Kedar Adour

 TRIASSIC PARQ: Musical.  Music by Marshall Pailet;  Book by Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo. Directed by Alex Kirschner; Musical Direction by Robbie Cowan. Ray of Light Theatre, The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St. (at Battery), San Francisco, CA, 9411. For tickets, visit www.rayoflighttheatre.com.   May 30 – June 28, 2014

Triassic Parq an energetic, slightly risqué fun filled show by Ray of Light Theatre [rating:5]

After accepting an invitation to Ray of Light’s  (ROL) opening night of Triassic Parq plans to were made for a gala evening. A dear friend agreed to be my guest and a call was made to the nearby “Le Olivier”, a fine French restaurant, for dinner before the theatre.  It was not to be. “Le Olivier” was booked for a private party. Then my date twisted her knee and had to decline. Those ominous premonitions were completely forgotten since Ray of Lights’ hilarious production of Triasic Parq was an unqualified success. It is 90 minutes of pure anthropomorphic fun that received a well-deserved standing ovation.

Anthropomorphic? Yes, since all the “characters” with one exception are dinosaurs living on the fictional island of Isla Nublar off the coast of Costa Rica. That island and storyline were spawned in the fertile imagination of Michael Crichton. It’s the place where a billionaire created an amusement park called Jurassic Park that was made more famous in the Spielberg movie.  In the opening number sung by a talented 6 member cast we are told that the name had to be changed to “Triasic” to avoid a law suit.

Fertility may be in the mind of Crichton but alas, all the dinosaurs created by DNA cloning (??) are female. They may be fertile but there is no fertility without males. The confines of the jungle amusement park is surrounded by high electrified fences. The inhabitants are cared for by a higher authority, “The Lab.” That higher authority showers the island with goats thus there is never a food shortage.

Within the community of raptors there is a hierarchy with Velociraptor of Faith (willowy David Naughton) in charge keeping them all in line with platitudes and philosophy. There is a lot of PR nonsense about the meaning of community, religion, gender, science and being unique humans (dinosaurs) bonding with other humans. Forget the PR stuff and just have as much fun as the opening night audience did enjoying the energetic dancing, spot on singing and the risqué behavior/shenanigans of the human-like animals. If you are lucky you may be selected to sit in one of the comfortable seats on stage right reserved for audience members.

ROL did not stint on cost, fashioning a fantastic jungle set that fills the entire stage with the fore mentioned high electric fences that are adroitly moved by the cast as needed. The have even built a separate cage on stage left to contain/protect the four member band: Pianosaurus (Robbie Cowan), Guitarydactyl (Nahuel Bronzini), Bassceratops (Eugene Theriault)  and Percussadon (Geneva Harrison) but Robbie Cowen elicits laughs when ‘escapes’ to take part in the physical stage action.

All you need to know about the plot is that a frog gene has ‘polluted’ the purity of T-Rex 2 (Chelsea  Holifield) and she grows a functioning male appendage. Then there is Velociraptor of Innocence (Lewis Rawlinson) whose curiosity takes him beyond the fence in search of the unknown where he meets the banished T-Rex 2 with her/his “appendage’ attached and you can guess what happens during that “meeting.”

The entire production team earn accolades but Wendy Ross Kaufman deserves individual praise for the fantastic costumes.

Crisis after crisis unfolds with the rest of the cast (Alex Rodriguez  as Velociraptor of Science/Morgan Freeman and Monica Turner as T Rex 1/Kaitlyn) having a riotous time singing and dancing (Dane Paul Andres, Choreographer) up a storm.  The music is always upbeat even when a love song appears and includes hip-hop (think Spring Awakening), and power ballads. The ingenious creators of this show throw in a non-speaking part of Mime-a-saurus (limber-limbed Javi Harnly) who earns his laughs even when abused by the raptors.

Every member of the cast have their star turn on the stage but Alex Rodriguez’s  powerful presence gets more than his share. Director Alex Kirschner does a magnificent job balancing his ensemble cast that are always in non-stop motion. Final Note: Triasic Parq is another winner for ROL and is a ‘do not miss’ production.

Triassic Parq Cast:  Javi Harnly (Mime-a-saurus);  Chelsea Holifield (T Rex 2);  David Naughton (Velociraptor of Faith);  Lewis Rawlinson (Velociraptor of Innocence);  Alex Rodriguez (Velociraptor of Science/Morgan Freeman);  Monica Turner (T Rex 1/Kaitlyn).

Triassic Parq Production Team: Alex Kirschner, Director;  Robbie Cowan, Music Director;  Dane Paul Andres, Choreographer;  Erik Scanlon, Assistant Director;  Annie Dauber, Set Designer;  Joe D’Emilio, Lighting Designer;  Anton Hedman, Sound Designer;  Wendy Ross Kaufman, Costume Design; Kevin Pong, Props Design;Erick Scanlon, Assistant Director;Daniel Cadigan, Technical Director and Ilona Herbert, Stage Manager.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Eddie Ray Jackson*, Tangela Large, Adrian Roberts*, and Tyee Tilghman* in Christina Anderson’s world premiere of PEN/MAN/SHIP..

PEN/MAN/SHIP: Drama by Christina Anderson and directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell. Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94123. (Entrance to Fort Mason at the intersection of Marina Blvd and Buchanan St).  415-441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org. May 28 – June 15, 2014

 PEN/MAN/SHIP given a powerful world premiere at the Magic. [rating:3](3 of 5 Stars)

The Magic Theatre group has a well earned reputation for nurturing new playwrights. Amongst those who honed their skills there are (alphabetically) Luis Alfaro, Nilo Cruz, Rebecca Gilman, Taylor Mac, Michael McClure, Theresa Rebeck, Sam Shepard, Octavio Solis, Lloyd Suh,  Paula Vogel and Sharr White. Each has gone on to successful professional careers and Christina Anderson is well on her way to join that august group. That fact is supported by the powerful production being given its world premiere on Magic’s intimate thrust stage.

 However that power compressed into a one hour and 50 minute play that includes a 15 minute intermission does not translate to a completely satisfying evening. There are deficits in the construction that relies on exposition inserted late in the play to flesh out the background/motivation of the characters. The cast of four are all major to the plot with unseen characters lurking in the background conveying a dire threat of violence. That threat is magnified since all the action takes place aboard a claustrophobic former whaling ship symbolically named Turner with sounds of the sea and wind that erupts into a violent storm to end act one.

The title of the play is descriptive of the construction that requires Charles “the man” to “pen the daily actions aboard the “ship” in his log book. In doing so author Anderson uses him as her narrator speaking the words to the audience and having the others enter and participate in the action.

The time is 1896 and the US Supreme Court has upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal” law for whites and blacks. There is an American Colonization Society of Liberia movement to repatriate Blacks to Africa.  Widower Charles Boyd, a prominent black entrepreneur has organized sailing a ship with an all-black crew to make the voyage to Liberia. The reason for the voyage is hidden from the crew and when discovered creates a contentious void between Charles and his son Jacob. Charles has accepted the oversight of the voyage, including the selecting of a compliant Captain and considers the crew to be inferior to him. He hides his malevolence behind a façade of religious aphorism and insists upon honoring God through always setting aside the Sabbath for bible study and prayer.

Jacob has an ambivalent relationship with his father that is divided between filial love and desire to break free. He has brought along Ruby who is desirous of leaving America to start anew in Africa. Charles does not know what to think of Jacob and Ruby’s relationship since he has spent a fortune hiring lawyers to defend Jacob who was caught in a “brothel for faeres.”  From their first meeting Ruby and Charles are at loggerheads and Charles has a great unknown fear of her since she does not have a bible and in his mind women are inferior to men. She also perverts a passage from the Bible: “Let there be darkness in the light.”  The theme of light and dark and white and black permeates the entire play.

The fourth character is self-deprecating Cecil, a crew member whom Charles befriends and becomes his eyes and ears on the plotting of the crew. He is addicted to his squeeze-box and provides music that is reflective of the stage action and is a bridge between scenes.

Ruby becomes the titular head of the crew when the Captain disappears and she gradually assumes leadership. Charles has an altercation with a young crewman who falls overboard and may or may not have been the instigator in the fight. The entire crew become malevolent and plan to kill Charles. Ruby’s intervention prevents the killing asking Charles to stand trial before the crew. Charles’ refusal leads to dire consequences with a cataclysmic ending to play.

Adrian Roberts is on stage for most of the play perfectly creating the dual nature of Charles moving from narrator to player, to instigator and victim.  Tyee Tilghman is at his best making you feel the insecurity of Cecil who cherishes the friendship of Charles. Eddie Ray Jackson as has the most difficult job of showing the dual personality suggested by the script. Tangela Large is the most dynamic member of the cast and gives a stunning, multifaceted performance as Ruby.

Cast: Jacob – Eddie Ray Jackson;  Ruby – Tangela Large; Charles – Adrian Roberts; Cecil – TyeeTilghman.

Creative Team: Lighting Design by Ray Oppenheimer; Scenic Design by Angrette McCloskey; Costume Design by Antonia Gunnarson; Sound Design by Sara Huddleston.  

Running time of one hour and 50 minutes with an intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

    The Writer (Rod Gnapp) has a philosophical discussion with the spirit of the severed head (Carl Lumbly).

Word for Word presents : “36 Stories by Sam Shepard” arranged for the Stage and Directed by Amy Kossow at Z Below, Z Space’s new second venue, at 470 Florida St. San Francisco. Tickets: 866.811.4111 or at www.zspace.org.  May 21-June 22, 2014.

36 STORIES BY SAM SHEPARD brilliantly acted by Word for Word. [rating:4](4 of 5 stars)

Word for Word have deviated from their usual format of bringing short stories to the stage “verbatim, assigning the narrative—he saids, she saids and descriptive text—to various characters, animals or even inanimate objects, all in the most revelatory and imaginative ways.” Under a commission from the Magic Theatre and as part of the “Sheparding America” festival celebrating the work of Sam Shepard, Amy Kossow selected snippets of prose from Shepard’s five books patching them together creating a fascinating mélange for the stage entitled 36 Stories by Sam Shepard.

The production is being staged in the intimate 88 seat Z Space Below venue and boasts a five member stellar cast of Rod Gnapp, Carl Lumbly, Delia MacDougall, JoAnne Winter, and Patrick Alparone. They are the Who’s Who of the local theatre scene and their performances could be taught as an example of what ensemble acting is all about. Four of the actors flawlessy morph into multiple characters with distinctive and memorable characteristics. The fifth character is The Writer played to perfection by Rod Gnapp who bookends the play writing on a portable typewriter and as he finishes each page tacks it to wall of the set.

That lone Writer is fashioned after Sam Shepard who traveled highways of the Great Southwest. Shepard was known to frequent Denny’s Restaurants and out of the way motels thus the scenes shift between Denny’s, the open road and motels. There are minimal changes of props allowing the story to move without interruption.

Early in the play an incongruous sign hung in one of the restaurants reads “Life is what happens when you’re making plans for doing something else.” This intrigues The Writer and he attempts without success to discover who the writer of the sign is. He continues his journey, writing as he goes along.

On that journey he comes across a severed head (Carl Lumbly) in a basket in a ditch by the side of the road. The Head wishes to be moved to a quieter place where he could rest for eternity. Along comes The Walking Man ( Patrick Alparone) who agrees to move The Head as requested but that trip is fraught with hardships and is almost abandoned.

Somewhere along his trip The Writer meets The Mercenary (Delia MacDougall) who is a bundle of sex leading to a seamy motel room scene that is intricately orchestrated but still is steamy.

 With the exception of the tale of The Head and its travels with The Walking Man there is no continuity of storyline but there are vignettes that will keep you guessing what is coming next.  The Waitress (JoAnne Winter) becomes

The Driver taking her mother’s ashes from the columbarium in a green bucket who encounters the remnants of a truck tire that becomes The Hawk (Lumbly) injured and stranded by the roadside. Patrick Alparone doubles as The Musician playing a guitar linking a number of the scenes.

In the final scene Mac Dougal becomes The Writer’s mother and asks if all this travel is because he has writer’s block. If so:

“Now let me get this straight

You say

You’re tortured because you can’t write

Or

You can’t write because you’re tortured

Now lemme say one thing

Your despair is more boring

Than the Merv Griffin Show

Get off your tail and cook

Do time

Anything

But don’t burn mine

The ensemble actors take on the roles of inanimate objects who often speak with philosophical insight. There is a bit of Steven King in the writing but all in all the cast has complete control of the text receiving a standing ovation on opening night.

Running Time 90 minutes with no intermission.

CAST: Rod Gnapp The Writer; Delia MacDougall, The Mercenary / Dead Mother / Sally / Ensemble; JoAnne Winter, The Waitress / Driver / Writer’s Mother / Ensemble; Patrick. ALparone; The Musician / The Walking Man / Dicky / Ensemble;  Carl Lumbly, The Head / The Hawk / Ensemble.

PRODUCTION: Assistant Director Wendy Radford, Stage Manager Justin D. Schlegel, Assistant Stage Manager Allie Khori, Scenic Design Giulio Perrone, Lighting Design Jim Cave, Costume Design Christine Crook, Sound Design Drew Yerys, Properties Design Jacquelyn Scott, Movement Design Tracy Hazas, Mask Design John Daniel, Music Composition Patrick ALparone, Additional Music Paul Fiocchiaro, Peter O’Donoghue, and Spencer Evans and Technical Director Dave Gardner. Photography Mark Leialoha.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

 

 

Emmy-nominated actor Mark Margolis (Gus) heads up the Marcantonio clan in the West Coast premiere of Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, an epic family drama at Berkeley Rep. Photo courtesy of kevin berne.com

The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures: Drama by Tony Kushner. Directed by Tony Taccone.Berkeley Repertory Theatre,Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org   May 16-June 29,2014

West Coast premiere. [rating:3] (3 of 5 stars)

The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures is a stunning ‘kitchen-sink’ drama.

In a recent interview of Tony Kushner by Chad Jones for the SF Chronicle, Kushner suggested that this play is his attempt to write a “well-made kitchen-sink drama.”  The term ‘kitchen-sink’ owes its derivation to a 1957 3-act play entitled The Kitchen that played in the Royal Court Theatre in London written by the noted Arnold Wesker. During the 50s and 60s London playwright’s, termed the angry young men,wrote plays about everyday working class characters. This included John Osborne who wrote Look Back in Anger (1956).

Wesker’s play is about the disintegration of a Communist Jewish family whose ideals are shattered as the world around them is radically changing. In that play the matriarch is the one with the strong Socialist convictions while the patriarch vacillates. Their son and daughter are mirror images of the parents.

It seems apparent that Tony Kushner has been influenced by The Kitchen. Even so, he is a unique writer with a plethora of theatrical awards including Pulitzer Prize and the seminal Tony Award winning Angels in America. The kitchen-sink influence extends to the play’s construction written in three acts with act one setting the premise(s), act two leading to a climactic confrontation and a third act denouement. The comparisons end there as five of Kushner’s characters are homosexuals. If is intended as an extension/update of his seminal Angels in America it is redundant and deficient. Never-the-less, even though it is pretentious to run for three hours and 45 minutes, he has created a unique powerful drama that is being given a stunning performance under Tony Taccone’s tight direction.

In Kushner’s play the family is Italian Catholic and the widowed elderly patriarch Gus (Mark Margolis) is disillusioned with his past and present life and wishes to commit suicide. He has unsuccessfully tried once, and now his family has arrived home to try to dissuade him from doing it again. In the past he was a Communist Union organizer on the waterfront and has been able to provide well for his family. Home is a New York City brownstone that is now worth millions of dollars.

Gus’s has three children. The eldest boy Pill (Lou Liberatore)has failed to get his doctoral degree is married to Paul (Tyrone Mitchell Henderson). The daughter called Empty (Deidre Lovejoy), lives with her lover Maeve (Liz Wisan) who is 8 months pregnant presumably by artificial insemination. The decision to live as a lesbian apparently came late in life and her estranged husband Adam (Anthony Fusco) lives in the basement of the home. Vito (Joseph J. Parks), the younger son, is a blue-collar contractor and has strong belief in the capitalistic system. Aunt Clio (Randy Danson) is Gus’s sister is mostly a sounding board for the other characters and has been looking  after Gus. She is important to play because of her belief in Christian Science and has a copy of Mary Baker Eddy’s pamphlet “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.”Another major reference within the play is to George Bernard Shaw’s “The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism” as indicated by the grandiloquent title of Kushner’s play.

The pivotal non-member of the family is a street smart hustler Eli (Jordan Geiger) that Pill loves and has been paid thousands of dollars for his services thus threatening the marriage of Paul and Pill. His return to the stage in the final scene is both touching ambiguous.

Kushner is a master at amalgamating everyday action with weighty ideas and this play is further proof of his ability. However you may miss many of those intricacies since Kushner and Taccone allow extended scenes where the characters talk over each other creating pandemonium rather than understanding.

Individually and collectively the actors do great justice to Kushner’s dialog. Mark Margolis leads the way with his portrayal of Gus’s disillusionment that we later learn is infected with guilt. Tyrone Mitchell Henderson dominates the stage with his anger beginning with the first scene that extends deep into the play. Lou Liberatore  as the love smitten ineffectual Pill is at his best in a quiet scene with Margolis. Deidre Lovejoy has a difficulty creating therole of Empty probably because Kushner has not fully defined that character. Liz Wisan  as the very pregnant Maeve could not give a better performance.  Jordan Geiger under-plays Eli to perfection and earns his spot in the final scene of the play. Joseph J. Parks as the angry Vito is a bit excessive but necessary to

create conflict.

Berkeley Rep has mounted Kushner’s opus (almost opus) on a fantastic two level set by Christopher Barecca that alone is worth a visit to the Rhoda Stage but not at the expense of the extended running time of three hours and 45 minutes.

CAST: Tina Chilip (Sooze), Randy Danson (Clio), Anthony Fusco (Adam), Jordan Geiger (Eli), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Paul), Lou Liberatore (Pill), Deirdre Lovejoy (Empty), Mark Margolis (Gus), Joseph J. Parks (Vito), Robynn Rodriguez (Shelle), and Liz Wisan (Maeve)

CREATIVE TEAM: Christopher Barecca (scenic designer), Meg Neville (costume designer), Alexander V. Nichols (lighting designer), Jake Rodriguez (sound designer), and Julie Wolf (Music Consultant).

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

                              The Cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at CenterRep

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: Musical Comedy. Music and Lyrics by William  Finn. Book by Rachel Sheinkin. Conceived by Rebecca Feldman. Directed by Jeff  Collister.  Music Direction  by Brandon Adams. Choreographed by Jennifer Perry. Center REPertory Company 1601 Civic Drive in downtown Walnut Creek. 925-943-7469, or  www.CenterREP.org.  May 16 – June 21, 2014

[rating:5] (5of5Stars)

An energetic/delightful/winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Center Rep.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (APCSB) hit the Broadway stage in 2005 after a circuitous journey starting from improvisational act called C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E ( meaning tenebrosity. . . look it up) and lasted for 1,136 performances winning multiple awards before its journey to multiple local venues around the U.S.A. In 2009 the Willows Theatre’s performed it in a miniscule cabaret in Martinez and as directed by Marilyn Langbehn was described by this reviewer: “The cast seemed to have as much or more fun than the audience since they emphasize the humor without fully developing the bittersweet pathos written into the text.” That same year San Jose Rep mounted the play under Timothy Near’s direction: “If there were Tony Awards for West Coast shows San Jose Rep’s production of . . .  Spelling Bee would garner multiple nominations and winners.”

Center Rep has taken a different approach creating a gay splash emphasizing musical aspects with exuberant dancing (Jennifer Perry) and singing and allowing the superb cast to pull out all the stops with broad acting yet keeping more than a modicum of pathos. All this plays out on a fantastic semi-surrealistic (Kelly Tighe) gymnasium set with lighting design by Kurt Landisman. Once again CenterRep has a “must see” show.  

The place is the gymnasium of the Putnam County Middle School where the 25^th Annual Spelling Bee is being held under the leadership of the County’s number one realtor Rona Lisa Perretti (Leanne Borghesi) who was the winner of the 3^rd APCSB by spelling “syzygfy.” She is assisted by the Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Michael Patrick Gaffney) who has the dubious pleasure of reiterating, with the company as backup, “The Rules.”  Then there is Mitch Mahoney (Berwick Haynes) an ex-con doing community service as the “Official Comfort Counselor” who gives the losers a hug and a box of fruit juice as he leads them off stage.

Enough about the adults, except to say, that Borghesi and Haynes have powerful voices and excellent comedic timing holding their own with the talented cast of “youngsters.” Those “youngsters” are not by any stretch of the imaginations middle-school denizens but they add a lot of verisimilitude to their roles as youngsters and all give whirlwind performances.

Before the evening is over you will have your own preference/choice for who should be the winner. Of course there is only one winner but before the show ends the company reminds us of that coming in second is not so bad with the upbeat song “Second.”

You will not recognize Brittany Danielle with her blond hair pulled almost into a pony-tail and a lisp in her voice as Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere the daughter of two gay men who would do anything for her to win.  The most poignant of the group is charming Mindy Lym as Olive Ostrovsky whose mother is in India and her father is working late and may miss the contest. Her final duet with Zac Schuman as William Barfee (pronounced Bar-Fay) is a gem. He initially comes on stage a bit too strong but is marvelous as the speller with the magic foot who may be willing to forfeit winning for the love of Olive. Then there is Adam Elsberry as Issac ‘Chip’ Berkowitz the winner of last year’s competition but finds that puberty is affecting his concentration.

Adding to the fun are three members selected from the audience to participate in the spelling bee. One by one they are eliminated until only of the youngsters is the winner.  That information will remain a secret. Consider it another reason to see this hilarious musical. Running time a fast paced 90 minutes without intermission.

CAST: Leanne Borghesi as Rona Lisa Perretti; Brittany Danielle as Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere; Adam Elsberry as Isaac “Chip” Berkowitz;  Michael Patrick Gaffney as Vice Principal Douglas Panch; Berwick Haynes as Mitch Mahoney; Lindsay Hirata as Marcy Park; Mindy Lym as Olive Ostrovsky;  Zac Schuman as William Barfee; Warren McLean Wernick as Leaf Coneybear.

ARTISTIC CREW: Directed by Jeff Collister; Music Direction by Brandon Adams; Choreographed by Jennifer Perry. Creative Team: Set Design by Kelly Tighe; Lighting Design by Kurt Landisman; Costume Design by Victoria Livingston-Hall; Sound Design by Jeff Mockus;  Stage Managed by Nicole  Langley*

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

OTHER DESERT CITIES: Comedy/drama by Jon Robin Baitz . Directed by Phoebe Moyer . Ross Valley Players (RVP) @ Barn Theatre at the Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Ross. For tickets, call 415-456-9555 or go to www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Runs through June 15, 2014

OTHER DESERT CITIES earns the drive to RVP  [rating:3] (3 / 5 stars)

In Southern California U.S. Route 10 traverses the entire State and as you travel East through the  Banning Pass entering the desert on the Eastern side of the mountains you come across a sign indicating that Route 111 leads to “Other Desert Cities.” This will take you to Palm Springs, the locale of Jon Robin Baitz award winning play Other Desert Cities. Having spent 10 winters in Palm Springs there were personal reason to see this play.

Palm Springs was the Mecca for Hollywood and Los Angeles glitterati but now is an upscale resort city with the “other desert cities” such as Indian Wells the most likely area to meet the characters with the financial means to live in the beautiful ostentatious style home created for this play (Ron Krempetz). The skillfully constructed set, with everything in its place, matches perfectly the skillfully constructed plot line with all the actions taking place within 24 hours with an epilog set 10 years later to add finality.

The plot has been used in A. R. Gurney’s The Cocktail Hour where a family member turns up with a soon to be produced play script that bares the foibles of his family. Gurney’s play is a true comedy with a touch of discomfiture.  In Other Desert Cities comedy is at a minimum allowing the engrossing dramatic details to unfold with the suggestion of impending disaster.  Author Baitz is a master at unraveling the tangled web leading to a terrific penultimate scene.

The Wyeths have gathered in the family home on Christmas Eve 2004. The patriarchs are Polly (Ellen Brooks) and Lyman (late replacement Dick Martin ) with their mature children Brooke (Jennifer Gregory) and Trip (Peter Warden ). Living with the Wyeths is Polly’s sister Silda Grauman (Kristine Ann Lowry) a recovering alcoholic. The elder Wyeths are affluent right wing Republicans active in the desert political life and members of an elite country club.  Brooke, who has been in and out of mental hospitals for the past 6 years being treated for depression has written a memoir with emphasis on the suicide of her older brother Henry, a member of a radical underground subculture. If published those revelations could decimate the lives of the entire Wyeth clan.

Seven months ago TheatreWorks in conjunction with San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre staged a brilliant production of Other Desert Cities. Seeing the play for a second time within 6 months after that staging seems to create a necessity for comparison. It probably is unfair since RVP is a non-equity community theatre. In this their 84^th year of producing plays they have staged many plays that were highly praised. Other Desert Cities misses the mark.

Initially RVP and director Moyer rounded up a fine five member cast to perform this family drama that requires ensemble acting while giving each actor their moment to shine in various scenes. That ensemble contingent must have suffered a serious blow when a RVP stalwart Craig Christiansen departed from the cast two weeks before opening night.  This may explain why the timing between the actors was lost and the play lasted 20 minutes longer than the TheatreWorks’ two hour staging. Both timings include a 15 minute intermission.

On opening night Ellen Brooks was perfect in the pivotal role of Polly although she dropped beats with her studied delivery of her lines. She earned complete audience approval for her command of the stage. Those dropped beats may account for Peter Warden’s attempt to pick up the pace with more than a bit of over acting. In act two he did a fine job as the attempted peace-maker in the family.  Jennifer Gregory entered the stage on a high giving verisimilitude to Brooke’s mental instability but showed little variation in her quieter moments. Kristine Ann Lowry makes the most of her secondary but at one point pivotal role as Silda who refuses to be a sounding board for domineering Polly but is fully aware of her dependence on sister’s beneficence. Late replacement Dick Martin is a true pro and will surely fit into the ensemble acting mode as the run continues.

Director Moyer is a pro at blocking a show and she moves her actors adroitly about suggesting boxers in a ring each circling for that perfect punch.

CAST: Polly Wyeth, Ellen Brooks; Lyman Wyeth, Dick Martin; Brooke Wyeth, Jennifer Gregory; Trip Wyeth,  Peter Warden; Silda Grauman, Kristine Ann Lowry.

PRODUCTION STAFF: Director, Phoebe Moyer; Production Manager, Maureen O’Donoghue; Stage Manager, Maureen Scheuenstuhl; Asst Stage Manager, Caroline M. Doyle; Set Design, Ron Krempetz; Costume Design, Michael Berg; Lighting Design, Jon Gourdine; Lighting Operator,   Ian Tillotson; Lighting Assistant,  Iam Lamers; Sound Design, Billie Cox; Property Design,  Christina Jacqua; Set Construction, Eugene DeChristopher; Set Painter, Ryan Martin; Rehearsal Assistant, Maureen O’Donoghue.

Kedar K. Adour MD

Courtesy of  www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

Adam Roy, Stacy Ross, Rinabeth Apostol and Howard Swain in Ruben Grijalva’s MR.WONG’S GOES TO WASHINGTON, from Best of PlayGround 18.

Best of PlayGround 18: Five short plays and one musical. Thick  House, 1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA.  (415) 992-6677 or visit  www.PlayGround-sf.org/bestof.

May 8 – May 25, 2014   [Rating:4] (4 of 5 stars)

The Best of PlayGround 18 a charming/sweet/sad/satiric fun filled evening at the Thick House.

PlayGround, the showcase for promising new playwrights in Bay Area, has come up with another winner for their 18^th season. This year they again are using the intimate 99 seat Thick House Theatre for their productions. There was not an empty seat and the appreciative audience (certainly many were/are friends of the writers) was treated to a 90 minute, without intermission, roller-coaster of emotional theatre.

The curtain raiser, a cutting/satirical /farce  (Mr. Wong’s Goes to Washington by Ruben Grijalva,  directed by M. Graham Smith) started out the evening on a hilarious note.  The marvelous ensemble acting (Rinabeth Apostol, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Howard Swain, and Jomar Tagatac) skewers US Governmental decision making over such a mundane choice of Chinese take-out food or cheaper sandwiches from the local deli.

This was followed by (When You Talk About This by Patricia Cotter, directed by Tracy Ward) a direct take-off on David Mamet’s  Oleanna  and Robert Anderson’s  Tea and Sympathy. For this two-hander author Cotter envisions a liaison with a young student poet (Adam Roy) taking a course in statistics from 40 year female professor (Stacy Ross). When Stacy utters the fateful line, “(Years from now)When you talk about this, and you will. . .) the final words are not “be kind.”

After the two opening plays getting off to an excellent start there is a letdown with The Broken-Tooth Comb a mathematical fantasy by William Bivins, directed by Katja Rivera.

Since the set changes are minimal there is little time to cogitate on the previous 10-15 minute play. So it was with Stranger in a Stranger Land by Karen Macklin, directed by Michael French. Newly arrived in San Francisco, Lynn (Stacy Ross) is looking of Mr. Right. Her first encounter with hippie Mitchell (Teddy Spencer) at Starbucks is a disaster as is it is with Brian (Jomar Tagatac) who runs an Internet “Cuddling Service.” When handsome, charming Paul (Adam Roy) takes her to a (shocking) nude beach Lynn is about to give up and ends up depressed at the Museum of Modern Art. There is a bitter-sweet ending with Brandon (Howard Swain) that will cheer you up and make you want to applaud.

Riding Dragonsby Victoria Chong Der, directed by Nancy Carlin was my seat mate’s favorite and for good reason. What starts out as mother/daughter (Stacy Ross/ Rinabeth Apostol) discussion with an unseen school official, adroitly becomes a mother/daughter generational gap conflict that melts into a heart-tugging mystical ending.

The curtain comes down on the evening with the musical Love Spacewalked Inby Maury Zeff, directed by Jim Kleinmann with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. What would happen if the onboard hydro-waste recycler in a space ship orbiting the moon suddenly has a “log-jam” (their words not mine)? It just happens that the inventor of the recycler, Russian Lieutenant Valentina Blazenhov (Rinabeth Apostol) is only minutes away surveying the Sea of Tranquility for Vladimir Putin’s beach house. She enters with a snorkel and a diver’s mask and holds a plunger. Love blossoms in a most unusual way and all end up singing “Love Walked In.” Oh, I forgot to mention that it is a full cast production that director Kleinman has fun moving them around in zero gravity.

Recommendation: Well worth seeing and mostly satisfying.

Ensemble Cast: Rinabeth Apostol, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Howard Swain, Jomar Tagatac, and Teddy Spencer.

Artistic Staff: Lighting Designer,Mark Hueske; Sound Designer, Josh Senick; Costume Designer,Jocelyn Leiser Herndon; Casting Director, Annie Stuart;      Properties Artisan, Cindy Goldfield; Production Manager, Marcus Marotta; Stage Manager,Bethanie Baeyen;Assistant Stage Manager, Siobhan FitzGerald; Production Assistant/Dresser, Melissa Kallstrom.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

Bruce Vilanch finds himself transformed into King Louis wooing Madame Du Barry (Ashley Rae Little) in 42nd Street Moon’s production of Du Barry Was a Lady, playing April 30 – May 18, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre

DU BARRY WAS A LADY: Musical. Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter. Book by Herbert Fields & B.G. De Sylva. Directed and Choreographed by Zack Thomas Wilde. 42^nd Street Moon at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco in Gateway Plaza (between Battery & Front). (415) 255-8207 or www.42ndStMoon.org.  April 30 to May 18, 2014

 DU BARRY WAS A LADY scintillates but does not titillate at 42^nd Street Moon. [rating:4] (4 of 5 stars)

When Du Barry Was a Lady tried out in Boston before its Broadway run in December 1939 the censors did not approve of the double-entendres in the seminal song “But in the Morning, No” but it was a show-stopper appreciated by the New York audiences. In 42nd  Street Moon’s staging the stars of the show Bruce Vilanch and Ashley Rae Little create a hilarious duet singing the song with only a smidgen of the bawdy. It is easy to visualize original leads Bert Lahr and Ethel Merman doing that number with full scale innuendo.

Forget the bawdy and go to see this show. It is the last show of the 2013-2014 season and they have pulled out all the stops beginning with bringing in the nationally famous Bruce Vilanch who has for years written the jokes for the Oscars and has the timing of a professional comedian. He moves his rotund frame, occasionally with arms flailing to accentuate his pliable face and enters into the fray. In doing so he does not throw the ensemble out of whack and becomes part of the whole yet being very distinctive in his humorous demeanor.  Of course he plays the part written for Bert Lahr. Ashley Rae Little playing the role made famous by Ethel Merman is a match for Vilanch and can really belt out a song.

This show playing at the intimate Eureka Theatre is the first full scale production since 1941. It is classic Cole Porter with suave lyrics to delightful music. These include, “Friendship”, “Well, Did You Evah?”; “Do I Love You?”; “When Love Beckoned on 52nd Street” and “Katie Went to Haiti” and others. To buttress the music and lyrics they have created an attractive set (Jennifer Veres) including a fold down Murphy bed, with bright snazzy costumes (Felicia Lilienthal) ranging from skimpy chorus girl outfits to hysterical knock-offs of male and female attire found in King Louis XV of France’s court.

Fields and De Sylva cleverly switch from a 1930s night club to King Louis’ court with a storyline about a hapless but generous/loveable wash-room attendant Louie Blore (Vilanch) in love with café star May Daly (Ashley Rae Little) who is in love Alex Barton (Jack Mosbacher) who is still married to Alice (Nicole Renee Chapman). Louie has won the Irish Sweepstakes thus attracting many friends (money does that). Charley (Jordan Sidfield), Louie’s shady replacement suggest he temporarily get rid of Alex by slipping him a Mickey Finn. You guessed it, Louie gets the Mickey and goes off to Louie XV’s court while the quartet sings “Dream Song.”

Louie becomes Louis the XV with May becoming his reluctant potential mistress Du Barry. It seems that song writer Alex(andre) has written a naughty song “Du Barry was a Lady” and is pursued  by Louie’s inept minions. Charley is now The Dauphin, the child-like heir to the Throne saves Du Barry from a night in bed with Louie with a well placed arrow to Louie’s posterior.

It goes on and on with some exuberant and sometimes humorous dance numbers by a very professional cast. These include soft shoe duets by Nathaniel Rothrock and Nicole Renee Chapman, ensemble tap dance, “Gavotte” by the Courtiers, and a show-stopper “Katie Went to Haiti” by the ensemble chorus.

Handsome Jack Mosbacher has an excellent tenor voice and gets to sing “Do I Love You” and “Written in the Stars.”  Ashley Rae Little brings down the house with “Give Him the Oo-la-la,” and shares the spotlight at the end of act two with Vilanch in the catchy “Friendship.”

The show is one of 42^nd Street Moon’s best and this reviewer gives it a four star rating. Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes with an intermission.

CAST: Bruce Vilanch(Louie/King Louis); Ashley Rae Little(May Daly/Du Barry); Jack Mosbacher (Alex Barton/Alexandre); Nathaniel Rothrock (Harry Norton/Lebel); Nicole Renée Chapman(Alice Barton/Alisande);Jordan Sidfield(Charley/The Dauphin); Abby Sammons(Vi/Mme De Villardell);Ryan Drummond (Kelly/Docteur/Paingrillé); Roy Eikleberry(Doctor/Zamore);Rudy Guerrero(Jones/Choiseul); Kathryn Han (Gemze/Gruyere); Adrienne  Herro(Betty/De Verney) ;Katherine Leyva (Mitzi/Roquefort);Anthony Rollins-Mullens(Reporter/Fondue).

CREATIVE TEAM: Ben Prince (Musical Director);  Josh Anderson (Stage Manager); Carol). Felicia Lilienthal (Costume Designer) ; Danny Maher (Lighting Designer); Hector Zavala (Sets/Production Manager); Samantha Young (Props); Arael Domínguez (Scenic Design Assistant).

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

Bruce Vilanch finds himself transformed into King Louis wooing Madame Du Barry (Ashley Rae Little) in 42nd Street Moon’s production of

Du Barry Was a Lady, playing

April 30 – May 18, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre

Matilda (Nanhlanhla Kheswa) in the arms of her loving and doting husband Philemon (Ivanno Jeremiah)

THE SUIT: Drama. Adapted by Peter Brook, Marie-Hélène Estienne and Franck Krawczyk from the story and play by Can Themba, Mothobi Mutloatse and Barney Simon. American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org. Through May 18, 2014

THE SUIT with an international cast is riveting at A.C.T. [rating:5] (5 of 5 Stars)

It was 30 years ago that San Francisco audiences were treated to a magnificent spectacular production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company directed by the brilliant Peter Brooks. It is a pity we had to wait so long to see the culmination of his latest opus The Suit that has been created in alliance with a talented aggregate of adapters, musicians and actors. For this 75 minute production the term spectacular is replaced by simplistic but is equally as brilliant and magnificent as Dream.

The simple setting is populated with colorful unadorned wooden chairs, metal-pipe clothes racks and a table that are moved about to create the illusion of interior/exterior buildings, bus stops, train interiors etc and a bedroom. It is the bedroom that takes center stage and is integral to the storyline. Most of the action is in pantomime without props thus allowing the action to flow smoothly.

With soft classical music playing by the on-stage trio, The Narrator Maphikela (Jordan Barbour)  sets the scene in Sophiatown, South Africa during the Apartheid-era. We then meet the young beautiful Matilda (Nanhlanhla Kheswa) sleeping in the arms of her loving and doting husband Philemon (Ivanno Jeremiah). He quietly leaves the bed to serve her breakfast in that fateful bed before he goes to his job as a secretary.

On the way to work he meets Maphikela who reluctantly tells Philemon that a young man has been visiting his Matilda every morning for the past three months. Unbelieving Philemon takes the bus back to his home and chases the young man dressed only in his briefs out the window leaving his suit behind. Surprisingly Philemon’s rage is subverted to a diabolical form of revenge, ordering her to always treat the suit as an honored guest that must be fed and carried with her wherever she/they go. He then goes to a shebeen (a local illegal drinking place) to drink away his sorrow/anger.

The show is filled with music and song that are extremely expressive of inner and external turmoil. All the singing, with one exception (Jordan Barbour sings the foreboding lynching song “Strange Fruit.”), is by Matilda and Nanhlanhla Kheswa is a trained singer with a beautiful expressive voice. When she performs the songs she steps to the stage apron and sings to the enraptured audience. The first song is “Forbidden Games”.

Her punishment continues and in desperation she joins the local Anglican Mission and bonds with the married women. This time she sings the haunting “Ntylio Nytlio.”  She even invites a few friends to come to their home the following Sunday and spends the week preparing to receive them. When they arrive, along with four members of the audience brought up on the stage to share the party,  she is encouraged to sing the haunting south African ballad “Malaika.” At the end of the song Philemon brings out the dreaded “guest of honor” the Suit.

Devastated Matilda’s begging to stop the punishment goes unheeded and Philemon goes off with Maphikela to the shebeen but when he returns his lovely bride is dead.  Ivanno Jeremiah is absolutely superb, keeping complete control while seething inside and when he does raise his voice, only once, all the internal fury spills out. Jordan Barbour is the one who brings the background story of the Apartheid-era forward never letting us forget that the personal tragic happenings are playing out on a tragic political stage.

Franck Krawczyk’s beautiful score perfectly reflects the moods of the characters and the setting. His trio of Arthur Astier, Mark Christine, and Mark Kavuma not only play a plethora of instruments but also step forward to play both male and female characters adding humor to the evening.

Cast: Jordan Barbour, Ivanno Jeremiah, Nohlanhla Kheswa

Production: Scenic/costume design by Oria Puppo; Lighting design by

Philippe Vialatte; Assistant Director Rikki Henry;

Direction, Adaptation, and Music by Peter Brook, Marie-HehIene Estienne, and Franck Krawczyk

Musicians: Guitar Arthur Astier; Piano Mark Christine; Trumpet  Mark Kavuma.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Anna (Beth Wilmurt) plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with The Director (Michael Ray Wisely*) in Aurora Theatre Company’s Professional Bay Area Premiere of The Letters. Photo by Sarah Roland

The Letters: Drama by John W. Lowell.  Directed by Mark Jackson. Aurora Theatre Company, Harry’s UpStage in the Dashow Wing, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA. (510) 843-4822 or at www.auroratheatre.org. Professional Bay Area Premiere. April 24, 2014 – May 25, 2014.

THE LETTERS an Alfred Hitchcock type thriller at Aurora. [rating:3] (3 of 5 stars)

THE LETTERS plays now through June 8 (added performances: Wednesday, June 4, 8pm; Thursday, June 5, 8pm; Friday, June 6, 8pm; Saturday, June 7, 8pm; Sunday, June 8, 2pm) at Harry’s UpStage at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley.

In the era of black and white TV reception a popular show was Alfred Hitchcock Presents that played for one half hour (including a commercial) and inexorably built suspense with the bad guy (or girl) getting his comeuppance. The 75 minute two-hander, The Letters by John W. Lowell, is reminiscent of that era and at the same time can be considered a modern morality play for present times even though the action is set in 1935 Russia.

During that time the oppressive government engaged in wholesale spying on every level of the populous. There was strict censorship with bureaus set up to enforce the party rules and expunge any hint of “aberrant” behavior. Homosexuality was considered aberrant. This created a dilemma since an internationally famous music composer (think Tchaikovsky) had written letters that contained explicit sexual references. In an attempt to keep this from the world those letters, the driving force in the play, were heavily censored.

Anna (Beth Wilmurt) a low level worker in a censorship bureau has been summoned to the office of the Director (Michael Ray Wisely) ostensibly to be told of her elevation as head of that department. An apparently friendly, but guarded, interchange between the two starts out as casual conversation and gradually escalates into a pointed interrogation about copies of those letters that are missing.

The initially mousy demeanor of Anna undergoes subtle changes from insecurity, shock and disbelief to strength and control. Beth Williams captures those moods matching Michael Ray Wisely’s increasing personality changes from friendly supervisor who came up through the ranks of the military, to inquisitional leader threatening violence and finally to abject fear.

The play takes place in the confined space of the director’s office complete with photos of Stalin and Lenin on the walls and the characters dressed in period clothing (Ashley Rogers). Auteur Mark Jackson is listed as the director but there are no distinctive directorial conceits usually seen in his productions.   

This play inaugurates the company’s new 55 seat second stage performance space named Harry’s UpStage. The steeply raked seating area, which can be taken down for their café shows, allows excellent vision to the non-elevated performing area. Running time 75 minutes without intermission.

Cast: Beth Wilmurt as Anna; Michael Ray Wisely as Director

Designers & Crew: Lighting Designer, Joe D’Emilio; Costume Designer, Ashley Rogers; Set Designer, Maya Linke; Properties, Kirsten Royston; Stage Manager, Susan M. Reamy.

Kedar K. Adour, MD