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May 23 2013
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RVP’s All My Sons–A Morality Tale by Arthur Miller

By Flora Lynn Isaacson

Amber Collins Crane as Ann Deever & Francis Serpa as Chris Keller in All My Sons. Photo by Robin Jackson.

 

On opening night of All My Sons, May 17, 2013, Set Designer Ken Rowland, was presented the Life Achievement Award by Cris Cassell, President of Ross Valley Players. His wonderful backyard set in Ross Valley Players’ current production shows that he is well deserving of his fine honor.

All My Sons, the 5th show of RVP’s 83rd season, is directed by multi-talented Caroline Altman.

All My Sons takes place in the backyard of the Keller home in the outskirts of an American town in August, 1947. This play is true to the three unities of modern drama popularized by Henrik Ibsen; time, place and action.

All My Sons tells the story of Joe Keller (Craig Christiansen), a self-made businessman who lives a comfortable life with his wife Kate (Kristine Ann Lowry) and returning war veteran son Chris (Francis Serpa), in a suburban, middle-class American neighborhood. They have only one sadness in their lives–the loss of their younger son, Larry who was reported missing in World War II. While Kate still believes Larry is coming back, Chris believes otherwise and would like her to give up that hope so he can marry Ann (Amber Collins Crane), Larry’s former fiancee and the daughter of Steve Deever, Joe’s former business partner who went to prison for selling cracked cylinder heads to the Air Force, causing 21 planes to crash. While Joe’s name is cleared, he falsely places the entire blame on Steve.

Caroline Altman makes one realize that Miller’s play is a portrait of a society as well as a flawed individual as she explores our ever-changing sense of family, social responsibility and values.

Craig Christiansen is a strong Joe Keller. He charms and jokes his neighbors and plays the beaming patriarch. Kristine Ann Lowry is no less astonishing as Joe’s wife. She is as swashed in pretense as her husband, but the difference is that she knows it. There is fine support from Francis Serpa as Chris, the impossibly idealistic surviving son and from Amber Collins Crane as Ann, the tenacious fiancee. Javier Alarcon lends weight to his performance a neighboring doctor who sacrificed his happiness. This production is blessed with a fine ensemble to give life to Miller’s well developed secondary characters. Siobhan O’Brien is particularly good as Sue Bayliss, the wife of the doctor who would rather do research than general medicine.

Caroline Altman’s highly stylized staging in many ways suits the play’s intensely melodramatic plot and makes a welcome addition to this season’s challenging line up of plays.

All My Sons plays through June 16, 2013. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday 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. To order tickets, call 415-456-9555, ext. 1 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com

Coming up next at Ross Valley Players will be the Dixie Swim Club by Jessie Jones Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten and directed by Linda Dunn, July 19-August 18, 2013.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

 

May 22 2013
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SWEET CHARITY at CenterRep is a dynamite MUST SEE show.

By Kedar K. Adour

Girls of the Fandango Ballroom

Pictured: Calia Johnson, Brittany Danielle*, Katie Pogue Jaime, Molly Bell*, Amanda Denison, Nicole Helfer, Alison Ewing*, Tielle Baker

SWEET CHARITY:Musical. Book by Neil Simon. Music by Cy Coleman. Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Based on an original screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. Conceived, staged and choreographed by Bob Fosse. Directed by Timothy Near. Center REPertory Company 1601 Civic Drive in downtown Walnut Creek. 925.943.7469 or www.CenterREP.org. May 17 –June 22, 2013.

SWEET CHARITY at CenterRep is a dynamite MUST SEE show.

The “must see” in the headline is intentionally in capital letters to emphasize the quality of Center Rep’s stunning production. Neil Simon should put Timothy Near on his payroll to direct his plays. A year ago Timothy Near directed Simon’s comedy/farce Rumors for Center Rep and it was a total winner. Yes, Neil Simon is credited with the book for Sweet Charity but he was aided and abetted by Cy Colman and Dorothy Fields’ music and lyrics that fit like a glove into the story line.

Although the storyline was lifted from the black and white Fellini film Nights of Cabiria, Simon and cohorts cleaned it up a bit making the main character a dance-hall hostess rather than a woman of the streets. When it opened on Broadway it starred Bob Fosse’s wife Gwen Verdon as the poor put upon ever hopeful Charity. Gwen Verdon put her stamp on the role when Sweet Charity opened on Broadway in 1966 (47 years ago!!) and now the multi-talented Molly Bell can add her name to the short list of those who were great in the part.

From the simply but classily staged opening number with only a flowering tree and green park bench for props, Charity Hope Valentine sashays to footlight telling us the wonderful things her present amoretti Charlie will say to her in “You Should See Yourself” before he dumps her into the lake and takes off with all of her money.

After being sort of rescued by a park policeman she heads to her job at the Fandango Ballroom. Charity defends Charlie but Nickie (Allison Ewing) tells her “you run your heart like a hotel — you’ve always got people checking in and checking out.” Fandango boss Herman (local favorite Colin Thomson) tells them to break it up and get to work. Boy and do they go to work as they carry a railing made of two pipes to center stage dressed in garishly gorgeous costumes bringing applause from the audience with the hysterical and hysterically danced “Big Spender.” Choreographer Jennifer Perry wisely keeps the “Fosse touch” to the dancing and the ensemble responds with exuberance and precision and you will get exhausted watching them do the “Rich Man’s Frug.”

Charity’s next encounter with screen star Vittorio Vidal (Noel Anthony) ends up as a disappointment but before that happens director Near puts her stamp on the hilarious scene that leads to a tour de force bit for Molly/Charity with “If My Friends Could See Me Now” using only a autographed photo, top hat and cane. Noel Anthony is a perfect foil for

Charity “If You could see me now!”

Molly Bell and plays his role with a straight face and gets to sing “Too Many Tomorrows” before he shoves her into his closet when his true love Ursala (Brittany Danielle) shows up. Charity’s time in the closet brings out some extremely funny stage action not to be revealed here.

Before the first act ends Charity gets stuck in an elevator with nice-guy Oscar (Kieth Pinto) who is claustrophobic and she sort of rescues him with the assurance “I’m the Bravest Individual” before the lights go out. End of Act I.

What do the writer’s have up their sleeves for a second act opening? They come up with a winner with the “Rhythm of Life” song and dance to end all hippie dances. Center rep has imported full body sized James Monroe Iglehart to play Daddy Brubeck and he is an absolute marvel in voice and dance bringing the house down with his actions. It helps that the entire cast gives him support.

You get the idea of the kind of fun you are in for when, not if, you go to see Timothy Near’s opus. The staging sets, rotating lights, orchestra and lighting are marvels. Although Anthony, Iglehart, Pinto and Colin Thompson hold their own, this show belongs to the ladies. Two standouts are Alison Ewing and Brittany Danielle who get two spots in the show to displa

Alison Ewing*, Brittany Danielle

y their talents as singers and dancers. They are ready to take on the lead roles as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly whenever the musical Chicagorolls around. Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes but it races by and be assured you will never look at your watch.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

Photos by: www.kevinberne.com

 

May 22 2013
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MOUNTAIN PLAY: The Sound of Music

By Kedar K. Adour


 MOUNTAIN PLAY: The Sound of Music. Music by Richard Rogers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Suggested by”The Trapp Family Singers” by Maria Augusta Trapp. Directed by Jay Manley. Musical direction by Debra Chambliss. Choreography by Dottie Lester-White. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre on Mt. Tamalpais, Mill Valley, CA. 415-383-1100 or www.MountainPlay.org. 2013 Season Performance Dates: May 19, May 26, June 2, June 8 (Saturday)June 9 and June 16. All shows start at 2:00 pm.

Would you believe that the Mountain Play has reached its 100th birthday? Believe it and selecting The Sound of Music for this momentous occasion was perfect since the first song after the liturgical “Preludium” sung by the nuns of the Abbey and the Brothers of the Monastery, the opening number fills the amphitheatre with lyrics including “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” Award winning director Jay Manley who is making his debut on the mountain has cleverly directed the heroine Maria to sing those lyrics as she descends the stairs from the rear of the 3500 seat amphitheater 2000 feet up on Mt. Tamalpais on a beautiful sunny day.

The always imaginative Jay Manley has taken liberties with the script adding a group of Benedictine Brothers. He also writes: “And for this production of The Sound of Music, we have inter­polated two songs written especially for the film version, and retained a couple from the original stage musical that may be unfamiliar to your ears. With these and other touches, I hope we are putting a fresh face on this musical classic.”

This Mountain Play version certainly has a fresh face with an excellent cast performing on a marvelous set with rotating sections that keep the time intervals between scenes to a minimum. This is set designer Ken Roland’s 26th year with the Mountain Play and he has come up with another beauty.

Most of you must be familiar the musical story of vivacious Maria (Heather Buck), a postulant at Nonnberg Abbey who does not seem to be cut out for a life as a nun in 1938 Austria. The Mother Abbess (Hope Briggs) sends Maria out to experience the outside world before committing her vows. She becomes the governess to the seven von Trapp children of the widowed Captain Georg von Trapp (Ryan Drummond). He has regimented the children but their shenanigans have driven away previous governesses. Marie wins them over teaching them to appreciate music starting with the charming “Do-Re-Mi.” In doing so, love blooms between the Captain and Maria that eventually leads to marriage. All this happens when Nazi Germany is taking over Austria prior to WW II. The Captain politically disagrees with Nazism and is forced to abandon his homeland with his wife and children.

Heather Buck as Maria is a joy to observe and her strong yet dulcet toned singing voice is pitched perfect. Ryan Drummond conveys the stern nature of the Captain and his voice almost matches the quality of Heather Buck. Hope Brigg’s powerful operatic voice brings down the house with her rendition of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” at the end of act one. It was W.C. Fields that warned against playing on stage opposite children. That dictum may hold true since the seven von Trapp children from sixteen year old Liesl (Emily Libresco) down to the diminutive Gretl (Elana Gnatek)hold their own (and even steal a scene or two) with the adults. In the Broadway production the entire children’s cast was nominated for Best Featured Actress category as a single nominee, even though two children were boys. They earn a Tony in this year’s Mountain Play.

L to R: Elena Gnatek (Gretl von Trapp), Brigid O’Brien (Marta von Trapp), Claire Lentz (Brigitta von Trapp), August Mesarchik (Kurt von Trapp), Jenna Herz (Louisa von Trapp), Dillon DeVille (Friedrich von Trapp), Emily Libresco (Liesl von Trapp), and Heather Buck (Maria Rainer).

There are many accolades to shower on this production of The Sound of Music from the terrific score beginning with the title and continuing with “Maria”, “Do-Re-Mi”, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”, “My Favorite Things”, “How Can Love Survive?” “So Long, Farewell”, “The Lonely Goatherd” and “Edelweiss” that has almost become the national anthem of Austria!

All that beautifully directed music (Debra Chambliss) is complimented by the multiple costumes (Patricia Polen) and energetic choreography (Dottie Lester-White). At the risk of overusing a cliché, the air on top of Mt Talamapias is filled with music. Grab the kids, pack a lunch and “climb the mountain.” Running time about 2 hours and 30 minutes including the 20 minute intermission. (Top photo by www.cynthiapepper.com. Lower photo by Robin and Chelsea McNally)

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

May 21 2013
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“Beach Blanket Babylon” stays fresh through the years

By Judy Richter

Although it has been running for 39 years and although its theater is 100 years old, “Beach Blanket Babylon” remains as fresh as today’s  headlines. It’s also very funny as it parodies pop celebrities, politicians and royalty.

It does all this through an energetic, talented cast of 10 performers who don outrageous costumes, exaggerated wigs and — the show’s trademark — hats that seem to grow bigger and more complex as the 90-minute show reaches its conclusion.

Originally created by the late Steve Silver and now produced by his widow, Jo Schuman Silver, “BBB” has followed a similar plot for the past several years: Snow White (Rena Wilson in the reviewed performance), who lives in San Francisco, is looking for love, but she’s not having any luck.  Guided by a good witch (Renée Lubin in this performance), she undertakes a wider search that takes her to Rome and Paris. Eventually she returns toSan Francisco, having met the man of her dreams. During her journey, she encounters a variety of characters who sing and dance their way through songs whose lyrics have been adapted to their situation.

The show opens with one of its longest-running characters, Mr. Peanut, but he’s become quite hip, sporting an iPhone 5. The Beatles show up next, followed by several “Hair” songs sung by hippies. Snow White meets Oprah Winfrey, the Clintons, and a leather-clad, motorcycle-riding Nancy Pelosi, among many others, including the Obamas.

When she arrives inParis, she’s met by a trio of singing, dancing poodles, Coco Chanel and King Louis XIV. Several scenes later, she’s serenaded by a trio of San Francisco Giants showing off their 2012 World Series trophy.

Octomom shows up, as do several English royals, including a drag Queen Elizabeth. A pudgy New Jersy Gov. Chris Christie sings about his weight-loss surgery during songs from “Les Miserables.” Snow White transforms into a flying Madonna singing “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” then meets none other than Elvis Presley. These are just a few examples of the inventive ways that “BBB” keeps audiences smiling and laughing.

Because the show is so demanding of its performers, the cast can change from day to day. Two of the mainstays, though, Lubin and Tammy Nelson, were featured in the reviewed performance.

Director-choreographer Kenny Mazlow, another “BBB” stalwart, keeps the show moving at a fast clip. He and Schuman Silver also write the show. Bill Keck serves as musical director and conductor.

Because it’s so hilarious and so well done, it’s a must-see for out-of-town guests. Locals can enjoy it again and again because it keeps changing as new targets for parody make news. And even though it lampoons people in the public eye and can be a touch naughty, it never descends into bad taste or crudeness. It’s just lots of clever fun.

“Beach Blanket Babylon” plays at 678 Beach Blanket Blvd.(aka Green St.), San Francisco. For tickets and information, call (415) 421-4222 or visit www.beachblanketbabylon.com.

 

 

May 20 2013
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Kontiki — Film Review

By Joe Cillo

Kontiki

Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg

 

 

I never read the book, so I am taking the film as presented.  It is a gripping adventure story.  As it began and I realized what they were about to undertake, I sort of wished I hadn’t come to it.  This kind of a movie is highly tense.  There is a constant sense of imminent, unexpected danger that could appear at any moment — and does.  I myself am scared to death of the ocean.  I don’t like to go anywhere near it.  I see it as deceptively benign and seductive, but extremely perilous, and utterly ruthless. The ocean kills people quickly and with utter indifference.  The hazards are myriad, often hidden, subtle, and merciless.  One of my most disturbing fantasies is to be lost at sea, helpless and alone in the middle of the vast ocean.  The thought of this makes me extremely uneasy, and I don’t like to dwell on it.  And that is exactly the subject of this movie.

It is very well done, well thought out, well acted, well filmed, and well put together.  It works very well as an adventure story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, sort of squirming nervously and gritting your teeth.  Personally, I would rather have Moby Dick: a probing, inward looking self exploration and philosophical search.  Kontiki doesn’t do very much of that.  It stays on the surface level of dealing with the immediate dramas and threats.  It does not philosophize or psychologize or ask itself what inner demons are driving a group of men to undertake such an ill-advised venture.

Thor Heyerdahl (Pal Hagen) seems to have picked up his accomplices as he went along.  They came to him offering their services.  Some people will jump to get on board a crazy, fantastic adventure, oblivious to the extreme danger of the quest.  But why?  The film is not so interested in this.  But this is what I was thinking about all the way through.  The academic question of whether it is historically possible that Polynesia could have been settled by South Americans is not enough to explain why these men undertook this.  This controversy could be settled by other means.  It is not necessary to put one’s life on the line under the adverse conditions of being on a raft at sea in order to make this point.  No other academics would do such a thing, and it was not academics that lined up to accompany Heyerdahl on this trip.  These men were not passion driven archeologists and anthropologists.  They were just guys from a variety of backgrounds who wanted to get away from something, and were willing to latch on to just about any means of doing it.

We have to look more closely at Heyerdahl and the kind of person he was to understand what led to this quest.  He was a grandiose person who wanted to be admired for his courage and daring, to be seen as someone who had the strength and the resolve to pit himself against Nature at her most perilous and emerge victorious.  He saw himself as a conquering hero.  From an early age he showed a willingness to risk his life in attention getting exploits, and nearly got killed as a small boy falling off an ice floe in a pond while trying to retrieve a stranded object on the floe.  He had a sense of invulnerability that I think the ocean tempered.  He was probably not comfortable looking inward and dealing with the mundane responsibilities of everyday life — such as a marriage.  He needed that sense of risk with the promise of great reward, similar to the inner torment gnawing at the heart of the compulsive gambler.  But the gambler creates this sense of risk and reward by betting money on the outcome of chance events, giving an artificial sense of drama and importance to something that is otherwise meaningless.  Heyerdahl took real risks with a clearly visible payoff in view.  That is the difference between the adventurer and the gambler, and why adventurers are more interesting.  Their exploits, when successful, can have socially meaningful consequences, whereas the gambler’s satisfaction is narcissistic and strictly short term.  The adventurer mentality is rather masochistic in that it starts from the position that one must subject oneself to these onerous trials and tribulations at the peril of death in order to win the love and admiration that one desires.  But Heyerdahl was able to fulfill his fantasy.  Many others who start from a similar psychological position do not fare as well, and Heyerdahl himself could just as well have ended up dead and unheard of.

Heyerdahl’s marriage was touched on, but not developed in any depth.  The film did make a point of showing him wearing his wedding ring throughout the voyage.  I suspect that ambivalence about his marriage was a significant factor in motivating this trip.  That was made explicit in his second in command Herman Watzinger (Anders Christiansen).  The other four men we do not get to know very much about.  Except for Heyerdahl and Watzinger there is not much in the way of character development.  In a short film like this you have to make choices and the film chose to concentrate on the charismatic, attractive Heyerdahl, and the dramatic highlights that occurred during this long, dull voyage.  I wish the film had been more expansive about the subsequent lives of the six participants.  There are only a couple of cursory sentences mentioning the continuation of their lives after Kontiki.  I did look up the continuation of Heyerdahl’s marriage, and he and Liv did divorce.  Heyerdahl was actually married three times in his life.

The movie gave me some impulse to read the book, because I suspect — I am sure –there is much that was left out of this film.  I would like to have seen more about the relations between the men on the raft.  The film relates a number of tense moments, but I suspect there were a lot more and the relationships between a small group of men confined to a small space for that long a time under the constant threat of death would have been an interesting avenue to explore.  There is only so much you can do in 118 minutes and this journey took over 100 days, so naturally it had to be an abbreviation.

Despite my aversion to the ocean, I do like adventure stories and am drawn to the personalities of adventurers.  I am something of an adventurer myself of a different sort.  If you have that spark within yourself, or if you just like suspense and drama, this film will appeal to you.  If you are a thinker or a psychologist, this film will probably leave a lot to be desired.  It focuses on the immediate and the surface, but it does so quite effectively and is very well crafted.

May 19 2013
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ALL MY SONS AT Ross Valley Players strikes at the heart.

By Kedar K. Adour

ALL MY SONS: Drama by Arthur Miller, directed by Caroline Altman. 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.

ALL  MY SONS at Ross Valley Players strikes at the heart.

Fortunately for the theatrical world fledgling playwright Arthur Miller believed in the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  In his case he only had to try once and seven years later after his first play The Man who Had All the Luck (1940) bombed in New York, All My Sons was a smash hit winning Tony Awards for Best Author and for Best Direction of a Play. Within the next eight years he scored with four straight winners; Death of a Salesman (1949), An Enemy of the People (1950, based on Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People), The Crucible (1953) and A View from the Bridge (1955).

The ambitious Ross Valley Players (RVP) wisely selected Wood Lockhart as producer and he has rounded up a talented cast for the penultimate production of their 83rd season that began hesitantly but ended with a dynamic second act doing justice to Miller’s opus. Once again Ken Rowland has designed a beautiful set and before the show began was awarded a Life-Time Achievement Award from the Ross Valley Players.

The plays construction follows the Aristotelian dictum of a being “conflict-driven” and dedicated to the action limited in time and place. It is August 1946, two years after the War and all the action happens within about 36 hours in one location, the Keller family back yard in the outskirts of American town, unnamed thus giving a sense of universality that is a trade mark of Miller’s works. Symbolism is another of Miller’s conceits and fallen tree adorns the stage representing the falling of his oldest pilot son Larry now for the past three years listed as missing in action. Mother Kate Keller (Kristine Ann Lowry) tenaciously insists that he still is alive.

Although universal in its themes the story is based on an actual incident. A WW II manufacturer who was profiteering from the war was turned in to the authorities by his daughter when he shipped defective parts to the military.  In Miller’s play, Joe Keller’s  (Craig Christiansen) plant shipped known defective airplane cylinder heads to the military resulting in the death of 21 airmen.  A subsequent trial and deceit by Joe resulted in his exoneration by blaming his partner Steve Deever (unseen but critical to the storyline) who has been imprisoned for three years.

Steve Deever’s daughter Ann (Amber Collins Crane) who was Larry’s girlfriend has been away for three years has disowned her father and now has returned at the behest of younger son Chris (Francis Serpa) and they plan to be married.  Kate’s insistence that Larry is still alive is buttressed by a neighbor and amateur astrologist Frank Lubey (Daniel Hollander) leading to a battle of wills between Kate and Ann.

Miller has taken a page from Herman Melville by endowing Chris with purity that influences those around him to be better than what they are. In the war Chris’s platoon was all killed when they devotedly followed him into battle. In his own backyard Chris’s demeanor stimulates his neighbor Dr. Jim Bayliss (Javier Alarcon) who is desirous of becoming a medical researcher but his wife Sue (Siobhan) who recognizes that the American dream needs money to reach fruition thwarts Jim’s ambition. The need for money to live the good life is imbedded in Joe Keller’s psyche as he repeats the mantra that he has done what he has done for his sons.

When Ann’s brother George (Phillip Goleman) arrives conflict is compounded and in the second act all the major characters turn in great performances bringing the play to a powerful conclusion. Craig  Christiansen dominates the stage in all the early scenes and gives a great performance when Joe falls from grace. Kristine Ann Lowery plays the unsympathetic role of Kate with understatement and conveys true hostility when challenged. Francis Serpa and Amber Collins Crane do not quite convey deep emotional tie written into the script.

Phillip Goleman’s entrance in the second act is a joy to watch and in his brief time upon the stage gives the most professional performance of the evening. Siobhan O’Brien as the doctor’s wife seems unsure in her early scene but superb when she challenges Ann to leave. Miller would be proud of her defense of living the American Dream.

Running time about two hours with intermission. Highly recommended.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

May 18 2013
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THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS

By Kedar K. Adour

(l to r) With Mephistopheles (Lyndsy Kail) as his servant, Faustus (Mark Anderson Phillips) travels the globe on a dragon in San Jose Rep’s world premiere adaptation of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.  Photo by Kevin Berne.

 

THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS: Drama by Christopher Marlowe. Adapted and directed as a multimedia event by Kirsten Brandt. San Jose Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose (Between South 2nd & 3rd Streets), CA.  408.367.7255 or www.SJRep.com.

May 15 – June 2, 2013

THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS a winner at San Jose Rep (World Premier)

Making Christopher Marlowe’s play about Doctor Faustus palpable to modern audiences has been a problem. The last San Francisco production of David Mamet’s 2004 adaptation at the Magic Theatre was a disaster.  Author /director Kirsten Brandt has taken a page from the book of author/director Mark Wing-Davey who mounted Shakespeare’s Pericles as a ‘theatrical event’ using eight actors to play 17 roles. Brandt uses four actors to play a minimum of 25 roles throwing in a few puppets along the way and including visible stage hands as part of the activity. Also, like Wing-Davey, what was written as a 95 minute play has been expanded to two hours and 20 minutes including the 20 minute intermission.

The intermission is needed because the total production is overwhelming and needs a break to allow the audience to refresh their attention on the non-stop visual, auditory and intellectual assault. It truly is a collaborative event of:  Kirsten Brandt (Director); David Lee Cuthbert (Scenic, Lighting, and Media Designer ); Cathleen Edwards (Costume Designer); Rick Lombardo (Sound Designer); Steve Schoenbeck (Associate Sound Designer); Gina Marie Hayes (Puppet Consultant); Deirdre Rose Holland (Stage Manager).

The technical conceits are aided and abetted by a cast that Mark Anderson Phillips (Doctor Faustus); Rachel Harker (Lucifer, the Pope, scholars, and many other roles), Lyndsy Kail (Mephistopheles, Seven Deadly Sins, Old Man) and Halsey Varady (Beelzebub, Angels, Wagner and several other roles). Phillips is a strong challenger to local icon James Carpenter as the best actor in the Bay Area. Lyndsy Kail as Faustus’s side-kick

Devilish Mephistopheles (Lyndsy Kail)

Mephistopheles almost matches Anderson’s tour-de-force performance.

There are two and possibly three versions of Marlowe’s play and Kisten Brandt’s selection of various scenes may be questioned by one familiar with the text but for those of us who are unfamiliar with the text, the brilliant staging and acting is sufficient to create a memorable evening of theatre. To begin, a bare stage morphs into semi translucent panels on which various angled fantastic projections are screened. These panels move aside for entrance and exits and even are used for back-lit puppet shows. From the opening projections of Faustus’s library and overhead views of mystical sand creations to the ending with the fires of hell consuming the soul of Faustus the assault on our visual senses are compounded by sound and music of the spheres.

It is the story of the German Doctor Faustus who sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for the art of necromancy (Black Magic) and 24 years of intellectual fame and fortune.  He accepts Mephistopheles the right hand man of Lucifer as his devoted traveling companion and travels the world on a flying dragon (an adult tricycle puppet) getting into all sorts of mischief.  Humor does not abound about is sufficiently scattered throughout the evening to alleviate the intensity of storyline. For example there is a scene(s) where Pope’s entourage is besieged by magical pranks while Faustus and Mephistopheles are invisible and the men turned into horned animals. Later in the court of German emperor, Charles V a bit of magic ‘lightens’ the proceedings.

Suggestion:  Brush up on Christopher Marlowe who is thought to be the writer of Shakespeare’s plays and read a synopsis of his most famous play being given a stunning production at San Jose Rep as the offering for the final show in their 2012-2013 season.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

May 18 2013
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Pacifica Spindrift: “The Little Foxes” come home

By David Hirzel

The notes I made at intermission refer to the strong performances by all the actors in what amounted to an ensemble piece:  each of them came onstage, thoroughly created their characters and laid out their part in the framework for the story. Especially noteworthy during the first two scenes: Laurie Wall’s “Birdie Hubbard” barely controlled her developing mental breakdown, and Bethany Friedel’s expertly nuanced teenaged “Zan Giddens” brought a few laughs from those in the audience who knew adolescents well.  Kris Carey’s “Oscar Hubbard” was brimming with the suppressed rage of a dominated younger brother to John Szabo’s cool, macchiavellian “Ben Hubbard” as they negotiated a seamy business deal with John Tranchitell’s “Mr. Marshall.”  All this in the first two acts of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes.

The Director’s Notes comment that Ms. Hellman “had not meant for audiences to think of her characters as villains to whom they had no connection. but to recognize some part of themselves in the money-dominated Hubbards.”  In this she was disappointed.  In me I suppose.  Nothing of me in there.  I did however recognize, in Ben, my cousin.  But I digress. . . .

In the final two acts after intermission, The Little Foxes really, I mean really caught fire.  The impressive work of the first half was just setting the stage for some really powerful performances by everyone in the cast remaining onstage.  One by one each came to the fore, expressing the passion, the despair and resignation, the resilience developed when greed and lust for money betray ordinary familial affection and self-respect.   Collin Wenzel’s Leo finally realizes he’s been “had” by his own father and uncle.  Joy Eaton’s “Regina Giddens,” facing the audience, finally reveals the origin of her cold calculating greed.  There is tragedy enough for everyone here.  Its source is the love of money.

I had a word with director Jim Sousa after the show.  He let his actors run with their parts.  Wise man.  His choice of shades of gray for the set, with bursts of color here and there, served to emphasize the bleakness of the script, and the lives of the characters.

A fine production.  I can’t say enough.

Through May 19, 2013

Theatre website:  Pacifica Spindrift Players

Box Office:  650-359-8002

Review by David Hirzel www.davidhirzel.net

May 14 2013
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BEST OF PLAYGROUND 17 at the Thick House

By Kedar K. Adour

BEST OF PLAYGROUND 17, featuring a fully-produced evening-length program of the best short plays by the Bay Area’s best new playwrights. Thick House, 1695 18th street, San Francisco. For more information, visit http://playground-sf.org/bestof.shtml. May 9-26, 2013

This year’s annual celebration of short plays by San Francisco Bay Area playwrights features: The Spherical Loneliness of Beverly Onion by Katie May, directed by Rebecca Ennals; Simple and Elegant by Evelyn Jean Pine, directed by Tracy Ward; Value Over Replacement by Ruben Grijalva, directed by Katja Rivera; Significant People by Amy Sass, directed by Steven Anthony Jones; My Better Half by Jonathan Spector, directed by Michael French; Symmetrical Smack-Down by William Bivins, directed by Jim Kleinmann.

Ensemble: Will Dao, Anne Darragh*, Dodds Delzell*, Carla Pantoja*, Rebecca Pingree, Jomar Tagatac*; June Palladino*, Stage Manager.

The plays for this year’s outing is a tight 85 minute without intermission with the eight member ensemble playing all 23 roles doubling as stage hands for minimal scenery changes with nary a hitch. They begin with the bitter-sweet The Spherical Loneliness of Beverly Onion a fanciful modern version of the ancient concept that our lives are controlled by higher Beings. Beverly Onion’s ( Carla Pantoja)life as a single lonely mortician’s assistant is being debated Fate (Jomar Tagatac) Luck (Anne Darragh). The theological/philosophical debate by Fate and Luck about life as a sphere leads to Beverly being introduced to a series of males (Will Dao). As ‘luck’ would have it the consequences are not what Beverly likes and she rebels against the forces/intrusion of Fate and Luck returning to the humdrum existence of her choice.

Simple and Elegant has a mystical flair that races to a ending, but not a conclusion, in a short 7 minutes.  Fisherman (Dodds Delzell) has two daughters  Simple (Rebecca Pingre) and Elegant (Carla Pantoja). The sister’s catch a magical fish and discovery a gold coin in its innards. Greed invades the scene leading to a death. Everyone knows that wealth/greed cannot ‘buy’ happiness. Repentance prevails and our mystical fish returns to the sea.

Value Over Replacement brings us back to reality and controversy of the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. It is a tightly written script that has a surprise ending with semi-justification for their use. Jomar Tagatac as “Chip” Fuller who has succumbed to the temptation of their use gives a stirring semi-justification for doing so.

Significant People is a two hander with overtones of the battle of the sexes. A male (Dodds Delzell) and female ((Anne Darragh) Docent take us on a tour of the home of a deceased ‘significant person’ that is now a tourist attraction. Bickering takes place with each insinuating the male and female interpretation into the patter. One wonders “For what purpose.”

The final two offerings allow the evening to end with a hoot and a holler. Consider the macabrely charming concept that there are organizations that specialize in resolving male vs. female partnership issues including fulfilling a contract for murder. That is the premise of My Better Half . So it is with Anne (Rebecca Pingree) who wishes to ‘do in’ her significant other Dave ((Will Dao). Charles (Jomar Tagatac)  cons her into giving more time to consoling.  That brings in counselor Marilyn (Anne Darragh) who has her own agenda and poor Anna gets shafted.  Beware of what you wish for??

Symmetrical Smack-Down wins the brass ring and is ready for a trip to the Ten-Minute play writing contest offered by the Humana New American Play Festival in Louisville. Everyone knows that professional wrestling is theatre and make-believe. What happens if it becomes real? Take that question and add a Lesbian couple who play the ‘what-if-make-believe game’ about breaking up and the women are daughters of the wrestlers. Of course the wrestlers take sides. William Bevins is extremely clever in his use of dialog and director Jim Kleinmann moves the characters around the ring adroitly. Did I mention that all the action takes place inside a wrestling ring? It does and costumes for wrestler Napalm (Jomar Tagatac) and El Chupacabro (Dodds Delzell) are hilarious.

The audience filed out of the intimate Thick House Theatre with satisfied chuckles.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetrmagazine.com

 

May 13 2013
Love0

“Young Frankenstein” by Mel Brooks, Spreckels Theatre Company, Rohnert Park CA

By Greg & Suzanne Angeo

 

From left: Jeffrey Weissman, Allison Rae Baker, Tim Setzer, Mary Gannon Graham

 

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Photos by Eric Chazankin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technical Wizardry, Stellar Talent Abounds in “Young Frankenstein”

You’ve got to hand it to producer, director and comedian Mel Brooks. At an age when most folks are content to rock on the porch, indulge in hobbies and visit the grand-kids  86-year-old Brooks writes musical scores and produces hit Broadway shows. Brooks is a kind of raunchy Cole Porter, mixing wit and clever rhymes with simple catchy tunes. His musical “Young Frankenstein”, based on his 1974 hit movie starring Gene Wilder, opened on Broadway in late 2007 to mixed critical reviews, but remains a favorite with audiences. The musical version closely follows the plotline of the film, paying tribute to old Hollywood horror films and the lavish musicals of the 1930s.

The current production by the Spreckels Theatre Company, at the Performing Arts Center’s Codding Theatre, is a fun-filled extravaganza with a professional polish. But what really puts this show over the top are the stunning visual effects, courtesy of Spreckels’ exclusive new Paradyne system that allows projected images and animation to become part of the action onstage. This is the first show at Spreckels to make full use of this system, and Spreckels is the only theater in the Bay Area that has it.

The plot: Old Victor Frankenstein, the mad scientist of Transylvania Heights who created the infamous Monster, has died. The townsfolk say good riddance and throw a party. Suddenly Victor’s grandson Frederick arrives from New York to settle the estate, leaving behind his deeply repressed but glamorous fiancée Elizabeth. Frederick meets Igor, the hunchbacked grandson of Grandpa Victor’s hunchbacked sidekick, also named Igor. Lovely and talented lab assistant Inga is there to lend a hand. Frau Blucher is a grim and mysterious presence at the Frankenstein castle; horses whinny in terror at every mention of her name.  Since apples never fall far from the tree, we soon have a brand-new Monster shambling around and causing mayhem. A local official, Inspector Kemp, is very suspicious of the whole affair. He stirs the villagers to action. There are over 20 zany, energetic song-and-dance numbers to fit each and every situation.

Tim Setzer, Allison Rae Baker

North Bay stage veteran Tim Setzer (Frederick), recently seen on the Spreckels stage earlier this year in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, brings his usual effortless charm and comic flair to the title role. Allison Rae Baker (Inga) has the perfect showcase for her triple-threat talents in numbers like “Roll in the Hay”. Her beautiful singing (and yodeling) is matched only by her dancing, which includes some tap numbers. It’s not often you see yodeling and tap-dancing on the same stage.

Mary Gannon Graham (Frau Blucher) and John Shillington (Inspector Kemp, Harold the Hermit) recently received Best Actress and Best Actor awards, respectively, from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for their performance in “Souvenir” at 6th Street Playhouse’s Studio Theater. Graham is superb, giving the Frau just the right amount of prim, brooding dominance to contrast with those times when she really lets her hair down, like when she sings “He Was My Boyfriend”. Shillington’s Inspector Kemp seems to have much in common with Peter Seller’s Dr Strangelove: a clenched-jaw accent and certain problems with artificial limbs. In a second role, he lends an air of daffy poignancy to Harold the Hermit, a poor blind guy just looking for someone to be his friend. He’s a pleasure to watch whenever he takes the stage.

Denise Elia-Yen (Elizabeth), another noted Bay Area theatre veteran, has two of what may be the best numbers in the show – “Please Don’t Touch Me” and “Deep Love”. She’s roll-on-the-floor funny as the frustrated fiancée who finally finds what she’s looking for. Braedyn Youngberg (The Monster) has perhaps the trickiest role; he completely transforms himself during the show. Youngberg shows off his versatility, especially in “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, a real show-stopper.

Mary Gannon Graham

Hollywood actor Jeffrey Weissman (Igor) has come full circle. In 1973, during his high school days in and around Los Angeles, he heard that Mel Brooks was filming “Young Frankenstein” nearby. He somehow got onto the set and met Marty Feldman, who played Igor in the film. Exactly 40 years later, Weissman is playing Igor on the Spreckels stage with a fresh, original take on the role. His facial expressions are priceless, and he’s in top form in numbers like “Together Again for the First Time”, a lively duet with Setzer.

Costume designer extraordinaire Pamela Enz researched, designed and sewed most of the costumes herself, a near-Herculean task that reaps gorgeous results.  The lighting, sound and set design by Eddy Hansen, Daniel Mitchell and Elizabeth Bazzano merge almost seamlessly with the projections to form a uniquely entertaining effect.

Weak spots don’t do much to affect the overall quality of the production. The small orchestra was off-key once in awhile. There were pitch problems with some of the ensemble cast, and the more ambitious dance numbers were uneven. Even so, choreographer Michella Snider coaxed some very good work from the cast.

Director Gene Abravaya says he and his cast and crew aren’t just co-workers; they’re in “a marriage of ideas and talent”.  He makes full use of the Codding Theatre’s big stage and fly space, the multi-story area just above the stage.  Sets, backdrops and actors levitate with the greatest of ease. With the Paradyne system, he conjures up lightening, smoke, a train waiting at a station, and scenes of village and forest. Combined with the top-notch talent, the result is nothing less than a dazzling multi-media spectacle, not to be missed.

When: Now through May 19, 2013

7:30 p.m. Thursdays

 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

2:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

Tickets: $22 to $26 (reserved seating)

Location: Codding Theater at Spreckels Performing Arts Center

5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park CA
Phone: 707-588-3400

Website: www.spreckelsonline.com