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

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 20^th 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.

                                             Ensemble Cast of The Orphan of Zhao at A.C.T. Photo by Kevin Berne

The Orphan of Zhao: Chinese Drama adapted by James Fenton. Directed by Carey Perloff. American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.), A.C.T.’s Geary Theater, 415 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. 415.749.2228 or www.act-sf.org.  A co-production with La Jolla Playhouse. June 4-29, 2014

THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO is a stunning production by A.C.T     [rating:5]

There are multiple ways for theatre to create a memorable evening. Amongst others there may be superb writing, brilliant acting, thoughtful intellectual stimulation, remarkable staging and inventive direction. All of these qualities are displayed in The Orphan of Zhao that received a standing ovation on opening night. This is quite a feat considering the original play is almost 900 years old. It has had hundreds of productions in China with a 2010 film version titled Sacrifice.

The script used by A.C.T. is James Fenton’s adaptation written for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He uses the device of having the characters break the fourth wall addressing the audience about what is happening and their internal emotions. Since the storyline is convoluted and the character names have Chinese pronunciations that differ from the English spelling these interludes of explanation provide clarity. The action is fortified by original music by Bryon Au Young of Stuck Elevator fame. That music is provided on stage by the ensemble with cello, violin, drum, cymbals, bamboo sticks, clay flutes and even water basins. There is also a ballad singer.  It adds an eerie patina to the storyline.

A celebration is being held for the newly finished Crimson Cloud Tower. From that Tower, the drunken Emperor (Paolo Montalban) and his wicked advisor Tu’an Gu (Stan Egi) are indiscriminately shooting arrows into the crowd gathered in the Peach Garden below killing many of them. Zhao Dun (Nick Gabriel) the Emperor’s son-in-law and General Wei Jiang (Orville Mendoza) chastise the Emperor and lose favor with the Court. Wei Jiang and elderly counselor Gongsun Chujiu (Sab Shimono) cannot tolerate such behavior and voluntarily leave the Court going to remote areas. Zhao Dun remains with his pregnant wife the Princess (Maria-France Arcilla).

Tu’an Gu considers  Zhao Dun a threat to his future rise to the throne and orders a henchman to kill Zhao. When this act is not carried out, Tu’an Gu’s trained Demon Mastiff  (Brian Rivera) to sniffs out Zhao as a traitor. Knowing of his imminent death and the massacre of his entire, Zhao implores his wife to hide the boy child when he is born.

All the local doctors have been executed and a simple country doctor named Cheng Ying (BD Wong) arrives to deliver the baby. The Princess extracts a promise from Cheng to always protect the child . . . the orphan of Zhao, the only living member of his clan. Cheng is able to secret the baby out of the Court but Tu’an Gu knows of Cheng’s trickery and threatens to have every male baby in the country killed if he does not return the Orphan of Zhao.

Cheng’s loyalty and his promise to the Princess force him into a terrible decision to give up his own son as the Orphan of Zhao who is disemboweled.  Tu’an Gu arranges to adopt Cheng’s baby and to bring him up in the Court as his adopted son unbeknownst that he is the Orphan of Zhao.   

In Act II it is 18 years later and Cheng Bo (Daisuke Tsuji) has been taught the art of herbal medicine from Cheng Ying and the art of War from Tu’an Gu. He is a true Renaissance man. He is appalled during his travels through the country where he witnesses the strong oppressing  the weak. When he learns his true identity is ready to make changes. All eventually gets resolved with the loyal being rewarded and evil being punished and bodies strew the stage.

All this is very philosophical  but it the fantastic staging, directing and acting that will blow you away.  The stylistic acting by the entire cast never misses a beat and the entrance of Cheng Bo is eye-boggling as he scampers over the frame work without missing a line. BD Wong in this homecoming is a total success but he must share accolades with every member of the cast. Special mention of Brian Riveras as the Demon Mastiff, Julyana Soelistyo as Cheng’s wife, Marie-France Arcilla as the Princess, Orville Mendoza as General Wei Jiang, Sab Shimono as the elderly Gongsun Chujiu and Nick Gabriel as Zhao Dun.

Ostling’s set of three level, three sided ‘bamboo platforms’ and huge silk screens that drop from the rafters, some with painted scenes, other stark white that become mountains and a scroll on which to write the history of the action is marvelous. Add to this the intricate fight scenes with bamboo sticks and the glorious music, especially Jessica Ivry on the cello and the evening is complete. This is a must see production.

Running time two hours and 25 minutes with an intermission.

Featuring: Marie France Arcilla; Stan Egi; Philip Estrera; Nick Gabriel; Cindy Im; Orville Mendoza; Brian Rivera; Sab Shimono; Julyana Soelistyo; Paolo Montalban; and BD Wong.

Creative team: scenic designer Daniel Ostling; costume designer Linda Cho; lighting designer Lap Chi Chu; sound designer Jake Rodriguez; original music Byron Au Yong and movement by Stephen Buescher.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatrewoerldinternetmagazine.com

HERSHEY FELDER AS LEONARD BERNSTEIN IN MAESTRO: Music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and others. Book by Hershey Felder. With Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein. Directed by Joel Zwick. Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Thrust, 2025 Addison Street @ Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704   June 6 – June 22, 2014 (EXTENDED! June 5–July 3, 2014) [rating:3]

The multitalented (pianist, actor, playwright, composer, producer, and director) Hershey Felder triumphantly returns to Berkeley Rep’s trust stage becoming the multitalented Leonard Bernstein. In the past Felder has limited his portrayals to composers including his smash hit last year as George Gershwin in George Gershwin Alone. In that performance he tacked on a 30 minute sing-a-long curtain call when the uproarious applause kept him on the stage. This time there was no curtain call but it was not from lack of appreciation from a rapt audience.

In the past he has taken on the personae of  Fryderyk Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt. All were great composers while Bernstein was an unsuccessful classical composer and is known for his orchestral directing skills. He considered himself a failure. If one might conjecture about Felder’s motivations to create this show it may be he wished to display his own directorial skills. He certainly does that when he, through Bernstein, gives us a thorough lesson in the art of directing an orchestra that he learned studying under such great conductors including Dimitri Mitropoulos, Fritz Reiner, Serge Koussevitzky, Artur Rodzinski and composer Aaron Copland. Bernstein became the youngest conductor to have led and become the first American-born music director of the  New York Philharmonic.

Much of the evening is devoted to Bernstein’s relationship with his Jewish immigrant father who was materialistic and adamant that one cannot make a living as a musician. This allows Felder to adopt a Yiddish accent that adds humor. The accent is used throughout the evening as Felder chronologically grows from young Bernstein to a disappointed adulthood. There is only brief mention of his faithful wife and children with a “throw-away-line”  late the show about his fling with a young boy that lasted only 1 ½ years saying as he departed the stage his greatest regret was the hurt he caused those near and dear to him.  With a curtain line such as that there could be no encore.

The evening starts and ends with Felder using the words from West Side Story in the song “Somewhere” with a time and place for everything. Felder frames the evening with the lyrics from that song. As with his other productions there is a single set with props that are pertinent to the character he is creating. For this show there is an ancient TV camera reflecting the fact that Bernstein’s fame was made even more grand through the “Omibus” TV series. Many of the projected clips are taken from that program.

The black and white projections become an integral part of the 90 minute show as he effortlessly moves from his piano playing to dialog. The music selections include the “Somewhere”  mentioned above, “Carried Away” from On the Town;  his “Piano Sonata”; Aaron Copeland’s “Piano Sonata” Variation 1 and 9; “A Little Bit of Love” from Wonderful Town; “I Hate Music”; “Lamentations” from Jeremiah; “Greetings” from Arias and Barcafolles; Glitter and be Gay from Candide and“Maria” from West Side Story.

Felder’s first-person narrative as Bernstein and his smooth transitions to those individuals that have shaped his life creates a provocative but not compelling theatre piece. As mentioned in the PR data it certainly is “an illuminating look at the amazing life of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.”

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com