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Jun 22 2014
Love0

Rewritten Tony Kushner mosaic is brilliant, heady, funny

By Woody Weingarten

 Woody’s [rating:4.5] 

Taking center stage in “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide…” are (from left) Mark Margolis (Gus), Tina Chilip (Sooze) and Joseph J. Parks (Vito). Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com.

Ensemble cast in “iHo” includes (from left) Liz Wisan (Maeve), Deirdre Lovejoy (Empty) and Anthony Fusco (Adam). Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com.

Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Paul, front) confronts Lou Liberatore (Pill) in “iHo” as Randy Danson (Clio), Deirdre Lovejoy (Empty) and Joseph J. Parks (Vito) look on. Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com.

To say Tony Kushner’s play about a dysfunctional Italian-American family in Brooklyn meanders is to miss the point.

And to say “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures” runs a fast 3 hours, 45 minutes (including two intermissions) misses it, too.

What is the takeaway, then?

Like most of Kushner’s work, the complex three-act drama entrenched at the Berkeley Rep is brilliant.

Overflowing with passion and humor.

It’s a heady mosaic, a verbal choreography of truncated sentences and unfinished thoughts, with Kushner hell-bent on tackling a laundry list of philosophical conceits (even as characters simultaneously try to outshout one another, crisscross themes or become tongue-tied).

“The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide…,” which the playwright originally planned as an epic novel, first opened as a tragicomic drama in 2009.

But, as with previous plays, the creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning two-part “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” was rewriting what his husband Mark Harris nicknamed “iHo” almost until the curtain went up.

The result?

The radiant West Coast premiere — replete with myriad subplots — probes love, parenting, familial relationships and money, not necessarily in that order.

And anyone brought up not to discuss sex, politics or religion is advised to stay away.

Director Tony Taccone, Berkeley Rep’s artistic chieftain for 16 years, has collaborated with Kushner eight times (including the world premiere of “Angels”) and been a friend of his for four decades.

It shows.

When disillusioned Communist and retired intellectual longshoreman Gus Marcantonio announces he wants to commit suicide, his adult kids return to his brownstone with lovers and spouses to stop him.

Instead, they incite tumult.

Gus is portrayed by Mark Margolis, a “Breaking Bad” alum whose ability to let me (and the rest of the audience) share his character’s inner reality is remarkable.

Surrounding him — each displaying extraordinary acting chops — are Randy Danson as aunt Clio, a radicalized ex-nun; Lou Liberatore as Pill, Gus’ super-tormented gay history-teaching son; and Tyrone Mitchell Henderson as Paul, a theologian enraged by virtually everyone he encounters — as well as God.

Other major characters are Empty (Deirdre Lovejoy), Gus’ bisexual labor lawyer daughter; “V” or Vito (Joseph J. Parks), Gus’ son, a building contractor and the family’s “black sheep,” a capitalist; and Eli (Jordan Geiger), a lovesick hustler.

Incredibly, the entire ensemble cast of 11 is stellar.

They become figures that make Eugene O’Neill’s damaged characters tame by comparison.

“iHo” isn’t tidy, though.

Like other Kushner’s pieces, it’s occasionally self-indulgent.

He loves throwing in oblique references — from classic Horace to modern-day pop culture. And pithiness certainly isn’t his long suit, despite pearls like:

• “What’s real, the dream or the dreamer?”

• “The only real death is to live meaninglessly.”

Or, for laughs, “Yeah, baby, talk Commie talk to me.”

Did I “get” everything?

Hell no. Especially the more esoteric theological investigations.

I suspect a second, or fifth, viewing is necessary to grok all Kushner wants us to comprehend.

Taccone is skilled at interpreting Kushner — from putting the “isms” under a microscope, from contrasting labor unions to the union of individuals, from dissecting family dynamics.

He’s aided by scenic designer Christopher Barecca’s bi-level set, probably best described by an Ernest Hemingway title: “A Moveable Feast.”

Opening night, stage lights malfunctioned for a few moments. The distraction was significant, ironically, because it showed how impeccable the rest of the “iHo” production was.

The 14-word title, incidentally, pays homage to George Bernard Shaw’s economic exploration, “The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism,” and Mary Baker Eddy’s “Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures.”

Kushner has said he’s “always very happy being back at the Berkeley Rep, the only theater outside of New York where I truly feel at home, in the Bay Area, the only part of the world outside of New York I consider truly habitable.”

Although award panels have lauded him with two Tonys, three Obies and an Emmy, not everything he writes — despite endless attempts at perfectionism — is flawless, compelling, mesmerizing.

But he’s raised the level of American theater.

This version of “iHo,” I’m convinced deserves a rating of three brilliants and two dazzlings — or, for any who prefers the more familiar, six stars on a five-star chart.

“The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures” plays at the Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley, through June 29. Tickets: $14.50 to $99, subject to change, (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.

Jun 21 2014
Love0

Actors make ‘American Buffalo’ invaluable

By Judy Richter

“American Buffalo” gets its title from a valuable buffalo nickel, but a theme of David Mamet’s potent play is business in America, and it’s not very pretty.

Aurora Theatre Company is staging a topnotch production of this 1975 play under the direction of Barbara Damashek.

The setting is a cluttered resale shop in Chicago owned by Donny (Paul Vincent O’Connor). A few days earlier, Donny had unwittingly sold a buffalo nickel to a customer who was more than willing to pay $90 for it.

Donny deduced that it probably was worth more than that and has enlisted his young assistant, Bobby (Rafael Jordan), to help him steal it back.

When Donny’s friend Teach (James Carpenter) arrives and learns of the plan, he convinces Donny to bring him in and to leave Bobby out. Considering that all three men are liars and that none of them is truly astute, the plan fizzles out.

During the course of the two-act play, there’s much talk about business, as if the speakers were experts, but they aren’t. Teach is probably a two-bit crook, Bobby is young and dumb, and Donny — though ostensibly running a legal operation — is hardly a huge success.

The greatest pleasure of this production is watching two master actors — O’Connor and Carpenter — at work. Carpenter’s profanity-spouting Teach is full of edgy energy and volatile bravado.

O’Connor’s Donny is more low key and seemingly rational. He might not react verbally to some of Teach’s comments, but his expressive face reflects his disbelief or skepticism.

Their timing and their handling of Mamet’s language are endlessly fascinating, along with their ability to bring his humor to the fore.

Jordan’s Bobby is definitely not bright and often vague when pumped for information. One can’t be sure if he’s being evasive or if he’s really as dense as he seems. However, it’s clear that he admires Donny and appreciates the fatherly interest that Donny takes in him.

Director Damashek skillfully orchestrates the action within Aurora’s intimate space. Kudos to fight director Dave Maier, too.

The set by Eric E. Sinkkonen is a marvel of clutter (props assembled by Kirsten Royston). The costumes by Cassandra Carpenter are right out of the 1970s.

Running just over two hours with one intermission, this is a production to be savored, not only for the quality of the play itself but also the performances by Carpenter and O’Connor.

“American Buffalo” will continue at Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison Ave., Berkeley, through July 13. For tickets and information call (510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

 

Jun 21 2014
Love0

La Traviata — San Francisco Opera Performance Review

By Joe Cillo

La Traviata

San Francisco Opera Performance

June 20, 2014

 

 

I think I am going to quit going to the opera.  It is an artform that I seem to dislike.  I seldom warm to these performances.  I am unimpressed with the composers, that is, as purveyors of ideas about life, values, and commentary on society and human relations.  They seem mediocre, superficial and hopelessly conservative.  I don’t usually like the music very much either, except for Wagner.

La Traviata is, I would say, the worst opera I’ve seen.  It could have been written by a Catholic priest.  It drips with contempt and hatred for women from beginning to end.  It is unrelenting.  I am surprised that women’s groups are not picketing the opera house.  It is hypocritical and maudlin.  I felt a great revulsion watching it and thought about leaving after the first act, but I wanted to review it, so I stuck it out.  But it was punishment.  It was not an enjoyable evening at all.

Verdi is clearly writing about a character he knows nothing about.  No experienced courtesan would be a sucker for a delusional idiot like Alberto.  Nor would an experienced courtesan allow herself to be bullied by an arrogant, pompous jerk like Alberto’s father.  A courtesan would seduce him, charm him, disarm him.  Violetta never even tried that.  It never occurred to her, but it is instinctive in women who habitually relate to men on a sexual level in their daily experience.  Violetta is a totally unconvincing character from the beginning all the way to her long, drawn out death, and the plot seems contrived and ad hoc, with abrupt turn-arounds in the characters and their attitudes toward one other, none of which make any real sense.

In Act II Violetta has apparently succumbed to Alfredo’s childish, naive proposal offered in Act I, and they are living together in the country and apparently getting along well.  Violetta is supporting him in a reversal of her customary role, but they are running out of money living far beyond their means.  It is a very unlikely scenario for an experienced sex worker to get herself into.  It is only three months after Act I, not exactly a well tested love, although it is represented as an epic romance for the ages.   Violetta is then approached by Giorgio, her lover’s father, who seeks to sabotage his son’s relationship by persuading the (former) courtesan to give him up.  But why?  So that his (Giorgio’s) younger daughter — a girl of supposedly impeccable purity and innocence — can get married to some asshole who is putting off the wedding  because he thinks Alfredo’s involvement with Violetta is tarnishing his image.   Does anybody else out there see how ridiculous this is?  And Violetta, after a melodramatic struggle, falls for it, and accedes to Giorgio’s demands, without even consulting Alfredo.  Very few women would be cowed by an approach of this sort, let alone an experienced courtesan who knows how to manipulate and subdue men.  I should have gotten up and walked out and set an example for how people should respond to this instead of writing this review that no one will read.

The notes and other commentary on this opera try to spin Violetta as setting a noble example of love as self sacrifice.  She is sacrificing the love of her life, at the behest of his father, to enable an allegedly pure young girl, obviously superior to her, whom she does not even know, to marry a total jerk, whom she also doesn’t know.  The only thing she knows about the man that she is giving up the love of her life for is that he is so contemptuous of her that he would deny himself a marriage to a girl who meets his qualifications of purity and innocence on account of Violetta’s relationship with the girl’s brother, which has nothing to do with them.  And so Violetta says, “OK, I see your point.  I’ll dump my lover whom I am crazy about, so you can come down off your high horse and marry this little bitch who has fooled you into thinking she is so innocent and pure.”  It is beyond absurd.  It insults the audience and despises every woman in the auditorium.

The third act could probably be eliminated.  It does not contribute anything to the main story line.  Its only purpose seems to be to heap more contempt and degradation on Violetta.  It confirms Alfredo as a hapless, deluded, naive sucker.  It just underlines Verdi’s contempt for all of these people, who are only cardboard characters anyway.  The fourth act is a long, drawn out, dreary, dismal death agony.  At times sentimental, at times self pitying, it’s enough to make you sick.  It felt like it would never end.  I was so glad when Violetta finally died.  The third and fourth acts probably could have been condensed down to about fifteen minutes instead of the almost hour and a half that they interminably ran.

The program said that La Traviata is the most often performed opera in the world.  If La Traviata is the world’s most often performed opera, what does that say about the abysmal condition of this artform?  What does it say about the sickness and confusion over sexual relations within our society that people would support and applaud something so blatantly hypocritical and so trenchant in its contempt for women?  It reflects how bleak and  impoverished we must be in our personal relationships.  It is really appalling that the audience would sit there through that entire awful second act between Giorgio and Violetta and not one person was laughing, hooting, booing, catcalling, or hissing.  No one threw any garbage at the stage.  What is wrong with these people?

During the first intermission they left the curtain up and Production Director George Weber narrated the set change for the audience, explaining how the sets are built, stored, and changed between acts, which was a very interesting presentation — more interesting than the opera itself.  During the course of this presentation it was mentioned that it takes 290 people to stage this opera, including the cast, the orchestra, the stage hands, and everyone else connected with it, and costs between $1 million and $5 million.  If that much effort and expense is going to be put forth to produce an opera to be viewed by the public, then it should be a production that is not so insipid and cartoonish in its conceptualization and does not insult the audience and display such naked contempt for the women of society.  This opera should never be performed again.  It is a cesspool of confusion and hypocrisy.  I curse it.  It is not fit for modern people.

 

Jun 18 2014
Love0

“T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common)” at Main Stage West, Sebastopol CA

By Greg & Suzanne Angeo

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

Photos by Ilana Niernberger

Wicked, Mesmerizing Fun in a “Trenchcoat”

Clockwise from top left-Trevor Phillips, Gary Grossman, Rick Hill, Dana Scott, Ivy Rose Miller, Jacquelyn Wells

Somehow it’s fitting that Main Stage West’s production of T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common) opened on Friday the 13th.  This latest work by popular San Francisco playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a scary-funny crazy-quilt of carefully crafted misfits and oddballs, Nachtrieb’s stock in trade. They’re all suffering, to one degree or another, from the disconnected interconnectedness that has come to define modern life. T.I.C.premiered in San Francisco in 2009, commissioned and produced by the Encore Theatre Company. It starts off as an abstract dark comedy about isolation and secrecy, and evolves into an elaborate, captivating whodunit.

After her mother’s sudden death, a cynical and disaffected teenaged girl called the Kid (a superbly hyperkinetic Ivy Rose Miller) arrives on the doorstep of the father she never knew (a sensitive and funny Rick Hill, also MSW’s new Managing Director). He shares a big, lovely old Victorian house in San Francisco with four eccentric “tenants in common”. Each has their own private flat, and each inhabits their own private universe.

We’ve got the trenchcoat-clad undercover flasher Terence (an amazingly versatile Gary Grossman). Smoking endless bowls of weed is the sinister aging hippie Claudia (delivered with savage intensity by Jacquelyn Wells). There’s the obnoxiously cheerful Sabra (a manic, brilliant comic turn by Dana Scott), not to be outdone by the obnoxiously morose musician wanna-be Shye (a convincing Trevor Phillips).

And the Dad? He’s a very likeable, sincere guy, maybe just a little bit too hooked on internet gay porn. He really wants to be a good father, but how can he befriend this young stranger when she pushes him away, scornfully calling him “the seed source” and finally just “the source”?

Rejecting all emotional and physical contacts, the Kid’s laptop is her window on the
world. She lives life through her blog, Facebook and Google,  an outsider still curious about others. The loss of her mother, the one person she had connected with, is like a fresh wound that must be shielded. She observes from a safe distance,  an emotional girl who avoids emotional contact.

From left-Trevor Phillips, Jacquelyn Wells, Dana Scott, Gary Grossman, Rick Hill

The neighbors have windows, and she becomes obsessed with their secrets. “All adults hide things”, she insists. But with growing alarm she discovers that sometimes it’s best to leave rocks where they are; or sometimes not. If you look under them, you may not like what crawls out. Or you may just save lives.

Sheri Lee Miller is at the helm and draws wonderful performances from the talented cast. She effectively highlights the isolation of the four T.I.C. characters  (and also the Kid and her Dad) with their placement on stage; together but separate, each emerging in turn to proclaim their own manifesto. But while the story onstage is fascinating and funny, it lacks a clear focus and doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Is it a freak show, a mystery, a dark comedy, or a mashup of all of the above? The audience is free to decide. One thing is clear: T.I.C. is a provocative, original and very entertaining show.

Ivy Rose Miller, Rick Hill

When: Now through June 29, 2014

8:00 p.m Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays

5:00 p.m. Sundays

Tickets $15 to $25 (Thursdays are “pay what you will” at the door only)

 

Main Stage West

104 North Main Street

Sebastopol, CA 95472

(707) 823-0177

www.mainstagewest.com

Jun 18 2014
Love0

Passion, sadness, wit pervade staged bio of conductor Leonard Bernstein

By Woody Weingarten

Woody’s [rating:3.5]

Hershey Felder becomes conductor-composer Leonard
Bernstein at the Berkeley Rep. Photo by Michael Lamont.

Leonard Bernstein as Leonard Bernstein.

One-man show, “Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro,” is on stage at the Berkeley Rep. Photo by Michael Lamont.

Genius.

It’s defined as a person with exceptional creativity, originality or intellectual ability, especially in the arts or sciences.

Triple-threat American conductor-composer-pianist Leonard Bernstein certainly met that standard.

Over and over.

But Hershey Felder, a Canadian triple-threat himself (pianist, actor, director), depicts Bernstein in a new one-man show at the Berkeley Rep as a self-branded failure because he couldn’t compose music that might equal Beethoven’s.

Bernstein was in his own mind merely someone who’d be remembered for trivial melodies from Broadway’s “West Side Story.”

Felder approximates him, but doesn’t impersonate his finishing school speech patterns.

That’s good, because many in the audience — I, for one — recall boyish Lenny images from TV’s “Omnibus” and his Young People’s Concerts.

Felder instead fills the stage throughout his inelegantly titled mini-bio, “Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro,” with larger-than-life passion.

Plus equal doses of sadness and wit.

He smoothly ping-pongs between triumph and tragedy while honing the essences of multiple characters — including Bernstein’s ultra-Jewish parents and his Chilean actress wife (Felicia Cohn Montealegre, whom the bisexual Harvard grad deserted for a man, though he returned to comfort her when she was dying).

He shines while posing as American composer Aaron Copland, Bernstein friend and benefactor, and a string of European conductors who influenced him.

Felder also injects ooh-aah nuggets, like this recounting of a mentor’s instructions: “It was like watching God sculpt the Garden of Eden.”

The play’s a tour de force, for sure, likely to wring some wetness from your tear ducts — as it did from mine.

I saw Bernstein only once, with New York’s philharmonic, and Felder’s no Bernstein.

But he is a virtuoso pianist and a moving entertainer.

Poignantly lovely is his rendition of Bernstein’s “Somewhere,” which contrasts vividly with slivers of “Emperor Concerto” and other percussive Beethoven works.

Felder also mines brilliance from Copland’s “Piano Variations” and Bernstein compositions ranging from his derivative “Piano Sonata” to the raucous “I Hate Music” to the ethnically inspired “Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah.”

Stunning is a projected image of an operatic excerpt from Wagner’s “Liebestod” synchronized with Felder’s playing of the piece.

Accented by Bernstein’s words defending his acceptance of the German’s anti-Semitism.

But the show isn’t seamless.

The 100-minute, mostly chronological musical drama occasionally becomes a preachy master class not unlike one of Bernstein’s own teaching moments.

Too detailed. Too intricate. Definitely too pedantic.

It also has holes.

It gives short shrift, for instance, to Bernstein’s longtime leftist political activism (though it does capsulize the “radical chic” flap about his civil liberties fundraiser for Black Panther Party members).

Absent completely are Bernstein’s cigarettes (almost as omnipresent as his baton in real life), which led to his demise in 1990 at age 72.

After having battled emphysema for two decades.

No reference, either, to Bernstein founding the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, with Michael Tilson Thomas — a training school for musicians modeled on Tanglewood and still going strong (it’ll hold a 25th anniversary celebration from mid-July to mid-August).

But Felder, who previously tackled Chopin, Liszt and Beethoven in solo shows, exquisitely captures Bernstein’s arrogance.

And his insecurities.

And his scornful dismissal of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Judicious editing might help Felder jump-start the show, though.

It’s advantageous he doesn’t shy from the conductor’s gay meanderings or his lifelong immersion in Jewishness, but the over-emphasis on the latter heritage at the get-go is problematic — especially the massive infusion of Yiddish and Hebrew.

That said, it should also be noted that director Joel Zwick, helmsman of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” who’s collaborated on Felder’s earlier shows, skillfully guides the single-act play toward the standing ovation it warrants.

In rendering Bernstein, Felder, who’s married to an ex-Canadian prime minister 21 years his senior, Kim Campbell, isn’t as entertaining as he’d been in “George Gershwin Alone.”

Nor is his performance as riveting as the one by Mona Golabek in “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” that he directed.

But his hard work researching, writing and acting pays big dividends on Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage.

Thomas Edison defined genius as “one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

When I use that yardstick, Felder’s evidently a genius.

“Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro” plays at the Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley, through June 22.  Tickets: $14.50 to $87, subject to change, (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.

Jun 16 2014
Love0

‘The Farnsworth Invention’ stirs controversy

By Judy Richter

“The Farnsworth Invention” refers to television, the revolutionary device conceived by Philo T. Farnsworth when he was a 14-year-old farm boy in Idaho.

Presented by Palo Alto Players, Aaron Sorkin’s play tells the story of how Farnsworth brought his idea to fruition with the first image transmitted at his lab on San Francisco’s Green Street in 1927 and how he engaged in a long-running patent battle with David Sarnoff,  general manager of RCA and subsequently NBC.

Parts of the story are alternately narrated by Sarnoff (Michael Sally) and Farnsworth (Dominic Falletti.) Thirteen other actors portray some 90 characters.

What makes this PAP production unique is that it stirred up controversy before its opening mainly because it inaccurately says that Farnsworth lost his patent case to Sarnoff when just the opposite was true.

Several people voiced their concerns to local newspapers. Farnsworth supporters in the courtyard of the Lucie Stern Cente in Palo Alto quietly handed out leaflets about him at the June 14 opening. Some held handmade signs with such messages as “Philo won,” “Friend of Philo” and “Truth — Philo won.” Two held a banner proclaiming Farnsworth’s induction into the TV Hall of Fame in 2013.

A program insert from playwright Sorkin asserts that the play clearly shows that Farnsworth invented electronic TV (other inventors had tried other approaches) and that Sarnoff’s RCA stole it from him. Sorkin also says that he condensed many years of legal wrangling into one scene. He concludes, “…in the end, the inventor of television died broke and in obscurity, and that was the larger truth I was getting at.”

Director Dave Sikula’s program note opens with “The story you are about to see is true. Mostly.” He also acknowledges that “the last big decision announced in Act Two … went precisely the opposite way.”

The play starts with Farnsworth (1906-1971) getting his idea while plowing a field in Idaho.  From there it goes through his teen and young adult years when he married a fellow Mormon, Pem (Jennifer Gregoire), and pursued funding to develop his idea.

These scenes alternate with Sarnoff’s youth, when he and his Jewish family left what is now Belarus for the United States when he was 10. His career in electronic communications began when he worked for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. and rose from there.

Although the overall play is interesting, it’s heavy on scientific information that might go over the heads of some people. However, others in tech-savvy Silicon Valley will probably know exactly what’s happening.

The set by Kuo-Hao Lo features a large TV screen showing video projections by George Mauro. The costumes are by Shannon Maxham with lighting by Selina Young and sound by Jeff Grafton.

A problem with this production is that director Sikula moves the action and dialog so fast that it’s sometimes hard to connect with the characters, differentiate among them and comprehend what they’re saying.

Along those lines, Falletti is too animated as Farnsworth, and, at least on opening night, Sally muffed some of his lines as Sarnoff. Otherwise, he was convincing.

One of the most interesting segments of the play opens Act 2.  It’s a clip from a 1957 broadcast of TV’s “I’ve Got a Secret” hosted by Garry Moore. His guest was Farnsworth, whose secret was “I invented electronic television.” Incidentally, the show was sponsored by Winston cigarettes, the logo prominently displayed in front of  Moore and the four-person panel trying to guess the secret.

After that, Act 2 gets bogged down in legal wrangling and behind-the-scenes skullduggery that reflects poorly on Sarnoff. However,  it ends with another TV clip, this one of Apollo 11 about to blast off for the first manned mission to the moon in 1969.

Despite the local controversy over the play, it’s clear that Farnsworth did indeed invent television and that he was a genius. However, he deserves a better play and a better production than this.

A detailed analysis of the play’s facts and fiction is available at www.thefarnsworthinvention.com/intro.html.

“The Farnsworth Invention” will continue at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, through June 29. For tickets and information, call (650) 329-0891 or visit www.paplayers.org.

 

Jun 15 2014
Love0

Life Is A Journey, Death A Destination in Failure: A Love Story at MTC

By Flora Lynn Isaacson

Time marches on for the Fail Sisters – Jenny June (Liz Sklar), Gertrude (Megan Smith) and Nelly (Kathryn Zdan) – with a little musical accompaniment from Mortimer Mortimer (Brian Herndon on trombone) and John N. Fail (Patrick Kelly Jones on snare) in the West Coast premiere of Philip Dawkins’ Failure: A Love Story at Marin Theatre Company.

 [rating:4] (4/5 stars)

1928 is the last year of each of the Fail sisters’ lives.  Nelly (Kathryn Zdan) is the first of the Fail girls to die, followed soon after by her sisters Jenny June (Liz Sklar) and Gerty (Megan Pearl Smith).  As with so many things in life—blunt objects, disappearances and consumption—they never see death coming.  Written by Chicago playwright, Philip Dawkins, Failure: A Love Story is a magical, musical fable that traces the sisters’ triumphs and defeats. Set in a rickety two-story building by the Chicago River that is the Fail family home and clock shop, this funny, moving and profoundly wise play reminds us that in the end, all that remains is love.

Failure: A Love Story is a lighthearted production not withstanding the premature demise of the Fail sisters. Only the two men and their lives survive into old age–John N. Fail (Patrick Kelly Jones) is washed up on shore as a baby and adopted by the Fail’s and Mortimer Mortimer (Brian Herndon), the earnest gentleman caller who loves each of the sisters in turn.

The play opens with the cast inviting the audience to sing-along In the Good Old Summertime and Let Me Call You Sweetheart.  A marvelous cast briskly directed by Jasson Minadakis doubles as narrators and the scenes and stories of their past lives are in keeping with what Dawkins calls “the hidden love story of our play, the love of telling stories.”  Here the stories include Mortimer Mortimer’s bittersweet, fruitless search for love, the loneliness of his “almost” brother-in-law, John N. Fail, Nelly’s silly but fetching girlishness and Jenny June’s bold optimistic goal of swimming across the rough and heavy waters.

The actors also accompany themselves on a variety of instruments, i.e. ukulele, trombone, stand up bass, drums, piano—as they sing hits of the 1920’s, arranged by Sound Designer, Composer and Music Director Chris Houston.

Other important inanimate characters occupy this household as well –a few birds, a snake named Moses and a dog called Pete.  Since the passage of time is the recurrent theme, clocks and timepieces abound with Nina Ball’s effective set design.  The lighting by York Kennedy, costumes by Jacqueline Firkins all contribute to a memorable evening whose theme, storytelling–the key to surviving human tragedy–resonates long after the play ends.

Failure: A Love Story runs June 5-June 29, 2014 at Marin Theatre Company with 8 performances a week–Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 7 p.m. with matinees Sunday at 2 p.m. There are special performances Saturday June 28 at 2 p.m. and Thursday June 19 at 1 p.m. All performances are held at 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley.  For tickets, call 415-388-5208 or go online at www.marintheatre.org.

Coming up next at Marin Theatre Company will be Fetch Clay, Make Man  by Will Power and directed by Derrick Sanders (Fences) August 14-September 7, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

Jun 15 2014
Love0

A glorious spectacular Show Boat at the SF Opera House

By Kedar K. Adour

Kirsten Wyatt (Elly Mae),  John Bolton (Frank Schultz), Bill Irwin (Captain Andy), Heidi Stober (Magnolia Hawks), Michael Todd Simpson (Gaylord Ravenal),

SHOW BOAT: Musical. Music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; based on the novel “Show Boat” by Edna Ferber, performed by San Francisco Opera
@ War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. 415-864-3330 or www.sfopera.com  Through July 2, 2014. (Co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera)

A glorious spectacular Show Boat at the SF Opera House  [rating:5]

San Francisco Opera’s summer season opens with a glorious production of Show Boat the musical that first took Broadway, and the country, by storm when it opened in 1927 ushering a new era for musical comedy. Since that time there have been a number of revisions of the original score and lyrics and SF Opera under Francesca Zambello’s accomplished direction have elected to stay as close to the original score although they have accepted some additions and changes. The 70 member cast includes two choruses, one black, one white allowing Michele Lynch to display her choreographic skills.  They dance up a storm and sing with equal vivacity. All this happens on dazzling sets (Peter J. Davison) with the cast dressed in period costumes (Paul Tazewell) in all the rainbow colors with red being most dominant.

The raves about the production values are well earned. The cast is a combination of Broadway types and opera performers.There have been some complaints that Show Boat is not deserving of the San Francisco Opera stage. They are totally wrong. The mixture is complimentary in all aspects from the Broadway performers to opera singers.

The Broadway types playing major roles includes first and foremost Bill Irwin (Captain Andy) and alphabetically, James Asher  (Pete/Emcee), Kevin Blackton (Sheriff/Maitre d’), John Bolton (Frank Schultz), Harriet Harris (Parthy Hawks), Sharon McNight (Mrs. O’Brien) and Kirsten Wyatt (Elly Mae). From the Opera world there is Heidi Stober (Magnolia Hawks), Patricia Racette (Juilie LaVerne), Michael Todd Simpson (Gaylord Ravenal), Angela Renee Simpson (Queenie), Morris Robison (Joe).

The Opera contingent earn most of the accolades beginning with Morris Robison’s strong basso voice ‘toting that bale on the Mississippi’ with his powerful rendition of “Ol’ Man River” that he reprises in Act II. Heidi Stober’s lyric soprano voice perfectly nuances the lovely “Make Believe”, “You Are Love” and “Why Do I Love You?” that is a perfect match for the expressive baritone of Michael Todd Simpson in their duets. She has a ball with “After the Ball is Over” sung in swing time during the New Year’s Eve Trocodaro scene.

Patricia Racette grabs your heart with her rendition of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” in Act I and has many of the audience in tears with the emotional “Bill.”  Angela Renee Simpson radiates warmth and comedic ability with “Queeie’s Bally-Hoo”  and great dramatic depth with “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun’.”

Limber limbed Bill Irwin is a joy to watch with his perfect timing of his humorous lines and unbelievably great in the scene where he is a one man dynamo playing all the parts in the unfinished melodrama that was interrupted by a show boat audience member. His performance in the Captain Andy role has touch of Joe E. Brown who played the role in the 1951 movie. Harriet Harris’ as his disapproving wife Parthy is an ideal foil for his shenanigans. Kirsten Wyatt and John Bolton have the right touch of humor an rancor to add to their terrific dancing with backup from the ensemble chorus. (Elly Mae).

The evening is an unqualified success with one caveat that the second act, that takes place over a 10 year span, seems a bit contrived. If that is a fault, the SF Opera’s total production makes it a moot complaint. Running time 2 hours and 45 minutes with a 25 minute intermission.

Major Cast: Patrick Cummings, Steve Baker; Bill Irwin, Cap’n Andy Hawks; Morris Robinson, Joe; Harriet Harris, Parthy Ann Hawks; Kirsten Wyatt, Ellie Mae Chipley; John Bolton, Frank Schultz; Patricia Racette, Julie La Verne; Heidi Stober, Magnolia Hawks; Michael Todd Simpson,  Gaylord Ravenal; Kevin Biackton, Sheriff Vallon; Carmen Steele, Young Kim; Sharon McNight, Mrs. O’Brien

Production Staff: Conductor John DeMain; Director Francesca Zambello; Choreographer Michele Lynch; Set Designer Peter J. Davison; Costume Designer Paul Tazewell; Lighting Designer Mark McCullough; Chorus Director Ian Robertson; Associate Director E. Loren Meeker; Sound Designer Tod Nixon; Dance Master Lawrence Pech; Fight Director Dave Maier; Assistant Conductor Joseph Marcheso; Stage Manager Darin Burnett; Costume Supervisor Jai Alltizer; Wig and Makeup Designer Gerd Mairandres.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Jun 14 2014
Love0

Ancient tale of revenge, ‘Orphan of Zhao,’ comes to ACT stage

By Judy Richter

“The Orphan of Zhao” is an ancient Chinese story that has undergone numerous iterations through the centuries.

American Conservatory Theater is presenting a new adaptation by James Fenton under the direction of Carey Perloff, artistic director.

Sometimes called the Chinese “Hamlet,” this tale of revenge is full of deadly sacrifices as one character after another kills himself or is killed.

It all starts in the royal court where the dissolute emperor (Paolo Montalban) and one of his top advisers, the villainous Tu’an Gu (Stan Egi), shoot arrows into the crowd below just for sport.

Three other advisers, led by Zhao Dun (Nick Gabriel), object. Realizing their lives are imperiled, two of them leave, but Zhao bravely stays. After Tu’an Gu falsely accuses him of being a traitor, he is forced to kill himself.

In the meantime, Tu’an Gu has arranged to have all 300 of Zhao’s male relatives killed so that no one can avenge Zhao’s death. Zhao’s wife, the emperor’s daughter (Marie-France Arcilla), gives birth to a son that she reluctantly entrusts to a country doctor, Cheng Ying (BD Wong). He tells Tu’an Gu that his own newborn son is Zhao’s son. Tu’an Gu cruelly kills the baby.

All that takes place in Act 1. In Act 2, 18 years have passed and Zhao’s son, Cheng Bo (Daisuke Tsuji), a.ka. the orphan of Zhao, is now a young man who believes he is the natural son of Cheng Ying and the adoptive son of Tu’an Gu. He eventually learns the truth and avenges his father’s death while restoring righteousness to the empire.

Not many characters are left alive by the final curtain, but justice has been served according to custom.

Although the story sounds complicated, it’s easy to follow in Perloff’s direction of an excellent ensemble cast on Daniel Ostling’s set with its bamboo scaffolding. The production is enriched by Byron Au Yong’s music, Linda Cho’s sumptuous costumes, Lap Chi Chu’s lighting and Jake Rodriguez’s sound.

It’s an intriguing theatrical work that continues at the Geary Theater, 415 Mason St., San Francisco, through June 29. For tickets and information, call (415) 749-2228 or visit www.act-sf.org.

Jun 13 2014
Love0

Failure: A Love Story beautifully staged at Marin Theatre

By Kedar K. Adour

Jenny June Fail (Liz Sklar) trains to swim across Lake Michigan in her home with the help of Mortimer Mortimer (Brian Herndon) in the West Coast premiere of Philip Dawkins’ Failure: A Love Story at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, eight shows weekly through June 29.

Failure: A Love Story: Play with music. By Philip Dawkins. Directed by Jasson Minadakis.Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley.(415) 388-5208 orwww.marintheatre.org.  June 5 – June 29, 2014.

Failure: A Love Story beautifully staged at Marin Theatre  [Rating:3]

Consider it good advice to avoid seeing a play on the day after opening night since those in positions to know state that there is usually an emotional letdown by the cast. Having to miss opening night, a choice was made to attend the second day after the opening of Failure: A Love Story by the Marin Theatre Company. It was a wise decision since the 5 member cast played their hearts out on the intimate stage. However the audience response was deadly silent with only a single person responding to scenes that should elicit at least a polite laugh.

The play is written by Philip Dawkins, an up and coming Chicago playwright who has another play, The Homosexuals that opened  at the New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC). Dawkins seems to be fascinated with the concept of time since the play at NCTC goes backward in time starting in 2010 and ending in 2000. In Failure etc we learn early that the Fail sisters, Nelly (Kathryn Zdan), Jenny June (Liz Sklar) and Gertude (Megan Pearl Smith) are going to die. It is 1928 when the fatalities will happen and the story moves back to the turn of the 20th Century.

Before the sisters’ story begins there is a lengthy vaudevillian type sequence where the two males in the cast tell a ridiculous tale of the sisters’ parents ending up in the Chicago River when their new DeSoto car took a wrong turn. The girls inherit the Fail Clock Repair Company and live in the upstairs apartment.

Before the parents leave this world, they discover a male baby in the bulrushes (?) by side of that fateful river. The baby is adopted by the Fails and named John (Patrick Kelly Jones). He just happens to have a small snake clenched in his tiny hands. That little snake eventually grows up becoming a huge friendly Boa Constrictor called Moses.   

Dawkins encourages theatres that produce the play to be creative and one production used 30 or so actors. Marin Theatre Company decided to use five live actors using props (Seren Heldy) for the animals that become integrated into the plot. They took on composer and musician Chris Houston to put the play to music and he has added his own composition along with flapper songs of the 1920s such as “In the Good Old Summertime” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”.  The cast plays a number of instruments including, piano, bass fiddle, violin, ukulele, trombone and drums. I forgot to mention the marvelous Nina Ball set is adorned with clocks of all types and some of them even talk thus proving Dawkins is obsessed with time.

Although we learn early and often that the Fail sisters are going to die by “drowning, consumption, disappearance and blunt objects to the head” it is not a sad tale. They all love their brother John who speaks to animals but has a problem relating to real people and all the girls have a chance to love and be loved although being a bit late each time it happens.

For the love interest we meet Mortimer Mortimer (Brian Herdon) who is brought home by the youngest Nellie. When she meets her demise being hit on the head by a toppling statue Mortimer Mortimer moves in with the family and becomes fast friends with John.

The hyper-active Jenny June takes on Mortimer as her swimming trainer even though he can not swim. Jenny is training to be the first woman to swim across Lake Michigan.  It is pointed out that she will be the first since no man has ever undertaken the challenge. Alas, just before reaching the far shore she disappears and is never found.

Next up, through a series of improbable happenstance Gertrude professes love for Mortimer even though she is on her last breath with consumption.

The entire play is acted as high camp with many visual jokes added to inane dialog. All the actors perform brilliantly and adeptly change into the inanimate objects and handle the props for the various animals that include, a dog, the boa and two love birds that are worked into the love angle of the play.

(l to r)Nelly (The youngest), Jenny June (The Midlest) and Gertrude (The eldest)

Director Minadakis keeps the pace at full tilt and adds flourishes that are admirable. The entire production is beautifully mounted but considering Heri Bergson’s relative time the one hour and 45 minute running time without intermission seemed longer on the Thursday night this reviewer attended.

Production Staff:  Directed by Jasson Minadakis; Composer Music Director & Sound Designer Chris Houston; Choreographer Kathryn Zdan; Scenic Designer Nina Ball; Lighting Designer York Kennedy; Costume Designer Jacqueline Firkins; Stage Manager Elisa Guthertz; Properties Artisan Seren Heldy; Dramaturg Margot Melcon; Assistant Dramaturg Julianna Reese.

Cast: Brian Herndon as Mortimer Mortimer, Patrick Kelly Jones as John Fail, Liz Sklaras Jenny June Fail, Megan Pearl Smith as Gertrude Fail and Kathryn Zdan as Nelly Fail.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.