional than as she is drawn in this play. That said, I found the broad presentation of all the characters in this production to be evenly portrayed, with the vigor that a well mounted Shakespearean tragedy must contain. Sadly, the only line familiar to me from the entire script is Antony’s “I am dying, Egypt.” For me it was none too soon.

Thankfully, the Elliotts have included some wonderful physical action with soldiers and pirates swinging on ropes and finally hoisting poor Antony up to Cleopatra as he dies. Serious cutting might have let the audience take flight in under two hours, which would have been a good idea. For true fans of A Noise Within and this play, go for the action. As for the words, words, words… there are certainly a lot of them.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

By William Shakespeare

A Noise Within

3352 East Foothill Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91107

In Repertory through May 13, 2012

Tickets and information

626 356-3100 X 1

www.anoisewithin.org

$46 top

Buddha: A Fantastic Journey Extended

Evan Brenner
Photo credit: Phoebe Sudrow

Buddah - A Fantastic Journey

Why Evan Brenner chose The Bootleg Theater to showcase his one person performance is a mystery. Waiting in a cabaret with wine by the bottle and a stage set for rock and roll with loud music playing just seemed odd. As the audience is introduced to the performance space just behind the concession stand, two musicians set an entirely different tone. Sheila Bringi’s wooden flute improvisations accompanied by simple tablas by Jaeger Smith calm things down nicely. However, as the audience settles with its drinks and snacks, a very enthusiastic hostess bounds onto the stage to remind us that we are in for a good time and a party after the show. It was just jarring.

Francois-Pierre Couture’s lighting and minimal scenic design then brings the atmosphere back to center as we wait for Brenner to begin his examination of the life of Buddha. Whether it was director John C. Reilly’s influence or just that the actor was still unprepared for the ensuing story is unclear. Long pauses and attempts at what the program mentions as reflecting Paul Sills’ Story Theatre Techniques (spinning from his mother, Viola Spolin’s Improvisation for the Theatre) would probably have both Paul and Viola restless in their graves. Sadly, Brenner is wooden and overly resolute in his delivery and blocking. He has a well studied sort of standing half lotus (it may be a modified Tree Pose) and a nicely executed head stand as his explanations of how Siddartha became the Buddha unfold. Siddartha was the Indian Prince whom most of us first learned about through Hermann Hesse’s popular novel. The Prince is expected by his father to Rule the World. Sages declare that Siddartha may go one way or another. Ultimately, to satisfy his yearning for meaning in life, Siddartha chooses the arduous pathway to Enlightenment.

We all die. The story of the Buddha examines this essential truth using ‘Buddha’s own words.’ Brenner starts his story at the end and then reverts back to the beginning accompanied by tablas, harmonium and flute. Like a kabuki play, our attention is drawn to the Devil who tempts the Buddha with loud ratchets. Too literal for my tastes.

The Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering; suffering comes from attachment; one may eliminate suffering through gradual and intentional personal development and eventually, one may abandon attachment and thus end suffering. Simple enough.

Sitting through Brenner’s premeditated and yet seemingly wandering blocking and hesitant delivery may have been deliberate. Either this was the choice of the director or the performer’s choice to do it his own way. Sadly, there was suffering. Brenner’s performance was put off for a week for reasons I don’t know, but as the promotional material announced that he had received raves for this project over the past two years, one wonders what the problem might be. Director John C. Reilley was drawn to the material. Having his celebrity attached certainly adds gravitas. In fact, the material itself is somewhat enlightening and does tell the story of The Buddha in an interesting way. Anyone who is familiar with Eastern Thought might have seen this as a perfect vehicle to bring Westerners into the fold. I was hoping to be thrilled with a western approach to the topic. To really explore Buddhism, I suggest taking a yoga class and contemplating the Four Noble Truths for yourself and then checking out the Eight Fold Path. Kudos to the technical staff who had nothing to do with overhead helicopters and sirens. Beverly Boulevard becomes a fast moving freeway in the evenings. Be careful crossing the street!

Buddha: A Fantastic Journey

Written and Performed by Evan Brenner

Directed by John C. Reilley

Fridays and Saturdays only at 7:30PM (note early curtain)

Through March 4, 2012 (Sunday Performance @ 3PM)

Bootleg Theater

2220 Beverly

Los Angeles, Ca 90057

Tickets: $30.00

800 838 3006

www.Thebuddhaplay.com

Buddha – A Fantastic Journey continues through April 1 on Fridays and Saturdays @ 7:30 pm (please note early curtain time), except March 23 and 24 which are dark. Added performances include 3 pm matinees on Saturdays February 25, March 3 and March 31 and on Sundays March 4, 11, 18 and April 1; and two Thursday evening performances on March 8 and March 15, both @ 7:30 pm.

Is it ART? Yes!!

Bradley Whitford, Roger Bart and Michael O'Keefe
Photo credit Jim Cox

ART

The Pasadena Playhouse

A warm January Sunday afternoon

Michael Gross

Jeans and Jackets

A little glitz

Jackets w/ ties

Jackets w/ No Ties

No jackets

Really really high heels

Old guys with girls in low cut dresses

More heels

Just off the tennis court, a woman flits to and from the Box Office

A woman in a Phyllis Diller Op Art Chemise

All smiles

Big hugs

Men happy to see one another, very

Up the stairs a suspicious woman eyes my observations

The woman with the chest tattoo has a drink, worried, perhaps, by

The leaky forecourt fountain?

It’s Opening Night at The Pasadena Playhouse. El Molino's all abuzz with the folks who love the Theatre. Old friends schmooze and as the courtyard fills with the sold out crowd for Yasmina Reza’s ART, it is, indeed, a perfect day.

The Play, however, is the thing and Reza’s way with words, translated from the French by Christopher Hampton, roll off the actors’ tongues trippingly and truly. For me it’s a virtual feast of ideas and ethics and words and the collaboration of some very talented people. Director David Lee brings his sit com takes, pauses and timing to what could be just a lot of words. The scene is set in three beautiful contemporary Parisian apartments. Serge’s digs (haughty Michael O’Keefe) are the fanciest, of course, because he’s the wealthiest of the three old friends. He’s just acquired a new work of art and is madly in love with it. The argument of the play becomes the well constructed vocal objection to this piece of shit… or is it? by Marc, the deep seeded cynic of the three, the excellent Bradley Whitford. Perhaps in an effort to protect his wealthy pal, he loudly protests the two hundred thousand Euros that Serge has shelled out for an essentially ‘white’ abstract painting.

Enter the hapless Yvan, (pronounced Eye-vn, though I have heard it pronounced Eee-van in other productions) an appropriately quirky Roger Bart. The self involved and over the top neurotic stops the show with a three page monologue that rattles through his issues at machine gun pace and leaves no doubt who is the most emotionally conflicted of the three.

The beauty of Reza’s writing, to me, is the fluency and craft of each character’s self revelation expanded by interaction with the others. Marc is agitated and abrasive. Serge is smug and self congratulatory. Poor Yvan is conflicted and bounces like a rubber ball between the other two as the issue of the painting becomes more heated. Their interaction reminded me of The Three Stooge’s: Larry, Moe and Curly and David’s Steinberg’s wonderful riff on how in any given situation there is always someone in charge (Moe), someone who wants to be Moe (Larry) and how someone else just wants to not be Curly (Curly). The power shifts from Serge to Marc with Yvan at last evolving, more or less, into his own as the plot resolves itself. Reza won the Tony for this show in 1998, deservedly. The characters may be over the top, but the interaction is triumphant and in this production, it’s a complete collaboration between the playwright, the cast and the director, supplemented by rich technical support.

Tom Buderwitz’s massive set reminded me of the current Tacita Dean exhibit at the Tate Modern. A huge monolith center stage sets the background for all three apartments that are accented by the artwork selected by the characters, reflecting each one’s tastes. “Motel Art” graces Yvan’s humble home while a modern landscape, reminiscent of Yoko Ono’s large window photographs, is center stage for Marc. The abstract Artrios comes and goes at Serge’s. Jared A. Sayeg’s lighting is dramatic and appropriate.

As The Playhouse regains its sea legs and launches into new waters, I’d hope that the seating situation in the house would be on the list for reconstruction. My seat was threadbare and uncomfortable. There was a hole in the floor big enough for a cat to leap through ready to swallow dropped keys or small children. Sight lines are terrible and the closeness of the rows to one another makes getting to know the other folks crab walking to their seats a bit more intimate than might be desired.

The play, however, is the thing. And, ART deserves repeat patronage and many sold out performances.

ART by Yasmina Reza

The Pasadena Playhouse

39 S. El Molino

Pasadena, CA

Runs through February 19, 2012

Rush tickets $15

General Admission $29 - $59

626- 356-7529

www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org