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May 20 2014
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Buried Family Secrets In Other Desert Cities at RVP

By Flora Lynn Isaacson

Jennifer Gregory as Brooke Wyeth & Peter Warden as Trip Wyeth. Photo by Robin Jackson.

 [rating:4] (4/5 stars)

Ross Valley Players currently presents the 2012 Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Best Drama, Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz and directed by Phoebe Moyer.

The play’s name refers to a guide sign on eastbound Interstate 10 in California which indicates that the freeway is headed towards Indio, California and “other desert cities” (that is the rest of the Coachella Valley).

The play’s events occur around the Christmas, 2004 holiday when the family of Polly (Ellen Brooks) and Lyman Wyatt (Dick Martin) gather in Palm Springs. Their daughter Brooke Wyeth (Jennifer Gregory) returns home after six years.  Brooke’s brother, Trip Wyeth (Peter Warden) is also present.   Polly’s sister Silda Grauman (Kristine Ann Lowry), a recovering alcoholic is also visiting on a break from rehab.  Polly and Lyman are Republicans while Silda is liberal. The sisters wrote a series of MGM comedies in the 1960’s. The wonderful set design by Ronald Krempetz is of an upscale, easy living, desert style living room.

The play is set into motion when daughter Brooke announces to her family she is about to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family’s history—a wound they don’t want to have reopened.  That event is the suicide of her late brother Henry who had been involved in a radical underground subculture.  When this happens, the holiday reunion is thrown into turmoil as family members struggle to come to terms with their past as the Wyeth clan soon realizes some secrets cannot stay buried forever.

The play is well constructed and extremely well written. The cast could not be  better under Phoebe Moyer’s firm hand.  The actors never strike a false note.  In their speech rhythms and body language with one another, their relaxed intimacy or wary distress, their camaraderie or distance, their easy banter or silent hostile regard—they are unmistakably a family.

Other Desert Cities runs at Ross Valley Players May 15-June 15, 2014.  Regular Thursday performances are at 7:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. All performances take place at the Barn Theatre, home of the Ross Valley Players, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross, CA. For tickets, call 415-456-9553, ext. 1 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Coming up next at Ross Valley Players will be Old Money by Wendy Wasserstein and directed by Kim Bromley July 18-August 17, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

May 18 2014
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OTHER DESERT CITIES earns the drive to RVP

By Kedar K. Adour

OTHER DESERT CITIES: Comedy/drama by Jon Robin Baitz . Directed by Phoebe Moyer . Ross Valley Players (RVP) @ Barn Theatre at the Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Ross. For tickets, call 415-456-9555 or go to www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Runs through June 15, 2014

OTHER DESERT CITIES earns the drive to RVP  [rating:3] (3 / 5 stars)

In Southern California U.S. Route 10 traverses the entire State and as you travel East through the  Banning Pass entering the desert on the Eastern side of the mountains you come across a sign indicating that Route 111 leads to “Other Desert Cities.” This will take you to Palm Springs, the locale of Jon Robin Baitz award winning play Other Desert Cities. Having spent 10 winters in Palm Springs there were personal reason to see this play.

Palm Springs was the Mecca for Hollywood and Los Angeles glitterati but now is an upscale resort city with the “other desert cities” such as Indian Wells the most likely area to meet the characters with the financial means to live in the beautiful ostentatious style home created for this play (Ron Krempetz). The skillfully constructed set, with everything in its place, matches perfectly the skillfully constructed plot line with all the actions taking place within 24 hours with an epilog set 10 years later to add finality.

The plot has been used in A. R. Gurney’s The Cocktail Hour where a family member turns up with a soon to be produced play script that bares the foibles of his family. Gurney’s play is a true comedy with a touch of discomfiture.  In Other Desert Cities comedy is at a minimum allowing the engrossing dramatic details to unfold with the suggestion of impending disaster.  Author Baitz is a master at unraveling the tangled web leading to a terrific penultimate scene.

The Wyeths have gathered in the family home on Christmas Eve 2004. The patriarchs are Polly (Ellen Brooks) and Lyman (late replacement Dick Martin ) with their mature children Brooke (Jennifer Gregory) and Trip (Peter Warden ). Living with the Wyeths is Polly’s sister Silda Grauman (Kristine Ann Lowry) a recovering alcoholic. The elder Wyeths are affluent right wing Republicans active in the desert political life and members of an elite country club.  Brooke, who has been in and out of mental hospitals for the past 6 years being treated for depression has written a memoir with emphasis on the suicide of her older brother Henry, a member of a radical underground subculture. If published those revelations could decimate the lives of the entire Wyeth clan.

Seven months ago TheatreWorks in conjunction with San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre staged a brilliant production of Other Desert Cities. Seeing the play for a second time within 6 months after that staging seems to create a necessity for comparison. It probably is unfair since RVP is a non-equity community theatre. In this their 84th year of producing plays they have staged many plays that were highly praised. Other Desert Cities misses the mark.

Initially RVP and director Moyer rounded up a fine five member cast to perform this family drama that requires ensemble acting while giving each actor their moment to shine in various scenes. That ensemble contingent must have suffered a serious blow when a RVP stalwart Craig Christiansen departed from the cast two weeks before opening night.  This may explain why the timing between the actors was lost and the play lasted 20 minutes longer than the TheatreWorks’ two hour staging. Both timings include a 15 minute intermission.

On opening night Ellen Brooks was perfect in the pivotal role of Polly although she dropped beats with her studied delivery of her lines. She earned complete audience approval for her command of the stage. Those dropped beats may account for Peter Warden’s attempt to pick up the pace with more than a bit of over acting. In act two he did a fine job as the attempted peace-maker in the family.  Jennifer Gregory entered the stage on a high giving verisimilitude to Brooke’s mental instability but showed little variation in her quieter moments. Kristine Ann Lowry makes the most of her secondary but at one point pivotal role as Silda who refuses to be a sounding board for domineering Polly but is fully aware of her dependence on sister’s beneficence. Late replacement Dick Martin is a true pro and will surely fit into the ensemble acting mode as the run continues.

Director Moyer is a pro at blocking a show and she moves her actors adroitly about suggesting boxers in a ring each circling for that perfect punch.

CAST: Polly Wyeth, Ellen Brooks; Lyman Wyeth, Dick Martin; Brooke Wyeth, Jennifer Gregory; Trip Wyeth,  Peter Warden; Silda Grauman, Kristine Ann Lowry.

PRODUCTION STAFF: Director, Phoebe Moyer; Production Manager, Maureen O’Donoghue; Stage Manager, Maureen Scheuenstuhl; Asst Stage Manager, Caroline M. Doyle; Set Design, Ron Krempetz; Costume Design, Michael Berg; Lighting Design, Jon Gourdine; Lighting Operator,   Ian Tillotson; Lighting Assistant,  Iam Lamers; Sound Design, Billie Cox; Property Design,  Christina Jacqua; Set Construction, Eugene DeChristopher; Set Painter, Ryan Martin; Rehearsal Assistant, Maureen O’Donoghue.

Kedar K. Adour MD

Courtesy of  www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

May 18 2014
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‘Inspector Calls’ still timely at Stanford

By Judy Richter

Even though J.B. Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls” is set in Brumley, England, in 1912, it could just as easily be set in the United States in 2014.

Its condemnation of an elitist attitude that disregards the needs of the less privileged is as relevant today as it was then. Stanford Repertory Theater (formerly Stanford Summer Theater) makes that point clear in its excellent production directed by Rush Rehm.

Priestley’s original, written in the winter of 1944-45, near the end of World War II, was in three acts and ran for more than two hours. Rehm apparently is using the streamlined, 90-minute Royal National Theatre adaptation by director Stephen Daldry, which won four 1994 Tony Awards and came to San Francisco in 1996.

The action takes place in the drawing room of the wealthy Birling family. They’re celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila (Kiki Bagger) to Gerald Croft (Ethan Wilcox). His father’s firm is the chief rival to Sheila’s father’s firm. Her father, the socially and financially ambitious Arthur (James Carpenter), foresees a successful business alliance in their romantic relationship.

Joining the celebration are Sheila’s mother, Sybil (Courtney Walsh), and brother, Eric (Andre Amarotico).

Their evening is interrupted by the arrival of Inspector Goole (Weston Gaylord) of the Brumley police. He says that a young woman has committed suicide by swallowing disinfectant, leading to an agonizing death.

Their reaction, although horrified, amounts to “So what? This has nothing to do with us.” Inspector Goole disagrees, and proceeds to show how actions by each person led to her final desperate act.

Her downfall started two years earlier when she was working in Arthur’s factory. He fired her because she led a campaign to raise his workers’ wages. He said that if he paid his workers more, his profits would drop.

Later, she was working in a fashionable women’s clothing store when Sheila demanded that she be fired because of a perceived impertinence. When Gerald and then Eric met her, she was desperately poor. Each man helped her for a bit, but Gerald abandoned her, and she broke off with Eric. Finally, she went to a committee that helps poor women, but her request was refused by Sybil, the committee head.

Hence, they see how each one bore some responsibility for the woman’s fate. Shortly thereafter, however, they suspect that what Goole has told them isn’t true and that he isn’t who he says he is.

The elder Birlings and Gerald are relieved and readily resume their elitist attitudes. However, Sheila and Eric seem transformed by their feelings of guilt. The audience is left to ponder who Goole (rhymes with ghoul) really is and why he arrived that evening.

As is true with Stanford Rep’s summer productions, this one features both seasoned, professional actors alongside students. The professionals here are Carpenter and Walsh, who so ably portray the parents and their sense of privilege. The students do an excellent job of bringing out the nuances of their characters. The cast is completed by another student, Jenna Wisch, as the Birlings’ maid.

Production values are high with period costumes by Connie Strayer and lighting by Dan Wadleigh. Erik Flatmo’s dining room set features an ample dining table, sideboard and grandfather clock, which shows the correct time.

In today’s terms, one might say that the people in the Birlings’ dining room represent the 1 percent. Therefore, it’s appropriate that this production is a part of the Ethics of Wealth series presented by Stanford’s Ethics in Society program.

It’s both theatrically rewarding and intellectually intriguing.

“An Inspector Calls” will continue in Piggott Theater (Memorial Auditorium), 551 Serra Mall, Stanford, through May 24. For tickets and information, call (650) 725-5838 or visit http://taps.stanford.edu/

May 16 2014
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Seminar-Lessons In Human Dynamics at SF Playhouse

By Flora Lynn Isaacson

Leonard (Charles Shaw Robinson) comes to agreement with Martin (James Wagner).  Photo by Jessica Palopoli.

Seminar by Theresa Rebeck and directed by Amy Glazer is a comedy about four aspiring novelists who are paying $500 a week to take a writing seminar with a famous international author. According to Artistic Director, Bill English, “the word ‘seminar’ suggests a classroom–supposedly an environment that is structured to be a safe place to learn–but in Theresa Rebeck’s world, Seminar is far from safe.”

Set in present day New York City, Seminar follows Kate (Lauren English) who overcompensates trying to prove her writing abilities and Martin (James Wagner) who is struggling financially and afraid to show anyone his work.   Douglas (Patrick Russell) is the nephew of a famous playwright from Harvard. He is a good writer but a bit of a “name dropper.”  Izzy (Natalie Mitchell) writes well from the start. She figures at the center of the romantic conflict within the group. Their professor, Leonard (Charlie Shaw Robinson)’s career as a writer has been legendary. Seminar takes place in Kate’s Upper West Side apartment handsomely designed by Bill English.  The play captures aspects of their lives including their writing, romance, conflict and the future.

This play is more driven by characters than by plot, but Seminar is full of satire and quite entertaining.  Leonard, the Professor is an amazing role for Charles Shaw Robinson who brings out his character’s humanity in every moment.

Amy Glazer keeps the action moving at a crisp pace, which accentuates Rebeck’s comedy.  The costume design by Abra Berman is at the same time imaginative and appropriate for the characters.

Seminar is a fascinating presentation of the truth about human dynamics and writers’ fragile egos.  The play runs April 29-June 14, 2014 at the San Francisco Playhouse on the 2nd Floor in the Kensington Park Hotel at 450 Post Street (between Mason and Powell Streets), San Francisco.

Performances are held Tuesday-Thursday at 7 p.m.; Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m. and select Sundays (May 18, June 1 and June 8) at 2 p.m. For tickets call the box office at 415-677-9596 or go to www.sfplayhouse.org.

Coming up next (June 24-September 6, 2014) at SF Playhouse will be Into the Woods by James Lapine (book) and Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics). Susi Damilano directs.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

May 16 2014
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Family evolves over generations in ‘The Big Meal’

By Judy Richter

In an intricately constructed 90 minutes spanning five generations and several decades, San Jose Repertory Theater is staging “The Big Meal” by Dan LeFranc.

All of the action takes place in a restaurant — not necessarily the same one over the years — where the story begins with the meeting of Sam, a customer, and Nicole. After some ups and downs, they marry, have kids, grandkids and even a great grandchild. Along the way there are marriages, deaths, spats, humor and an underlying sense of caring.

The action is propelled by four pairs of actors: two children, two young adults, two middle-aged adults and two senior citizens. Youngsters Sophia Grace Cuthbert and Nicolas Garcia play all of the children’s roles. The adults portray Sam and Nicole at various stages in their lives.

When first seen, Sam and Nicole are played by Aaron Wilton and Jessica Lynn Carroll. As their characters mature, they’re replaced by Carrie Paff and Mark Anderson Phillips. Finally, Catherine MacNeal and Richard Farrell, who are first seen as Sam’s parents, become Sam and Nicole. Along the way, the actors portray other characters. For example, Wilton and Carroll, the young adults, become Sam and Nicole’s young adult children, Robbie and Maddie.

As the play continues, it’s sometimes difficult to keep up with everyone. A family tree in the program would help.

Director Kirsten Brandt moves the action briskly. For example, an actor might exit as one character and immediately return as another. Before a character dies, he or she eats one last meal (brought by an uncredited stage hand), then quietly exits.

In one of the final scenes, Sam and Nicole (MacNeal and Farrell), are elderly. Because Sam has dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, Nicki lovingly feeds him before he exits. It’s a moving moment.

Nina Ball’s set features diner-style tables downstage with several booths upstage, backed by a set of doors and several windows that enable to audience to see a character’s final exit. The effective lighting is by Kurt Landisman, with unobtrusive sound by Jeff Mockus. Costumes by Shannon Sigman easily span the decades.

All of the actors in this ensemble work are excellent. The play itself reflects the changes in family dynamics that take place over time. No doubt some in the audience might recognize scenes from their own families.

“The Big Meal” will continue at San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, through June 1. For tickets and information, call (408) 367-7255 or visit www.sjrep.com.

 

May 15 2014
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Spreckel’s Theatre Company Produces Another Success!

By Guest Review

“Catch Me If You Can”, another success at Spreckel’s Theatre Company


by Richard Riccardi

“Catch Me If You Can” is the latest production in a current series of high-energy, large scale musicals presented by Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park. Overall I found it to be a very entertaining and expertly done evening of musical theatre. Zack Howard, as the young Frank Abagnale, delivered a tour de force portrayal of the young swindler and con artist, with timing and delivery far exceeding his young years and experience. David Yen, as the FBI agent Carl Hanratty, reminded me of Barry Morse’s portrayal of Lieutenant Philip Gerard in the old television series “The Fugitive,” ever-chasing, stubborn, and palpably frustrated. Garet Waterhouse and Betsy Glincher, as Frank Abagnale, Sr and Paula Abagnale, delivered memorable and poignant scenes depicting the portrait of the true unhappiness they experienced in their relationship. Kelly Brandeburg, known for her “why-the-heck-aren’t-you-in-New-York?” voice, plays Brenda Strong, the nurse who emerges as Frank Jr’s love interest, and possibly his downfall. Her performance was a lovely rendering of Brenda’s earnestness, naïvete, and sweetness. Brenda’s parents, Carol and Roger Strong played by Pam Koppel and Tim Setzer, hilariously completed the picture of the family duped by Frank Abagnale Jr. Supporting actors, singers and dancers completed the picture to make this show a very congealed and successful ensemble.

Choreography should be at the top of the list of credits for “Catch Me If You Can”. Michella Snider has consistently shown that she is clearly at the top of her game in musical theatre, and this production didn’t disappoint. Dance highlights by the ensemble were clearly the nurses and the PanAm stewardesses! Raucous, uplifting, and lots of gorgeous gams.

Aligning with many of the past productions of the Spreckels Theater Company, “Catch Me If You Can” utilizes a series of projections supporting the set design. These projections in a way reminded me of the early days of Cinerama, a brainchild of Fred Waller and originally produced by Mike Todd, using wide angles and three projectors. Although these are ‘still’ projections, not often moving, they do lend support to stage shows which can financially benefit from minimal scenery. It certainly is fair to say that the overall effect of the projections not only enhanced the show, but combined with it very satisfactorily. I did however find myself occasionally distracted by the projection as a show unto itself (was that a picture of the historic Penn Station in New York City?) and caused a bit of wandering in my concentration. The use of projections certainly isn’t new, and there have been some spectacular ones, to wit, the large projection of Air Force 1 in San Francisco Opera’s production of “Nixon in China” which seemed to envelop the entire stage. Spreckels is a large theater on a City of Rohnert Park budget, so Gene Abravaya has found a brilliant solution to filling the stage without astronomical set-costs.

The musical score for this production, adapted from the non-musical movie of the same name, was light, fun, at times sixties-groovy and supportive of the story line, but I frequently wished for more sound. I heartily applaud Janis Wilson and her band of five, who did an incredibly precise job of supporting the stage, but clearly the score is written for a big band of many more instruments, and certainly would have benefited, not only from the number of instruments it was written for, but for a placement in the pit, where orchestras are designed to play from, for many musical and acoustic reasons. From experience, I know that it takes at least four dozen extra, unpaid hours on the part of the musical director (and the band itself) to reduce a score for 14 instruments down to a group of 6. Janis Wilson deserves a medal!

Kudos to set designers Eddy Hansen and Elizabeth Bazzano for creating clever stage pieces which were artfully integrated with the projections. Pamela Enz’s costume design was period accurate, and at times extremely sexy (my favorites were the nurses outfits, my wife’s favorites were the bright-blue Pan Am stewardesses). The production was directed seamlessly by Gene Abravaya.

“Catch Me If You Can” plays until May 25, 2014. For show schedules and ticket information, please contact the Spreckels box office at (707) 588-3400 or online at www.spreckelsonline.com

May 14 2014
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Potent A.C.T. musical drama, ‘The Suit,’ stirs emotions

By Woody Weingarten

Woody’s [rating:4]

Extraordinary actors Nonhlanhla Kheswa (right) and Ivanno Jeremiah and an ordinary suit star in “The Suit.” Photo by Pascal Victor/ArtComArt.Photo by Pascal Victor/ArtComArt.

Nonhlanhla Khesa effectively uses her arm to romantically caress herself, puppet-like in “The Suit.” Photo by Johan Persson.

Racism, as depicted in the apartheid-fouled Johannesburg of “The Suit,” is downright ugly.

And brutal.

Palpably tragic.

Worst of all, it’s reflective of today’s racism in an America that pretends it’s integrated when its all-too solid walls of bigotry remain intact.

It’s a fascinating coincidence that “The Suit” opened at San Francisco’s A.C.T. Theatre only one day after L.A. Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling was fined $2.5 million and barred for life from the National Basketball Association for overtly anti-African American statements.

Though peppered with multiple instances of levity, “The Suit” is a solemn theatrical time bomb intentionally ignited by Peter Brook, an 89-year-old British director.

Brook clearly stages the kind of in-your-face prejudice I’ve always found abrasive and offensive.

Adapted from a Can Themba short story, the 75-minute drama thrusts into the foreground a husband who, after discovering his wife in bed with a lover, insists she take with her wherever she goes the suit her fleeing sex partner left behind.

It becomes, essentially, a scarlet letter, the traditional sign of sin.

Over all, the play exudes a surreal, fable-like quality, abetted by a Dali-esque set consisting of unadorned (yet colorful) wooden chairs and bare clothing racks.

But the extraordinary three-actor cast seamlessly integrates poignancy, music and pantomime.

Nonhlanhla Kheswa, Johannesburg native and veteran of Broadway’s “The Lion King,” is outstanding as the adulterous Matilda. Her body language and elegiac voice unerringly convey how she wears her punishment.

Ugandan-born Ivanno Jeremiah adeptly plays her humiliated, vengeful spouse, Philomen, middle-class wage-slave who’s suffered daily abuse from a system that downgraded a whole black population to second-class status.

New Jersey-born Jordan Barbour skillfully fills in the gaps as he jumps from role to role.

Musical interludes range from traditional African melodies to timeless American jazz pieces such as “Feelin’ Good,” the Nina Simone standard, and the painful Billie Holiday classic about lynching, “Strange Fruit.”

To prevent my review from being disingenuous, I must mention that the touring production from Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord is imperfect.

Even heavy-handed sometimes.

As when the fourth wall is broken by actors who provide the audience with invisible joints, or when folks are invited to represent white participants onstage at a shebeen, a speakeasy-like party.

Additionally, Brook, whose “The Empty Space” has been a theatrical bible for generations, has paced the play so deliberately I twice felt compelled to check my watch.

None of that, however, undercuts the emotional impact of the show.

Besides, “The Suit” contains numerous magic moments.

When, for instance, Matilda puts one arm into the empty outfit and, puppet-like, achingly caresses herself as if it were still being worn by her absent lover. When she sings, in Swahili, an upbeat song that’s crushed by Philomen with only a few words. When she foreshadows crucial action by dedicating a melancholy tune to “each and everyone who cannot get what they want in life.”

Or when the actors pantomime being on a rolling commuter train.

When trumpeter Mark Vavuma wrings every possible emotion from his muted horn. Or when Mark Christine underscores the play’s tragic ménage à trois via a soulful Bach “St. Matthew Passion” on a solo compact synthesizer.

“The Suit” is set in the 1950s in Sophiatown, an overcrowded black appendage of Johannesburg that actually was bulldozed.

With more than 65,000 blacks forcibly removed.

I, frankly, was grateful the stream of real 1950s violence was referenced but not shown onstage. It was surely enough just to envision each of a black man’s fingers being bloodied, and his being shot 34 times.

The first-impression simplicity of “The Suit” is purposefully deceptive, making its vivid ending even more powerful, more numbing.

The opening night audience, in fact, seemed so stunned it took it a few seconds to rise for a well-earned standing ovation — and then it did so almost in slow motion.

“The Suit” plays at the American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco, through May 18. Performances Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, 7 or 8 p.m.; matinees, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Tickets: $20 to $120. Information: (415) 749-2228 or www.act-sf.org.

May 12 2014
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Hillbarn presents ambitious ‘The Color Purple’

By Judy Richter

Leaving her post after 16 years, Hillbarn Theatre artistic director Lee Foster has made “The Color Purple” her swan song with the Foster City company.

It’s an ambitious undertaking with a 23-member, mostly black cast telling a story that spans nearly 40 years (1909 to 1945) in the life of a black woman in the South.

That woman, Celie (Leslie Ivy), is first seen as a 14-year-old impregnated for the second time by Pa (Andy Serrano), the man she believes to be her father. After the baby is born, Pa says he’ll get rid of it, just as he did the other child, much to Celie’s distress.

A neighboring farmer Mr. ____ (Anthone D. Jackson), calls on Pa hoping to marry Celie’s beloved younger sister, Nettie (Jacqueline Dennis), but winds up with Celie instead. After staving off advances by both Pa and Mr. ____, Nettie leaves, again to Celie’s distress.

Celie’s life with Mr. ____ is just as miserable as it was with Pa. She’s nothing more than a servant whom he mistreats and abuses. However, her fortunes begin to change when Shug Avery (Dawn L. Troupe), a popular singer and Mr.’s ____ longtime lover, moves in with them and sings at the juke joint owned by his son Harpo (Brian M. Landry).

Eventually Celie breaks away from Mr. ____, learns about real love thanks to Shug, gains self-respect and becomes a successful business woman, first in Memphis and then back in her hometown of Eatonton, Ga.

The story unfolds episodically, but the set by Kuo-Hao Lo (lighting by Don Coluzzi) accommodates quick scene changes. Costumes by Margaret Toomey help to define changing times.

Besides those already mentioned, the other major character is Harpo’s wife, Sofia (Jihan Sabir), a strong-willed woman who refuses to be subservient to anyone, a trait that proves costly.

Three Church Ladies, played by Ladidi Garba, Debra Harvey and Pam Drummer-Williams, serve as a kind of Greek chorus, commenting on the action. Others in the cast play a variety of characters.

Overall, the performance level is quite high by everyone, especially the principals. Choreography by Jayne Zaban is outstanding, especially in the juke joint scene, “Push Da Button.” The men’s dancing is especially notable.

The singing is generally quite good under the leadership of musical director Greg Sudmeier, who is Foster’s husband and who also is leaving the company. Much of the musical accompaniment is recordings from Right On Cue Services.

However, the lyrics are often difficult to follow because of diction and the Southern black dialect. Compounding the comprehension problem is Alan Chang’s sound design, which is so loud that it distorts the lyrics.

“The Color Purple” began life as a 1982 novel by Alice Walker of San Francisco. From there it became the 1985 film that helped launch the career of Oprah Winfrey, who played Sofia. She subsequently became one of the producers bringing the story to the Broadway musical stage in 2005. The national tour came to San Francisco in 2007.

Marsha Norman adapted the musical from Walker’s book. The music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray encompass several styles such as gospel, blues, honky-tonk and ragtime.

The two-act production at Hillbarn clocks in at nearly three hours, in part due to long restroom lines at intermission but in larger part due to the show itself. Despite the many years that it covers, some scenes seem expendable, especially in the second act. It opens with two long scenes from Africa, where Nettie has become a missionary who has Celie’s children with her. Only the first scene, which has some terrific dancing, works well. Another expendable scene is “Is There Anything I Can Do for You?” a duet for Harpo and Sofia. It’s well done but doesn’t do much to advance the story, especially since the adaptation is a bit short on developing some characters and clarifying some plot details.

Despite shortcomings in the show itself, this production serves it well, thanks in large part to a talented, energetic, committed cast and Foster’s astute direction.

“The Color Purple” will continue at Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, through June 1. For tickets and information, call (650) 349-6411 or visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.

May 10 2014
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The Best of PlayGround 18 a charming/sweet/sad/satiric fun filled evening at the Thick House.

By Kedar K. Adour

Adam Roy, Stacy Ross, Rinabeth Apostol and Howard Swain in Ruben Grijalva’s MR.WONG’S GOES TO WASHINGTON, from Best of PlayGround 18.

Best of PlayGround 18: Five short plays and one musical. Thick  House, 1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA.  (415) 992-6677 or visit  www.PlayGround-sf.org/bestof.

May 8 – May 25, 2014   [Rating:4] (4 of 5 stars)

The Best of PlayGround 18 a charming/sweet/sad/satiric fun filled evening at the Thick House.

PlayGround, the showcase for promising new playwrights in Bay Area, has come up with another winner for their 18th season. This year they again are using the intimate 99 seat Thick House Theatre for their productions. There was not an empty seat and the appreciative audience (certainly many were/are friends of the writers) was treated to a 90 minute, without intermission, roller-coaster of emotional theatre.

The curtain raiser, a cutting/satirical /farce  (Mr. Wong’s Goes to Washington by Ruben Grijalva,  directed by M. Graham Smith) started out the evening on a hilarious note.  The marvelous ensemble acting (Rinabeth Apostol, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Howard Swain, and Jomar Tagatac) skewers US Governmental decision making over such a mundane choice of Chinese take-out food or cheaper sandwiches from the local deli.

This was followed by (When You Talk About This by Patricia Cotter, directed by Tracy Ward) a direct take-off on David Mamet’s  Oleanna  and Robert Anderson’s  Tea and Sympathy. For this two-hander author Cotter envisions a liaison with a young student poet (Adam Roy) taking a course in statistics from 40 year female professor (Stacy Ross). When Stacy utters the fateful line, “(Years from now)When you talk about this, and you will. . .) the final words are not “be kind.”

Adam Roy and Stacy Ross in Patricia Cotter’s WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS

After the two opening plays getting off to an excellent start there is a letdown with The Broken-Tooth Comb a mathematical fantasy by William Bivins, directed by Katja Rivera.

Since the set changes are minimal there is little time to cogitate on the previous 10-15 minute play. So it was with Stranger in a Stranger Land by Karen Macklin, directed by Michael French. Newly arrived in San Francisco, Lynn (Stacy Ross) is looking of Mr. Right. Her first encounter with hippie Mitchell (Teddy Spencer) at Starbucks is a disaster as is it is with Brian (Jomar Tagatac) who runs an Internet “Cuddling Service.” When handsome, charming Paul (Adam Roy) takes her to a (shocking) nude beach Lynn is about to give up and ends up depressed at the Museum of Modern Art. There is a bitter-sweet ending with Brandon (Howard Swain) that will cheer you up and make you want to applaud.

Riding Dragonsby Victoria Chong Der, directed by Nancy Carlin was my seat mate’s favorite and for good reason. What starts out as mother/daughter (Stacy Ross/ Rinabeth Apostol) discussion with an unseen school official, adroitly becomes a mother/daughter generational gap conflict that melts into a heart-tugging mystical ending.

Stacy Ross and Rinabeth Apostol in Victoria Chong Der’s RIDING DRAGONS

The curtain comes down on the evening with the musical Love Spacewalked Inby Maury Zeff, directed by Jim Kleinmann with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. What would happen if the onboard hydro-waste recycler in a space ship orbiting the moon suddenly has a “log-jam” (their words not mine)? It just happens that the inventor of the recycler, Russian Lieutenant Valentina Blazenhov (Rinabeth Apostol) is only minutes away surveying the Sea of Tranquility for Vladimir Putin’s beach house. She enters with a snorkel and a diver’s mask and holds a plunger. Love blossoms in a most unusual way and all end up singing “Love Walked In.” Oh, I forgot to mention that it is a full cast production that director Kleinman has fun moving them around in zero gravity.

Front) Howard Swain, Jomar Tagatac, Adam Roy, (Back) Rinabeth Apostol and Teddy Spencer in Maury Zeff’s LOVE SPACEWALKED IN,

Recommendation: Well worth seeing and mostly satisfying.

Ensemble Cast: Rinabeth Apostol, Stacy Ross, Adam Roy, Howard Swain, Jomar Tagatac, and Teddy Spencer.

Artistic Staff: Lighting Designer,Mark Hueske; Sound Designer, Josh Senick; Costume Designer,Jocelyn Leiser Herndon; Casting Director, Annie Stuart;      Properties Artisan, Cindy Goldfield; Production Manager, Marcus Marotta; Stage Manager,Bethanie Baeyen;Assistant Stage Manager, Siobhan FitzGerald; Production Assistant/Dresser, Melissa Kallstrom.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

May 04 2014
Love0

DU BARRY WAS A LADY scintillates but does not titillate at 42nd Street Moon.

By Kedar K. Adour

Bruce Vilanch finds himself transformed into King Louis wooing Madame Du Barry (Ashley Rae Little) in 42nd Street Moon’s production of Du Barry Was a Lady, playing April 30 – May 18, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre

DU BARRY WAS A LADY: Musical. Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter. Book by Herbert Fields & B.G. De Sylva. Directed and Choreographed by Zack Thomas Wilde. 42nd Street Moon at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco in Gateway Plaza (between Battery & Front). (415) 255-8207 or www.42ndStMoon.org.  April 30 to May 18, 2014

 DU BARRY WAS A LADY scintillates but does not titillate at 42nd Street Moon. [rating:4] (4 of 5 stars)

When Du Barry Was a Lady tried out in Boston before its Broadway run in December 1939 the censors did not approve of the double-entendres in the seminal song “But in the Morning, No” but it was a show-stopper appreciated by the New York audiences. In 42nd  Street Moon’s staging the stars of the show Bruce Vilanch and Ashley Rae Little create a hilarious duet singing the song with only a smidgen of the bawdy. It is easy to visualize original leads Bert Lahr and Ethel Merman doing that number with full scale innuendo.

Forget the bawdy and go to see this show. It is the last show of the 2013-2014 season and they have pulled out all the stops beginning with bringing in the nationally famous Bruce Vilanch who has for years written the jokes for the Oscars and has the timing of a professional comedian. He moves his rotund frame, occasionally with arms flailing to accentuate his pliable face and enters into the fray. In doing so he does not throw the ensemble out of whack and becomes part of the whole yet being very distinctive in his humorous demeanor.  Of course he plays the part written for Bert Lahr. Ashley Rae Little playing the role made famous by Ethel Merman is a match for Vilanch and can really belt out a song.

This show playing at the intimate Eureka Theatre is the first full scale production since 1941. It is classic Cole Porter with suave lyrics to delightful music. These include, “Friendship”, “Well, Did You Evah?”; “Do I Love You?”; “When Love Beckoned on 52nd Street” and “Katie Went to Haiti” and others. To buttress the music and lyrics they have created an attractive set (Jennifer Veres) including a fold down Murphy bed, with bright snazzy costumes (Felicia Lilienthal) ranging from skimpy chorus girl outfits to hysterical knock-offs of male and female attire found in King Louis XV of France’s court.

Fields and De Sylva cleverly switch from a 1930s night club to King Louis’ court with a storyline about a hapless but generous/loveable wash-room attendant Louie Blore (Vilanch) in love with café star May Daly (Ashley Rae Little) who is in love Alex Barton (Jack Mosbacher) who is still married to Alice (Nicole Renee Chapman). Louie has won the Irish Sweepstakes thus attracting many friends (money does that). Charley (Jordan Sidfield), Louie’s shady replacement suggest he temporarily get rid of Alex by slipping him a Mickey Finn. You guessed it, Louie gets the Mickey and goes off to Louie XV’s court while the quartet sings “Dream Song.”

Louie becomes Louis the XV with May becoming his reluctant potential mistress Du Barry. It seems that song writer Alex(andre) has written a naughty song “Du Barry was a Lady” and is pursued  by Louie’s inept minions. Charley is now The Dauphin, the child-like heir to the Throne saves Du Barry from a night in bed with Louie with a well placed arrow to Louie’s posterior.

It goes on and on with some exuberant and sometimes humorous dance numbers by a very professional cast. These include soft shoe duets by Nathaniel Rothrock and Nicole Renee Chapman, ensemble tap dance, “Gavotte” by the Courtiers, and a show-stopper “Katie Went to Haiti” by the ensemble chorus.

Handsome Jack Mosbacher has an excellent tenor voice and gets to sing “Do I Love You” and “Written in the Stars.”  Ashley Rae Little brings down the house with “Give Him the Oo-la-la,” and shares the spotlight at the end of act two with Vilanch in the catchy “Friendship.”

The show is one of 42nd Street Moon’s best and this reviewer gives it a four star rating. Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes with an intermission.

CAST: Bruce Vilanch(Louie/King Louis); Ashley Rae Little(May Daly/Du Barry); Jack Mosbacher (Alex Barton/Alexandre); Nathaniel Rothrock (Harry Norton/Lebel); Nicole Renée Chapman(Alice Barton/Alisande);Jordan Sidfield(Charley/The Dauphin); Abby Sammons(Vi/Mme De Villardell);Ryan Drummond (Kelly/Docteur/Paingrillé); Roy Eikleberry(Doctor/Zamore);Rudy Guerrero(Jones/Choiseul); Kathryn Han (Gemze/Gruyere); Adrienne  Herro(Betty/De Verney) ;Katherine Leyva (Mitzi/Roquefort);Anthony Rollins-Mullens(Reporter/Fondue).

CREATIVE TEAM: Ben Prince (Musical Director);  Josh Anderson (Stage Manager); Carol). Felicia Lilienthal (Costume Designer) ; Danny Maher (Lighting Designer); Hector Zavala (Sets/Production Manager); Samantha Young (Props); Arael Domínguez (Scenic Design Assistant).

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

Bruce Vilanch finds himself transformed into King Louis wooing Madame Du Barry (Ashley Rae Little) in 42nd Street Moon’s production of

Du Barry Was a Lady, playing

April 30 – May 18, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre