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Joe Cillo

Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized

 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur

  orway To                                                            Heaven
  
 
Maple Ridge In Japan

  
A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 
 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 
Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed

 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In
 
The Way This Ice Froze

 
Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,
  
 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 
The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 
Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco


Fire and Tornado


Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake




Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other


Sun Curling Up A Wave




Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds
 


Frosted Trees




This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car




Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia




A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 
 
 
Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 
 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 
Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice
 
 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine
 
 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 
 
Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 



Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized

 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur

  orway To                                                            Heaven
  
 
Maple Ridge In Japan

  
A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 
 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 
Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed

 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In
 
The Way This Ice Froze

 
Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,
  
 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 
The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 
Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco


Fire and Tornado


Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake




Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other


Sun Curling Up A Wave




Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds
 


Frosted Trees




This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car




Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia




A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 
 
 
Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 
 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 
Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice
 
 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine
 
 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 
 
Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 



Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized

 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur

  orway To                                                            Heaven
  
 
Maple Ridge In Japan

  
A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 
 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 
Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed

 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In
 
The Way This Ice Froze

 
Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,
  
 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 
The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 
Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco


Fire and Tornado


Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake




Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other


Sun Curling Up A Wave




Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds
 


Frosted Trees




This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car




Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia




A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 
 
 
Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 
 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 
Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice
 
 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine
 
 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 
 
Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 



Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized

 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur

  orway To                                                            Heaven
  
 
Maple Ridge In Japan

  
A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 
 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 
Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed

 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In
 
The Way This Ice Froze

 
Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,
  
 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 
The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 
Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco


Fire and Tornado


Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake




Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other


Sun Curling Up A Wave




Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds
 


Frosted Trees




This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car




Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia




A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 
 
 
Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 
 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 
Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice
 
 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine
 
 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 
 
Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 



Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized

 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur

  orway To                                                            Heaven
  
 
Maple Ridge In Japan

  
A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 
 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 
Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed

 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In
 
The Way This Ice Froze

 
Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,
  
 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 
The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 
Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco


Fire and Tornado


Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake




Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other


Sun Curling Up A Wave




Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds
 


Frosted Trees




This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car




Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia




A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 
 
 
Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 
 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 
Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice
 
 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine
 
 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 
 
Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 



Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized


On Jun 28, 2021, at 9:24 PM, Joe Cillo <joe@forallevents.com> wrote:


 
 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur
  orway To                                                            Heaven

  

 

Maple Ridge In Japan

  

A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 

 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 

Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed
 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In

 

The Way This Ice Froze

 

Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,

  

 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 

The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 

Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco

Fire and Tornado

Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake



Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other

Sun Curling Up A Wave



Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds

 



Frosted Trees



This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car



Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia



A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 

 

 

Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 

 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 

Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice

 

 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine

 

 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 

 

Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 




Oncea-Lifetime Photos

By Uncategorized

 
 Doorway To Heaven in Big Sur
  orway To                                                            Heaven

  

 

Maple Ridge In Japan

  

A Hotel In The Netherlands
otel In                                                            The
 Sheep Going Through San Boldo Pass, Italy

 

 New York City Absolutely Massive Lightning Strike
Completely Spanning The Hudson River.
w York                                                            City Just

Under The Iceberg

 

Fallen Tree Is Holding Back The Duckweed
 Solar Eclipse
lar                                                            Eclipse In

 

The Way This Ice Froze

 

Smog Over Almaty, Kazakhstan
og Over                                                            Almaty,

  

 The Gulf Of Alaska, where two oceans meet but do not mix

 

The Eruption Of Mount Ararat

 

Philadelphia City Hall; Like being in San Francisco

Fire and Tornado

Bent Rail Tracks After A New Zealand Earthquake



Looks Like One Of The Buildings Is Draining Energy From The Other

Sun Curling Up A Wave



Mammatus Clouds KANSAS
mmatus                                                            Clouds

 



Frosted Trees



This Cloud Looks Like A Feather




Washed Car



Atop Mt. Javornik, Slovenia



A Pile Of Timber Reflecting In A Puddle

 

 

 

Lava Skull Descending Into the Ocean

 

 Sky That Looks Like A Rough Sea

 

Pancake Ice
ncake                                                            Ice

 

 Spiral Pine
iral                                                            Pine

 

 Clouds In Hampton Roads, Virginia

 

 

Waterspout Over Tampa Bay

 



The Late Wedding

By Victor Cordell

Tyler Jeffreys (above), Moshe Goodman (below). All photos by Squirrel Visuals.

Christopher Chen, born and raised in San Francisco, is one of the Bay Area’s favorite playwrights.  Innovative in structure and subject, funny and thoughtful, his plays break new ground.  But the title block on the program itself suggests that “The Late Wedding” goes a step beyond even his extraordinary.  Rather than stating that the play is “by” the playwright, it indicates that the play is “from the notes of Christopher Chen.”  This odd citation becomes the crux of the play’s structure and the basis for its criticism.  Those who favor the absurd; who value creativity; who appreciate skit comedy; and who follow the work of the playwright will be most drawn to this play.

With their fully-staged production of Chen’s work, kudos to Mountain View’s Pear Theatre for leading the way in the return to indoor theater after 15 months of pandemic-imposed darkness.  The adventuresome small company not only offers socially-distanced indoor performances to a play with a full cast, but also outdoor performances and online streaming, to accommodate all manner of theater lover.  Hallelujah!

Carissa Ratanaphanyarat, Stephen Kanaski.

The company gives a spirited rendering of the play, directed by Sinohui Hinojosa.  The cast is led by the highly animated Annamarie MacLeod as the narrator, who tries from time-to-time to inject meaning into the proceedings.  Six other actors play multiple roles in the dozen-ish sketches that comprise the narrative.  Largely, the performers fit the characters well and imbue them with verve, though not all are equally convincing.

So, what is the playwright up to?  Chen acknowledges in the play itself the influence of Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities,” in which Emperor Kublai Khan discusses with merchants the cities that they trade in – thereby learning the nature of people in the various outposts.  In the case of “The Late Wedding,” relationships replace cities.  The unfolding of funny foreign social practices yields farcical situations that produce more smiles than hardi-har belly laughs.

The first three segments provide a humorous anthropological look at what conventional people would consider strange marriage practices in these fictional places.  For example, in one venue, courtship is so revered and marriage considered such a letdown that true believers remain apart after marriage for as long as they can!  In another, marriage is so open that parents routinely don’t know who the fathers of their children are.

Annamarie MacLeod.

The formula then shifts to what Chen calls interludes, which are also segments largely focused on relationships.  In a thriller episode, a spy meets her handler and tries to prove legitimacy, despite having forgotten part of the passcode.  In a latter segment, a spaceship seeks the celestial bodies of the Calaman Islands, which played as a separate honeymoon destination for the earlier couple who planned to live blissfully apart.  While this closes one story loop, it doesn’t provide a prism through which to see the full procession of vignettes.

Many other playwrights have used absurdism as a central theme, such as one of Calvino’s inspirations, Luigi Pirandello, with his “Six Characters in Search of an Author.”  And giving broad latitude to directors on fleshing out and casting shows with many roles has been done by the likes of Caryl Churchill in “Love and Information.”  But as opposed to Chen’s play, those pieces convey the sense that they were completed as designed. That said, while much action in “The Late Wedding” is fanciful and disjointed, it is underscored by important themes such as social mores, time, perception, change, and morality.

Gaz Jameel, John S. Boles, Tyler Jeffreys.

“The Late Wedding” gives the sense that the playwright cobbled together several ideas that he couldn’t fully develop individually.  The fact that attribution of the play is to “the notes of Christopher Chen” and that a comment within the play notes that it includes leftovers conforms with the thinking that the sketches are an omnium gatherum.  It even raises the question of whether he is responsible for the final text.  Also, extraneous “notes” appear throughout the play, including grocery lists and questions whether certain commentary in the manuscript was intended to be text or the playwright’s notes to himself.  And the final support to the notion that the design is not premeditated is that there is explicit reference to writer’s block.

Of course, all of these diversions could be subterfuge – red herrings to make the audience think that the structure is chaotic rather than calculated to seem incoherent.  In any case, it is provocative and entertaining.  But ultimately, does the work stand on its own as patchwork comedy? As metatheatrical exposition? As an expression of absurdism?  Is it art?  It’s up to you to decide.

“The Late Wedding” from the notes of Christopher Chen is produced by Pear Theatre and plays on its stage and outside of that venue at 1110 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA, and streaming online through July 18, 2021.

 

Victor Cordell, PhD

American Theatre Critics Association

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

CAMELOT rides into San Francisco on Harley motorcycles!

By Go See

Kedar [rating:5] (5/5 stars)

Lancelot (Wilson Jermaine Heredia*), King Arthur (Johnny Moreno*) and Guenevere (Monique Hafen*) at Knighting Ceremony Photos by Jessica Palopoli.

CAMELOT: Musical. Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.Music by Frederick Loewe. Based on “Once and Future King” by T.H. White. Directed by Bill English. Music director Dave Dobrusky. July 16 – September 14, 2013.

CAMELOT rides into San Francisco on Harley motorcycles!

We aficionados (with synonyms of connoisseurs, devotees, enthusiasts, fanatics) of the SF Playhouse are mostly inured to seeing volatile productions of the under-belly of society parade the boards of their theatre. They have done it again with an ‘in your face’ staging of the musical Camelot. If any of their productions can be summarized with Harold Ross’s 1925 quote from “The New Yorker”, “It has announced that it is not edited [produced] for the old lady in Dubuque” , this staging of the once (and hopefully future) uplifting King Arthur/Round Table/Camelot story is it.

Last year Bill English’s re-imagination of My Fair Lady at their former intimate Sutter Street Theatre was a success and played to substantial crowds throughout the summer. It seems that the “summer musical” has become a standard for SF Playhouse to catch the vacation crowds that swarm San Francisco. This year they are in the substantially larger venue (up from 99 to 265 seats) that has a huge stage with a plethora of technical equipment. For Camelot Nina Ball has created a massive set using two or three turntables, an integrated rear stage screen for impressive projects and to hide the (count them) eight piece orchestra under SF favorite Dave Dobrusky. The well-known and acclaimed title of Camelot will surely attract crowds.

Those crowds will be overwhelmed with the colossal staging but they will not be humming the charming tunes associated with the musical but rather be shaking their heads as many were on opening night. Although there was appreciative applause at the curtain, the usual spontaneous standing ovation was absent.

Wilson Jermaine Heredia* as Lancelot prepares to battle knights

It was absent for good reason despite a spectacular performance by Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Lancelot. Heredia is a Tony and Oliver Award winner for his role as Angel in the Broadway and London productions of Rent.  Director English, using some of  his own words, has created knights in the mold of grungy (costumes by Abra Berman) bikers (Ken Brill, Rudy Guerrero, Robert Moreno, George P. Scott), Guenevere (Monique Hafen) as an angry Goth princess, King Arthur (Johnny Moreno) as a day-dreaming dolt and Mordred as a potential to play Richard III. Charles Dean a Bay Area favorite who brought the house down with his role as Doolittle in My Fair Lady is cast as both the magician Merlyn and Arthur’s confidant Pelinore.  Sadly, the only distinction in those characterizations is a change of costume.

There is much to like about this twisted version of what should be a romantic escapist evening that includes excellent singing voices (with exception of Johnny Moreno’s limited range), eye-catching projections, energetic acting and exuberant fight scenes staged by Heredia. The marvelous score and lyrics are still enchanting and include “Camelot”, “Follow Me”, “The lusty Month of May”, “How to Handle a Woman”, “Before I gaze at You Again”, “If Ever I Should Leave You”,  and “I loved You Once In Silence.”

Running time 2 hours and 40 minutes including the intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of  www.theatreworldinternetmagaine.com