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Jan 27 2014
Love0

Marga Gomez is Captivating in “Love Birds”

By Uncategorized

Marga Gomez is Captivating in “Love Birds”

Marga Gomez is back in the Mission with her new show called “Lovebirds”. Bi-costal playwright and lesbian comic extraordinaire has the folks rolling in the aisles with her 75 minute solo performance with the world premiere of “Lovebirds” at The Marsh in San Francisco. This marks her 10th solo performance which is being directed by David Schweizer. Ms. Gomez who I call a Latino Whoopi Goldberg has been one the better lesbian comics traveling all over the United States with her one person show. She has an amazing personality with a great wit, a mobile face and a lithe body. She is one foxy lady who could be called a lesbian Jennifer Lopez.

“Lovebirds” is not one of her autobiographical soliloquys that she usually does. Here Marga plays Polaroid Phillie an enchantingly unconventional street photographer who still takes photos of couples with of all things with a Polaroid camera in Greenwich Village haunts gay ladies bars and Spanish restaurants.
Marga as Polaroid Phillie tells the audience about fond memories of taking photos in the 70’s in these clubs. She then portrays a crew of incurable romantics as they chase their heart’s desires into the night, through decades and to insane lengths. She is fantastic playing Orestes, a macho maître d’ infatuated with a tin eared singer who is married to an academic who never sleeps or even never awake.

Marga is also brilliant playing an emerging lesbian named Barbara and through her eyes we meet a raucously “butch” Turkey who comes on strong at a local disco. She changes her name to Dahlia and she wants to leave this selfish butch Turkey for a new love with a bewitching New York University woman’s studies teacher, Aurora. She also plays the tone deft singer and even herself toward the end of the 75 minute of the comic tour de force.

“Lovebird “ is Marga Gomez at her best. I wanted to see more but this fast pace presentation is over much too soon. “Lovebirds” runs through March 15 at The Marsh San Francisco Studio, 1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco. For tickets call 415-282-3055 or on line at www.themarsh.org

Jan 27 2014
Love0

JERUSALEM blasts out at SF Playhouse

By Kedar K. Adour

Johnny issues his call to arms: Paris Hunter Paul*, Richard Louis James, Joshua Schell, Brian Dykstra*, Riley Krull, Devon Simpson, Ian Scott McGregor*.

JERUSALEM: Drama by Jez Butterworth. Directed by Bill English. The San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post Street (2nd Floor of Kensington Park Hotel, b/n Powell & Mason). 415-677-9596, or www.sfplayhouse.org. West Coast Premiere.

January 21 – March 8, 2014.

JERUSALEM blasts out  at SF Playhouse [rating:3] (5/5 stars)

In the 1920s there was a literary battle between Henry Luce, editor of Time, and Harold Ross, editor of The New Yorker who is oft incorrectly quoted for his infamous line “not edited for the lady in Dubuque.” Rarely mentioned is Ross’ reply to Luce, “You’ve put your finger on it. I believe in malice.”  In our time, Bill English, Artistic Director of SF Playhouse, can be equated with Ross. Once again English and The Playhouse have mounted a block-buster of a show not for the lady in Dubuque.

It may not be for the aforementioned lady but it certainly was a hit for the youth of London who queued up at the Apollo Theatre where Jerusalem ran for over 1000 performances and winning the Olivier Award and the Tony on Broadway for Mark Rylance in a leading role in a play. If Bill English is attempting to attract younger people to the theatre, this show will probably do it.  However, this three hours and 20 minute show in three acts creates ambivalent feelings. Oddly the structure is Aristotelian following the constraints of the three unities of time, place and action.

The time is St. George’s Day in present day England and the action takes place in 24 hours in the illegal encampment of Jez Butterworth’s protagonist Johnny “Rooster” Byron (an excellent Brian Dykstra) who is a braggart with exuberant (or lousy with.  . your choice) charisma sufficient to attract the disenfranchised.  It is not only his charisma that attracts the young and old. It is his stash of drugs and booze that is available mostly for a price but also some freebies for the young girls that are attracted to him. Late in act one two of those young girls (Riley Krull  and Devon Simpson) crawl out from under the decrepit bus that hasn’t moved in 25 or so years.

You certainly would not want Rooster and his decrepit bus surrounded by detritus left over from nights of multifarious carousing parked in your back yard. Nor do the local law enforcement officers who arrive to paste the final eviction notice on the door. Before that happens, on a darkened stage there is a cacophony of rock music and with a burst of light the play begins. A young girl (Julia Belanoff) in a gossamer fairy costume steps forward to sing “Jerusalem” a William Blake poem that apparently is an anthem more revered than “God Save the Queen.” A four page glossary of terms is provided with the program to help the audience understand much of the dialog.

The eclectic denizens that occupy the encampment include Rooster’s wannabe side kick Ginger (a fine Ian Scott McGregor) who provides much of the humor with his persistent questioning of Rooster’s tall tales even though Rooster has the ability to give verisimilitude to them. His story about being born of virgin birth by a bullet is hilarious as is his meeting with the 40 foot giant who created Stonehenge and provided him with a drum to be used when help is needed.

There is befuddled Professor (Richard Louis James) who wanders in and out spouting bits of literature while searching for his long since dead dog. Young Lee (great acting by Paris Hunter Paul) who is immigrating to Australia and his close friend Davey (Joshua Schell) the slaughter-house guy who is emotional chained to the village.  Wesley (Christopher Reber) the local pub landlord, he is involved in the festivities for St George’s Day and has been roped in to doing the Morris Dancing but requires a drug fix to be able to perform.  Troy (Joe Estlack) who gives a spot-on frightening touch to his role as a local thug who, it is strongly implied, has sexually abused his missing step-daughter.

Within this maelstrom of hedonistic activity, Butterworth has written a touching scene between Rooster’s, his ex-girlfriend Dawn (a marvelous Maggie Mason) and their 9 year old son Marky (a charming Calum John) that almost ends in reconciliation.

The show ends with Rooster beating the drum with the thunderous steps of the Giant (??) approaching.  Dykstra gives a powerful performance that is worth the price admission.  The production with all the caveats should not be missed.One would hope that the dialect coaches would spend more time with the actors since the dialects ranged from excellent to unintelligible.

Production: Sound Design, Theodore J.H. Hulsker; Stage Manager, Maggie Koch; Lighting Design, Kurt Landisman; Props Artisan, Jacqueline Scott; Costume Design, Tatjana Genser; Set Design, Bill English; NY Casting, Judy Bowman; Dialect Coaches, Deborah Sussel and Jessica Berman; SF Casting, Lauren English                      

Cast(in alphabetical order) Julia Belanoff (Phaedra), Ian DeVaynes (Markey), Brian Dykstra (Johnny Rooster), Joe Estlack (Troy), Richard Louis James (Professor), Calum John (Marky), Riley Krull (Tanya Crawley), Maggie Mason(Dawn), Ian Scott McGregor (Ginger), Aaron Murphy (Parsons), Paris Hunter Paul (Lee), Christopher Reber (Wesley), David Raymond (Man 1/Understudy), Joshua Schell (Davey/Man 2), Devon Simpson (Pea), Courtney Walsh (Fawcett, U/S Dawn)

Kedar Adour, MD

Courtesy of  www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

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Jan 27 2014
Love0

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF KNITTING

By Joe Cillo

KNIT ONE, PURL TWO AND YOU’RE FREE

Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit,
and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.
Elizabeth Zimmerman

I was a nervous child.  I was terrified of the horrible dangers that lurked around every corner.  If I talked to strangers because they would abduct me; I must never argue with my mother or she would give me back to the Indians.  I couldn’t cross a street without risking my life; if I dared to boil water, the steam would blind me.  Touching the pan would cost a finger. Boys with nasty leers jumped out behind bushes at little girls like me, and teachers got angry for no reason at all.

Reality was too much for me to absorb.  My nerves were jangled and my nails bitten to the quick.  I jumped at an unexpected sound; I screamed when a light flashed; I hid under the couch when someone slammed the door.

My mother was a redhead with an attitude.  She was afraid of nothing. Danger actually thrilled her and she met it head on with eyes flashing and acid repartee that quelled the bravest among us.

And it was she who made me quiver and shake at the thought of facing another day with all its pitfalls.  It was she who reminded me that I might trip if I ran too fast; I might break that dish I was wiping; or jam the brush into my eye when I brushed my hair.  She couldn’t stand the fidgeting, the nail biting, and the twitches.  “This kid is driving me crazy,” she told my Aunt Hazel.  “She is a nervous wreck.”

My Aunt Hazel was a pragmatist.  When she didn’t get enough meat for dinner, she left home.  When she couldn’t earn enough money to support herself she married a bootlegger.  She was one of the first in that generation to think outside the box.  “Teach her to knit,” she told my mother.

“Are you crazy?” said my mother.  “She jiggles so much she’ll poke her eyes out with a knitting needled. “

“Well that’s one way to calm her down,” said Aunt Hazel.

So it was that my aunt took me with her to the Stitch In Time Knitting shop filled with yarn in every color and an oval table piled high with pattern books. Several ladies sat around that table drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes (this was 1943) chatting about the war effort and knitting scarves, mittens and caps for our servicemen.  Their needles clicked and they smiled and laughed as they worked.  As I watched these women moving those needles at the speed of light, I saw to my amazement that they were creating all kinds of garments: sweaters with lace sleeves, block patterns and colors, plaids and stripes and polka dots.

“I want to do that,” I told my aunt.

“I thought you would,” she said.  “What would you like to make?”

My aunt took me home that afternoon and told my mother, ”She’s knitting a scarf.  That will keep her in line.”

That was back in 1943, but my aunt’s wisdom holds truth even today.  In fact, a maximum-security prison in Brazil came to the same conclusion.  They have decided that if their inmates knit something for three days, it is worth one day off their sentence.  They know what my aunt figured out so many years ago.  Knitters don’t have time to get in trouble.  They might drop a stitch.

 

Jan 26 2014
Love0

THE PARIS LETTER effective and affective staging at NCTC

By Kedar K. Adour

THE PARIS LETTER: Drama by Jon Robin Baitz. Directed by George Maguire. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC), Walker Theatre, 25 Van Ness @Market, San Francisco, CA. 415-861-8972 or www.ntcsf.org.  Through February 23, 2014.

THE PARIS LETTER effective and affective staging at NCTC. [rating: 4] (5/5 stars)

When George Maguire helms a theatrical production it is assurance that the audience is in for a theatrical experience. So it is with the Bay Area premiere of The Paris Letter. Considering that the play is non-linear, covers 40 years of relationships, the cast with one exception play dual roles and there is a narrator such an undertaking deserves and earns accolades. The original three hour play that opened in Los Angelos in 2004 was pared to two hours for the 2005 off Broadway opening and this latter version is playing on NCTC’s intimate Walker Theatre.

Author Jon Robin Baitz is no stranger to the Bay area. His tightly written play Other Desert Cities that received a nomination for the Tony Award and won the Outer Critics circle Award in 2011 received a striking production last year at TheatreWorks. The Paris Letter written much earlier in his career and is said to be semi-autobiographical tends to ramble and requires the audience to pay close attention to fully appreciate the time line and some of the nuanced details.

Maguire cleverly separates the time shifts and allows the scenes to flow with minimal interruption by creating a charming set (Devin Kasper) framed by red velvet drapes and gilt framed shadow boxes containing props with a huge circular central backlit scrim that is also used for projections (Lighting/projections by Christian Meja). Those projections are integrated into the story and there is no doubt that a scene takes place in winter when snow gently falls.

But in the words of William Shakespeare, “The plays the thing” ( Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2) and Baitz begins with a stunning first volatile first scene between an older Sandy Sonneberg (Ron Dritz) and his younger paramour Burt (David Ewing) that ends with a suicide taking place behind the circular scrim with a projection of the Eiffel Tower. Blackout and the aforementioned narrator an older wiser and fey Anton (a superb Tom Reilly) steps forward, addresses the audience informing us he is going to tell us the story behind that scene and what is in a letter from Paris that he is holding then secrets in his jacket pocket. The contents of that letter are not revealed until late in the play.

The play is a convoluted love story wrapped in the problematic history of gay acceptance from the 1960s to the present tracing the journey of a successful investment advisor who is closeted gay man denying his sexuality and attempting to be ‘cured’ of his affliction. The man in question is young recent Princeton graduate Sandy (Paul Collins) whom is befriended by young Anton (David Ewing) who is living comfortably with his homosexuality. Anton introduces Sandy to the hidden gay world, appreciation of art, theatre and enjoyment of accepting ones nature. Sandy thoroughly enjoys the sexual experience, insists “I am not a homosexual” but confesses to love of Anton. That love eventually becomes oppressive leading to catastrophic results in later years.

After a few months of this new hedonistic experience with young Anton (handsome David Ewing) Sandy visits Dr. Schiffman (Ron Dritz in his second role), a misinformed psychiatrist claiming to have the ability to change same sex attraction in men to a more conventional life style. This is the start of five day a week therapy (“And if you miss a day, you still have to pay!”) that continues for 15 years.

Baitz then solidifies his play scene by scene adding characters that define the time frame of the play and attitudes of each individual. Early on there is a charming scene between Sandy’s mother Lillian (Michaela Greeley) young Sandy and young Anton taking place in a gay oriented restaurant. The interchange between the three is delicious and Greeley gives a beautifully nuanced portrayal of a mother who knows her son is gay and secretly is accepting of it.

Sandy, to complete his conversion to heterosexuality, falls in love with Katie (Greeley again) who has a gay son Sam (Collins) and through clever sub-rosa dialog infers that she is fully aware of Sandy’s proclivities. Herein lays a perceived flaw in this the production. Although there is a plethora of physical contact between Greeley and Dritz the charisma signifying love is not generated.

Through the years Sandy and Anton have remained friends with Anton as father confessor and Sandy insisting he is ‘love’ with Anton and Katie. Sandy uses the friendship/love of Anton to keep Anton near and available for selfish reasons. There is a secondary contemporary plot line involving Burt in a Ponzi type scheme that eventually leads to the suicide in scene one. Be advised to watch and listen closely to the dialog and action in the penultimate scene of the play that is a shocker.  You will never hear a more satisfying and meaningful “I TOLD YOU SO!” Maguire’s spot on direction does great justice to Baitz’s convoluted play.

Running time 2 hours 10 minutes including the intermission.

Courtesy of www.theatreworlintermagazine.com.

Cast: Paul Collins as Sam/Young Sandy; Ron Dritz as Sandy/Schiffman; David Ewing as Burt/Young Anton; Michaela Greeley as Katie/Lillian; Tom Reilly as Anton.

Production Staff: David Kasper (Set Design); Billie Cox (Sound Design); Christian Mejia (Lighting/Projection Design); Rebecca Madsen (Properties); Samantha Young (Stage Manager); Miriam Lewis (Costume Design); Lori Fowler (Casting Director); Ed Halvey (Program Design).

 

Jan 24 2014
Love0

JOURNEY’S END echoes at Ross Valley Players

By Kedar K. Adour

JOURNEY’S END: Drama by R.C. Sherriff. Directed by James  Dunn.Ross Valley Players.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.

JOURNEY’S END echoes at Ross Valley Players [Rating:4] (5/5 stars)

There are no living survivors of “The Great War”, as it was called, that devastated an entire elite generation of youth during the senseless World War I that was fought in trenches from 1914 to 1918. Playwright, novelist, screenwriter R. C. Sheriff fought in that war and received a serious wound and a medal for his efforts. It also gave him fodder for his most famous play Journey’s End that is receiving a stunning production at Ross Valley Player’s Barn Theatre.

Wars in the trenches are usually fought by the poor and lower class youths and there are many books, plays and movies that document their plight. In Journey’sEnd authorR. C. Sheriff creates characters emphasizing the humanity and inhumanity of the officer class.  Although he specifically portrays the British Officer class there is a universality that extends to all.  Sadly youth of the present generation who have been inundated with the total destruction of modern warfare certainly would find the play very tame. Hopefully they will be able to identify with the driving motivations of the well-drawn personalities who await their eventual destruction.

It is the waiting that is oppressive and the play offers a spectrum of how that waiting affects men and the manner in which they respond. Captain Hardy (Steve Price) is the one who delivers the orders from the High Command to Captain Stanhope (David Yen) a dedicated soldier and leader of the regiment stationed inFrance where there is 50-70 yards of no-man’s land between the British and German trenches.  His psyche and guilt is assuaged by consuming alcohol and he refuses to accept his well-earned relief from his tour of duty. “I couldn’t bear being fully conscious all the time.”

Three other men share the officer’s wooden quarters (magnificent set by Ron Krempetz). Avuncular Lieutenant Osborne (Tom Hudgens) a school teacher, whom is called “Uncle” by his peers and who reads from “Alice in Wonderland’ that is symbolic of nonsensical purpose of the war. Second Lieutenant Hibbert (Phillip Goleman) who whines about his neuralgia attempting to be sent back to a hospital behind the lines. Level headed Second Lt. Trotter (Stephen Dietz) who relies on his wife’s letters to tell him what is happening in the war. Young idealistic gung-ho Second Lieutenant (Raleigh (Francis Serpa) who asked to be sent to Stanhope’s command since he has always admired him beginning in their school days. Necessary humor is interjected in the serious oppressive monotony of waiting for the inevitable with Private Mason (Sean Gunnell) the irreverent cook. (Photo : L-R: Osborne (Tom Hudgens); Stanhope (David Yen);  Raleigh (Francis Serpa))

Director Jim Dunn allows the interaction and motivations of the characters to flow naturally with a modicum of dramatic flare-ups that are superbly projected by theirrespective personalities. A memorable scene ensues when a confrontation between Hibbert and Stanhope reveals that each is driven by the same fears.

Ross Valley’s admirable production values are on abundant display beginning with the claustrophobic set, great directing and acting. Running time 2 hours and15 minutes with an intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Cast: Stanhope (David Yen); Osborne (Tom Hudgens); Raleigh (Francis Serpa), Mason (Sean Gunnell); Trotter (Stephen Diet); Hardy & The Colonel (Steve Price); Cpl. Broughton & German Soldier (Ross Berger); Sgt. Major (Jeff Taylor); Hibbert (Philip Goleman).

Production Staff: Director, James Dunn; Production Manager, Robin Jackson; Production Consultants, Suzie Hughes, Bob Wilson; Stage Manager, Frank Cardinale; Asst Stage Manager, Steve Stromberg; Set Design   Ron Krempetz; Costume Design, Michael Berg; Lighting Design, Ellen Brooks; Lighting Technician, Ian Lamers; Sound Design, Stephen Dietz; Property Design, Maureen Scheuenstuhl; Set Construction, Ian Swift.

 

Jan 22 2014
Love0

Reaching for the stars in ‘Silent Sky’

By Judy Richter

A groundbreaking discovery by a female astronomer a century ago paved the way for much of what is known about the universe today. This true story is compellingly told in Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky,” presented by TheatreWorks.

A Midwesterner and honors graduate of Radcliffe, Henrietta Leavitt (Elena Wright) went to work for free and later was paid $10.50 a week as a “computer” at the Harvard Observatory in 1900. She and two other women, Annie Cannon (Sarah Dacey Charles) and Williamina Fleming (Lynne Soffer), were supposed to catalog and measure stars’ brightness.

They did so by studying glass photographic plates from the observatory’s telescope. Over time, Henrietta figured out a way to measure the size of stars and the distance between them. This discovery opened the door for other astronomers’ discoveries to result in greater understanding of the universe.

Her pioneering work came despite the lack of respect given to women in the workplace at that time. She and her two colleagues couldn’t do the more advanced work that men did, according to their supervisor, Peter Shaw (Matt Citron), who called them girls. He reported to the observatory’s director, Edward Charles Pickering, who doesn’t appear in the play. They were known as Pickering’s harem.

Playwright Gunderson inserts an element of romance with a growing attraction between Henrietta and Peter. However, it’s interrupted when Henrietta must return home to help her married sister, Margaret (Jennifer Le Blanc), after the illness and subsequent death of their father.

As directed by Meredith McDonough, the characters come to vibrant life. Wright’s luminous Henrietta is a determined, dedicated woman who overcomes obstacles that would have discouraged most people, let alone women at that time. As Henrietta’s sister, Le Blanc offers a loving contrast as a woman who chooses marriage and family over a career.

Charles’s Annie Cannon comes across at first as stern and rigid, but she gradually warms to Henrietta and becomes a caring friend. She also becomes involved in the women’s suffrage movement and shows up in pants when the play ends in 1920.

As Williamina Fleming, Soffer is friendly, down to earth and motherly. Citron as Peter Shaw, the play’s only man, is believable as his character undergoes changes in his attitude toward Henrietta.

Henrietta died of cancer in 1921 at the age of 53. Rather than a sad deathbed scene, though, the uplifting conclusion focuses on the outcomes of her discoveries.

This production benefits from outstanding design elements, starting with Annie Smart’s set, which features a glass-domed observatory that easily becomes other sites with the addition of a few set pieces. Paul Toben’s lighting not only establishes mood but also becomes star-studded over time.

Carefully tailored costumes by Fumiko Bielefeldt reflect each character’s personality as well as changing fashions. Music by Jenny Giering complements the drama, aided by Jeff Mockus’s sound.

“Silent Sky” is a fascinating tribute to a woman who received little recognition during her lifetime and who probably isn’t widely known to the general public today.

It continues at the Mountain View Centerfor the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View, through Feb. 9. For tickets and information, call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

 

Jan 22 2014
Love0

Journey’s End — A Picture of War

By Judith Wilson

The horrors of war are impossible to truly comprehend without experiencing them firsthand, and the toll on men’s psyches is equally difficult to convey to the uninitiated. When R.C. Sherriff wrote the award-winning play “Journey’s End” in 1928, he’d had a taste of the real thing as a soldier in World War I, so he was able to draw on his own wartime memories to tell a compelling story, but he didn’t show the battlefield and attempt to portray combat. Instead, he set the action in a dugout behind the front lines and focused on individual men and the way they coped with the worst ordeal of their lives. In doing so, he created a powerful anti-war message that draws on the human experience and allows the audience to empathize with the characters.

Jim Dunn, director of the Ross Valley Players’ production of “Journey’s End,” first saw the play in London in 2005, and “I was knocked out by it,” he says. He observes that it’s about a war that took place almost a hundred years ago, but has held up over time. “It’s a love story,” he says, explaining that the play looks at the way men lived, how they responded to the circumstances they found themselves in and how they tried to take care of each other. The interaction and relationships are key to the play’s success. Surroundings change, but behavior doesn’t, and that could well be the reason the play stands up so well. Its themes are timeless.

The action takes place in France on two days in 1918, when the troops are expecting German attacks to escalate. A young officer, Second Lieutenant Raleigh, played by Francis Serpa, arrives to take up duties with the company and discovers that his commanding officer, Captain Stanhope is an acquaintance from his hometown. Stanhope bears a weighty burden as a leader forced to send his men into situations where survival is unlikely, and as a consequence, he has become a heavy drinker. David Yen does a fine job of portraying Stanhope, capturing his changing emotions, which range from authoritarian to anger to resignation, as his character evolves and gradually reveals his vulnerability in the face of unrelenting stress.

Rounding out the cast are Tom Hudgens as Lieutenant Osborne, Sean Gunnell as Private Mason, Stephen Dietz as Second Lieutenant Trotter, Ross Berger in the dual roles of Lance Corporal Broughton and a German soldier, Philip Goleman as Second Lieutenant Hibbert, Steve Price as both Captain Hardy and the Colonel and Jeff Taylor as the Sergeant Major. Goleman is notable as a soldier attempting to confront crippling fear, and Berger’s turn as a German soldier shows that anxiety and longing for home are the same for soldiers everywhere, regardless of nationality. This is a strong cast, with every actor displaying a different aspect of the emotional impact of war, but relating to the other actors in often touching ways to create a larger picture.

Designer Ron Krempetz’s set is dingy, with water-stained boards serving as the dugout’s walls, real dirt on the floors and small details, such as a copper bucket under a cot and snapshots from home on the walls. It’s appropriately confining and primitive, but shows that as undesirable as it might be, it’s home for the duration, so the men make the most of it. A small opening to the outside shows the change from day to night and back again, as well as artillery fire from the battlefield nearby lighting up the sky. It serves to underscore the play’s world of contrasts: light vs. dark, silence in contrast to noise, and naiveté as opposed to reality.

Costumes by Michael A. Berg and property design by Maureen Scheuenstuhl, from the vintage Brodie helmets to the teacups on the bunker’s table, add historic elements. The program credits Wally Peterson of Military Antiques & Museum in Petaluma and David White of the College of Marin Drama Department for assistance, and the research and care in getting the details right result in a feeling of authenticity.

The sound design by Stephen Dietz is also effective, with periods of ominous silence punctuating the noises of battle, forcing soldiers who can never be well enough prepared to anticipate what might come next. Before the show and during intermission, wartime music reflects the mood of the era.

Dunn says that he loves military plays, and it shows. His direction, a strong ensemble of actors and attention to detail make “Journey’s End” immediate and riveting. It’s a dark play with little to relieve the tension, but is enlightening nonetheless, with truth in every performance.

“Journey’s End” runs Thursday through Saturday until February 16 at the Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. Thursday performances are at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. A “Talkback” with the director and actors takes place after the matinee performances on February 2 and 9. Audience members are welcome to participate.

Tickets are $26 general admission, $22 for seniors 61 and over and $13 for children under 18 and students with valid IDs. Thursday night tickets are $13 for children and students and $20 for adults.

To order tickets, go to www.rossvalleyplayers.com or call 415-456-9555, ext. 1.

Jan 20 2014
Love0

Wayne McGregor/ Random Dance — Review

By Joe Cillo

Wayne McGregor/ Random Dance

Dance Performance

Lam Research Center at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

January 19, 2014

 

 

This is an abstract study in movement and agility.  It starts out with a male/female couple in a rather contentious vignette against a beautiful vocal sound track.  The opening segment was intriguing, however, the rest of the performance seemed to be a repudiation of this promising outset.  It was as if this opening represented something from the past that had given way to something much harsher, with less human connection and less emotional content.  Perhaps it is an oblique comment on modern life.  In any case the subsequent segments were set against  clashing, percussive electronic soundtracks that incorporated sounds like the din of a factory, passing trains, jet airplanes on an airport runway, cars with stereos thumping full blast.  Intrusive, noisy, discordant sounds.  Blaring strobe lights add to this grating atmosphere of unpleasantness in an aggressive frontal assault on the audience.  The dance that was set in front of all this was active, if not frenetic.  Movements are fluid, but staccato, disjointed, contorted and sometimes grotesque.  There is interaction between the dancers, but emotional connection seems shallow.  Bodies are emphasized by the almost nude costuming, but there is little eroticism.  The eroticism is fleeting and subdued.  There is a feeling of detachment and narcissism throughout, like the activity on the streets of a large city where people are busily and anxiously active, but completely self absorbed and indifferent to others with whom they might be sharing the street and even casually interacting.  This performance seemed determined to minimize emotional interaction.  The dancers did an admirable job with a physically demanding program.  It lasted one hour without an intermission — which I appreciated.  The length was just about right, because this strident, relentless cacophony gets to be taxing.  It was not exactly to my taste, but it did have interest.

 

 

Jan 20 2014
Love0

Victor/Victoria at 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa CA

By Greg & Suzanne Angeo

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Photos by Eric Chazankin

Abbey Lee (center), with chorus

Love by Any Other Name Would Still Be Hilarious

During the Weimar era of the 1920s and early 1930s, before Hitler came to power and crashed the party, Berlin was an incubator for expressionistic film and theatre. Creativity and originality flourished like orchids in a hothouse. It was here that Marlene Dietrich developed her iconic cabaret style. Daring, visionary films like The Blue Angel, Nosferatu and Metropolis were created.  From this heady environment sprang the gender-bending musical comedy film Viktor und Viktoria.

Fast-forward to 1982. Filmmaker Blake Edwards decided the story would be a perfect vehicle for his wife, singing star Julie Andrews. In a month he had a new screenplay, with fabulous new songs by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse. His film Victor Victoria was a smash hit, garnering an Oscar for best original musical score. In 1995 Edwards adapted  his film into the Broadway sensation Victor/Victoria with additional songs and over 700 performances. There was a Tony Award for Andrews, which she famously declined because she felt the rest of the cast had been overlooked.

Tim Setzer

The premise involves a down-and-out British penny-opera singer named Victoria Grant who finds herself in Paris and out of work. Gay cabaret performer Toddy comes to her rescue with a brilliant idea: why not present her to Paris’ top talent agent as a male impersonator? Sure enough,  almost overnight “Victor” is the number-one must-see act in all of Gay Paree.  Dignitaries and underworld figures alike flock to his/her shows, including a Chicagoland nightclub owner and rum-runner named King Marchan. After seeing Victoria perform, Marchan is not at all convinced that “she” is really a “he”.  Of course the two fall madly in love, and the most delightful complications arise.

Taylor Bartolucci DeGuilio

Napa Valley Playhouse Artistic Director Michael Ross directs the current production at 6th Street Playhouse. It packs an entertainment wallop with a cast chock-full of top local talent. Taylor Bartolucci DeGuilio (Spamalot, Great American Trailer Park Musical) in the title role is a commanding presence and nails both the part and the English accent, hitting all those glass-shattering high notes with ease. She’s nearly pitch-perfect, especially in her duets and ensemble numbers, although warbling a bit in her solos.  Tim Setzer (Scrooge, Young Frankenstein) sparkles in the role of Toddy, delivering a deliciously arch performance and strong vocals. At first Anthony Guzman seemed a bit young for such a seasoned tough-guy mobster like Marchan, but he eases into the role and maintains a sturdy, romantic support for DeGuilio.

A very pleasant surprise is Abbey Lee as Marchan’s “moll”, the dim-bulb chorus girl Norma. Lee nearly runs off with the show every scene she’s in, especially musical numbers like “Chicago, Illinois” and “Paris Makes Me Horny”. It’s a showy part, to be sure, but Lee is superb at chewing the scenery and sizzles like a firecracker while doing it.

Director Ross uses good, solid staging and scene changes, and keeps the jazz hot from beginning to end. It would have been nice if set designer Vincent Mothersbaugh had used more Art Deco influence for some of the interior scenes, since the show is set in Paris, the birthplace of Art Deco, in the very Art Deco period of 1933. Nonetheless, the set works. Beautiful lighting by April George creates the perfect ambiance, as does the agile choreography by Staci Arriaga. The orchestra was not quite in tune during the overture and Act I, but they improved during the course of the evening and by Act II had warmed up.

This is truly one of the funniest and most heartwarming musical comedies ever, and the crew at 6th Street has done a wonderful job in presenting it. But it’s more than that – it’s also a love story for the ages. As Ross says, “The timeliness of this love story is not lost on contemporary audiences as we, as a society, evolve (however slowly) in the acceptance of the many shapes and forms that love can take.” And when love is this much fun, who can argue?

When: Now through February 2, 2014

8:00 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday

2:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Tickets: $15 to $35

Location: GK Hardt Theater at 6th Street Playhouse

52 West 6th Street, Santa Rosa CA
Phone: 707-523-4185

Website: www.6thstreetplayhouse.com

Jan 20 2014
Love0

Depressed? Just take a pill, says ‘Rx’

By Judy Richter

Depressed by your job? There might be a pill for that, according to “Rx” by Kate Fodor, being presented by Dragon Theatre in downtown Redwood City.

Meena (Janine Evans) is managing editor for the piggery section of American Cattle and Swine magazine. When she hears that a big pharmaceutical company is looking for participants in a trial study of a drug for workplace depression, she eagerly volunteers.

She has been so depressed by her job and her boss, Simon (Brian Flegel), that she often retreats to cry in a rarely patronized section of a nearby department store. That’s where she encounters an upbeat older widow, Frances (Sandy Pardini Cashmark), who is creating a bucket list for whatever time she has left.

The doctor seeing Meena through the drug trial is Phil (Keith C. Marshall). He’s not overly enamored of his job either, given its silly corporate rules administered by his chirpy boss, Allison (Meredith Hagedorn).

Following the time-honored plot of boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, Phil and Meena become romantically involved. For one thing, he’s impressed that she has written a book of prose poetry that has been published. Going further with the plot scenario, boy loses girl, but they get together at the end.

Fodor’s contemporary play nicely skewers the corporate mentality, the increasing dependence on pills to cure what ails us and high medical costs. In one revealing scene, Phil tells Meena that the experimental drug, SP-925, will probably be available only to those who can afford it.

Director Jeanie K. Smith has assembled a likable group of actors. However, she doesn’t overcome its episodic nature, which involves frequent blackouts for quick scene changes on Christopher Decker’s set (lit by Jeff Swan). Accompanied by music in Lance Huntley’s sound design, these blackouts also involve some quick changes of costumes by Sharon Peng.

Smith also allows some overacting, especially by Evan Michael Schumacher as Richard, who’s preparing the ad campaign for SP-925, and as Ed, the inept physician who’s supposedly developing a drug for heartbreak. Hagedorn also veers close to caricature as Phil’s boss.

The play could benefit from some trimming. It spends too much time on Phil’s fascination with Meena’s poetry and his resultant fascination with feet. The second act sometimes meanders.

Still, there are some nicely comic lines that are funny because they ring true.

 “Rx” continues at Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway St., Redwood City, through Feb. 9. For tickets and information, call (650) 493-2006 or visit www.dragonproductions.net.