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Nov 16 2014
Love0

VIEW FROM ACROSS THE POND

By Joe Cillo

BLUSHING

Blushing is the color of virtue.
Diogenes

Blushing has gone out of style and I think that is a terrible loss.  There is no better way of reading between the lines than to check the degree of rosiness on another’s face.   My mother could tell in an instant if I had eaten that chocolate bar, stolen the car keys or missed a period.  All she had to do is say “What are you doing?” and look at me when I answered  “Worrying about the state of the world.”  or “Trying to figure out what to get you for your birthday.”

I would always get a retort like “No dessert tonight,” or “I am calling your probation officer.”  My mother was one smart cookie. She always knew better.

Blushing was one of the best communicators we had in the old days.  For example, if you looked in your wallet and several bills were missing, you could look your partner in the eye and say, “Funny, I can’t seem to find the cash for that holistic medical procedure we discussed.” One look told you that he spent it all on fish and chips. (It is always a he…women use less obvious tactics).

When I taught primary school, blushing was the key to figuring out which kid stole my purse and which one was smoking something in the halls. I do not know how teachers cope today when nothing embarrasses anyone and everyone has the Internet for retaliation.   Nowadays, our children do not color up when they are naughty.  They either post their remarks on face book with a filthy picture or tweet their fury with a lot of hash tags.

People are no longer shocked.  We used to blush if our skirts blew over our heads in a strong wind.  Now, we remember to wear lacey underwear in case someone sitting on the floor looks up. That is why wax jobs have become primary grooming tools. Cleavage has become an advertising tool for the ladies, to say nothing of very tight underwear for the male population.  Women no long have to wonder what seven inches looks like.  All they have to do is look.

I am all for accepting who we are and what we do, but I think it is sad that we have lost our sense of shame.  It is actually very sweet to kiss someone unexpectedly and have him blush with surprise.  It has become a lost technique to take someone’s hand, look into his eyes and say I KNOW what you are thinking.” If that person turned red you knew he had the same thing on his mind that you did.

That kind of subtlety has gone out of style.  Now, you take a selfie of your private parts, post it on Tinder and hope for the best.

 

Nov 16 2014
Love0

VIEW FROM ACROSS THE POND

By Joe Cillo

BEST DIGS EVER

If you want total security, go to prison…..
Dwight D. Eisenhower

I have always wanted to be daring and do something absolutely outrageous…but the truth is I fear the punishment.  I have read horror stories of what happens in prisons: brutality, rape, lousy plumbing…and I want none of it.  However, I am in the unenviable position of losing my house because it is under water and I am looking around for affordable housing for my declining years.  Unfortunately, the only shelter that is “affordable” for me on my pension is a used Yurt in the Andes or an abandoned cave in New Mexico.

Imagine my delight when I discovered the Maconochie Center, a prison in Canberra, Australia specifically designed to pamper lawbreakers with so much smother love that they realize the only way to have little fun is to obey the law and get out on parole.  The philosophy at Maconochie is that if you give love, you will receive it. I think that is a wonderful attitude.  It didn’t work for me with my two husbands, but it has been overwhelmingly successful with my dog.

The “guards” at the prison (called service providers) refer to the inmates as customers and do their best to give the darlings in their care whatever will make them feel wanted and secure.    If one of their customers is feeling a bit depressed, why not cheer him up with a couple gin and tonics, a shot of heroin and a little sniff of cocaine.  Whatever works as they say in the trade.

The residents at Maconochie Center live together in five bedroom cottages.  There is never a problem if a rapist cannot get along with the guy who strangled his baby.  Maconochie Center has mediators on call to help the boys (you KNOW they are boys) settle their differences.  Perhaps one of them needs a long walk in the country…where there are willing sheep?  Perhaps the other needs apple pie a la mode?  Who knows?  The staff at the center are there to help.

It sounds like a very fun place to live for me.   All I would have to do is grow a bit of cannabis in my yard before my foreclosure and sell it in a schoolyard.  If I wanted to be certain I could stay at this lovely place for the rest of my life (and after all, I am 81 years old.  How long can that be?)  I would have to toss someone around screaming “I am going to kill you!”  My mother said that to me often enough.  I know I can be convincing.  The good news is that I don’t actually have to plunge the knife into anyone’s heart…all I need to do in Australia is make the judge believe I really meant to do the deed.

The weather in Canberra is perfect for me.  You get four seasons, none too hot or too cold and at Maconochie there are endless opportunities to explore the outdoors.  I can use my computer at all hours and if I have a severe pain, I can get a prescription strong enough to use for recreation after the pain has disappeared.  But the best news of all is that there has been a rash of pregnancies at the center since it opened.  Why, I could finally have that baby I always wanted and not have to worry about dealing with the little sweetheart when it becomes a teenager.  By that time I will be long gone and the Maconochie service providers can take over.

 

 

 

Nov 16 2014
Love0

VIEW FROM ACROSS THE POND

By Joe Cillo

BE GOOD TO YOUR PARENTS….OR ELSE!

Appreciating your parents is the only hope for civilization.
The Chinese Government & Lynn Ruth

China has decided it is a punishable crime for adult children to neglect their parents and I think that is a very wise decision. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for us all, if every nation followed suit?

It is about time someone took steps to stop the shameless way grown progeny are treating their parents these days. Elderly parents sit at home in their wheel chairs or on the sofa, counting the moments ‘til one of their offspring remembers that they are too weak and tired to get to Tesco’s; the hours tick by, their tummies gurgle, their heads ache and they stare at the door, praying it will open and the heir to their estate will appear bearing bubble and squeak and even a bit of pudding.

After all, parents have every right to expect their children to be there for them. Didn’t they clean up Junior when he got a bloody nose?  Didn’t they give their little princess dancing lessons so she could express her inner feelings? They let her get that disgusting tattoo of Frankenstein chewing a bunny and they never said a word when she appeared at the breakfast table, her hair dyed purple and three rings in her nose.

And that was before they became teen-agers.

They looked the other way, when their little darlings sold pot to the neighborhood grade-school kids, and the countless times they threw up on the couch from an overdose or got too affectionate with one another.  Remember that?

Didn’t they sacrifice that extra cruise, and the trip to see penguins copulate on an iceberg just so their son could go to university and their daughter could afford that abortion?  Of course they did.

And that is why the Chinese Government decided to step up to the plate and remind us that we owe Mummy and Daddy big time.  They were the ones who kept us alive through the bullying, the bike accidents, the shattered limbs and broken hearts.  Now, it is the children’s turn to keep their parents comfy and warm ‘til they breathe their last.  After all, there is always time to change the will, if they feel unloved.

Not that it will be easy if the law becomes universal. Take Mary Louise:  There she is galloping though her day, getting the kids to school, packing their lunches, rushing off to the office, picking up her darlings, and taking them to tap dancing and soccer, driving home, giving the house a quick dust, fixing dinner, greeting the father of her gang with a drink, serving food, cleaning the kitchen and collapsing in front of the telly.  At midnight, she and her hubby stagger up to bed, too exhausted to do what they used to do before they tied the knot. Suddenly, she sits bolt upright, snaps her fingers and says, “OH MY GOD!!!  I forgot to visit Daddy.  Now, we’ll never pay off this mortgage.”

And if her partner is a good sort, he says, “Don’t worry darling. I will visit you every Tuesday and bring chocolate.”

Nov 15 2014
Love0

Real life inspires ‘Breakfast With Mugabe’

By Judy Richter

 

In real life, Robert Mugabe is the 90-year-old controversial leader of the African nation of Zimbabwe. In Fraser Grace’s fictional “Breakfast With Mugabe,” it’s 2001, and the 77-year-old president has asked to see a white psychiatrist in hopes of ridding himself of the ghost of a rival.

Carefully directed by Jon Tracy in its West Coast premiere, this Aurora Theatre Company production features two esteemed Bay Area actors. L. Peter Callender plays Mugabe, and Dan Hiatt is the psychiatrist, Dr. Andrew Peric.

Before the two meet, however, Andrew confronts the possibly dangerous presidential bodyguard Gabriel (Adrian Roberts) and the elegant Grace Mugabe (Leontyne Mbele-Mbong), who is 40 years younger than her husband.

When Robert and Andrew finally meet, it becomes clear that despite Andrew’s best efforts to keep things on a professional level, Robert wants to do things his way. Add Grace and Gabriel to the mix, and what you have is a four-way power struggle amid a heavy dose of Zimbabwe’s troubled history.

As the play progresses, it’s revealed that Andrew owns and has deep feelings for a tobacco farm that his been in his family for at least two prior generations. It has been taken over by Zimbabwe war veterans who want to reclaim land that they contend was taken from their ancestors by white colonialists.

This issue leads to the play’s wrenching conclusion.

Most of the action takes place in the State House (the simple but elegant set by Nina Ball is lit by Heather Basarab). Scenes are separated by videos designed by Micah Stieglitz with sound by Hannah Birch Carl. Costumes by Callie Floor are noteworthy for Grace’s elegant outfits.

Running about 100 minutes with no intermission, the 2005 play has some slow spots because of the background presented in a dialect that’s not always easy to understand. Still it’s an interesting look at recent history, and it features outstanding performances by all four actors.

“Breakfast With Mugabe” will continue at AuroraTheatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley, through Dec. 7. For tickets and information, call (510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

 

 

Nov 15 2014
Love0

Cirque du Soleil spotlights low-tech touches of brilliance

By Woody Weingarten

[Woody’s [rating: 4.5]

“Contortion” is a highlight of Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios — Cabinet of Curiosities.” Photo by Martin Girard/shootstudio.ca

“Microcosms,” with “Mr. Microcosmos” and “Mini Lili,” is a key element of “Kurios — Cabinet of Curiosities.” Photo by Martin Girard/shootstudio.ca

“ChaosSynchro” showcases choreographed bedlam in “Kurios — Cabinet of Curiosities.” Photo by Martin Girard/shootstudio.

Back to basics.

That theme might best describe Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios — Cabinet of Curiosities,” now ensconced in a tent behind A&T Park in San Francisco.

What’s different with this 30th anniversary show is that it strives less for innovation, more for familiar circus acts.

Umpteen acrobats. A jillion mid-air stunts.

Writer-director Michel Laprise has said he was aiming for “low-tech” astonishment — and a blending, of course, of fantasy and reality.

Mission accomplished.

Most of the dozen acts in the two-hour, time-traveling ‘Kurios” have touches of brilliance — despite most of the most being spectacularly unspectacular.

None of which fazed the opening night crowd one iota.

It applauded, cheered and stomped as loudly as audiences at any of the dozen Cirque shows I’ve seen.

Devices and costumes, as always, are amazingly inventive and somewhat mysterious, ranging from a huge metallic hand that converts into an underpinning for contortionists, to freakish nose cones that look like throwaways from an old show in which Madonna utilized them on a different part of her anatomy.

The music meanders, too — from the strains of an invented language, typical for Cirque performances, to traditional jazz, swing and electronic rock.

Tossed in for good measure are bluegrass, klezmer and classical passages.

My favorite interlude was the unique “Theater of Hands” segment in which a puppeteer lets his fingers do the dancing in comedic and poetic ways, projecting images unto a hefty floating balloon overhead.

In contrast, my seven-year-old granddaughter, my plus-one for the evening despite it being way beyond her bedtime, preferred “Invisible Circus,” where a clown leads an unseen troupe in numerous stunts while an equally undetectable lion roars from hither to thither.

The illusion’s sound effects are exquisitely timed.

Oldster and youngster both particularly enjoyed “ChaosSynchro,” staged bedlam with countless arms and legs flailing as two performers drum wildly on suitcases and whatever else’s handy, and its antithesis, “Continent of Doubles,” with a hunky, bare-chested male duo doing sensual, synchronized dancing on aerial straps.

The crowd, meanwhile, favored “Contortion,” with four females twisting their bodies into seemingly impossible positions.

It also reveled in “Upside Down World,” in which a guy negotiates table and chairs dangling from the tent-top while another hand-climbs perilously stacked chairs to meet him.

Burned into my memory, too, are weird curios that exit an oversized cabinet and come to life in a bizarrely mechanized world, and a trampoline that extends beyond than stage itself and lets gymnasts to bounce higher than I’ve ever seen.

My grandchild also was impressed by the three performing artists who greeted ticket-holders by prancing atop the big blue and yellow tent which that houses “Kurios,” which, not incidentally, features 19 nationalities in its cast and crew.

Speaking of other places, only 150 million devotees apparently have watched Cirque du Soleil shows in 300 cities on six continents.

I’m happy to be among them.

“Kurios — Cabinet of Curosities” plays in the big top behind AT&T Park in San Francisco through Jan. 18. Night performances, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m. Matinees, Wednesdays, 1 and 4:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 4:30, and Sundays, 1:30 and 5. General tickets: $53 to $135. Information: (800) 450-1480 or www.cirquedusoleil.com/kurios.

Contact Woody Weingarten at voodee@sbcglobal.net or check out his new blog at www.vitalitypress.com/.

Nov 15 2014
Love0

View from Across the Pond

By Joe Cillo

REMEMBER ME?

Look back and smile on perils past.
Walter Scott

It happens every day.  You open Facebook and find some forgotten person from long ago. My friend Barry re-discovered Gloria, his high school sweetheart there.  They both had been widowed the year before and…well, you know the rest.  They are now madly in love spending hot and heavy weekends together reminiscing about that lousy math teach who drove everyone crazy and the big mistake they made marrying someone else first.

I have not been so lucky.  The people who re-connect with me on Facebook are all part of a nightmare I prefer to erase.  They remind me that they knew me when I wore braces on my teeth and wandered through life with my head in a cloud, my feet encased in orthopedic oxfords.  I do not want to relive a time when I was ruled by parents, teachers and consensus.  Those days are past.

I can only suspect that the ones who contact me are so senile they do not remember anything more than my name. There could be no other reason.  I was not the hottest item on the block in days gone by.

Nonetheless, I fell in love with the unattainable on a regular basis and went to great lengths to let my targets know I was available.  When I look back on all of them now, I realize how desperate I was. Did I really want that short, pimply guy in my history class?  And why did my heart flutter at the sight of a boy in uniform.  Didn’t I realize that clothes cannot transform a boy into a man?

Not long ago, I got a friend request from Donny Okun who fancied me when I was nineteen and still hopeful. He was a sailor then who wore his bell-bottom trousers tight enough so I could see clearly what he had to offer. He sent me bouquets of roses every week for a month and then asked me to come with him to Canada for a night on the town.

OMG!  I was crossing the border with an honest-to-god sailor and you know what they say about sailors!!!  I threw caution to the winds and wore my most décolleté dress so he could see my equipment as clearly as I could see his.  We got in the car, I lit a cigarette and tossed the match out the window.

However, the window was closed and the flaming match ricocheted into my cleavage.  As both of us burrowed into my dress to keep me from bursting into flame, I realized all too clearly that I needed more than a pair of tight trousers to commit.

And now, this guy wants us to be friends?

I hit delete.  It was one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

 

Nov 13 2014
Love0

Musical comedy in S.F. revives vintage ‘Lucy’ — and ad jingles

By Woody Weingarten

[Woody’s [rating: 2.5]

Thea Brooks (Lucy), Euriamis Losada (Ricky), Kevin Remington (Fred), and Lori Hammel (Ethel) head the cast of “I Love Lucy — Live on Stage.” Photo by Ed Krieger.

Euriamis Losada (Ricky Ricardo) and company work themselves into a Cuban musical frenzy in “I Love Lucy — Live on Stage.” Photo by Hyra George.

The legendary Lucille Ball, who played the title role in the fabled 1950s TV series “I Love Lucy” is long dead.

Since 1989.

Even longer gone are her series’ co-stars, real-life husband Desi Arnaz (since ‘86), Vivian Vance (‘79) and William Frawley (’66).

But all four are alive and well again, or at least their spirit and characters are.

A new musical comedy, “I Love Lucy — Live on Stage,” playfully resurrects Lucy Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo, Ethel Mertz and Fred Mertz.

And lets them fumble and stumble accordingly.

In primary colors, as opposed to my first encounter with them on a tiny black-and-white screen 60 years ago.

Opening night they made me grin, chortle and chuckle (while most of the crowd bellylaughed, howled and whooped).

It follows, then, that if you’re one of the multitudes who catch “Lucy” cable re-runs each year, you’ll enjoy the national touring company at the SHN Curran Theater in San Francisco.

And if you’re one of the dozen adults over 40 on the planet who’ve never seen an episode, now’s your chance to see two recreated.

Just prepare yourself for 100 minutes of vintage humor topped with white-bread jingles and choreography.

If you can’t handle nostalgia or ‘50s leitmotifs, you might want to catch something edgier.

Which means, I guess, almost anything else.

The show’s conceit turned the crowd and me into a Desilu soundstage audience that gets to witness Thea Brooks as Lucy (with huge eyes and an even bigger smile that intentionally never leaves her face) and Euriamis Losada as Ricky (whose crooning voice is better than Desi’s was).

As in the original series, Fred (Kevin Remington) and Ethel (Lori Hammel) survive being on the receiving end of Lucy’s convoluted plots and whacky antics.

Those of us seated in the theater could choose to hoot whenever the “Applause” light goes on.

I opted not to.

A company of 10, the most outstanding of which is Denise Moses, ably supports the leading actors. She amusingly exaggerates the role of Mrs. Birdie Mae Figg, an outspoken Oklahoma visitor (plus a quartet of other characters).

The cast breezes through a cartoonish version of “The Benefit,” in which the juvenile, talent-challenged redhead manipulates her tongue-tied Cuban hubby into letting her perform, and “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined,” where eye drops blend blurred vision and slapstick.

Between those episodes are over-the-top renderings of ‘50s commercials by the Crystaltone Singers, a makeshift sextet that captures the simplicity, innocence and alleged merits of such products as Brylcreem, Alka Seltzer and Halo shampoo — and performs intentionally stilted movements ranging from a goofy maypole dance to rhythmic spasms that more resemble calisthenics than choreography.

Those performers also interject ditties from the long-ago that include hokey tidbits like “Glow Worm” and “Under the Bamboo Tree.”

A special plaque should go to bright costuming by Shon LeBlanc and Kelly Bailey (including an outrageous zoot-suit) and the mega-high energy of Andy Belling’s six-piece band.

“I Love Lucy — Live on Stage” began in 2000 as a 50th anniversary traveling exhibit that paused at state and county fairs, malls and casinos. It included memorabilia, still photos and video montages from the original TV programs.

In 2012, the series was voted “Best TV Show of All Time” in an ABC News/People magazine poll.

This fleshed-out pastiche, friskily staged and directed by Rick Sparks, had premiered in Los Angeles a few months before.

Curiously, neither Lucille Ball’s name nor those of any other original performers are uttered during the performance.

What is inserted, though, are references to wrestler Gorgeous George and other icons and elements of those quiet Eisenhower years. Check out this announcement: “Turn of all transistor radios and other noise-making devices, and that includes your children.”

Before and after the show, a young woman peddling Lucy souvenirs in the lobby had inadvertently obliterated that theatrical time-warp illusion.

She was tattooed from shoulder to wrist, not a female phenom of the fifties.

Then, as I was leaving, a wag suggested he’d have enjoyed the show more had it been done in drag.

I didn’t know what to say.

“‘I Love Lucy’ — Live on Stage” runs at the Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St., San Francisco, through Nov. 23. Evening performances Tuesdays through Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 6:30 p.m. Matinees, Saturdays, 2 p.m.; Sundays 1 p.m. Tickets: $40 to $135. Information: (888) 746-1799 or shnsf.com.

Contact Woody Weingarten at voodee@sbcglobal.net or check out his new blog at www.vitalitypress.com/.

Nov 13 2014
Love0

I Love Lucy: Live on Stage is hilarious nostalgic look at 1952 TV icons.

By Kedar K. Adour

 

Thea Brooks (Lucy), EuriamisLosada (Ricky), Kevin Remington (Fred), and Lori Hammel (Ethel), in I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE. PHOTO BY: Ed Krieger

I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE: Comedy.  Adapted for the Stage and with new material byKim Flagg and Rick Sparks.Staged and directed by Rick Sparks. SHN Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St, San Francisco, CA.www.shnsf.com  and 888-746-1799.

November 11, 2014 – November 23, 2014

I Love Lucy: Live on Stage is hilarious nostalgic look at 1952 TV icons. [rating:5]

I Love Lucy: Live on Stage had its beginnings in the year 2000 as an exhibition that traveled around the country to state and county fairs called “I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Experience.” It was so successful it became the seed for the stage show that is producing gales of laughter and applause at the Curran Theatre.  It is cleverly wrapped up with the theatre audience witnessing the live taping of two episodes of I Love Lucy TV show at the Desilu Playhouse soundstage.

For the younger generation unfamiliar with black and white TV, I Love Lucy shows starred husband and wife team red-headed Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Their neighbors were Fred and Ethel Mertz who drifted in an out of the storylines.  The two episodes selected for the play are “The Benefit” and “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined.” 

In “The Benefit” no talent Lucy (Thea Brooks) agrees to coax talented singer/band leader Ricky (Euriamis Losada) into performing at Ethel’s (Lori Hammel) Fine Arts Club benefit. The stipulation being that she, Lucy, would share the spotlight.  Lucy’s rehearsing to improve her non-melodious voice is actually ear piercing since she can hardly sing on key. Ricky rigs the performance giving Lucy minimal lines and not equal billing. No one turns the table on Lucy who steals the punch lines and the duet ends on a happy note.

In the second episode, “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined,” Ricky invites a producer home to dinner. Lucy, Ethel and Fred (Kevin Remington) discover the producer will be auditioning for a new Broadway show. Lucy, Ethel and Fred are not to be denied their chance for fame. Lucy hires a jitterbug teacher (fantastic Richard Strimer) and they put together an acrobatic dance that has the audience cheering with Ricky’s terrific band as backup. Ethel and full-bodied Fred in a lavender outfit are a kick and a holler with their “Varsity Drag” song and dance. When the eye doctor puts drops in Lucy’s eyes that blur her vision, the audition dance becomes hysterically hazardous.

Although the interaction between all involved in each episode is terrific comedy, the fill in between scenes involve commercials that almost steal the show. Members of the Crystaltone Singers are superlative with their over-the-top renditions of the jingle-driven commercials for Brylcreem, Alka-Seltzer, Halo shampoo and Chevrolets. Then too you can enjoy (or laugh at) the1950s costumes that are changed for almost every scene. The women of a certain age will surely ask, “Did I wear that?!!”

Euriamis Losada (Ricky Ricardo) and the company of the national tour of I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE. Photo: Hyra George

Added to all this is the fine singing of the Euriamis Losada and the terrific Tropicana Nightclub Latin Band complete with drummers pounding bongos that appear at appropriate intervals.  The 90 minutes without intermission flies by. Highly recommended.

CAST: Thea Brooks as Lucy Ricardo; EuriamisLosada as Ricky Ricardo;    Kevin Remington as Fred Mertz;Lori Hammel as Ethel Mertz. With Sara Jayne Blackmore, Sarah Elizabeth Combs, Gregory Franklin, Jody Madaras, Carlos Martin, Denise Moses, Cindy Sciacca, Kami Seymour, Richard Strimer, Mark Christopher Tracy.

THE BAND: Andy Belling, Musical Director, Conductor and First Keyboard; Bryan Miller, Alternate Conductor, Second Keyboard and Conga;            Ron Barrows, Trumpet; Dave Lotfi, Drums/Conga; David Olivas, Saxophone and Flute;       Nicholas Stankus, Banjo and Bass

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Thea Brooks (Lucy), EuriamisLosada (Ricky), Kevin Remington (Fred), and Lori Hammel (Ethel), in I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE. PHOTO BY: Ed Krieger

Nov 12 2014
Love0

Three Tall Women an engrossing voyeuristic journey at Custom Made

By Kedar K. Adour

Michaela Greeley as A; Terry Bamberger as B; Katharine Otis  as C; Nathan Brown as The Boy in Custom Made’s production of  Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women

Three Tall Women: Drama by Edward Albee. Directed by Katja Rivera. Custom Made Theatre Company, Gough Street Playouse,1620 Gough St. (at Bush), San Francisco, CA 94109. Gough Street Playhouse is attached to the historic Trinity Episcopal Church. 510-207-5774 or www.custommade.org.  November 11 – December 7, 2014

Three Tall Women an engrossing voyeuristic journey at Custom Made [rating: 4]

Bay Area theatre-goers know that Custom Made Theatre Company does not shy away from producing difficult plays and in this reviewer’s experience they occasionally fall short of excellence. That is not so with their latest mounting of Three Tall Women, Edward Albee’s demanding Pulitzer Prize winning play. It is well cast and well directed with a couple of minor caveats and will keep your attention for the two hours (not including the intermission) it plays out on the stage.

The play is semi-autobiographical with an intriguing construction alone worthy of accolades. Albee has brought to life the dead past and in doing so exorcised his own demons. The “three tall women” are reincarnations of the same character, his adoptive mother A (superb Michaela Greeley ) is his dying senile, forgetful  at age 92, having conversation with herself  B at middle age (great understated performance by Terry Bamberger) and her 27 year old self C (Katherine Otis).

Remembrances of things past are often faulty. Each recollects, with intensity and occasionally with unexpected spontaneous humor, the events that shaped the personality of each to become what they were at the three stages of their lives. Albee, the adoptive son, has created a non-speaking part for himself as The Boy (Nathan Brown) who shows up to see the dying/dead A. After a confrontation with B, he had ‘deserted” the family at age 21 not returning until the impending death of A.

Act one is basically a monolog for the infirm A with B and C as sounding boards for her faulty yet cogent memory. You need not be familiar with Albee’s life to appreciate the turmoil within the family. Albee’s superlative play construction and use of dialog completely fills in the three stages of the women’s lives and brings to life his one-eyed adoptive womanizing father whose proclivities have been disastrous for B.

Act two takes place with A dead in bed as the three women continue their verbal interaction. At this point, Albee fills in the development of B and C with A as the sounding board and occasionally the voice of reason. At times B and C seek approval from the audience and one might wonder if it is a directorial conceit or written into the script. No matter, either way it works.  The only caveat might be the over-acting of Katherine Otis that could be attributed to the directing that slightly throws the play off balance.

Stewart Lyle’s fine scenic design and Scarlett Kellum’s costume design are compliment by Hamilton Guillén’s varied lighting design that fades in and out reflecting shifts in time also between fact and fancy. Three Tall Women is another winner for Custom Made.

Cast: Michaela Greeley as A; Terry Bamberger B; Katharine Otis  as C; Nathan Brown as The Boy.

Staff/Crew: Katja Rivera, Director; Melissa Costa, Stage Manager/Props Design; Stewart Lyle, Scenic Design; Hamilton Guillén, Lighting Design; Scarlett Kellum, Costume Design; Liz Ryder, Sound Design.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

Nov 11 2014
Love0

Three great things about Golden Gate Opera’s “Madama Butterfly” (11/9/14)

By David Hirzel

As is occasionally the case with my posts here, this one comes after the close of Golden Gate Opera‘s very short run of “Madama Butterfly” (two performances in one weekend, now ended) and can’t have much impact on filling seats. However, here are three things that made this performance particularly memorable.

1. Although the producer’s pre-performance comments from the stage included an apologia for a solo pianist (Andrew Dixon) filling in for the orchestra, this one fact, this substitution added instead a wholly unexpected and marvelous aspect. For some of us, especially us novices in the art of opera-appreciation, there is already almost too much going on for our brains to accommodate: a story of great drama told in a completely foreign language, superb acting in a uniquely operatic manner, beautiful vocal arias and duets, costume, staging, backdrop. . . . By taking out 39 pieces of orchestra, there is that much more mental capacity to take in all these others. For me, this was an enhancement, not a detriment.

2. The libretto in English was not posted for all to view. For reasons just cited, my brain was not distracted from the performance. Reading is reading, it is not watching, it is not listening, it is not feeling. This allows the philistine opera-goer’s mind to pay attention to the drama unfolding before him, rather than reading and then interpreting as the show goes along. By filling in the intellectual gaps with the content of his own imagination, the listener becomes a part of the creative process, in a way one with Puccini, and the singers. A much better way, I think, to absorb the story, the drama, and Puccini’s memorable, often familiar music.

3. While a full house was missed for this matinee, and thousands of potential audience missed their opportunity to enjoy this wonderful opera—“A True Story: A diary, a novel a play”—in masterful performance, right here in San Rafael, those who did come had a chance to meet the performers in the Green Room after the show. You just don’t get this everywhere.

Among those performers in the Sunday matinee (11/9/14) were Miwako Isano as a lovely and poignant Madama Butterfly, and Alexandra Jerinic as her faithful maidservant Suzuki. The friendship between these two characters is the cement that holds the whole opera together, no better shown than in the stunning duet that ends Act One. David Gustafson‘s Pinkerton was tender and loving on his wedding day, and passionately distraught holding his one-time bride as her sad life passed away. Special note also for the set, the backdrop scrim and the lighting showing the passage of dusk to dawn.

In having seen the opera, in this way, I find my life that much the fuller.

My suggestions to you:

1. If you have a chance to see this or any opera with less than a full orchestra, view it as an opportunity rather than as a loss, a chance to see the familiar an an entirely new light

2. A streaming libretto does not necessarily add to your understanding of the story or your appreciation of the show.

3. When you can meet the cast and crew, take advantage. There is much more to them, their lives and yours than the show you have must shared.

 

–Review by David Hirzel         www.davidhirzel.net