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Apr 12 2015
Love0

New S.F. troupe morphs tortured souls into softer beings

By Woody Weingarten

[Woody’s [rating: 5]

Paul Ulloa (Danny) and Kimberley Roberts (Roberta) star in “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.” Photo by Sharon Rimando.

“Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” would merit a rave review were the theatrical company decades old.

But it deserves special acclaim because the two-character, two-act drama is Flynn Spirit Productions’ first outing.

Let’s say, six stars out of five.

Paul Ulloa and Charlotte Garwood, who named their new venture after their son, Flynn, have said they “want to bring risk-taking and [emotionally] moving theater to audiences and artists.”

They’ve fully met both prongs of that goal.

From the git-go.

Ulloa gets maximum credit because he effectively doubles as the play’s star, assuming the violence-prone title role opposite Kimberley Roberts’ power as Roberta, a divorced mother tormented by the ever-present image of an ugly sexual encounter with a family member.

Both tattooed characters in their mid-30s are foul-mouthed, angry, father-hating, tortured souls — the epitome of self-loathing.

Both seek compassion and forgiveness.

And both shout a lot — almost eardrum-splittingly — in the 20-minute first act, which is as intense as anything I’ve seen on a Bay Area stage in many a moon.

Playwright John Patrick Shanley and director Estelle Piper turn down the decibel count a notch for Act 2, which is nearly twice as long — and soften the would-be lovers into something approximating likability.

That let me breathe normally again.

And be grateful for experiencing something fresh, crisp and improbably believable in the 48-seat Phoenix Theater, high up in a building just off Union Square in San Francisco.

What had drawn me there was the playwright, John Patrick Shanley, who’d written two other plays I admired, “Doubt” and “Moonstruck.”

It wasn’t the fact that Danny, a possible killer known to his fellow truck drivers as “The Beast,” believes his inner pain (“everything hurts all the time”) will lead to a heart attack, or that unemployed Roberta thinks she’s nuts, desires punishment and fantasizes about being blissful in jail, and has relegated care of her 17-year-old son to her parents.

It wasn’t that either’s desperate craving for tenderness, for happiness, for love, may appear too rapidly.

Or that they both are momentarily naked.

And it certainly wasn’t that the set reminded me of a seedy neighborhood bar in the Bronx where, on my first newspaper job, I’d frequently guzzled tap beer with locals.

In any case, I’m glad I could watch two downtrodden theatrical caterpillars morph into butterflies.

Despite Danny undoubtedly remaining, as Roberta labels him, “a caveman.”

“Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” runs at the Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason St. (between Geary and Post), Suite 601, San Francisco, through May 3. Night performances, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Matinees, 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets: $30. Information: www.eventbrite.com.  or (510) 843-4822.

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

Apr 12 2015
Love0

Aurora stages Pulitzer-winning play on Southern bias, conflicts

By Woody Weingarten

[Woody’s [rating: 2.5]

In “Talley’s Folly,” Sally (played by Lauren English) has trouble explaining her past to Matt (Rolf Saxon). Photo by David Allen.

She’s in a dual struggle — to transcend prejudices of her redneck family and to deflect ridiculing of her singsong name, Sally Talle.

He’s in an uphill battle to conquer his fears of remaining an underdog and misfit.

And to neutralize her anxiety about being adversely linked with him.

They’re an unlikely pair of walking wounded, unlikely to triumph over her kin’s biases.

Whether they eventually can is the puzzlement of “Talley’s Folly,” a two-character drama that won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1980 and is currently being revived by the Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley.

I found the new, 97-minute production much like life itself — sometimes electrifying and fast-moving, sometimes sluggish enough to be doze-worthy.

It also made me remember a classic Yogi Berra phrase: It’s déjà vu all over again.

“Talley’s Folly” focuses on circa-World War II differences in religion and class — and on a prickly intimacy achieved through verbal and physical dances of love on the Fourth of July, 1944.

And because it’s replete with a glut of references to barefaced anti-Semitism, it repeatedly jerked me forward to scary 2015 headlines from Europe.

Sally’s family was once one of the two wealthiest in Lebanon, Missouri, a community that happens to be prolific playwright Lanford Wilson’s real hometown.

So the Talleys had severe expectations of her — the gentile princess.

Matt Friedman, a Lithuanian-born Jewish accountant from St. Louis, arrives unexpectedly after a year away — to persuade Sally, a nurse’s aide once fired as a Christian Sunday School teacher, that he loves her and that she should escape with him.

He’s disregarded her not answering his letters.

They verbally fence in her family’s rundown boathouse (the physical folly of the title). They talk and talk and talk, and finally swap secrets (which, in my opinion, dovetail a little too easily).

Insults become part of the mix.

She accuses him, for instance, of not having “the perception God gave lettuce.”

He in turn knocks her family (particularly brother Buddy, who apparently can’t see him as anything but a semi-human outsider/Communist-socialist/traitor).

Lauren English plays Sally with Southern drawl and demeanor intact, opposite Rolf Saxon, who’s utterly convincing as the urbane Matt.

“Talley’s Folly” is a serious play laced sporadically with humor.

Especially funny is Matt’s rambling opening monologue to the audience (which he repeats at breakneck speed).

Imitations of Humphrey Bogart and a repugnant German likewise evoke amusement.

For most of the play, though, Sally and Matt are both awkward, “private people” trapped in their histories and what she might have called their Sunday best.

It’s as if they were pimply teenagers at ages 31 and 42.

And they essentially resemble one of his verbalized thoughts: Because people are like eggs, they must be careful not to bump into each other too hard.

The play was directed by Joy Carlin, a Bay Area theatrical hall-of-famer who portrayed Sally in the 1979 American Conservatory Theater production of “Fifth of July,” the last part of Wilson’s trilogy, which the Aurora will reprise from April 23 through May 17.

Although “Talley’s Folly” — which acts as a prequel within that trilogy — is filled with conflicts, it’s almost action-less.

Which makes Carlin’s task of injecting life nearly impossible.

She actually does amazing well considering the loquacious raw material Wilson provides.

“Talley’s Folly” runs at Harry’s UpStage at the Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley, through June 7. Night performances, Tuesdays, 7 p.m.; Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m. Matinees, Sundays, 2 p.m. Tickets: $30-35. Information: www.auroratheatre.org or (510) 843-4822.

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

Apr 12 2015
Love0

The Dawn of Human Culture — Book Review

By Joe Cillo

The Dawn of Human Culture:  A Bold New Theory on what sparked the “Big Bang” of Human Consciousness.  By Richard G.  Klein and Blake Edgar.  New York:  John Wiley & Sons.  2002.

 

 

 

This is the best overview of the archeological perspective on human evolution that I have seen.  I have not seen them all, but I have followed developments in this field for at least forty years.  Reading about the different fossils and different archeological finds and different human ancestors in isolation can be confusing.  It is hard to tell the relationships between one ancient ancestor and another.  It is hard to keep the chronology in mind.  It is not clear what came from what or how and when developments took place.  This book straightens a lot of that out.  It is a clearly written, readable, interesting, well organized presentation, well illustrated with many drawings, charts, and maps that powerfully enhance the text.

The dawn of culture doesn’t really break until the last chapter.  Most of the book is just setting the stage for the dawn of culture.  But that is very OK, because it underlines how long it took to get to the place where what we think of as human culture could appear, and it emphasizes through most of human evolution there was no “culture” as we think of it.  People have been making tools out of stone for about 2.5 million years, but if culture means representing ideas to one’s fellow creatures, thinking beyond day to day survival, that did not exist until very recently, say about 50,000 years ago.

It appears to have been a quantum behavioral and psychological leap.  There was no gradual evolution toward “culture.”  It seems to have exploded with modern humans after about 50-60,000 years ago, and within a relatively short time spread to the far corners of the earth.  This seems to call out for an explanation since the ways of life, technology, economy, social organization, and relationship to the natural world remained relatively stable in human ancestor populations for eons prior.  Human anatomy has been stable for about 200,000 years.  Brian Sykes tells us that all living humans can be traced to a single woman living in East Africa about 150,000, years ago, and all non-African modern humans can be traced through another East African woman about 50,000 years later.  (Sykes, 2001, pp. 276-78)  So modern humans, homo sapiens sapiens, have been established as a species for at least 150,000 years.  But culture did not appear until about 100,000 years into that span.  What took so long?  And when it did appear, it came in a flood.  It was around that time that modern humans began to migrate out of Africa and displace all of the proto-human ancestor populations like the Neanderthals, homo erectus, and perhaps others in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.  Technology dramatically changed.  Stone tools developed much greater variety and sophistication.  Beads and jewelry appeared.  The first sculptures and figurines were made.  Cave painters began painting magnificent murals on the walls of caves starting at least 32,000 years ago.  What was the spark that lit this fire?

Klein and Edgar think it had to do with a genetic mutation that altered brain function and/or anatomy.  They cite a 2001 paper by Lai, et al.  (Lai, et al, 2001) that claims to have discovered a gene that plays a role in language development.  Were such a gene to be missing or mutated in non-human hominids, it could explain why humans have spoken languages and non-human hominids didn’t.  If that were a gene that mutated in a small human population 50,000 or so years ago and allowed people to develop spoken languages, it could have been the point at which modern humans leaped into the Late Stone Age.   The problem with it is that it is putting a lot on one gene.  This kind of theory is going to be hard to validate from fossils.  The human brain reached nearly its full size by 600,000 years ago.  The Neanderthals actually had larger brains that we do.  So size isn’t everything.  Klein and Edgar think that a genetic modification altered the organization of the brain that allowed for the development of spoken languages.  Spoken languages are considered to be closely linked to the development of “culture.”  Spoken languages powerfully change social relations between people, facilitate organization, enable human beings to develop ideas, modify behaviors, make corrections, improve things, “advance.”  The Neanderthals lived in Europe and the Middle East for at least 200,000 years.  But their technology and way of life did not change very much over that vast time period.  Once modern humans set the cultural snowball rolling it has been growing and accelerating at an increasing pace ever since, to the point where we now completely dominate the globe and are on the verge of destroying it, ourselves, and everything else.  Human intelligence and human culture may turn out to be a failed evolutionary experiment.

I don’t have an opinion on what sparked the advent of human culture.  Klein and Edgar’s hypothesis is speculative.  It could have some plausibility, but the arguments are inconclusive.  The real value of this book, aside from wrestling with the issue of how human culture originated, is its clear, comprehensive, well organized, well illustrated exposition of the evolution of the human species from the fossil record, how that record was assembled, and the issues and controversies that accompanied its growth.  This book makes it all much more comprehensible than anything else I have seen to date.

 

 

Notes

 

Lai, Cecelia S. L.; Fisher, Simon E.; Hurst, Jane A.; Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh; Monaco, Anthony P. (2001)  A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder.  Nature 413: 519-23.

Sykes, Brian (2001)  The Seven Daughters of Eve:  The Science that Reveals our Genetic Ancestry.  New York & London:  W.W. Norton.

Apr 12 2015
Love0

Opposites attract in ‘Talley’s Folly’

By Judy Richter

To have a chance at happiness, two mismatched people must take risks and let go of their fears.

That’s the challenge in Lanford Wilson’s 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning “Talley’s Folly,” presented by Aurora Theatre Company.

One of the two, Matt Friedman (Rolf Saxon), a 42-year-old, European-born Jewish accountant, takes the first risk by driving 300 miles from St. Louis to the small town of Lebanon, Mo., to woo the gentile Sally Talley (Lauren English), a 31-year-old nurse’s aide he had met the previous summer.

They meet in a decrepit boathouse near the Talley family farm in the early evening of July 4, 1944, during World War II.

Matt appears first, telling the audience in an extended monologue that this is a waltz. When Sally arrives from work, their encounter is prickly. She rebuffs his efforts to win her over and tells him to leave. Yet when he starts to go, one or the other finds a reason to continue their conversation.

Eventually they reveal what lies behind their fears. And it’s more than just the surface differences between them and the fact that Sally’s family doesn’t think he’s suitable for her.

This production takes place in Aurora’s second space, Harry’s Upstage. This intimate setting works well for the one-act, 97-minute, two-person play, especially with Jon Tracy’s rundown boathouse set and ambient lighting, aided by Chris Houston’s sound design.

The play’s title comes from the boathouse, which was built by Sally’s grandfather to resemble a Victorian gazebo. A folly is defined as a decorative structure that looks as if it has some grander purpose.

For the most part, director Joy Carlin paces the show well, but there’s not enough chemistry between the actors. Saxon’s performance as Matt can seem repetitious, a problem mainly with the script but partially with the actor. The role of Sally is more challenging because she has fewer lines, requiring the actor to convey reactions with body language and facial expressions. English does well with both.

This play is part of a trilogy that includes “Talley & Son,” set in the farmhouse on the same day, and “Fifth of July,” set at the farm 33 years later. Aurora will present staged readings of “Talley & Son” and will soon open “Fifth of July.”

“Talley’s Folly” will continue through June 5 at Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley, through June 7. For tickets and information, call (510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

 

Apr 12 2015
Love0

Nick and Nora survives its resurrection by 42nd Street Moon

By Kedar K. Adour

(l-r) Brittany Danielle and Ryan Drummond (as Nick and Nora Charles), with Allison Rich and Nicole Frydman (front) in 42nd Street Moon’s production of Nick & Nora, playing April 1-19 at the Eureka Theatre. Photo by David Allen

Nick and Nora: Mystery Musical. Music by Charles Strouse. Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. Book by Arthur Laurents. Directed by Greg MacKellan. Music Direction by Dave Dobrusky. 42nd Street Moon Theatre, Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco. April 1-19, 2015. Box Office:  415/255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.

Nick and Nora survives its resurrection by 42nd Street Moon [Rating:2]

For aficionados of musical theatre from past generations there is a good reason to see 42nd Street Moon’s resurrection of the 1991 flop Nick and Nora since they probably will not have an opportunity to see a full scale production again. This is the first and only full scale production of the musical since it opened on Broadway in 1991after 71 previews of writes and rewrites to last a total of nine days on Broadway. As is their pedigree, 42nd Street Moon pulls out all stops with this staging giving its loyal audiences their money’s worth even though the plot is convoluted and the music non-memorable.

The story is based on the immensely popular 1930s “Thin Man” movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy created from Dashiell Hammett’s novel. Nick (suave Ryan Drummond) and Nora (a miscast Brittany Danielle) Charles are an urban married couple with martini drinking Nick a whiz at solving murder mysteries and Nora wanting to match his abilities. Her competitive spirit is aroused and she takes on the assignment of solving the murder of a Hollywood actress Lily Connors (a marvelous Cindy Goldfield). As clues and miss-clues pile up the solution to the murder is equally unexpected as those from the movies.  Drummond commented in a pre-production interview “. . . movies. . . do not translate well to the stage.”

Greg MacKellan is a master at musical direction and moves the characters in and out of multiple and often non-linear scenes gracefully with panache gaining the most humor possible from the script. Staci Arriaga’s choreography is superlative and Hector Zavala’s 1930s costumes are gems with more than a touch of humor especially for the shoes! Megan Stetson’s dresses for her role as the fireball wanna-be actress Maria Valdez would be envied by Carman Miranda. She, Davern Wright and Justin Gilman have a song and dance show stopper with “Boom, Chika Boom” that is a highlight of Act two.It is Nicole Frydman as much put upon blonde Lorraine Bixby who steals parts of the show. Accolades also go to William Giammona as Victor, Allison Rich as an egotistical actress and hilarious Brian Herndon as director Max Bernheim the initially accused murder. OK, so that’s a tip off, but be advised to beware of red herring clues.

Running time two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission.

C A S T: Ryan Drummond* (Nick Charles); Brittany Danielle* (Nora Charles); Allison F. Rich* (Tracy Gardner); William Giammona (Victor Moisa); Michael Barrett Austin* (Lt. Wolfe); Michael Kern Cassidy* (Edward J. Connors); Nicole Frydman (Lorraine Bixby); Justin Gillman (Spider Malloy; Juan); Cindy Goldfield* (Lily Connors); Brian Herndon* (Max Bernheim); Megan Stetson (Maria Valdez); Reuben Uy* (Yukido); Davern Wright (Selznick, The Other Juan).

C R E A T I V E CAST:  Greg MacKellan (Director);  Dave Dobrusky (Musical Director); Staci Arriaga (Choreographer); Kris Vecere (Stage Manager); Hector Zavala (Production Manager/Set & Costume Design); Danny Maher (Lighting Designer); Yvonne Ortiz (Design Assistant); Nick Di Scala (Musician Woodwinds).

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

Apr 10 2015
Love0

The Braggart Soldier is a winning rollicking/ribald /romp at Custom Made

By Kedar K. Adour

Cast: Alan Coyne (Dexter – red cap), Kai Morrison (Major Topple d’Acropolis), Matt Gunnison (Haplus – blue cap), Jef Valentine (Hospitalides – old man), Eden Neuendorf (Convivia – ingénue), Darek Burkowski (Nautikles – bow tie, skipper outfit), Catherine Leudtke (Climax – dominatrix costume).

The Braggart Soldier or Major Blowhard  by Plautus. Adapted and directed by Evren Odcikin translated by Deena Berg. Custom Made Theatre Company, Gough Street Playhouse, 1620 Gough at Bush, San Francisco. (415) 798-CMTC (2682) or www.custommade.org.

The Braggart Soldier is a winning rollicking/ribald /romp at Custom Made [rating:4]

The more the world changes the more it remains the same is an aphorism associated with personal, impersonal and interpersonal behavior even though the world is being torn apart by war. Is that what multitalented local theatre icon Evren Odcikin is telling audiences in his staging of the 2200 year old Roman play, The Braggart Soldier,  by Titus Maccius Plautus?

Be assured there is no need to engage in intellectual banter after seeing/enjoying Custom Made’s latest mounting at the Gough Street Playhouse. The decision to bring in an Odcikin production was a brilliant move. It truly displays Odcikin at his best and in all respects. He has adapted Deena Berg’s translation, directed the play and designed the set.

The acting is appropriately and extremely broad. It is great comedia dell’ arte tomfoolery with costumes (Keiko Shimosato Carreiro) to match. The age old conflict between master and servant opens the show with Dexter (Alan Coyne) servant to Nutikles (Darek Burkowski) engaging in banter with braggart Major Toppole d’Acopolis (Kia Morrison) in order to gain his trust. It seems the Blowhard has stolen Convivia (Eden Neuendorf) lover of Nautikles and Dexter is brewing up a plot to return her to Nautikles.

Do not concern yourself with the relationships since Dexter who is on stage for most of the 95 minute play without intermission explains and introduces all the characters to the audience. When there is one character missing he inveigles a member of the audience to take the part. There are other forays into audience participation that are hilarious.

Deception is the key word in the plot with two houses separated by a backyard garden with Convivia struggling between the Blowhard’s house and the house of lecherous Hospitalides (Jef Valentine) where the lovers have secret trysts. Alas Blowhard’s servant Haplus (Matt Gunnison) has chased a monkey across the roof of Hospitalides’ house and (horrors) observed the lovers engaged passionate embraces nee sex?

 It’s a puzzlement (apologies to The King and I since the play is more like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) to Haplus. Dexter must now create an identical twin sister of Convivia. Here the plot thickens and the final character, a dominatrix, named Climax (Catherine Luedtke) is brought into the plot.

Enough about the plot. It is the staging; acting, costumes and directing that create a winning evening. Limber-limbed Alan Coyne contorts his body and face adding depth to his straight and double entendre lines keeping pace with Odcikin’s fluid direction. Matt Gunnison in his brief stints upon the stage as Haplus matches Coyne in physicality and almost becomes the audience favorite.

Eden Neuendorf and Darek Burkowski as the star crossed lovers somewhat underplay their roles but do gain audience approbation. Jef Valentine as Hospitalides has to overcome the hilarious cod piece attached to glorious costume. And finally, if you are into S & M, you surely should hire Climax given a scene stealing performance by Catherine Luedtke. Kai Morrison’s performance as the Blowhard is so good that you may say he deserves the beating he gets.

Before the lights go out to end the play Dexter asks Haplus what he thinks is the moral to the story. With “puzzlement” on his face, Haplus responds: “Never chase a monkey across the roof!”

CAST: Dexter, Alan Coyne; Major Topple d’Acropolis,  Kai Morrison; Haplus, Matt Gunnison; Hospitalides,  Jef Valentine; Convivia, Eden Neuendorf; Nautikles, Darek Burkowski; Climax, Catherine Luedtke*

CREATIVE TEAM: Director/Scenic Design, Evren Odcikin; Stage Manager, Grisel Torres; Costume Design, Keiko Shimosato Carreiro; Lighting Design, William Campbell; Sound Design, Liz Ryder; Properties Design, Cat Howser; Scenic Painter, Nicola McCarthy; Technical Director, Stewart Lyle.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com


Apr 09 2015
Love0

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers a hit at Derby Dinner Playhouse.

By Kedar K. Adour

Derby Dinner Playhouse presents: SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. March 31 – May 10, 2015; Pictured from left to right: Jordan Cyphert, Austin Stang, Jililan Prefach, Justin Ostergard, Dick Baker, Michael McClure, and Adam Raque (front)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: Musical. Derby Dinner Playhouse, 525 Marriot Drive, Clarksville, IN. 812-288-8281 or www.derbydinner.com.

May 31 –May 10, 2015

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers a hit at Derby Dinner Playhouse. [rating:4]

Last weekend, after arriving early in Louisville for the 2015 Humana New American Plays Festival, a glance at entertainment available in the area revealed an opening night for one of my favorite musicals. As luck would have it, the venue is the Derby Dinner Playhouse (DDP) that boasts it is in 40th year of productions, was only 10 minutes away across the Ohio River in Indiana. Be informed that this staging of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is almost as fresh/fun today, although truncated, as the great 1954 MGM film.

There are minor caveats that do not deserve mention since the totality of evening will leave you with a pleasant glow. It is an evening of fun with a tuneful, colorful, energetic, crowd pleasing production that will have you humming the songs, admiring the hoe-down dancing and scratching your head wondering how resident director Lee Buckholz has managed to keep this mostly young cast of 24 in sync. The extremely competent cast is more than helped by energetic dancing (Choreographer Heather Paige Folsom), colorful costumes (Sharon Murray Harrah) and musical director Scott Bradley’s five-piece off stage band to enhance the shenanigans.

There are shenanigans galore beginning with Edward Miskie (Adam) and Jillian Prefach (Millie) in the featured roles doing superlative job surrounded with proficient hardworking dancers. Then there is a great book and music. Score is by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul and book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay. The story line is faithful to the film with some songs dropped and others added. It is based on the “Legend of the Sabine Women” and “The ‘Sobbin’ Women” by Stephen Vincent Benet.

Set in 1850 Oregon lumberjack country, Adam has come into town singing “Bless your Beautiful Hide” looking for a wife. A Townsman says, “You won’t find one here. All our gals are spoken for.” Pretty Milly, a great cook, is available, accepts his proposal (Wonderful, Wonderful Day) and goes off to the mountain house ecstatically singing “One Man.”

Boy, is she in for a surprise. Adam has six scruffy, ill-mannered brothers who also need, not necessarily want, wives. Milly takes charge and turns these ruffians into almost gentlemen. The transformation is a joy to behold. The six brothers are scattered about the stage in bedraggled costumes and come back in eye-popping dress ready to sing “Goin’ Courtin” and go off to town to meet the gals.

The Church Social leads to confrontation with the town boys and we are treated to a dance contest ending in a rip roarin’ fightin’ dance number between six town boys and the six brothers fightin’ for six beautiful gals. It’s a draw but now the brothers have all fallen in love.

Adam has the solution. Go into town and carry off the gals just like in the myth of the Sabine women. Yep, there’s a song “Sobbin’ Women” with Adam and the brothers to end the first act.

The gals are stolen in a hilarious set of vignettes and carried off. An avalanche blocks the Pass, the only entrance to the homestead. The town-folks must wait until the Spring for the rescue. Love blossoms between the six brothers and the six gals. Love between  Adam and Milly is tested. Finally Spring arrives to the tunes of “Spring Dance”, “Glad You were Born”and “Love Never Goes Away.”

With the advent of Spring the Townsfolk arrive. After a series of confrontations all works out well as the six couples, with guns at their backs, leave the woods and end in a Church Yard for a reprise of “Wonderful, Wonderful Day.” And what a finale. All 24 are on stage dancing up a storm in “Wedding Dance.” Running time under two hours with an intermission.

CAST:  Edward Miskie, Jillian Prefach, Justin Ostergard, Michael McClure, Jordan Cyphert, Austin Stang, Dick Baker, Adam Raque, Sara King, Kayla Peabody, Eliza Donahue, Cami Glauser, Madeline Perrone, Matthew Brennan, Alex Craig,  Lem Jackson, Matthew Chappell, Jordan Moody, Chris Bryant,  Paul Kerr, Kiersten Vorheis, Kevin Cram, Elizabeth Loos.

CREATIVE STAFF: Directed/Scenic Designer, Lee Buckholz; Lighting Designer, Aaron Hutto; Sound Designer, David Nelson; Musical Director, Scott Bradley; Costume Designer, Sharon Murray Harrah; Choreography, Heather Paige Folsom; Stage Manager, Kevin Love; Properties Designer, Ron Riall.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

Apr 08 2015
Love0

A Month in the Country Not Always a Vacation

By Joe Cillo

A Month in the Country Not Always a Vacation
Russian drama requires some effort from American audiences. We must distinguish the Kolyas from the Katyas, the Alexseys from the Arkadys, and then we need to adapt to political and family systems that were in place at the time. Most Russian drama performed here is from Chekhov, but Ross Valley Players’ new production is pre-Chekhovian, “A Month in the Country” by Ivan Turgenev. Its Russian gloom has been brightened by an adaptation from Irish playwright Brian Friel and by lively direction from James Nelson.
First, the audience is warned that cossacks will be on hand to enforce the no cell phone rules, and then the garden wall opens to reveal a comfortably-furnished country estate with a card game going on in the background. The game is being made more difficult by the German tutor’s language struggles. When Herr Schaaf accuses his partners of “stealing the cat,” they stop and correct him: “the kitty.”
Natalya, the lady of the house, lounges on a nearby sofa, wheedling a long-time admirer to read to her and whining how sick she is of these “gloomy, airless rooms, just like those of the lace makers.” Michel, the admirer, clearly adores her, though it’s hard to see why.
Residents and visitors come and go with other complaints and needs. Natalya’s husband Arkady Islayev bursts in, full of enthusiasm for his new winnowing machine, but explaining to all who will listen about the need to supervise Russian workmen. Two household servants, Matvey and Katya, continue their disagreement about Matvey’s marriage proposal and whether or not he’s too old for her.
Anna, Arkady’s dignified mother lives here on the estate, and so does Lizaveta, a snuff-sniffing companion. Neither of them seems to have much to do, other than maintain the status quo.
A new member has recently joined the household: Alexsay, another tutor for the Islayevs’ son. Natalya is besotted with the handsome young man. The possibility of forbidden romance relieves her boredom, though he’s only twenty-one , and she’s twenty-nine. However, an attractive seventeen-year-old girl is also on the premises, a foster daughter named Vera, and she’s interested in Alexsey as well. Seeing Natalya’s distress, Dr. Shpigelsky says he’s found a perfect husband for Vera. It will turn out that the suitor is a rich neighbor, fifty-seven years old. This suggestion brings on more conflict. And when Natalya’s husband becomes dimly aware of Michel’s infatuation with his wife, he comes up with an astonishing way to keep everybody happy. Who will stay here? Who will go?
Director James Nelson sees Turgenev’s play as “the destructive and incendiary nature of desire,” with each character involved in “a web of romantic pursuit” that contrasts with their polite and ordered setting.
Ken Rowland designed the set for them, a garden and interior suitable for country gentility. Michael A. Berg fashioned costumes for the different social classes of the 1840’s.
Shannon Veon Kase has the difficult role of Natalya, petulant, spoiled and sometimes shrill in her discontent. Her devoted Michel, subtly played by Ben Ortega, seems genuinely lovable, though unloved. Tom Hudgens portrays Arkady, the tradition-bound husband, with natural authority, while Wood Lockhart depicts Dr. Shpiegelsky’s self-awareness and good humor.
Zach Stewart plays the appealing tutor, Alexsey, and Emily Ludlow is talented young Vera. The arguing servants, Matvey and Katya, are acted by Johnny DeBernard and Jocelyn Roddie. Robyn Wiley is the snuff-addicted Lizaveta, and Kim Bromley is the estate’s distinguished owner, Anna. The outsider, Herr Schaaf, is given a humorous turn by Mark Shepard, with Frederick Lein as the unwelcome suitor, Bolshintsov.
“A Month in the Country” will be at the Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, Thursdays through through Sunday April 12. Thursday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
(NOTE: There will be both 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. performances on Saturday, April 11.
Ticket prices range from $14 to $29. For complete information, call 415-456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayer.com

up with an astonishing way to keep everybody happy. Who will stay here? Who will go?
Director James Nelson sees Turgenev’s play as “the destructive and incendiary nature of desire,” with each character involved in “a web of romantic pursuit” that contrasts with their polite and ordered setting.
Ken Rowland designed the set for them, a garden and interior suitable for country gentility. Michael A. Berg fashioned costumes for the different social classes of the 1840’s.
Shannon Veon Kase has the difficult role of Natalya, petulant, spoiled and sometimes shrill in her discontent. Her devoted Michel, subtly played by Ben Ortega, seems genuinely lovable, though unloved. Tom Hudgens portrays Arkady, the tradition-bound husband, with natural authority, while Wood Lockhart depicts Dr. Shpiegelsky’s self-awareness and good humor.
Zach Stewart plays the appealing tutor, Alexsey, and Emily Ludlow is talented young Vera. The arguing servants, Matvey and Katya, are acted by Johnny DeBernard and Jocelyn Roddie. Robyn Wiley is the snuff-addicted Lizaveta, and Kim Bromley is the estate’s distinguished owner, Anna. The outsider, Herr Schaaf, is given a humorous turn by Mark Shepard, with Frederick Lein as the unwelcome suitor, Bolshintsov.
“A Month in the Country” will be at the Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, Thursdays through through Sunday April 12. Thursday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
(NOTE: There will be both 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. performances on Saturday, April 11.
Ticket prices range from $14 to $29. For complete information, call 415-456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayers.com

Vera. The arguing servants, Matvey and Katya, are acted by Johnny DeBernard and Jocelyn Roddie. Robyn Wiley is the snuff-addicted Lizaveta, and Kim Bromley is the estate’s distinguished owner, Anna. The outsider, Herr Schaaf, is given a humorous turn by Mark Shepard, with Frederick Lein as the unwelcome suitor, Bolshintsov.
“A Month in the Country” will be at the Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, Thursdays through through Sunday April 12. Thursday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
(NOTE: There will be both 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. performances on Saturday, April 11.
Ticket prices range from $14 to $29. For complete information, call 415-456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayers.com

670 words By ROSINE REYNOLDS

A Month in the Country Not Always a Vacation
Russian drama requires some effort from American audiences. We must distinguish the Kolyas from the Katyas, the Alexseys from the Arkadys, and then we need to adapt to political and family systems that were in place at the time. Most Russian drama performed here is from Chekhov, but Ross Valley Players’ new production is pre-Chekhovian, “A Month in the Country” by Ivan Turgenev. Its Russian gloom has been brightened by an adaptation from Irish playwright Brian Friel and by lively direction from James Nelson.
First, the audience is warned that cossacks will be on hand to enforce the no cell phone rules, and then the garden wall opens to reveal a comfortably-furnished country estate with a card game going on in the background. The game is being made more difficult by the German tutor’s language struggles. When Herr Schaaf accuses his partners of “stealing the cat,” they stop and correct him: “the kitty.”
Natalya, the lady of the house, lounges on a nearby sofa, wheedling a long-time admirer to read to her and whining how sick she is of these “gloomy, airless rooms, just like those of the lace makers.” Michel, the admirer, clearly adores her, though it’s hard to see why.
Residents and visitors come and go with other complaints and needs. Natalya’s husband Arkady Islayev bursts in, full of enthusiasm for his new winnowing machine, but explaining to all who will listen about the need to supervise Russian workmen. Two household servants, Matvey and Katya, continue their disagreement about Matvey’s marriage proposal and whether or not he’s too old for her.
Anna, Arkady’s dignified mother lives here on the estate, and so does Lizaveta, a snuff-sniffing companion. Neither of them seems to have much to do, other than maintain the status quo.
A new member has recently joined the household: Alexsay, another tutor for the Islayevs’ son. Natalya is besotted with the handsome young man. The possibility of forbidden romance relieves her boredom, though he’s only twenty-one , and she’s twenty-nine. However, an attractive seventeen-year-old girl is also on the premises, a foster daughter named Vera, and she’s interested in Alexsey as well. Seeing Natalya’s distress, Dr. Shpigelsky says he’s found a perfect husband for Vera. It will turn out that the suitor is a rich neighbor, fifty-seven years old. This suggestion brings on more conflict. And when Natalya’s husband becomes dimly aware of Michel’s infatuation with his wife, he comes up with an astonishing way to keep everybody happy. Who will stay here? Who will go?
Director James Nelson sees Turgenev’s play as “the destructive and incendiary nature of desire,” with each character involved in “a web of romantic pursuit” that contrasts with their polite and ordered setting.
Ken Rowland designed the set for them, a garden and interior suitable for country gentility. Michael A. Berg fashioned costumes for the different social classes of the 1840’s.
Shannon Veon Kase has the difficult role of Natalya, petulant, spoiled and sometimes shrill in her discontent. Her devoted Michel, subtly played by Ben Ortega, seems genuinely lovable, though unloved. Tom Hudgens portrays Arkady, the tradition-bound husband, with natural authority, while Wood Lockhart depicts Dr. Shpiegelsky’s self-awareness and good humor.
Zach Stewart plays the appealing tutor, Alexsey, and Emily Ludlow is talented young Vera. The arguing servants, Matvey and Katya, are acted by Johnny DeBernard and Jocelyn Roddie. Robyn Wiley is the snuff-addicted Lizaveta, and Kim Bromley is the estate’s distinguished owner, Anna. The outsider, Herr Schaaf, is given a humorous turn by Mark Shepard, with Frederick Lein as the unwelcome suitor, Bolshintsov.
“A Month in the Country” will be at the Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, Thursdays through through Sunday April 12. Thursday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
(NOTE: There will be both 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. performances on Saturday, April 11.
Ticket prices range from $14 to $29. For complete information, call 415-456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayer.com

670 words By ROSINE REYNOLDS

A Month in the Country Not Always a Vacation
Russian drama requires some effort from American audiences. We must distinguish the Kolyas from the Katyas, the Alexseys from the Arkadys, and then we need to adapt to political and family systems that were in place at the time. Most Russian drama performed here is from Chekhov, but Ross Valley Players’ new production is pre-Chekhovian, “A Month in the Country” by Ivan Turgenev. Its Russian gloom has been brightened by an adaptation from Irish playwright Brian Friel and by lively direction from James Nelson.
First, the audience is warned that cossacks will be on hand to enforce the no cell phone rules, and then the garden wall opens to reveal a comfortably-furnished country estate with a card game going on in the background. The game is being made more difficult by the German tutor’s language struggles. When Herr Schaaf accuses his partners of “stealing the cat,” they stop and correct him: “the kitty.”
Natalya, the lady of the house, lounges on a nearby sofa, wheedling a long-time admirer to read to her and whining how sick she is of these “gloomy, airless rooms, just like those of the lace makers.” Michel, the admirer, clearly adores her, though it’s hard to see why.
Residents and visitors come and go with other complaints and needs. Natalya’s husband Arkady Islayev bursts in, full of enthusiasm for his new winnowing machine, but explaining to all who will listen about the need to supervise Russian workmen. Two household servants, Matvey and Katya, continue their disagreement about Matvey’s marriage proposal and whether or not he’s too old for her.
Anna, Arkady’s dignified mother lives here on the estate, and so does Lizaveta, a snuff-sniffing companion. Neither of them seems to have much to do, other than maintain the status quo.
A new member has recently joined the household: Alexsay, another tutor for the Islayevs’ son. Natalya is besotted with the handsome young man. The possibility of forbidden romance relieves her boredom, though he’s only twenty-one , and she’s twenty-nine. However, an attractive seventeen-year-old girl is also on the premises, a foster daughter named Vera, and she’s interested in Alexsey as well. Seeing Natalya’s distress, Dr. Shpigelsky says he’s found a perfect husband for Vera. It will turn out that the suitor is a rich neighbor, fifty-seven years old. This suggestion brings on more conflict. And when Natalya’s husband becomes dimly aware of Michel’s infatuation with his wife, he comes up with an astonishing way to keep everybody happy. Who will stay here? Who will go?
Director James Nelson sees Turgenev’s play as “the destructive and incendiary nature of desire,” with each character involved in “a web of romantic pursuit” that contrasts with their polite and ordered setting.
Ken Rowland designed the set for them, a garden and interior suitable for country gentility. Michael A. Berg fashioned costumes for the different social classes of the 1840’s.
Shannon Veon Kase has the difficult role of Natalya, petulant, spoiled and sometimes shrill in her discontent. Her devoted Michel, subtly played by Ben Ortega, seems genuinely lovable, though unloved. Tom Hudgens portrays Arkady, the tradition-bound husband, with natural authority, while Wood Lockhart depicts Dr. Shpiegelsky’s self-awareness and good humor.
Zach Stewart plays the appealing tutor, Alexsey, and Emily Ludlow is talented young Vera. The arguing servants, Matvey and Katya, are acted by Johnny DeBernard and Jocelyn Roddie. Robyn Wiley is the snuff-addicted Lizaveta, and Kim Bromley is the estate’s distinguished owner, Anna. The outsider, Herr Schaaf, is given a humorous turn by Mark Shepard, with Frederick Lein as the unwelcome suitor, Bolshintsov.
“A Month in the Country” will be at the Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, Thursdays through through Sunday April 12. Thursday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
(NOTE: There will be both 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. performances on Saturday, April 11.
Ticket prices range from $14 to $29. For complete information, call 415-456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayer.com

Apr 08 2015
Love0

‘Death of a Salesman’ remains relevant

By Judy Richter

After years on the road as a traveling salesman, 60-year-old Willy Loman is exhausted, yet he continues to dream big, perhaps fooling only himself.

Willy (Randall King) is the title character in Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic, “Death of a Salesman,” presented by San Jose Stage Company.

Willy lives in New York with his loyal, loving wife, Linda (Lucinda Hitchcock Cone), but his territory is in New England, requiring lots of travel and days away from home.

As the play opens, his two sons, 34-year-old Biff (Danny Jones), and the younger Happy (Jeffrey Brian Adams), are visiting for some time. Neither has successfully found himself. Biff and Willy continually clash even though — as seen in flashbacks to the boys’ high school days — both Biff and Happy once adored their father.

Willy is inspired by memories of his older brother, Ben (Kevin Blackton), who took chances and made a fortune. Also playing roles in Willy’s life are his neighbor and friend, Charley (Michael Bellino); Charley’s bright son, Bernard (Joey Pisacane); and Willy’s young boss, Howard Wagner (Will Springhorn Jr.).

Although the play focuses on Willy and his problems, it also looks closely at Biff as he tries to resolve his feelings about Willy, especially after a shattering discovery when Biff was still in high school.

As directed by Kenneth Kelleher, this production features fine acting from not only the principals but also from secondary and minor characters. Kudos especially to King’s Willy and to Cone’s Linda, who has some of the play’s most memorable, wrenching speeches.

Aided by projections, Giulio Cesare Perrone has designed a versatile set enhanced by Maurice Vercoutere’s lighting and Tanya Finkelstein’s costumes. However, the almost omnipresent music and sound by Cliff Caruthers, apparently meant to heighten the drama, become obtrusive, as if he and director Kelleher didn’t trust the power of Miller’s writing.

The two-act play runs about two hours and 40 minutes with one intermission. Written in 1949, it raises human concerns that are as profound today as they were then. This production reflects that relevance.

“Death of a Salesman” will continue through April 26 at San Jose Stage Company, 490 S. First St., San Jose. For tickets and information, call (408) 283-7142 or visit www.thestage.org.

 

Apr 07 2015
Love0

Miners’ hard lives take center stage in ‘Fire on the Mountain’

By Judy Richter

“Hard Working Miner” provides an apt opening to “Fire on the Mountain,” a musical examination of Appalachian coal miners’ lives presented by TheatreWorks as its 400th production.

Co-creators Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman interviewed hundreds of miners and their families from throughout the area and interspersed their words with three dozen traditional songs performed by a nine-member cast. Myler also directs the show, while Wheetman serves as musical director.

Four of them play string instruments such as guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin. The other five create somewhat consistent characters. All of them sing and dance.

Performed without intermission, the 90-minute show opens with descriptions of the daily lives of the miners and their families. They’re mainly light-hearted at first, but descriptions of their hardships are mixed in. The men worked six long days a week in dirty, dangerous conditions, sometimes standing in knee-deep water or lying on their sides for hours at a time. Photos from the time and place are projected onto two large screens to illustrate situations.

These people were virtually enslaved because they had to live in company-provided housing near the mine, shop in the company store with company-issued scrip and educate their children in company-built schools. One boy, played by Nik Duggan, says that when he was 8 years old, he lied and said that he was 10 so that he could work at the mine for 8 cents an hour.

A miner played by Robert Parsons says that coal company representatives convinced his parents to sell the mineral rights to their 1,000 acres of fertile farm land for 25 cents an acre — a mere $250.

Other issues that arise during the show include deadly black lung disease, acquired from breathing coal dust nonstop; the terrible environmental costs exacted on the land and water by strip mining; and efforts to join a union, the United Mine Workers of America.

One wrenching segment deals with an explosion that killed many workers outright and trapped dozens more with no hope of survival. Some miners always carried a tin of morphine with them, apparently to ease their deaths when no hope was left.

Besides Duggan and Parsons, the cast features Marie Shell, Molly Andrews and Harvy Blanks, who do most of the acting. Blanks and Andrews, an expert in Appalachian music, also do much of the singing. Instrumentalist-singers are Karen Celia Heil, David M. Lutken, Tony Marcus and Harry Yaglijian.

The rustic set is by Joe Ragey with effective lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt, costumes by Jill Bowers and sound by Brendan Aanes.

Although music forms the centerpiece of this show, the real impact comes from its message and its salute to a resilient group of people who endured hard lives for little reward.

“Fire on the Mountain” will continue through April 26 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets and information, call (463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.