Skip to main content
Jul 18 2015
Love0

Noel Coward’s Hay Fever is a hectic romp at Stanford Rep

By Kedar K. Adour

The Bliss Family (l-r)David (Bruce Carlton), Judith (Courtney Walsh), Sorel (Kiki Bagger) and Simon (Austin Caldwell) in Stanford Rep’s Hay Fever.

HAY FEVER: Comedy by Noel Coward. Directed by Lynn Soffer. Stanford Repertory Theater
551 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 @ Stanford University. 650-725-5838 or www.repertorytheater.stanford.edu.  July 16- August 9, 2015

Noel Coward’s Hay Fever is a hectic romp at Stanford Rep [rating:3]

Research on the background of the play Hay Fever by Noel Coward revealed facts that still apply. Apparently he wrote the play in three days in 1924 specifically for a leading lady of the time who thought it “amusing and not substantial for a whole evening.” Coward remembered that the initial reviews “were amiable and well-disposed although far from effusive” although the play had a respectable run in 1925. Those remarks are applicable to Stanford Repertory Theater’s present production. It was noted, as indeed it has been today, that the play had no plot and that there were few if any ‘witty’ lines’ although the action is almost non-stop. A very attractive set, marvellous fashionable 1920’s costumes and competent cast need a bit more to bring the quintessence of a Noel Coward play to life.

That quintessence is a touch of savoir faire and distinct diction to do justice to his delicious and sometimes memorable lines. To be fair to the director and cast, the production seen on opening night was the first to performed with a live audience and knowing the quality of the director and some of the actors those perceived defects will be corrected.

Experienced director Lynn Soffer has an added disadvantage with the play since the primary characters are not very likeable bohemians whose self-centered life styles would dictate over-the-top performances that are rampant.

The three acts zip along in only two hours with an intermission between Act I and II with dimming of stage lights before the dénouement of Act III. The setting is the country home (fine set with obligatory French doors to a garden and a two level staircase on stage rear) of the Bliss family. The matriarch, Judith Bliss (Courtney Walsh), is an aging actress who has desires to return to the stage. She is married to David Bliss (Bruce Carlton), a bland novelist working on his latest book. Their spoiled young children Simon (Austin Caldwell) an artist and Sorel (Kiki Bagger) who amuse themselves are acting out passages from the play Love’s Whirlwind. A bit of banter telegraph’s the surprise denouement; “Is this a game?” and “Yes, a game that must be played to the finish.”

Unbeknownst to the others Judith has invited a handsome sportsman admirer Sandy Tyrell (Andre Amarotico), Simon has invited the vampish Myra Arundel (Deb Fink) and David invited diplomat Richard Greatham (Rush Rehm), who brings along a beautiful young flapper Jackie Coryton (Kathleen Kelso). With the maid Clara (Catherine Luedtke) all the characters are in place and Act I ends.

Act II is the humdinger with the family and guests in evening dress (Costumes by Connie Strayer) engaging in a word game that apparently was popular in the 20s and 30s. It is this game that sets up the conflicts that morph into potential relationships that carry the plot hellishly forward giving each actor a chance to emote with entrance and exits out the French doors into the garden or up the stairs. Soffer keeps the action at a high pitch moving her actors about adroitly expertly mixing pathos with the humor.

All quiets down for Act III with the unnoticed departure of the guests leaving the Bliss family on their own.

 The acting is best described as emoting with each getting their turn on center stage. Courtney Walsh gives a touch of the theater as the flamboyant actress having to match the hectic histrionics of the Austin Caldwell and Kiki Bagger. Equity Actor Deb Fink has that touch of savoir faire needed as the vamp Myra with Rush Rehm a perfect match for her with his understated performance. Beautiful Kathleen Kelso steals the show displaying Jackie’s uncertainty and vulnerability.  Catherine Luedke gives her role as the maid a perfect touch.

On this opening night the timing and diction were deficient but this should be corrected in future performances.

Artistic Staff: Director, Lynne Soffer; Set Designer, Annie Dauber; Costume Designer, Connie Strayer; Lighting Designer, Michael Ramsaur; Sound Designer, Brigitte Wittmer; Stage Manager, Analyssa Lopez; Props Mistress, Christine Edwards; Wig Designer, Vicky Martinez; Assistant Director & Dramaturg, Patty Kim Hamilton; Assistant Lighting Designer, Keenan Molner; Assistant Stage Managers, Annabel Ostrow and Victor Spielberg Verdejo.

Cast in Order of Appearance: Sorel Bliss, Kiki Bagger; Simon Bliss, Austin Caldwell; Judith Bliss, Courtney Walsh; David Bliss, Bruce Carlton; Clara, Catherine  Luedtke; Sandy Tyrell Andre Amarotico; Myra Arundel, Deb Fink; Jackie Coryton, Kathleen Kelso; Richard Greatham, Rush Rehm.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

The Bliss Family (l-r)David (Bruce Carlton), Judith (Courtney Walsh), Sorel (Kiki Bagger) and Simon (Austin Caldwell)

Jul 18 2015
Love0

A Poem is a Naked Person — Film Review

By Joe Cillo

A Poem is a Naked Person

Directed by Les Blank

 

 

This is not a documentary despite the film’s pretensions.  This is a video scrapbook or an upscale home movie.  The video clips that have been strung together in this are pretty good quality.  The camera crew that shot them was excellent.   The editing and the conceptualization are amateurish, but each small bit is interesting in itself and the music selections are outstanding.  This film, despite its many limitations, takes hold of you and doesn’t let go.  It is carried strictly by the power of the subject matter and the quality of the music — and there is a lot of music, and a great variety of music.  All the time I was watching the film I was trying to figure out when it was shot.  I recognized a brief cameo of Cass Elliot, so I knew it had to be not later than the early 1970s. It was actually shot by Les Blank in 1972-1974.  (This is not presented in the film.  I had to look it up.)  Most of it was shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, maybe some of it in Louisiana, I’m not sure.  This film is not a presentation of the facts.  It is a raw, informal portrait of Leon Russell from his peak years as a singer and performer.  The title of the film is a quote from Bob Dylan’s liner notes to his album Bringing It All Back Home (1965).

There are a couple of things this film does well.  The presentation of Leon Russell as a singer, pianist, and performer, work.  I was impressed with what an excellent pianist he is.  There is a wedding scene where he plays Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin and Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” unaccompanied on the piano.  I believe they were his own arrangements very sensitively performed.  He has a very commanding presence on stage.  In front of an audience he was comfortable and unquestionably in charge.  I could also feel a hard, driving ambition in him that was very disciplined and insistent on excellence.  Off stage he was casual and relaxed.  He seemed to tolerate bozos well and there seemed to be a lot of them around him.  But when it came to music and performing before an audience, he took it very seriously, and he must have been demanding of his band mates.  The film did not make a point of this, but I surmised it from the quality of the performances and his demeanor on stage.

The film gives one a good feel for the culture of Oklahoma and the various musical influences absorbed by Leon Russell from middle America and the South.  There is a shot of some rollicking gospel in a black church, Sweet Mary Egan on unaccompanied fiddle, band member Charlie McCoy on harmonica, young Malissa Bates singing Hoyt Axton’s “Joy to the World” unaccompanied,  a very young Willie Nelson doing “Good Hearted Woman,” some native Americans in traditional dress dancing to their native drum music.  The film is rich in the musical culture of the American heartland.

One also gets a feel for the culture and temperament of the people of Oklahoma: provincial, unsophisticated, simple and straight ahead.  There is a clip of a precision parachute jumping competition, another of a controlled demolition of a building in downtown Tulsa, another of a man in a small boat catching a quite large catfish.  Some things you probably couldn’t get away with today, like feeding a small chick to a boa constrictor and watching him kill it and eat it before your eyes.  The man who guzzles down a glass of beer and then bites off the edge of the glass with his teeth and chews it up and swallows it.  That may represent the culture and mentality of the people of Oklahoma, but Leon Russell is a couple of pegs above that.

He is comfortable in that provincial backwater.  It has molded him and shaped him and he has incorporated its varied influences into his own style, and the people see him as one of their own.  But he is able to move beyond that world that gave him birth.  He knows of a bigger world beyond the confines of Oklahoma and he wants to be part of it and be successful in it.  While Leon Russell can fit in with those unvarnished yokels, he is not really one of them.  His mind, his taste, his skill, and his ambition reach far beyond his roots, but he does not repudiate his background, rather he embraces it and embodies it and forges from it a very appealing, unique personal style.  The film does give you that much, although there is much more you will wish it had done.  It is an excellent and interesting introduction to the music and the person of Leon Russell.

 

 

Jul 17 2015
Love0

Anna Deavere Smith tackles educational system

By Judy Richter, Uncategorized

Playwright-actor-teacher Anna Deavere Smith has created and presented several one-woman shows dealing with important social issues or events.

Her latest is “Notes From the Field: Doing Time in Education, the California Chapter,” presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

As she has done in her previous shows, such as “Fires in the Mirror” and “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992,” she bases this work on hundreds of hours of interviews with people who have varying experience with, in this case, education and the criminal justice system. Directed here by Leah C. Gardiner, she then re-creates these people using their exact words and manner of speaking.

She focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline, in which students failed by the schools are highly likely to land up in jail. Many of them are people of color whose needs aren’t served by their schools and community. Many are treated unfairly by the police, who are subject to frequent criticism in this show.

This aspect of the show is punctuated by cell phone videos of police mistreating young black people. One is a 14-year-old girl in her bathing suit who is thrown to the ground and handcuffed with her hands behind her back. Another is the notorious death of Freddie Gray after he was arrested by Baltimore police earlier this year.

One of the people interviewed by Smith and re-created in this show is the Baltimore deli worker who took a video on his cell phone. Others include a Yurok fisherman with numerous run-ins with police, plus educators, a judge and researchers.

There’s a woman from Philadelphia whose mother was determined to see her rise above poverty and get a good education. When she became the first person in her family to graduate from college, her mother ignored admonitions against applause. Instead, when the woman crossed the stage to get her diploma, her mother jumped up and cried, “Thank you, Jesus.”

The title of each monologue along with the person’s name and position is shown on three screens arrayed around the stage (projections by Alexander V. Nichols). In the set design by John Arnone, various pieces of furniture are moved on and off stage by stagehands. Smith dons various jackets or accessories designed by Ann Hould-Ward.

Each monologue also is accompanied by unobtrusive but effective music composed and performed by bassist Marcus Shelby.

The first act runs about 90 minutes, followed by a break of 25 minutes or so. During this time, the audience gathers in randomly assigned groups throughout the theater and lobby to talk about ways “to help dissolve the school-to-prison pipeline and inequities in the education system,” a press release says. Each group is guided by a facilitator.

Hence, “You are the second act,” Berkeley Rep managing director Susan Medak told the opening night audience before Act 1. It’s “a grand experiment” meant to generate conversation, she said.

The final part of the show, which totals about two and a half hours, is “Coda.” This 10-minute section features Smith again and concludes with words by the late James Baldwin. This is perhaps the only weak spot in what otherwise is a compelling presentation by a gifted, thoughtful performer.

As for the goal of generating conversation, the show apparently achieved just that as people were engaged in lively conversations in the lobby and outside afterward.

 

Jul 16 2015
Love0

When a buddy dies, it’s time to mourn — and change

By Woody Weingarten

David Brewer, with writer’s rescue dog, Kismet, in 2013. Photo by Woody Weingarten

David Brewer, near the end.

David Brewer, a cherished friend for two decades and a surrogate brother for the one I never had, died a few days ago.

I’m fragile.

In deep mourning.

And reevaluating my life and priorities.

David’s passing didn’t come as a shock. He’d been battling a melanoma for years, and the resultant metastasis for months.

But death — despite my belief the soul, or spirit, transcends it — feels so damned final.

The empty hole it leaves can seem infinite.

It’s likely you have a friend like David, someone you could be even warmer to — no matter how close you have been.

On his deathbed, my psychologist/consultant buddy, still boyishly good-looking despite being sixtysomething, and still a pigheaded St. Louis Cardinals fanatic, revisited his spiritual feelings.

He re-told me of his “awakening” at 19, when he’d deduced that spirit was an embodiment “of compassionate love” rather than the anthropomorphic being others worshipped.

Though the Novato resident had been brought up an ardent Christian and I a Jew, we’d found a joint comfort zone.

I miss him.

But I consider myself lucky — blessed, in fact — to have had him in my life so long.

As a loving, trusted friend.

As a colleague in a men’s group for 10 years.

As a pet sitter in my San Anselmo home for Kismet, my purebred rescue mutt.

I have fond memories, too, of others who’d been essential parts of my life but, in Hamlet’s words, have shuffled off this mortal coil. And there are many: My parents and grandparents, a woman I lived with in Philadelphia, two first cousins who died in their teens.

All told, death in double digits — more than sufficient for any lifetime.

But David’s death has shifted my perspective.

No longer am I irked by the constant road construction on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in San Anselmo.

Or the dog poop I barely miss while walking Kismet in Creek Park.

Or the incredibly long wait at The Hub’s traffic lights.

Instead, I linger longer to watch two newborn fawns in my yard, to catch the wonderment of a sunrise from our deck, to see toddlers frolic in a Ross or Fairfax playground.

My wife, kids, grandkids and friends unsurprisingly have leapt anew to the top of my what’s-important list. I vow to phone and email more.

Yet retain my right to not text.

I choose to elevate my sensitivity at Marin Man to Man, my support group aimed at helping guys whose partners have breast cancer or another life-threatening disease.

And to spend added hours with the 11 friends facing severe health challenges.

I intend, too, to fully appreciate that I’m comparatively healthy — still breathing and able to pound my keyboard long enough to cobble columns together.

Did David’s death, or life, mean more than any of the 8,000 killed in Nepal’s late April quake? He and I’d often pondered that kind of question, always concluding life anywhere was equal to either of our own.

I’ll remember him as an imperfect perfectionist who left behind a lengthy string of wives, girlfriends and broken hearts, but moreover that he was himself even in his last moments — exuding life and love.

Shortly before being hospitalized, my pal, the compleat organizer — he was forever arranging a last-second movie group or dinner klatch or something-else cluster — had corralled a small group of friends. In a sense, it was his last hurrah.

He knew the prognosis.

My 8-year-old granddaughter traipsed along. David, child-less, had attached himself to her years before but decided on the spot that day she’d be his “date” for the party.

So he showered her with attention, including the hugs for which he was famous, and bought her a huge cookie.

Too soon afterward he proved that death can incorporate dignity.

And courage. And joking.

He and I and my wife, Nancy, reminisced and laughed several times during our final conversation.

I doubt if he’d primped for our appearance, but he undeniably did for at least two women who followed us individually.

In tribute to his tangible influence on my life, I hope to assuage my sadness with an amped up zest for living and doing. And to continue fighting for the environment, for the homeless, for equal rights.

I’m sure David would approve.

Contact Woody Weingarten at http://vitalitypress.com/ or voodee@sbcglobal.net

Jul 16 2015
Love0

Triangle is a bittersweet musical at the Lucie Stern Theatre.

By Kedar K. Adour

Brian (Ross Lekites) explains the connection they share with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to Ben (Zachary Prince) as a vision of Sarah (Megan McGinnis) lingers in the background in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s World Premiere of Triangle playing
July 8 – August 2 at the Lucie Stern Theatre
in Palo Alto.
Photo by Kevin Berne

TRIANGLE: Musical Drama. Music by Curtis Moore. Lyrics by Thomas Mizer. Book by Thomas Mizer, Curtis Moore, & Joshua Scher. Directed by Meredith McDonough. TheatreWorks, Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA. (650) 463-1960 or www.TheatreWorks.org.  July 8 – August 2, 2015

Triangle is a bittersweet musical at the Lucie Stern Theatre. [rating:3]

Triangle was the audience favorite at the TheatreWorks 2012 New Works Festival and in the intervening years has been workshopped at various venues ending with a one week full production at the Lyric Theater in Oklahoma City.  Sharon Rietkerk and Megan McGinnes who played the roles at the Lyric along with musical director James Sampliner have been retained for this ‘World premiere’ by TheatreWorks. It was a wise choice. Both actors, as well as three others play dual roles that span a century.

The title is reference to the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 in New York City. Of the 146 lives that were lost mostly were women some as young as 13. Many had to jump through windows from the ninth floor because the profit oriented owners of the factory had locked the doors to prevent pilferage and the substandard fire escapes collapsed from the heat. Fourteen of the dead were never identified. A story circulated that a young man and woman kissed before she jumped to her death.  Who they were is a mystery that is the substructure of the storyline that shifts between 20th to the 21st Centuries.

The Triangle Building still stands and the fateful ninth floor is occupied by closeted Brian (Ross Lekites)  a brilliant young NYU researcher. On the 100th year anniversary of the fire he sees an apparition of Sarah (Megan McGinnis) that he feels is real but cannot be seen by anyone else. Sarah is a Jewish immigrant you has been hired as a seamstress because of her speed at the sewing machines. She also has beauty and a perceptive mind that attracts Italian Catholic Vincenzo (Zachary Prince). Friendship turns into love and is the beginning of conflict with her old world Jewish Father Isaac (Rolf Saxon). This is the love story from the past.

The modern day love story involves closet Brian and Jewish Ben. Ben is in the Triangle building because of his desire to see the “infamous room” where the disaster took place. As Brian develops an obsession about the unknown lovers a tenuous tertiary story is postulated based on a necklace that may suggest Ben’s familial tie to Sarah. There is an attempt to tie in the disaster of 9/11 with the Triangle fire but it does not ring true.

The past love story is by far the most interesting. It allows the introduction of Sarah’s sister Chaya (Sharon Rietkerk) and their father Isaac creating a conflict necessary to prove that true love never runs true. The scene that includes heated yet humorous banter between Isaac and Ben with Chaya and Sarah as intermediaries is one of the best of the evening.  The love story in the present time between Ben and Brian lacks depth and is salvaged by their great singing voices.

The music switches from contemporary pop for the story of Ben and Brian to more traditional style for the past love story of Sarah and Vincenzo. All the actors are in great voice and brought forth some tears from the audience. Ross Lekites as Brian is superb as the only character without a double part and has a magnificent singing voice.  Zachary Prince’s quick personality change from Ben to Vincezo is smooth and believable as are Sharon Rietkerk’s switches in her double role.  Megan McGinnis does great justice to the pivotal role as Sarah without allowing her secondary role in the modern love story to denigrate her performance.

Accolades go to musical director James Sampliner on the keyboard and conductor of the six piece orchestra. Meredith McDonough’s admirable directorial skill is the star of the evening. She keeps the two storylines distinct on Daniel Zimmerman’s deceptively simple beautiful monochromatic set.

CAST: Laura D’Andre as Theresa/Dr. Z; Ross Lekites as Brian; Megan McGinnis as Sarah/Jenni;  Zachary Prince as Ben/Vincenzo; Sharon Rietkerk as Cynthia/Chaya; and Rolf Saxon as Howard/Boss/Isaac.

ARTISTIC CAST: Directed by Meredith McDonough; Musical Director, James Sampliner; Scenic Designer, Daniel Zimmerman; Costume Designer,Cathleen Edwards; Lighting Designer, Paul Toben; Sound Designer, Brendan Aanes; Casting Director; Leslie Martinson; New York Casting Director, Alan Filderman; Stage Manager,Justin D. Schlegel ; Assistant Stage Manager,Emily Anderson Wolf.

Running time two hours and 30 minutes with on intermission. Recommendation: Should see.

Kedar K. Adour,  MD

Courtesy of www.theatrworldinternetmagazine.com.

Brian (Ross Lekites) explains the connection they share with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to Ben (Zachary Prince) as a vision of Sarah (Megan McGinnis) lingers in the background in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s World Premiere of Triangle playing
July 8 – August 2 at the Lucie Stern Theatre
in Palo Alto.

Jul 14 2015
Love0

Fantastic Opening Weekend of “New Wrinkles: The Middle Age (and beyond!) Musical” at NTC

By Flora Lynn Isaacson

On July 10th, 2015, the Novato Theater Company opened the hit musical New Wrinkles by Rita Abrams, Gerald Nachman, and Morris Bobrow.  Morris Bobrow actually directed this production, and Rita Abrams was the piano accompanist. The very talented cast included Erika Alstrom, Nan Ayers, Mark Clark, Paula Gianetti, and Kit Grimm. 

This hilarious and heartfelt musical revue serves up the pains, perils, and poignancy of aging in clever and crowd-pleasing sketches and songs.  Topics include high school reunions, finances, plastic surgery, aches and pains, sexual enhancement, hair loss, and (of course) new wrinkles. 

Gerald Nachman and his collaborators Morris Bobrow and Rita Abrams first concocted this musical comedy revue in 2002.  It was built around the horrors and humiliations of aging.  This show, which has since had nearly 20 productions in the USA and Canada, includes sketches by Nachman about a mid-aged couple on a date who get increasingly  sexually excited as they compare medical conditions; a flirtatious macho guy in a restaurant resisting a cute waitress’ urging that he order from the “senior” menu; a married couple who realize that the moment their daughter leaves the house for college they have nothing to say to each other; a TV commercial for a dating service that makes you feel younger by hooking you up with little old ladies; and two old friends who meet  on a street corner for lunch but can’t remember why.  Abrams’ and Bobrow’s songs include numbers about plastic surgery, a fantasy doctor who advises you to eat more cheese burgers and hot fudge sundaes; a man who realizes every authority figure is younger than he is; and a woman who laments that she has moved  from a “Miss” to a “Ma’m.”  An outstanding song by Abrams performed with dignity by Erika Alstrom and Nan Ayers was “Woman in her Prime,” a real show-stopper! 

The simple set was designed by Mark Clark with 2 chairs stage left and stage right, with 2  stools on a riser center stage.  The effective lighting was by Halina, with Sandi Rubay on the Sound Design.  The brilliant choreography was by Sherry Hines.  The whole cast contributed to the original costumes.  

Don’t miss this bright and clever musical New Wrinkles: The Middle Age (and beyond!)  

Tickets are going fast!  This sassy musical plays for 3 weekends, July 10 through July 26 at the Novato Theatre Company,  5420 Nave Drive in Novato, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.; Sundays at 2:00 p.m. 

Order Tickets online (purchase and print them more than two hours before each performance) at www.NovatoTheaterCompany.org or Buy Tickets (with cash or check only) for theater walkups at 7:00 p.m. Fridays/Saturdays; and at 1:00 p.m. Sundays.  Call 415-883-4493 for questions and information.  Open seating, free parking. 

Photo credit: Fred Deneau 

Next at NTC: to start the Novato Theater Company’s 2015-2016 season will be Vanya &  Sonia & Masha & Spike by Christopher Durang, directed by Buzz Halsing, from August 26 to September 20, 2015. 

FLORA LYNN ISAACSON

Jul 14 2015
Love0

TheatreWorks premieres outstanding ‘Triangle’

By Judy Richter

One of the greatest American tragedies of the early 20th century was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 in New York City. The death toll reached 146 people, many of them immigrant women, some in their early teens.

“Triangle,” a musical about this disaster, is being given its world premiere in an outstanding production by TheatreWorks.

With music by Curtis Moore, lyrics by Thomas Mizer and a book by Mizer, Moore and Joshua Scher, “Triangle” takes place in 1910 and 1911 and in 2011. Most of the action is set in the restored 10-story building where the fire occurred.

Adroitly directed by Meredith McDonough, scenes easily shift between the two time periods.

The main character in the 2011 scenes is Brian (Ross Lekites), a doctoral student in chemistry. Lekites is the only member of the six-person cast to play just one character. The others play at least two.

Brian and his friend, Cynthia (Sharon Rietkerk), also a doctoral student, are going into the building as a group of people is gathered nearby to read the names of those who died in the fire. They accidentally meet Ben (Zachary Prince). For various reasons, both Ben and Brian become interested in specific fire victims.

The 1910 and 1911 scenes focus on a Jewish immigrant, Sarah (Megan McGinnis), who has started work supervised by Vincenzo (Prince). Others seen in this time period are Vincenzo’s sister, Theresa (Laura D’Andre); Sarah’s widowed, pregnant sister, Chaya (Rietkerk); and their father (Rolf Saxon).

Although the title refers to the shirtwaist factory, it also alludes to the triangular relationships that develop among various characters. David Zimmerman’s set with its walls set at an angle is a subtle reflection of the triangle theme.

The plot also alludes to 9/11, in which Brian’s beloved older sister died while working in one of the towers. Because he’s still grieving for her, he can’t move on as well as he should.

All of the actors sing well as individuals and in ensembles. Each one also creates a clearly defined character.

In addition to Zimmerman’s set, the shifts between time periods are aided by Cathleen Edwards’ costumes, Paul Toben’s lighting and Brendan Aanes’ sound. Musical director James Sampliner on keyboard conducts the five other instrumentalists.

“Triangle” was first seen locally as part of TheatreWorks’ annual New Works Festival in 2012. It was then workshopped around the country until it was ready for this world premiere, the 66th in TheatreWorks’ 46 seasons.

Running about two hours and 15 minutes with one intermission, it’s outstanding in every respect. Unlike many Broadway musicals nowadays, it doesn’t have big production numbers or dancing. Instead it exerts its emotional power with interesting, complex characters and situations along with noteworthy music.

For those who’d like to preview what might lie ahead, TheatreWorks will present its New Works Festival Aug. 8 to 16 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

“Triangle” continues at the Lucie Stern through Aug. 2. For tickets and information about it or the New Works Festival, call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

 

Jul 14 2015
Love0

Cal Shakes stages Spanish classic

By Judy Richter

California Shakespeare Theater ventures into the Spanish classics with Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s 17th century “Life Is a Dream,” translated and adapted by Nilo Cruz.

Taking place in an unnamed country, the convoluted plot focuses on Prince Segismundo (Sean San José), who has been isolated and imprisoned since birth because his father, King Basilio (Adrian Roberts), believes a prophecy that his son would do great harm to his kingdom.

Segismundo’s cousins, Estrella (Tristan Cunningham) and Astolfo (Amir Abdullah), hope to succeed Basilio to the throne.

Testing the prophecy, Basilio orders his son’s jailer, Clotaldo (Julian López-Morillas), to drug him and take him to the palace. When he comes to, Segismundo is so enraged by what his father had done that he behaves like a monster, leading Basilio to have him drugged and imprisoned again. Upon awakening, he is told that his previous experience was all a dream.

Also figuring into the story is Rosaura (Sarah Nina Hayon), seeking revenge against Astolfo for wronging her, and her servant, Clarin (Jomar Tagatac). Romantic attraction and rebellion are involved, too.

Productions of the play elsewhere have run more than two hours with one intermission. This version runs 100 minutes without intermission. The program incorrectly says there’s one intermission.

Even this slimmed down version seems padded in places with numerous iterations of Segismundo’s pondering whether he’s really experiencing a dream. This effect is heightened because there’s little variation inSan José’s speech patterns, weakening his impact.

Directed by Loretta Greco, the rest of the cast is solid, though, especially the two women along with Abdullah as Astolfo, López-Morillas as the jailer and Roberts as the king. Tagatac deserves special mention as Clarin, a traditional Fool’s role.

The set is by Andrew Boyce with lighting by Christopher Akerlind and costumes by Alex Jaeger. Fight direction is by Dave Maier.

Music and sound by Cliff Caruthers can become intrusive. The sound for the battle scene is anachronistic: Helicopters and jets are heard overhead while the onstage combatants wield swords.

Despite some drawbacks, the production is mostly enjoyable.

“Life Is a Dream” runs through Aug. 2 at Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Way (Wilder Road exit off Hwy. 24), Orinda. For tickets and information, call (510) 548-9666 or visit www.calshakes.org.

 

Jul 13 2015
Love0

Sondheim’s Company an almost standing ovation at San Francisco Playhouse

By Kedar K. Adour

Cast of COMPANY at San Francisco Playhouse, Keith Pinto, foreground, as Bobby.

COMPANY: Musical. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by George Furth. Directed by Susi Damilano. Music Director: Dave Dobrusky. Choreographer: Kimberly Richards. San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post Street, San Francisco, 2nd Floor of the Kensington Park Hotel, San Francisco, CA.  415-677-9596, or  www.sfplayhouse.org. July 7th to September 12th

Sondheim’s Company an almost standing ovation at San Francisco Playhouse. [rating:4]

Be assured that The San Francisco Playhouse’s production of Sondheim’s problematic musical Company should (will?) have a successful run in what has become their annual summer musical to entice visitors to The City as well as pleasing the locals. It has all the trappings of success. A great book/score, sterling cast, fantastic staging/direction and a set that that uses every inch of the stage including the fly area with twin pianos on stage right and left providing all of the music.

The play is almost half a century old receiving many awards for the initial production and for the two Broadway revivals (1995 and 2006). During the intervening years it has been revised with additions and deletions. It is a series of vignettes based on George Furth’s short stories. There is no set order for the individual story lines and there is no mention in the program of director Susi Damilano’s choice for this presentation but she has certainly has put her stamp on the staging that occasionally trumps the words or music. However the evening is vibrant, entertaining and excruciating true to the exigencies of marriage.

It starts as surprise party for uncommitted bachelor Robert’s 35th birthday arranged by his friends that include five couples, four who are married and the fifth getting married.  Although there are universal truths about marriage the emphasis is on New York City and the “me generation” reflected in the lyrics.

After the opening number “Company” by Robert (Keith Pinto) and the company, Sarah (Velina Brown)and Harry (Christopher Reber)take center stage in a very physical scene that sets the tone for the remainder of the evening. She is into karate, food and dieting. He has a drinking problem. The other couples include Joanne (Stephanie Prentice)  and Larry (Richard Frederick: she an acerbic older woman (once played by Elaine Stritch) and he a gentle pliant soul. Their introduction brings on the satiric “The Little Things You Do Together” with the company as backup.

Then there are Susan (Nicole Weber), a Southern belle is divorced from possibly gay Peter (Michael Scott Wells) who is proud of his Ivy League background. Rather naïve Jenny (Abby Sammons ) who is willing to experiment is married to compliant but controlling David (Ryan Drummond).  The soon to be married couple are Amy (Monique Hafen) a neurotic Catholic and Jewish Paul (John Paul Gonzalez ) resilient to her rounds of manic behavior.

The single women are “dumb” flight attendant April (Morgan Dayley), hip and vulgar Marta (Teresa Attridge) who loves New York City and Robert’s long-time on-off girlfriend Kathy (Michelle Drexler) who yearns for marriage and the proverbial white picket fence.

The cast is mostly superlative and handle Sondheim’s tricky words and music extremely well with a few missteps. Pinto is an excellent choice for the role of Robert. He takes control of the stage with his tenor voice enunciating Sondheim’s words perfectly. He demonstrates his dancing skills in the rousing “Side by Side” opening the second act. His solos are memorable including “Someone is Waiting”, “Marry Me a Little” and the finale “Being Alive.”

Monique Hafen returns to the Playhouse stage with a show stopper in “Getting Married Today” today and Stephanie Prentice has her turn in the spotlight with “The Ladies Who Lunch.” The words to “Another Hundred People” (got off the bus) are lost in Teresa Attridge’s rendition.

The staging (set by Bill English and Jacquelyn) and direction almost overpower the music and lyrics but it is a production of Company that should not be missed. It is a five level set with individual areas rising on stage left and right with gorgeous projections of New York City on the entire rear stage wall. Damilano has taken a page from Jon Tracy keeping most of the actors on stage in tableau form on the various levels and bringing them forward downstage for their respective actions. Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes including an intermission.

Recommendation: Must see.

CAST: Teresa Attridge, Marta; Velina Brown, Sarah; Morgan Dayley, April; Michelle Drexler,  Kathy, (Understudy – Jenny); Ryan Drummond, David; Richard Frederick,  Larry; John Paul Gonzalez, Paul (Understudy – Robert); Monique Hafen, Amy; Keith Pinto, Robert; Stephanie Prentice, Joanne; Christopher Reber, Harry; Abby Sammons, Jenny (Understudy – Joanne/Marta); Nicole Weber, Susan (Understudy – Amy); Michael Scott Wells, Peter, (Understudy – Paul).

CREATIVE-TEAM: Director, Susi Damilano; Music Director, Dave Dobrusky; Choreographer, Kimberly Richards; Set Design, Bill English & Jacquelyn Scott;  Casting/Artistic Associate, Lauren English;  Costume Designer, Shannon Sigman;  Production Manager, Maggie Koch;  Stage Manager, Tatjana Genser;  Lighting Designer, Michael Oesch; Projection Design, Micah Stieglitz;  Props Design, Jacquelyn Scott;  Technical Theatre Manager, Zach Sigman;  Projection Design, Micah Stieglitz.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Jul 10 2015
Love0

Behind-the-scenes folks enjoy Marin County Fair, too

By Woody Weingarten

John (right) upstages owner, Anne Garner, at Marin County Fair. John’s sister, is at left. Photo by Woody Weingarten.

Emilie Owens cheers on four porkers in Marin County Fair race. Photo by Woody Weingarten.

This year’s five-day Marin County Fair had something to please almost every Jane and Joe — adult or kid.

With a bonus for me.

Why?

Because not only did I enjoy the ever-better entertainment and art exhibits and midway, and a breeze that made July’s heat tolerable, I got to interview typically “invisible,” behind-the-scenes folks who normally don’t get their names into print.

Take, for instance, Karen Katich of Martinez.

She’s been portraying Princess Leia of  “Star Wars” for years. It’s one of her favorite things.

Why?

“Because I saw the original ‘Star Wars’ 11 times when it first came out, and more than 1,000 times since.”

She loves “kids’ eyes getting the size of saucers when they see me, fulfilling their fantasy.”

Anne Garner owns Eleven Roses Ranch in Clearlake Oaks and brought Clydesdale horses for folks to admire.

Plus a couple of 1,600 pound draft mules.

John, the male, apparently was feeling his oats, to use a phrase about 150 years older than the 74 years the fair’s been running.

He repeatedly tried using his teeth to unknot the rope that tethered him to a gate, and upstaged her by playfully nuzzling her blouse again and again.

She explained that he “enjoys chewing garden hoses, rolling in the dirt, and bullying everybody.”

However, she added, “he’s really a coward, afraid of his own shadow.”

Karen Katich portrays Princess Leia at Marin County Fair. Photo by Woody Weingarten.

She frequently runs into fairgoers she “saw a year ago,” and especially likes “seeing the little kids so excited.”“It’s fun,” she told me, “because everybody’s happy they’re here.”

Rick Creelman of Fairfax is a ukulele player, a regular at Friday night jamborees at Del Medina’s home in San Rafael.

He came to play with 50 or so UFOs, Ukulele Friends Ohana (which means family or community), though the stage held only about 30 so the rest had to perform while roaming the audience.

Marilyn Ryan puts fairgoer’s ticket in bucket. Photo by Woody Weingarten.

This is the group’s fourth fair. They participate, Creelman said, “because it’s fun, a sing-along rather than a real concert.”

It’s also, he noted, “a chance to introduce people to the ukulele and that it’s making a comeback.”

Edward Johnson is a utility worker who lives in Rohnert Park. His fair duties include “doing the trash, keeping the restrooms clean.”

A favorite memory, he revealed, was when he and an assistant supervisor were locking up and unsuccessfully began tugging at a door — from opposite sides at the same time.

Bill Hernandez of Petaluma has been with the Marin County Sheriff’s Department 24 years.

A sergeant, he’s “done one shift a year at the fair” that long. “It’s fun to get out with people who are having fun,” he declared — a contrast with other assignments (patrol, jail, gang enforcement and street crime).

He remembered folks “trying to swim across the lagoon to get to the island” when the gates were shut because the fairgrounds were full.

Christian Williams, a Santa Rosa resident, manned an ice cream giveaway booth.

He and a co-worker handed out, on average, 22 three-gallon tubs each day — one scoop at a time.

Williams was gracious to most freebie-seekers — including me — but flummoxed by a kid who skittered away before I could get her name after she asked, “How much is the free sample of ice cream?”

Emilie Owens of Medford, Oregon, emcee for the pig races, has been doing the fair four years.

She loves how noisy her audience gets.

She recalled cheerleaders forming a human pyramid to embolden their favorite porkers.

And she recollected four pigs sprinting from the trailer onto the raceway to make it an unscheduled eight-pig contest.

Another time, “some pigs got free and just ran around the fairground.”

Zach Lien’s an L.A.-based contractor for Two Bit Circus, which ran the fair’s STEAM Carnival component.

“STEAM,” he elucidated, “is an acronym standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. Our games combine those concepts. We teach kids to work together as well as individually. I personally love to watch them trying to figure something out while playing, and it’s fun to watch adults and kids playing a game simultaneously.”

What’d I, personally, think of this year’s extravaganza, which drew 78,000 people who paid admission and 27,000 more who didn’t?

I relished that there weren’t lines for indoor bathrooms or outdoor port-a-potties, that I could find places to sit on bales of hay, that I could easily spill out the dirt that invaded my shoes.

As always, there was too much to do before I tired. But my best measuring rod was that I’d planned to stay an hour and a half.

And left five hours later.

Contact Woody Weingarten at www.vitalitypress.com/ or voodee@sbcglobal.net