Kedar Adour

Eurydice,(Jessica Rudholm) Her Father (Fred Pitts) and the Three Stones (Jermy Parkin, Helen Papas, Stefin Collins in Custom Made’s production of Eurydice.

 NOW EXTENDED THROUGH APRIL 28!

EURYDICE by Sarah Ruhl. A reimagining of the Greek Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Directed by Katja Rivera. Production concept by Brian Katz. Original score by Liz Ryder. Custom Made Theatre Company, 1620 Gough Street, San Francisco. www.custommade.org. March 19- April 14, 2013.

AN AMBITIOUS, IMAGINATIVE, ENTERTAINING, THOUGHTFUL EVENING

Sarah Ruhl is an icon in the theatre and two of her plays (In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play and The Clean House) were Pulitzer Prize finalists. There is no doubt in this reviewer’s mind the she will eventually grab the brass ring and win that coveted prize. Her play Eurydice, written early in her career does not rate the accolades of her more recent works but is an intriguing part of her development as a playwright having more than a touch of self-importance as she undertakes a new slant on a well-known popular myth.

In ancient Greek myth Orpheus was a legendary musician with the ability to charm all living and inanimate things and even stones. When Eurydice dies shortly after their wedding and is sent to the Underworld, the distraught Orpheus breaks through the Gates Hell to retrieve her. And you know the rest of the story. If not, go to the intimate Custom Made Theatre and see an ambitious and imaginative production and find out the answer.

Where the plight of Orpheus descending into the underworld is the major theme of the myth, strong feminist activist Ruhl poses the question, “What is the plight of Eurydice?” The play is constructed from her viewpoint and requires a talented actor to play the role.  The diminutive Jessica Rudholm fits the bill beginning with the opening acrobatic love scene with statuesque David Naughton playing Orpheus. They are ably supported by Fred Pitts playing Eurydice’s father with understated charm and authority. Eric O’Kelly as a Nasty Interesting Man strides on stage on stilts and later appears without them as he pedals a child’s scooter to undertake the role of Lord of the Underworld. The ubiquitous Greek chorus is another imaginative touch being Big Stone, Loud Stone and Little Stone (Jeremy Parkin, Helen Pappas and Stefin Collins).

The production values are very clever and often whimsical with original music (Liz Ryder) well-suited to the action. There is an atmospheric modernistic set (Sarah Phykitt) in black and white skewed designs with a jagged door as Gate of the Underworld dominating rear stage. Providentially the running time of about 85 minutes will hold your attention.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

(l to r) Wood Lockhart, LeAnne Rumbel, Isaac Islas, G- man, Richard Kerrigan, Maureen O’Donoghe, G-man in You Can’t Take it With You at RVP)

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU: Comedy by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. Directed by Jim Dunn. Ross Valley Players (RVP) Barn Theater, Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. 415-456-9555, ext. 1 or www.rossvalleyplayers.com.  November 16 – December 2, 2012

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU hits a home run at Ross Valley Players

Since our San Francisco Giants won the World Series it seems appropriate to use a couple of baseball analogies to describe the home run hit of You Can’t Take It With You ‘trotting’ the boards at RVP. ‘Trotting’ is a misnomer since the evening races by in little over two hours with two intermissions. Yes, director Jim Dunn keeps the three act format intact. He also reduces the number of characters from 17 to 14 with some doing double duty. A major change is casting Reba (delightful Kim Bromley), the cook and Donald (Javier Alarcon) her paramour as white. I guess it is a concession to political correctness since they are described in the original play as “The two of them are really cute together, something like Porgy and Bess.” The other noticeable change is the deleting of the drunken actress from Act two. The big hitters, and excellent supporting cast, make these changes somewhat superfluous.

Keith Lockhart, LeAnne Rumbel and John Starr (See Text)

The first big hitter is director James Dunn who dedicates the play to his step-grandmother who instilled the love of movies, and particularly the movie You Can’t Take it With You, during Big Depression of the 1930s. The other big hitters (I dare not call them old-timers?) are Wood Lockhart (Grandpa Martin Vanderhof), Bob Wilson (Mr. DePinna), Stephen Dietz (Mr. Kirby), Maureen O’Donoghue (Penny Sycamore) and set designer Ken Roland. The supporting cast holds their own amongst these luminaries.

The play was written in 1931 and the scene of the action is the Vanderhof home in New York City in the midst of the Depression. Kaufman was an established writer but Moss Hart was brought along for his ability to write comedic dialog. It was a highly successful pairing since the play had a long Broadway run winning the Pulitzer Prize. It became a hit movie with Lionel Barrymore, Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur in the lead roles winning two Academy Awards from seven nominations: Best Picture and Best Director for Frank Capra.

Written about eccentric characters, it would be easy for the director to turn the actors loose allowing them to exaggerate their roles. With the exception of John Starr appropriately playing the mad Russian ballet instructor with broad strokes, the actors are kept in tight ensemble form by director Dunn with each complimenting the others. You will find two or three who are more appealing and this reviewer’s favorites are the four big hitters and a perfect Robyn Grahn as Alice Sycamore, the only non-eccentric member of Grandpa Vanderhof’s home

There are three related generations living in the house who have taken on the patriarch’s philosophy of living an enjoyable life because, as he mentions in the final scene to the uptight Wall Street maven Mr. Kirby “you can’t take it with you.” Before we get to that dénouement many things must happen and they do.

Consider that Granpa is a dropout for 35 years from the business rat race and has not, for (in his mind) good reasons not paid income taxes and has received many unopened letters about this oversight. You know and I know that the IRS isn’t going to put up with that and along comes Henderson the income tax man (Frederick Lein) with a warning that is unheeded. Penny, Grandpas daughter is married to child-like Paul Sycamore who manufactures fireworks in the basement and loves to make toys. Paul is helped by Mr. DePinna, an ice man who came inside to speak to Paul eight years before, and never left.  He also moonlights as a model in Mrs. Sycamore’s paintings, especially on called “The Discus Player.”

Then there is Essie wife of Ed, daughter of Penny and Paul Sycamore and sister to Alice. Essie makes candies in the kitchen and Ed sells them, inserting his beloved printed notes in the boxes. Essie who has practicing ballet for eight years is accompanied on the xylophone by Ed. Alice is in love with her boss Tony Kirby and they get engaged. It just happens that Tony’s parents are uptight rich nabobs.

All hell breaks loose when the Kirby’s arrive on the wrong day to have dinner. This includes a word association game that is hilarious. Robyn Wiley as elegant Mrs. Kirby exudes haughtiness.  Kolenkhove offers Mr. Kirby a wrestling lesson that goes awry. Then there is exploding fireworks, FBI agents, who have been following Ed for his innocuous but subversive printing.  They are all hustled off to jail. End of Act two but all gets resolved in act three.

Lockhart was born to play the lead and as he underplays the role to perfection, scene stealer Bob Wilson shows his ability and . . . (horrors) a bit of his red tartan plaid shorts in his brief stint to model as the discus player.  Handsome Isaac Islas begins hesitantly but picks up the pace in his later scenes. Ross Berger as Ed expertly dovetails his secondary role into the evening’s proceedings. LeAnne Rumbel  playing Essie is marvelous in her ineptitude as a budding Ballerina.

Once again, Ken Rowland has created a set with furniture, props and décor that reflects the 1930s . Michael A. Berg’s authentic costume designs add to ambiance.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldintermagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

WILDER TIMES: Four one act plays by Thornton Wilder. Directed by Barbara Oliver. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA. 510- 843-4822 or www.auroratheatre.org.  November 2 – December 9, 2012
WILDER TIMES is five-star ensemble acting at Aurora
Thornton Wilder entered this reviewer’s domain when our senior High School class performed the one act play The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden and he became my icon with his Pulitzer Prize winning full length plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth. His luster remained intact with the oft produced short play The Long Christmas Dinner. Both short plays, written in 1931, retain their universality in Aurora Theatre’s productions thanks to exceptional ensemble acting and inventive direction by Barbara Oliver. Yet the full evening was not satisfying because the two curtain raisers, Infancy and Childhood raised the question, “What was Wilder thinking about when he wrote these two plays?”
The answer to the question was found in Arthur Gleb’s November 6, 1961 New York Times article describing his interview with Wilder who was writing a series of 14 short plays that included Infancy and Childhood ,  entitled “Plays for Bleeker Street” produced at the Circle in the Square theater in New York City in 1962. In that interview he is quoted as saying “The theatre . . . can be restored to its commanding position as a critic of society and as a factor by which a nation recognizes its mission and its greatness.” That seems rather pretentious.
Never-the-less, from a historical perspective, both plays are of interest since they were two of the last that Wilder was to write and maintain his insistence that the intimate three sided stage with a minimum of scenery is the way to go and “We have to kick the proscenium down.” Aurora is the perfect venue described by Wilder.
Infancy takes place in New York Central Park where nannies bring their young infants in oversized perambulators. One nanny (Heather Gordon) is addicted to romance novels and has an eye on the Keystone Kop (Søren Oliver) who patrols the park. Although that potential relationship garners the most laughs with marvelous emoting by Oliver and Gordon, apparently it is the two man-babies ( Patrick Russell and Brian Trybom’s) attempts to understand the adult world that is paramount to Wilder.  There is some fabulous shtick that the director Oliver (yes Søren is her son) interjects and to this reviewer dilutes Wilder’s philosophical viewpoint.

Ensemble:The driver (l, Brian Trybom) welcomes passengers (l-r, Marcia Pizzo*, Heather Gordon, Patrick Russell*, Stacy Ross*) aboard the bus in Childhood, in Childhood

 Childhood has much more meaning that is bitter-sweet and also frightening. Have you ever wondered what meaning there is in children’s games?  Three children (played by Gordon, Russell and Marcia Pizzo) play morbid lets-pretend games that frustrate the mother (Stacy Ross) and her golf playing husband (Trybom). The parents become allegorically and inextricably involved and are taken on bus ride, with all three children and Husband driving, to end all bus rides but return to reality as Wilder throws in the caveat that it is all make-believe.  Marcia Pizzo steals this play without upsetting ensemble concept.

The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden is the first play where Wilder uses a Stage Manager (Trybom) that is expanded upon in Our Town.  A New Jersey city dwelling family consisting of father (Oliver), mother (Ross) and their two children (Gordon and Russell) pantomime their way through the countryside, delightfully observing the sights on their way to visit the Mother’s daughtee who has not been well after her baby is stillborn. In all the intervening years since it was first seen as a High School play, it still as the ability to create a sense of awe at Wilder’s power to capture human nature. The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden alone is worth the visit to Aurora.

Journey must share to accolades with the intricately directed The Long Christmas Dinner that ends the evening. Wilder’s plays are immersed with the concept of life and death as natural progressions. It is fully explored in this play that covers 90 years of Christmas dinners from the 1800s on. The ensemble switches characters and progress from youth to old age with top-notch acting and timing creating a satisfying ending to the evening. Running time about two hours and 15 minutes.

Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman returns to Berkeley Rep for the world-premiere production of The White Snake, which stars (l to r) Amy Kim Waschke and Emily Sophia Knapp. Photographer: Jenny Graham

THE WHITE SNAKE: Mystical Chinese Folktale. Adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison Street @ Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.

November 9 – December 23, 2012. EXTENDED UNTIL DECEMBER 30

THE WHITE SNAKE at Berkeley Rep is stunning.

The love affair of Berkeley Rep with Mary Zimmerman continues with their latest world premiere production of The White Snake that saw the light of day at this year’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) and was installed here with that cast minus only member. According to one reviewer who saw the OSF staging, Berkeley Rep’s staging is much more opulent. Before even reviewing the acting there must be three cheers for the production staff  of designer Daniel Ostling (sets), Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), T.J. Gerckens (lighting), Andre Pluess (sound), and Shawn Sagady (projections). They create fantastic effects on a simple bare bamboo stage that comes alive with the performers handling puppets amidst light, sound, music and visuals to keep you entranced for one hour and forty minutes without intermission.

Zimmerman wrote the show for specific OSF actors and continued rewrites up to the opening weekend. It was the overwhelming hit of their season. Not only is she the author but also the director and deserves awards in both categories. Her fertile mind resurrects an ancient Chinese folktale and creates a charming humorous storyline introduced by  Oriental Stage Managers in the style of Thornton Wilders’s OurTown with distinctive twists. They inform us that like the forked tongue of the snake the story line is also forked and we the audience can decide which to believe. This is typical of Zimmerman who is noted for not filling all the gaps allowing the audience to use their imagination. It works.

We meet our protagonist, the white snake living in the mountains where through diligent study the Tao, occupying seventeen hundred years of her time, to develop her shape shifting supernatural skills. She appears as a small snake puppet manipulated by the lovely Amy Kim Waschke and even as a line of white parasols creating sinuous movements as the story progressed.  She is curious about human world and with the urging of the inept but trusted friend, the Green Snake (Tanya Thai McBride) transform themselves into humans for a brief visit to the West Lake. White Snake becomes Lady White and Green Snake becomes her loyal servant Greenie.

They meet an impoverished kind young man, Xu Xain (Christopher Livingston) and true love blossoms with a bit of trickery by Greenie. Xu Xain presents Lady White with his umbrella to protect her from the rain creating by a plethora of white silk streamers falling from the heavens. It is one of the first gorgeous special effects to fill the stage.

With more than a little larceny in her heart, Greenie raids the tax collectors safe to get enough money to set up

Love Blossoms: Christopher Livingston & Amy Kim Waschke

apprentice pharmacist Xu in his own apothecary shop where Lady White concocts miraculous potions to cure one and all. Happiness and love flourish along with the good life and Lady White becomes pregnant.

All goes well until the treacherous Buddhist Monk Fa Hai (Jack Willis) notes that Lady Whites healing powers are of the supernatural and she is really the white snake of the mountain in a human body.  Good begins to battle Evil and the stage is filled with projections, sound and light that are spectacular and dazzling.

Although Amy Kim Waschke is the star and is perfect in the part, it is Tanya Thai McBride who steals the show with fantastic body movements, voice intonations and energy that cascades across the footlights. Our own Jack Willis, formerly from ACT, and now a OSF regular is the

Tanya Thai McBride as the Green Snake

meanest Buddhist monk you will ever see and will forcefully convince you to be a vegetarian . . . even if you do not wish to do so.You will have to go and see this must see production to find out the rest of that story. Highly recommended.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

ANOTHER WAY HOME: Comedy/Drama by Anna Ziegler and directed by Meredith McDonough. Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd Floor (Theatre), San Francisco, California 94123. (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org. November 13- December 2, 2012

ANOTHER WAY HOME is tightly constructed at the Magic

During a partial summer spent at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference with the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) our critics group reviewed and took part in discussions of the plays being work shopped there.  The authors must have resilience to continue work on their new plays after a barrage of criticisms, suggestions and even accolades made by all involved (other authors, stage designers, technical personnel etc.).  Author Anna Ziegler’s Another Way Home has gone through that rigorous process and was also work shopped at the Marin Theater Company with the marvelous Julie Brothers in the matriarchal role.  In its present form the play has the feeling of being put together by the numbers. It is perfectly constructed but it did not receive the standing ovation of previous world premieres staged at the Magic.

The opening paragraph is more an observation rather than a critical comment. The total production is finely acted, tightly staged and a rewarding 80 minute evening.  The play is semi-linear with the Nadelmans, a Jewish couple, narrating the story that is intermingled with present time action, past narrated letters, emails and multiple asides to the audience. The PR notes refer to it as a memory play and that is somewhat appropriate. Although the location is a summer sleep-over camp in Maine, the production staff has elected to use an attractive but non-committal Annie Smart set possibly to suggest universality to the proceedings.

Phillip (Mike Pinter) and Lillian (Kim Martin-Cotton) Nadleman  are in their mid-fifties and have some to visit their 17 year old son Joseph (he prefers to be called Joey) at the Camp  Kickapoo (don’t you love that name) in rural Maine.  Joey is described by Lillian as having ‘Lots of social “ issues”. . . first ADD, then ADHD, autism, mood disorder, anxiety disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and most recently depression.”   He probably does not take his Ritalin.  There is also a daughter Nora (Riley Krull) who is bright with none of the above disorders.  She is at home and communicates with Joey by email and her parents by cell phone.

The final character is Mike T. (Jeremy Kahn) a 20 year old camp counselor who has befriended Joey. You do not discover his inner demons until, right on schedule,  late in the play when it is appropriate to inject some explanatory relationship with Joey and the family that is critical to the dénouement allowing an almost happy ending.

The fine acting of Pinter and Martin-Cotton rarely leave the stage, creating physical interaction and words that sharply define the problems of parenthood, marital relationships and the true meaning of love.  Although their characters are intricately directed by Meredith McDonough and are praise worthy, it is Daniel Petzold as Joey who steals your heart with his petulant mood swings, round shoulders, head bent forward and

Daniel Petzold as Joey

spontaneous verbal outbursts that grab the brass ring. You may remember Jeremy Kahn’s brilliant performance in SF Playhouse production of Tigers Be Still and he continues to show his ability in the underwritten part of Mike T.  Ziegler has not fully defined the role of Nora but Riley Krull makes the most of that unenviable part.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com 

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

Carmelina (Caroline Altman) is wooed by café owner Vittorio (Bill Farhner)

CARMELINA: Musical. Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.  Music by Burton Lane.
Book by Alan Jay Lerner & Joseph Stein. 42^nd Street Moon, Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco, CA. (415) 255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.

CARMELINA a charming and robust hit at 42^nd Street Moon

When you first enter the Eureka Theatre you are greeted by an attractive colorful set stretching across the entire stage and there is no doubt that you are being transported to sunny Italy. That’s where we meet the townspeople of the village of San Forino, somewhere between Sorrento and Naples and the year is 1962. It just happens that on an April day18 years before the US Army liberated that village from the Fascists . . . a time fondly remembered by our heroine Carmelina.

Starting with a rousing opening number by Manzoni (Bill Olson) the village mayor, guitar plucking Father Tomasso  ( Michael Doppe)and young fisherman Roberto (Stewart Kramar) the evening is filled with song, dance, humor and a touch of pathos creating a winning show that this reviewer highly recommends.

The original story began with the hit movie, Buena Sera, Mrs. Campbell that starred Gina Lollobrigida as an Italian woman who told three different men that each was the father of her daughter.  The original musical by Alan Jay Lerner, Burton Lane and Joseph Stein had an ignoble run of 17 performances even though the score won a Tony nomination. You will recognize the story line as the smash hit by the ABBA singing group that became the world stage favorite Mamma Mia and in 2008 the movie with Meryl Streep.

The show has never been seen outside New York since its initial run, marking this 42^nd Street production as both its first post-Broadway full production and its West Coast premiere. Artistic Director Greg MacKellan has rounded up a top-notch cast of  past favorites with a sprinkling of ‘newbies’ who work together as an ensemble and yet have individual traits giving  the show a fresh energetic look.

Caroline Altman, as Carmelina has the right touch of libidinousness to match her apparent pious nature as the widow (“A Widow’s Prayer”) of 2^ndLieutenant Campbell the father (??) of her daughter Gia (Emily Kristen Morris). It just happens that there were three (count them, three) young U.S. soldiers whom she couldn’t resist in 1944. The telling of the tale in song (“Someone in April”) to her trusted servant Rosa (Darlene Popovic) has tricky lyrics and Popovic’s double take responses will tickle your funny-bone. The ingenious scheme she devised to maintain her dignity among the natives of San Forino is about to unravel when all three of the April misadventure are to arrive . Rosa reluctantly joins in to the

Carmelina’s (Caroline Altman) scheming past amazes
her maid Rosa (Darlene Popovic)

deception making.

Enter the self-proclaimed lothario Vittorio (Bill Fahrner) who has women from A to Z at his beck and call but one look at Carmelina and he is willing to forsake all others. Or does he really? Fahrner’s entrance with “It’s Time for Love”, exuding his magnetic charm, fantastic stage presence added to his pitch perfect tenor voice is a show stopper only minutes into the show. The charisma between Fahrner and Altman is palpable beyond the footlights and their marvelous voices entwine in their duets of “Why Him” and “Love Before Breakfast.”

Carmelina Campbell (Caroline Altman, middle) has been
collecting child support from three American GIs – but
which is the real father of her daughter:
Carleton (Rudy Guerrero), Walt (Will Springhorn Jr.), or
Steve (Trevor Faust Marcom)

The Yankee Doodles who come to town (Will Springhorn, Jr., Trevor Faust Marcome and Rudy Guerrero) do yeoman duty in song and dance adding to the evening’s humor and touch of pathos. They have been assigned the charming “One More Walk Around the Garden” and “The Image of Me” as they admire Gia. Beautiful ingénue Emily Kristen Morris is a stunner and stirs the audience with her solo “All That He’d Want of Me.”

The running time is two hours and twenty minutes with intermission but it will seem much shorter while you are having fun. MacKellan paces the evening beautifully and is aided by Dave Dobrusky’s musical direction.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

L to R: René Augesen as Elektra, Olympia Dukakis as the Chorus Leader, and Allegra Rose Edwards as Chrysothemis in Sophocles’ Elektra. Photo by Kevin Berne.

ELEKTRA: Sophocles’ Greek Tragedy. A new translation by Olivier Award–winning playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker. Directed by Carey Perloff, American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), A.C.T.’s Geary Theater, 415 Geary Street, San Francisco. 415-749-2228 or www.act-sf.org. October 25 – November 18, 2012

Mourning does not become ELEKTRA at ACT.

The Greeks have invaded both sides of Bay Bridge with Berkeley Rep extending their run of the brilliant An Iliad and American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) mounting an adaptation of Sophocles’s Elektra that had its world premiere in 2010 at the Getty Villa outdoor theater in Los Angeles. ACT artistic director Carey Perloff directed the world premiere and has redirected the present staging bringing along local favorite Olympia Dukakis from the LA production.

The connection between Homer’s Iliad and Sophocles’ and Elektra is temporal. The Greek king Agamemnon has sacrificed his youngest daughter Iphigenia to the gods in exchange for a favorable wind to bring back his ships from the siege of Troy. His wife Clytemnestra (Caroline Lagerfelt) and her lover Aegisthus (Steven Anthony Jones) have murdered Agamemnon. The young son Orestes (Nick Steen), who would be a threat to the throne that Aegisthus has usurped, has been sent away to safety with his Tutor (Anthony Fusco). Elektra (Renee Augesen) and her sister Chrysothemis (Allegra Rose Edwards) have remained with their increasingly paranoid mother Clytemnestra. Whereas Chrysothemis is resigned to her fate, Elektra openly and often mourns the death of her father and seeks revenge.

Years have intervened but revenge remains paramount in the minds of Orestes, his best friend Pylades (Titus Tompkins) and the Tutor. The trio plan to arrive in disguise to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. The deed gets done. End of play.

Although a few of the audience spontaneously arose to applaud the actors, the majority remained seated politely applauding and on exit did not exhibit the usual enthusiasm after seeing an Olympia Dukakis performance. The chorus in a Greek drama is extremely important since they unite the past, present and predict an ominous future. Dukakis makes her entrance from the aisle, to spend the major portion of the evening standing around while the action proceeds. She does not demonstrate her usual command of the stage and much of the time used excessive arm flaying.

Then too, the superb multitalented Augesen seemed to be emoting rather than acting as she groveled much of the time on the floor. Her quality acting did not project and this probably was the fault of the directing, translation and adaptation. For this concept production the set (Ralph Funicello) was a city slum area with a metal chain-link fence, topped with barbed wire extending across the full length of the stage with debris scattered about.

Caroline Lagerfelt & Rene Augesen

The finest performance is given by Caroline Lagerfelt. Her depiction of the arrogant paranoid Clytemnestra was regal and chilling conveying the treachery that is her undoing. Anthony Fusco gives a quality performance as the Tutor and Steven Anthony Jones’ brief entrance is powerful. Running time 90 minutes without intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

SO NICE TO COME HOME TO: A World War II Musical. Music by Richard B. Evens, Lyrics by Kate Hancock, Book by Evans and Hancock. Suggested by two plays by J. M. Barrie. Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma, CA 707-763-8920 or www.cinnabartheater.org. October 26 – November 11.

SO NICE TO COME HOME TO at Cinnabar is an asperous but appealing musical.

Jan Klebe, founder of the often acclaimed Cinnabar Theatre commissioned a musical to have its world premiere in their Petaluma Theater. The result of that commission opened last night under an almost full moon on an exceptional balmy evening with the mostly mature audience anticipating an evening of nostalgia. They were not disappointed as nostalgia sang/rang from the rafters as the music and story crossed the stage apron.

For those of us who lived through the mid-forties when the world was at war and U.S. Bond drives were part of our existence, the nostalgia should have been more compelling. As noted, the subtitle of the play proclaims the “A World War II Musical” and the creators have not led us astray. The play takes place in New York City from Friday September 1 through Sunday through September 3, and a final scene on December 24^th 1944. A lot can happen in New York in 3 days and it certainly does in this contemplative musical.

Based on James M. Barrie’s plays The Old Lady Shows Her Medals and The Twelve Pound Look the authors have cleverly interwoven the stories, given it a 1940s look, created songs in the style of that era and selected a very competent local cast. They were also fortunate to have Equity singer and actor Michael McGurk, a seasoned Broadway and roadshow veteran to bolster the cast.

After a rousing opening chorus, via radio, of “We’ll Never Give Up” the story begins. During those turbulent war years every parent, although having serious misgivings, were proud to have a son in the service of our country. Like the Lady in Barrie’s play, childless Kate Downey (Elly Lichenstein), has invented a son serving in Europe and shares her fantasy with her friend Jean (Valentine Osinski) with “He’s Such a Wonderful Boy” and “”My War Too.”

Another friend Al O’Donahu (Stephen Walsh) who entertains at the famous New York Stage Door Canteen has accidently ‘discovered’ 2^nd Lt. Kenneth Dowling (Michael McGurk)erroneously assuming he is Kate’s son. When Al brings Kenneth, a Silver Star war hero, to Kate’s apartment the self-deception is compounded (“What Have We Got to Lose?”) for reasons that are made clear later in the play.

The secondary ‘twelve pound look’ plot is introduced when Kate completely by chance meets her former rich husband Harry Sims (powerful baritone Bill Neely) and his new trophy wife Eleanore ( you won’t recognize Valentine Osinski in this dual role). They have an aged butler named Tombs (Michael Van Why) that has been added for humor but to this reviewer is a misstep by the authors. However, when Michael Van Why struts his stuff as “Carmen Miranda” and “Rosie the Riveter” at the Stage Door Canteen he brings the house down. He has to share accolades with scene stealing, full bodied baritone Stephen Walsh as an emcee at the canteen. Another show stopper is an authentic Andrew Sisters style “Uncle Sam Wants You” belted out by the trio of Walsh, Osinski and Van Why.

The story follows a pedestrian course into the second act and Kenneth is given a plaintive solo of what “Heroes” are made of. Kate and Kenneth go on a tour of New York City beginning with “What’s So Great About New York City” before reality kicks in with “Happy Endings”, “I will Come Home to You” and “Empty Spaces.”

The two hour evening, including an intermission, is laudable but has the feeling of a work in progress.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

THE UNDERPANTS: Comedy by Steve Martin. Adapted from the1910 German farce Die Hose by Carl Sternheim. Directed by Michael Butler. Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA . 925-295-1413 or www.centerrep.org. October 23 – November 17, 2012

THE UNDERPANTS a raucous/ribald/romp at Center Rep.

The Center Rep’s production of The Underpants that is Steve Martin’s adaptation of the 1910 German Farce Die Hose is by far the most original staging of the four that this reviewer has seen. This includes the two directed by the highly regarded Jon Jory at San Jose Rep and seasoned Robert Currier at Ross Valley Players. But leave it to Artistic Director Michael Butler to put his personal stamp on the show and in doing so grabs the brass ring for ingenuity and it is hilarious. The three “R”s of ‘Reading, wRiting and aRithmatic are perverted in this production to a Raucous, Ribald, Romp that now includes Riotous.

The words in The Underpants belong to the multitalented Steve Martin via the German expressionist play by Carl Sternheim. The core of Expressionism emphasized that the basic primal instinct is sex and the uninhibited sexuality of Bohemian lifestyle was de rigueur. Women are the polar opposite of men whose only purpose is to nurture the men. Maybe so in 1910 but this is the 21^st century and things have been turned topsy-turvy especially on the stage at Center Rep. That being so, we can give this version of the play (thanks to director Butler) a PG-13 rating and four stars for being vastly entertaining with a modicum of social didactics thrown in.

Consider the improbability of it all. Theo (Keith Pinto) and Louise (Lyndsy Kail) Maske are a respectable, cash strapped German couple. To balance the budget and earn enough money to afford a baby, have placed a “Room for Rent” sign in their window without takers. No takers, until Louise has unintentionally (??), dropped and retrieved her underpants while standing in a crowd waiting to see the King appear in a downtown parade. How quickly she retrieved the fateful piece of clothing becomes suspect when a “parade” of would be renters appear.

Frank Verati (Ben Johnson) an unpublished poet arrives complete with black cape, and we later learn dyed hair. The underpants have stimulated his creative juices , among other things (“I want to go to sleep with you. It will only take a minute.”). Gertude (AJ Jamie Jones) the sensual, full-bodied, red-headed neighbor has heard the goings on. Her visceral juices flow thinking about what Versati and Louise could be doing. She does her damnedest to aid Louise in getting the dastardly deed done.

Next to enter is the smitten Cohen (Cassidy Brown), “Jewish?” Theo asks. “No. It’s Cohn. . . with a K.” “OK.” Theo splits the room in two and rents to both, thus setting up the competition between Cohn and Versati to get another look at the underpants . . . or is to get into her underpants? The gentle Cohen becomes Louise’s protector.

Later, but not lastly, Klingehoff (Evan Boomer) a professorial type arrives and adds a bit of humor with his naivety that misses the mark due to the one directorial misstep by Butler. The last arrival will surprise you.

Keith Pinto controls center stage when it his turn to emote. He plays the man of the house with stogy humorous veracity that even makes him likeable. Petite attractive Lyndsy Kail is absolutely charming as she progresses from the put-upon wife, to the woman desirous of an affair and finally the controller of her own destiny with the admonition, [I will do it] “In my own time!” Scene stealer Jamie Jones in her bright red wig exudes repressed sexuality as her pheromones boil over and she overhears that “Water still runs in rusty pipes” when it is her turn to be the object of desire. Ben Johnson plays the egocentric Verati as if he were born to the role. My favorite is Cassidy Brown playing Cohen (with a K) who recognizes vanity and jealously of it all and receives applause when he finally declares to Theo “That’s Cohen with a C!”

Steve Martin will have to step aside since this is Michael Butler’s play. He uses all the six doors on stage, he adds deft directorial touches to his almost slap-stick direction and throws in music, dance and light to this fanciful not to be missed evening. The set is a marvel (Nina Ball) being a huge gilded bird cage populated by distinctive characters dressed in outrageous Victoria Livingston-Hall costumes with wigs to die for by Judy Disbrow. Running time about 90 minutes without intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazne.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

STRINDBERG CYCLE: The Chamber Plays in Rep. Production translations by Paul Walsh. Directed by Rob Melrose. The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco. Part 1: The Ghost Sonata; Part 2: The Pelican and The Black Glove; Part 3: Storm and Burned House. October 12 – November 18. For specific dates call 415-525-1205 or www.cuttingball.com

The Ghost Sonata an auspicious start to the Strindberg cycle.

Cutting Ball Theater dedicated to mounting experimental, modernist and absurdist plays is honoring August Strindberg on the 100^th anniversary of his death. Their undertaking is as ambitious as one can imagine with the production of his five Chamber plays in repertory and set aside one day where Strindberg aficionados and those who have a touch of masochism to view all five plays at one sitting on a Saturday or Sunday running from noon to 11 pm!

The Chamber Plays were written in his latter years and designed to be performed in his Intimate Theatre in Stockholm. According to Artistic Director Rob Melrose the Cutting Ball workspace is about equal in size to Strindberg’s Theatre.

After the opening performance last night, we had the lucky chance to chat with the translator Paul Walsh who is professor of Dramatugy and Dramatic Criticism at the Yale School of Drama He collaborated with Melrose and Paige Chamber to complete the final project. Walsh emphasizes that his translation is not an adaptation and he has strived to keep the semblance of Swedish speech patterns. It was specifically translated for the stage as Strindberg would have it if he were alive today. Strindberg has added to the musical connotation by labeling them Opus 1 through Opus 5.

The Ghost Sonata is Opus 3 and if there is a reason why this was staged first it is moot since the five plays do not share a single plot nor do they share characters. They do share similar character types such as The Old Man, The young Mother, and The Young Girl etc. In The Ghost Sonata Strindberg visualizes a three story apartment and three parts of the play. The first being on the street in front of the apartment, the first floor and a third higher inner sanctum filled with fragrant hyacinths to protect The Girl (Caitlyn Louchard) from the offensive smells from the outside world.

Before the protagonist The Student (Carl Holvick-Thomas) reaches the upper levels that he so much desires, he has to go through a Purgatory type experience to reach “paradise” that is more like hell. His second encounter is with Director Hummel, The Old Man (James Carpenter) in a wheel chair. Hummel is the personification of evil with enough dastardly deeds performed in his past life to earn the severe comeuppance he eventual suffers.

There is a Milkmaid (Ponder Goddaerd) that only the Student can see, a mummy in a closet who speaks like a parrot and comes to life to torment Hummel, The Cook who sucks the nourishment out of the food before it is served, an ethereal Lady in Black and others who add to the confusion. It is an amalgamation of reality, imagination and ghost story filled with lies, vengeance, death and love. If this were not a supposed fine example of the absurdist trend, it could be called ludicrous.

All the actors (James Carpenter, Robert Parsons, Caitlyn Louchard, Danielle O’Hare, Carl Holvick-Thomas, David Sinaiko, Ponder Goddard, Paul Gerrior, and Gwyneth Richards, along with Anne Hallinan, Nick Trengove, Michael Moerman, and Alex Shafer) perform with intensity and appear to believe in the play. Melrose controls the action on the black box stage with great help from his production and design staff. According to the press notes there is a lot of intellectualism and serious insight within the text. Most of it escaped this reviewer.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/