Judy Richter

Celebrating her 20th season as artistic director of American Conservatory Theater, Carey Perloff is returning to one of her favorite playwrights, Tom Stoppard, and reviving a play, “Arcadia,” she first directed for ACT in 1995.

Back then ACT was on the road, so to speak, while its home base, the Geary Theater, was being repaired and renovated after suffering major damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Therefore, “Arcadia” was staged in the nearby Stage Door Theater, a smaller venue that’s now Ruby Skye nightclub.

In some ways, it worked better there than in the Geary because of its intimacy. Still, the present production is well done, not an easy feat in view of how intellectually challenging and complex the play is.

The action takes place in one room of a large country house in England’s Derbyshire in 1809, 1812 and the present. It opens in 1809 when 13-year-old Thomasina Coverly (Rebekah Brockman) is being tutored by Septimus Hodge (Jack Cutmore-Scott).

Though somewhat naive, Thomasina is an original thinker who, we later learn, comes up with scientific theories far ahead of her time. She couldn’t prove them because she lacked the computer resources that today’s scientists command.

We also learn that Septimus is much admired by the ladies, including one of the Coverly family’s house guests, as well as Thomasina’s mother, Lady Croom (Julia Coffey).

Present-day happenings alternate with those in the past. The home is still occupied by Coverlys, who are playing host to Hannah Jarvis (Gretchen Egolf), an author studying the history of their garden. Another visitor is Bernard Nightingale (Andy Murray), a don who wants to learn more about a minor poet, Ezra Chater (Nicholas Pelczar), who was a guest at the Coverly home in 1809. He’s also pursuing the possibility that Lord Byron was there at the same time.

Besides those already mentioned, noteworthy performances come from Adam O’Byrnes as Valentine Coverly, one of the home’s present occupants; Anthony Fusco as Richard Noakes, Lady Croom’s landscape architect; and Ken Ruta as Jellaby, a butler for the earlier occupants.

As the action switches between the centuries, we see how what happened in 1809 influences discoveries by the people in the present and how some of the latter’s suppositions are inaccurate.

The set is by Douglas W. Schmidt with lighting by Robert Wierzel, costumes by Alex Jaeger, sound by Jack Rodriguez, music by Michael Roth and choreography by Val Caniparoli.

Stoppard laces all of this activity with humor, sexual undertones and lots of dense intellectual discussion that can be hard for the nonscientific listener to follow. Still, as the play unfolds, more of the action becomes clear, thanks to Stoppard’s genius, Perloff’s direction and an excellent cast.

“Arcadia” will continue at the Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco, through June 9. For tickets and information, call (415) 749-2228 or visit www.act-sf.org.

Judy Richter

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The title character in “Sweet Charity” is Charity Hope Valentine, a hopeful yet hapless dance hall hostess who’s just looking for love. As played by Molly Bell for Center REPertory Company in Walnut Creek, she’s lovable and irrepressible.

She’s also a terrific singer, dancer and actress as Charity finds herself in some unusual situations. Director Timothy Near has surrounded her with a cast of triple-threat performers who deliver songs by composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields with high energy and precision dancing, thanks to choreographer Jennifer Perry.

Much of Perry’s choreography reflects the influence of the late Bob Fosse, who conceived, staged and choreographed the original 1966 Broadway production starring Gwen Verdon. He also directed and choreographed the 1969 film starring Shirley MacLaine.

This stage production is more satisfying than the film in part because Bell has an air of naivete that’s more suited for the title role and in part because the final scenes are clearer about the motivation of Charity’s latest boyfriend, Oscar (Keith Pinto).

Moreover, the film feels bloated at times, whereas everything in this stage production stems logically from the characters and Neil Simon’s book.

The first act introduces Charity as a sunny but overly generous young woman who is literally dumped by a boyfriend.

Next comes the memorable “Big Spender,” performed by Charity’s jaded dance hall colleagues, including her two best friends, Helene (Brittany Danielle and Nickie (Alison Ewing).

The entire company is featured in production numbers like “Rich Man’s Frug” and “The Rhythm of Life,” the latter featuring James Monroe Iglehart as religious leader Daddy Brubeck.

Some of Bell’s more memorable moments come in “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “Where Am I Going.”

Bell, Danielle and Ewing team up for the emphatic “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This.”

Other featured performers are Colin Thomson as Herman, the dance hall boss, and Noel Anthony as Vittorio, an Italian movie star.

Complemented by Kurt Landisman’s lighting, Annie Smart’s set design helps to keep the action flowing smoothly. Christine Crook designed the eye-catching costumes.

All elements of this show add up to a thoroughly entertaining evening that’s well worth the trip to Walnut Creek.

“Sweet Charity” continues at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, through June 22. For tickets and information, call (925) 943-7469 or visit www.CenterREP.org.

Judy Richter

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Although it has been running for 39 years and although its theater is 100 years old, “Beach Blanket Babylon” remains as fresh as today’s  headlines. It’s also very funny as it parodies pop celebrities, politicians and royalty.

It does all this through an energetic, talented cast of 10 performers who don outrageous costumes, exaggerated wigs and — the show’s trademark — hats that seem to grow bigger and more complex as the 90-minute show reaches its conclusion.

Originally created by the late Steve Silver and now produced by his widow, Jo Schuman Silver, “BBB” has followed a similar plot for the past several years: Snow White (Rena Wilson in the reviewed performance), who lives in San Francisco, is looking for love, but she’s not having any luck.  Guided by a good witch (Renée Lubin in this performance), she undertakes a wider search that takes her to Rome and Paris. Eventually she returns toSan Francisco, having met the man of her dreams. During her journey, she encounters a variety of characters who sing and dance their way through songs whose lyrics have been adapted to their situation.

The show opens with one of its longest-running characters, Mr. Peanut, but he’s become quite hip, sporting an iPhone 5. The Beatles show up next, followed by several “Hair” songs sung by hippies. Snow White meets Oprah Winfrey, the Clintons, and a leather-clad, motorcycle-riding Nancy Pelosi, among many others, including the Obamas.

When she arrives inParis, she’s met by a trio of singing, dancing poodles, Coco Chanel and King Louis XIV. Several scenes later, she’s serenaded by a trio of San Francisco Giants showing off their 2012 World Series trophy.

Octomom shows up, as do several English royals, including a drag Queen Elizabeth. A pudgy New Jersy Gov. Chris Christie sings about his weight-loss surgery during songs from “Les Miserables.” Snow White transforms into a flying Madonna singing “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” then meets none other than Elvis Presley. These are just a few examples of the inventive ways that “BBB” keeps audiences smiling and laughing.

Because the show is so demanding of its performers, the cast can change from day to day. Two of the mainstays, though, Lubin and Tammy Nelson, were featured in the reviewed performance.

Director-choreographer Kenny Mazlow, another “BBB” stalwart, keeps the show moving at a fast clip. He and Schuman Silver also write the show. Bill Keck serves as musical director and conductor.

Because it’s so hilarious and so well done, it’s a must-see for out-of-town guests. Locals can enjoy it again and again because it keeps changing as new targets for parody make news. And even though it lampoons people in the public eye and can be a touch naughty, it never descends into bad taste or crudeness. It’s just lots of clever fun.

“Beach Blanket Babylon” plays at 678 Beach Blanket Blvd.(aka Green St.), San Francisco. For tickets and information, call (415) 421-4222 or visit www.beachblanketbabylon.com.

Judy Richter

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“Send in the Clowns,” the best known song from “A Little Night Music,” has been interpreted by many popular singers, including Judy Collins and Barbra Streisand. To truly understand its meaning, however, one needs to hear and see it in context — Stephen Sondheim’s 1973, Tony-winning musical, which is set  in Swedenin the early 20th century.

For now, there’s no better place than the Hillbarn Theatre production. Without becoming maudlin, Equity performer Lee Ann Payne as actress Desirée Armfeldt makes the song’s poignancy abundantly clear and quite touching. She sings it to the show’s co-star, Cameron Weston as Fredrik Egerman, a lawyer whom she hadn’t seen in the 14 years since their romantic interlude ended. In the meantime, she has continued her career, touring from town to town, while he has recently married 18-year-old Anne (Nicolette Norgaard). Although he loves Anne, he’s frustrated that she has not allowed their marriage to be consummated. He also has an 18-year-old son, the morose Henrik (Jack Mosbacher), who’s studying to become a minister and secretly loves Anne.

Fredrik and Desirée get together again one night, but they’re interrupted by the arrival of her hot-tempered lover, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (William Giammona), who’s married to Charlotte (Alicia Teeter). Everything gets sorted out in the second act, when everyone converges for a weekend at the country home of Desirée’s mother, Madame Leonora Armfeldt (Christine Macomber), who’s caring for Desirée’s young daughter, Fredrika (Leah Kalish).

Composer-lyricist Sondheim and his librettist, Hugh Wheeler, based the plot on Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film, “Smiles of a Summer Night.” The title is a literal translation of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” Most of the songs are written in waltz tempo, and several scenes are introduced by a chorus of three women and two men called the Liebeslieder Singers, a nod to an 1852 waltz by Johann Strauss II.

Director Dennis Lickteig has cast this production with performers who create believable characters. Not all of them are so pitch-perfect vocally, but they interpret their songs well, thanks to musical director Greg Sudmeier, who directs the fine backstage orchestra.

Besides Payne and Weston as Desirée and Fredrik, the show’s standout performers include Mosbacher as young Henrik, Giammona as the count, Teeter as his wife and Macomber as Madame Armfeldt. Noteworthy in a minor role is Sarah Griner as Petra, the Egermans’ lusty maid.

Shannon Maxham designed the elegant costumes, while Robert Broadfoot designed the simple yet flexible set. Lighting is by Don Coluzzi, who must recreate Sweden’s long summer twilights. Choreography is by Jayne Zaban, and sound is by Jon Hayward.

“A Little Night Music,” like any Sondheim show, is challenging for any company because of its complex music and lyrics, but Hillbarn meets those challenges successfully in this fine production.

 It will continue at Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, through June 2. For tickets and information, call (650) 349-6411 or visit www.hillbarntheatre.org. illH

Judy Richter

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“Miss Saigon,” a musical theater updating of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly,” moves the action from 19th centuryJapanto 20th centuryVietnam. The names and setting differ, but the plot is similar.

Palo Alto Players has undertaken this challenging, ambitious work in a mostly successful production directed by Patrick Klein.

“Miss Saigon” starts in its namesake city in April 1975, shortly before South Vietnam’s fall to the communist Viet Cong. A weary U.S. Marine, Chris (Danny Gould), meets a shy, virginal, 17-year-old Vietnamese bar girl, Kim (Katherine Dela Cruz). They fall in love during a brief affair, but Kim is left behind when U.S.personnel are hastily evacuated from the city before it’s overrun by the enemy.

Three years later, Chris and his American wife, Ellen (Lindsay Stark), return toVietnam after learning that he has fathered Kim’s son. The visit, just like Pinkerton’s in the opera, ends tragically.

Like the opera, most of this musical is sung. There’s little spoken dialogue. Moreover, it’s not always clear what’s happening if one isn’t familiar with this show or the opera. Hence, precise diction becomes vitally important, but this production sometimes falls short in that department. Compounding the problem is Jon Hayward’s sound design, which was problematic in seats on the far right close to the front.

The standout performer is Brian Palac as the Engineer, a pimp with an uncanny ability to survive and a strong desire to get to the United States. He has the show’s big production number, “The American Dream.” Stark as Chris’s wife is the most assured singer among the women. Dela Cruz is believable as Kim, who’s steadfast in her love for Chris.

Gould tries too hard as Chris and pushes himself vocally, usually singing too loud. His best friend, John, is well portrayed by Adrien Gleason.

Jennifer Gorgulho’s choreography is outstanding, especially in the militaristic “The Morning of the Dragon” and the Engineer’s “The American Dream.” The set, though not nearly as spectacular as the original Londonproduction or the touring production in San Francisco, works well, as do the costumes by Shannon Maxham and lighting by Edward Hunter. Musical director Matthew Mattei conducts four instrumentalists from the keyboard.

“Miss Saigon” was created by composer Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyricist Alain Boublil (with Richard Maltby Jr.), the pair behind the earlier “Les Miserables.” It became a huge hit after it premiered inLondon in 1989, when the Vietnam War was still fresh in the memories of most adults. Now it’s history to the PAP cast and to younger people in the audience.

Still, the show and this production capture some of the human costs of that war.

Judy Richter

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“Pericles, Prince of Tyre” is one of Shakespeare’s later plays and, according to most scholars, probably wasn’t written entirely by him. Director Mark Wing-Davey goes a step further by reconceiving this work, with movement consultant Jim Calder, for Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Wing-Davey cuts text and characters to clarify the story of Pericles (David Barlow). This nobleman flees Antioch in fear of his life after realizing that the king and his daughter, whose hand Pericles was pursuing, were involved in an incestuous relationship.

Pericles’ travels take him through stormy seas to far flung places such as Pentapolis. There he wins the hand of Thaïsa (Jessica Kitchens), daughter of the king (James Carpenter). On their return voyage toTyre, Thaïsa dies while giving birth to a daughter, Marina. Many more adventures separately await father and daughter, who has been given to the care of the governor of Tarsus.

Ultimately, the distraught Pericles believes that both his wife and his daughter are dead, but in true Shakespearean fashion, they’re reunited by coincidence.

All this takes place on a two-level industrial set created by Peter Ksander and Douglas Stein with lighting by Bradley King. Three musicians, including composer/music director Marc Gwinn, sit on one side of the upper level.

Except for Barlow as Pericles and Anita Carey as Gower, who serves as the chorus and a trusted lord of Tyre, everyone else in the eight-member cast plays three or more roles. Thanks to Meg Neville’s often-ingenious costumes, the characters are easy to identify.

The two-act production runs about two hours plus intermission. It starts with music director Gwinn and the cast, in street clothes, warming up the audience with a sing-along.

Wing-Davey has come up with some wildly theatrical stagings. However, some of it seems excessive and distracting. For example, during the shipwreck scene, Carey’s Gower soaks the actors with a steady stream of water from a fire hose aimed above them.

Despite fine acting, especially by Barlow, Kitchens, Carpenter and Carey, the production sometimes lags. Still, it’s a notable attempt to make one of Shakespeare’s lesser works more accessible and palatable.

“Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” will continue through May 26 in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. For tickets and information, call (510) 647-2949 or go to www.berkeleyrep.org.

Judy Richter

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One minute life is perfectly happy. The next minute, everything comes crashing down. That’s what happens to Walter Wells (Liam Craig) in Julie Marie Myatt’s “The Happy Ones,” presented by Magic Theatre.

It’s 1975 in Garden Grove, CA. Walter has a beautiful wife and two great kids, a boy and a girl. They live in a lovely home and have good friends and neighbors. He owns a successful appliance business.

Then a phone call changes his life. His wife and children have been killed in a traffic accident caused by a wrong-way driver. He plunges into grief.

Among others, his best friend, Unitarian minister Gary Stuart (Gabriel Marin), and Gary’s new girlfriend, Mary-Ellen Hughes (Marcia Pizzo), try to cheer him up, but he just wants to be left alone.

When he goes to the hospital to confront the injured driver, Bao Ngo (Jomar Tagatac), who killed his family, Walter rejects the Vietnamese refugee’s requests to kill him.

Bao later shows up at Walter’s store begging to give Walter something or to do something for him, like cooking or cleaning. Walter reluctantly relents, unknowingly setting both himself and Bao on a path toward recovery.

Like Walter, Bao has endured the loss of his wife and two children. When Bao fled Vietnamduring the fall ofSaigon, they stayed behind, only to be killed a few days later. Bao also lost his livelihood as a pediatrician and now works nights in a bakery.

Director Jonathan Moscone skillfully leads his four well-cast actors along the emotional road that Myatt has laid out for them. Craig embodies Walter’s initial near-catatonia as he somehow gets himself to work every day.

Tagatac is sympathetic as the guilt-ridden Bao, who has his own losses to overcome. Marin and Pizzo as Gary and Mary-Ellen, both of whom are insecure but well-intentioned, are good foils to Walter and Bao.

Erik Flatmo’s set (lit by Stephen Strawbridge) and Christine Crook’s costume design recreate the time and place, aided by Cliff Caruthers’ sound design, which is highlighted by some popular music of that era.

The two-act “The Happy Ones” is a fascinating, memorable study of grief and recovery, leavened by humor. It’s well worth seeing.

It continues at Magic Theatre, Building D, Fort MasonCenter, San Francisco, through April 21. For tickets and information, call (415) 441-8822 or visit www.magictheatre.org.

Judy Richter

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“The Whipping Man” is a play that’s worth seeing again because some of the events and revealed secrets of the second act are foreshadowed in the first act.

It’s also worth seeing again because the Marin Theatre Company production, co-produced by Virginia Stage Company, is so gripping in the hands of MTC artistic director Jasson Minadakis and his three-man cast.

The play takes place between April 13 and 15, 1865, in a once-grand Richmond,Va., home that’s now in shambles. Kate Conley’s set, lit by Ben Wilhelm, reveals the devastation with its broken windows, unfurnished room and leaky roof. Sound effects by Will McCandless include gunfire and rain. Costumes are by Jacqueline Firkins.

The Civil War had ended a few days earlier, April 9, thus ending slavery. Simon (L. Peter Callender), a middle-aged house slave, has stayed behind to try to guard the house while his wife and daughter joined their master and mistress in a safer area.

The master’s son, Confederate Capt. Caleb DeLeon (Nicholas Pelczar), staggers home from the war, suffering from a gangrenous bullet wound in his leg. A younger house slave, John (Tobie Windham), arrives shortly thereafter, apparently fleeing from a pursuer.

Simon tells Caleb that if his leg isn’t amputated, he could die a horrible death, but Caleb refuses to go to a hospital. Therefore, Simon, reluctantly assisted by John, amputates the leg in a wrenching scene.

Because the three are Jewish, they decide to have an improvised Seder to celebrate Passover, which had begun a day or so earlier. Before they begin, though, Simon arrives with terrible news: President Lincoln has been assassinated. Calling him “Father Abraham who set us free,” Simon speaks eloquently and movingly about the day he metLincoln.

This speech is one of the highlights of the play. John has another when he talks about being savagely whipped by the whipping man, to whom masters would take misbehaving slaves for punishment. John apparently made several terrible trips to the whipping man. Caleb’s most moving scene comes in a flashback to the war, when he writes a letter to his beloved after more than 200 days in a putrid trench.

Each man has dreams about what he’ll do now that the war and slavery have ended. Each also has a secret that makes his future uncertain.

This gripping, provocatively human drama looks at that era in a different light and through differing viewpoints. Callender’s Simon is a wise, centered presence. Pelczar’s Caleb has suffered greatly and has come to doubt his faith. Windham’s John is perhaps the most complex character, an intelligent, angry man with dreams, a penchant for theft and, like Simon, a deep faith.

“The Whipping Man” also draws intriguing parallels between the Jews of history, who were freed from slavery in Egypt, and Southern blacks, who were freed from slavery in this country. Thus it works on many levels, meriting more than one viewing.

Judy Richter

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Oscar Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest” has amused audiences with its wit and satire on English society, romance and human foibles since 1895. Now it’s the basis for a world premiere musical, “Being Earnest,” presented by TheatreWorks.

Composers Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska have updated the setting to 1965, a time perfectly captured by Fumiko Bielefeldt’s costume designs, which are inspired byCarnaby Street denizens. Unfortunately, the costumes are more appropriate to the times than the music. While the Beatles and other such groups were dominating pop charts with bouncy, hummable tunes, Gordon and Gruska’s score seems bland and repetitious.

Thanks to a topnotch cast and Robert Kelley’s direction, however, the show still has entertainment value. It also benefits enormously from Wilde’s words, which Gordon has incorporated into his book and some of the lyrics.

The plot focuses on two young English gentlemen, Algernon Moncrieff (Euan Morton) and Jack Worthing (Hayden Tee), who resort to deception to woo the young women to which they’re attracted. Algernon pursues Cecily Cardew (Riley Krull), who is Jack’s ward, while Jack is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax (Mindy Lym), Algernon’s cousin. One of the obstacles they face is Gwendolen’s mother, Lady Bracknell (Maureen McVerry), who’s very concerned about being proper and maintaining her social status.

Completing the cast are Diana Torres Koss as Miss Prism, Cecily’s tutor; and Brian Herndon as three male characters.

All of the performers are fine singers, but Morton’s unflappable Algernon and McVerry’s Lady Bracknell are especially noteworthy. A mainstay of Bay Area theater, McVerry also may be familiar to Peninsulans because of her musical theater work with middle school students.

Another reason why she is a standout is that Bielefeldt has given her some gorgeous costumes, especially her outfit in the final scenes. Bielefeldt has also given a show-stopper outfit to Lym, who appears in a Mary Quant-inspired ensemble in the second act. Both Lym and Krull sport the go-go boots so popular at that time.

Musical director William Liberatore conducts four other musicians from the pit. The flexible set is by Joe Ragey with lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt. The sound design by Jeff Mockus is sometimes too loud. It also was plagued by some microphone pops at the reviewed performance.

Gordon successfully turned “Emma” and “Jane Eyre” into award-winning musicals, but with “Being Earnest,” the costumes are more memorable than the music.

“Being Earnest” continues at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Castro and Mercy streets, Mountain View, through April 28. For tickets and information, call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Judy Richter

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“Cats” has been gracing musical theater stages across the nation and world ever since it premiered inLondon in 1981 and went on to Broadway, where it won a slew of awards. It first came toSan Franciscoin 1986 and has returned several times.

Now it’s at the Fox Theatre inRedwood City, where Broadway By the Bay is staging an exuberant production. The show is based on “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” a series of whimsical poems by T.S. Eliot. All of the characters are cats, each a distinct individual introduced through songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The best-known song is “Memory,” here poignantly sung by Heather Orth as Grizabella, a once-glamorous cat now long past her prime and shunned by the other cats. The biggest crowd-pleasers are “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” and “The Song of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball,” along with “The Old Gumbie Cat.” All three feature terrific solo and ensemble dancing by the energetic cast, while “Gumbie” adds a fun tap scene to the enjoyment.

The show is directed and choreographed by Robyn Tribuzi, who has honed the dancers into a precision ensemble. The only misstep in her direction comes from Jack Mosbacher, who sings well and struts like Mick Jagger but overdoes the pelvic thrusts in “The Rum Tum Tugger.”

Musical direction is by Sean Kana, who conducts the orchestra from the keyboards. Even with only eight musicians, including Kana, the orchestral sound is full. Likewise, the vocal ensemble is well balanced even though a few singers seem less accomplished in their solos. Diction is sometimes a problem.

The cat-like costumes and junk yard set come from FCLO Music Theatre. A few glitches were evident in Michael Ramsaur’s lighting design opening night. The sound is by Jon Hayward.

As for the show itself, the plot is thin, while Lloyd Webber’s music becomes repetitious, especially in the second act. Still, there is much to admire in both the show and this production, which runs about 135 minutes with intermission.

“Cats” continues at the Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway St., Redwood City, through April 21. For tickets and information, call (650) 579-5565 or go to www.broadwaybythebay.org.

Judy Richter

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