Judy Richter

“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville occupies a high spot on the list of great American novels. Another American great, Orson Welles, transformed it into a stage version called “Moby Dick– Rehearsed.”

Stanford Repertory Theater has taken on the challenges of this work in its second summer production featuring both Stanford students and Bay Area professional actors.

This one-act, approximately 100-minute play begins as casually dressed actors (costumes by Connie Strayer) rehearse Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Dissatisfied with the director’s approach, they begin their own project, “Moby Dick,” starting with its memorable opening line, “Call me Ishmael.”

From there the 15 actors enact the epic story of a 19th century whaling boat, the Pequod, and its captain’s maniacal pursuit of the white whale, Moby Dick, that bit off one of his legs below the knee.

Veteran Bay Area professional Rod Gnapp plays Lear in the opening scene, then becomes the obsessed Captain Ahab in a memorable performance. Another standout in the cast is professional actor Peter Ruocco as Starbuck, the first mate and the only crew member who voices his doubts directly to Ahab.

Among the students, Louis McWilliams is noteworthy as Ishmael, the saga’s narrator.

Another professional in the cast is Courtney Walsh, who plays several roles and serves as movement/dance director.

Directed by Rush Rehm, the production moves fairly well with a few lulls in the middle. However, some of the actors need to work on diction, and the shouting is overdone in some scenes.

The scaffold set by Annie Dauber defines the ship, aided by lighting by Michael Ramsaur and the sound design by Michael Keck, who wrote some of the music. Music director Weston Gaylord elicits some fine choral singing, especially in “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” a.k.a. “The Navy Hymn.”

It’s significant that Welles incorporated an opening scene from “King Lear” in his play, for some parallels can be seen. The most apparent is the ascent into madness by Lear and Ahab. In addition, the off-kilter cabin boy, Pip (Maia Kazin), can be compared with Tom or the Fool in “Lear.”

This production is part of SRT’s 16th summer festival, dubbed Orson Welles: Substantial Shadows. Later this summer the company will present a theatrical re-creation of Welles’ famous 1938 radio broadcast, “The War of the Worlds.” Free showings of several Welles  films feature Stanford professors leading discussions.

A symposium about Welles and Melville is scheduled for all day Aug. 2. For details, visit www.continuingstudies.stanford.edu.

“Moby Dick – Rehearsed” will continue through Aug. 10 in Pigott Theater (Memorial Auditorium), 551 Serra Mall, Stanford. For tickets and information about it as well as “The War of the Worlds” and the films, call (650) 725-5838 or visit www.repertorytheater.stanford.edu.

Judy Richter

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“The Comedy of Errors,” William Shakespeare’s shortest play and one of his earliest,  is also one of his funniest, especially in the California Shakespeare Theater production.

This story of two sets of twins separated in infancy results in one hilarious case of mistaken identity after another when they all wind up in the same town as adults. Director Aaron Posner ups the ante by casting one actor to play one pair of twins and one to play the other. Then he uses only five more actors to play everyone else.

The action is set in the ancient Greek city ofEphesus, where Egeon (Ron Campbell), a merchant fromSyracuse, comes in search of his son, Antipholus (Adrian Danzig) and his son’s servant, Dromio, (Danny Scheie), who in turn are searching for their long-lost brothers, also named Antipholus and Dromio. When the two younger men arrive in Ephesus, they are mistaken for their twins, who have lived there for some time, long enough for Antipholus of Ephesus to be married to Adriana (Nemuna Ceesay).

The resulting confusion leads to plenty of laughs. Scheie is especially hilarious in the scene in which the two Dromios talk to each other supposedly with a closed gate between them. Merely by turning his cap and pivoting a few steps, Scheie becomes one or the other.

In the meantime, Danzig’s Antipholus of Syracuse is attracted to Adriana’s younger sister, Luciana (Tristan Cunningham), who is torn between her attraction to him and, believing he’s her brother-in-law, her loyalty to Adriana. Both prove to be graceful dancers (movement directed by Erika Chong Shuch). Danzig displays considerable physical skills elsewhere, too.

Besides the actors already named, the cast features Patty Gallagher and Liam Vincent, who, like Campbell, create varied characters thanks to their own acting skills and Beaver Bauer’s inventive costumes.

Multi-colored shutters with peeling paint along with several levels of wood plank ramps and platforms dominate the set by Nina Ball. Lighting is by David Lee Cuthbert and sound by Andre Pluess.

Before the show starts, the actors mingle with the audience. When they go onto the stage, they make the pre-show announcements that artistic director Jonathan Moscone and managing director Susie Falk usually make on opening nights.

All of this takes place in a dramatic outdoor setting of rolling golden hills and eucalyptus groves, adding up to a highly enjoyable experience.

“The Comedy of Errors” will continue at the Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Way(off Hwy. 24), Orinda, through July 20. For tickets and information, call (510) 548-9666 or visit www.calshakes.org.

Judy Richter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judy Richter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judy Richter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judy Richter

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“Failure: A Love Story” by Philip Dawkins actually is several love stories, all charmingly told by Marin Theatre Company.

Set  in Chicago in 1928, most of the action takes place in a clock shop founded by an immigrant couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fail. After the couple’s death in an accident near the Chicago River several years earlier, their eldest daughter, Gertrude (Megan Pearl Smith), took over the shop with the assistance of her sisters, Jenny June (Liz Sklar), the middle one; and Nelly (Kathryn Zdan), the youngest. Zdan also is the show’s choreographer.

They live upstairs from the shop with their brother, John N. (Patrick Kelly Jones), whom Jenny June found as an infant along the river. Unlike his outgoing sisters, John N. is more comfortable with animals than people. He befriends animals like a snake, a dog and some birds, all represented by puppets.

The love stories start with the arrival of Mortimer Mortimer (Brian Herndon), a brash investor who courts Nelly. On their wedding day, though, she dies in a freak accident near the river.

Mortimer then turns his sights on Jenny June, an avid swimmer who hopes to become the first woman to swim across Lake Michigan. Death ends that relationship, too.

It also ends the next relationship with Gertrude, leaving Mortimer and John N. living out their final years together in the apartment above the shop.

Hence the play is about romantic love, sibling love and friendship love, all related by an engaging cast.

Running about two hours without intermission, the play is noteworthy for familiar tunes like “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” as well as songs composed by music director and sound designer Chris Houston. The versatile actors play musical instruments ranging from piano and string bass to trombone and percussion.

The set by Nina Ball could be regarded as a character itself. It’s an ornate grid hung with the instruments and clocks of all sorts. When the clocks strike the hour, the actors imitate the sounds like gongs and cuckoos. It’s great fun.

As so inventively staged by Jasson Minadakis, the show is filled with such delightful touches, thanks also to costumes by Jacqueline Firkins.

“Failure: A Love Story” will continue at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., MillValley, through June 29. For tickets and information, call (415) 388-5208 or visit www.marintheatre.org.

Judy Richter

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Two names that stand out in the annals of American crime are Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the couple who kept the nation on edge during the Great Depression.

Their story is captured in “Bonnie & Clyde,” a musical covering the years 1920 to 1934 and making its regional premiere at San Jose Stage Company.

As related in the musical’s book by Ivan Menchell, with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Don Black, “Bonnie & Clyde” is first and foremost a love story between two likable West Texans. They just happened to make their living through robbing and killing, including 14 lawmen.

Clyde (Cliff McCormick), who had admired Billy the Kid, had already done some jail time when he met Bonnie (Allison F. Rich). She was working as a waitress in a diner and dreaming of becoming a Hollywood star like Clara Bow. The attraction was mutual. Even when he went to jail again, she visited him regularly, much to the dismay of her mother,  Emma (Judith Miller).

She then helped him to escape, and they were on their way.

Throughout their criminal exploits, they remained loyal to their families, including Clyde’s parents (Bruce Carlton and Lucinda Hitchcock Cone). Clyde’s brother, Buck (Will Springhorn), got involved with them despite the objections of his wife, Blanche (Halsey Varady).

Directed by Michael Navarra with choreography by CJ Blankenship, the action takes place on a spare set created by Giulio Perrone and enhanced with projections by Garland Thompson.

Several people in the 17-member cast create multiple characters. With musical direction by Allison F. Rich, the six-member band, ensemble singing and most of the solo work are excellent. Rich’s Bonnie is especially noteworthy.

McCormick sings well as Clyde, but he doesn’t seem natural. He struts rather than walks, making his performance too large for the intimate space.

The two-act show runs more than two hours with one intermission. Overall, it’s quite well done.

“Bonnie & Clyde” will continue at San Jose Stage Company, 490 S. First St., San Jose, through July 27. For tickets and information, call (408) 283-7142 or visit www.thestage.org.

Judy Richter

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Hershey Felder makes a welcome return to Berkeley Repertory Theatre with another one-man show, “Maestro,” focusing on 20th century musical genius Leonard Bernstein.

Felder previously delighted audiences with his “George Gershwin Alone.” As he did in that show, Felder talks,  sings and plays the Steinway to illustrate his story.

This time he examines the influences in Bernstein’s illustrious career, starting with his pious Jewish immigrant father. He initially discouraged his son’s musical inclinations, but unwittingly caused young Leonard to see connections between traditional Jewish songs and themes by composers like Beethoven.

Indeed, Beethoven was one of Bernstein’s compositional inspirations, starting a line that continued through later composers like Mahler, Wagner, Copland and Gershwin, whom he wanted to succeed.

Bernstein is perhaps best remembered for his musicals, especially “West Side Story” and “Candide.” Several musical highlights of the show come from “West Side Story”:  “Somewhere,” “Maria,” “Tonight” and “One Hand, One Heart.”

He also composed piano and orchestral works and was an accomplished conductor, eventually becoming leader of the esteemed New York Philharmonic. Furthermore, he was a musical educator featured on such TV series as “Omnibus” in the ’50s and ’60s. One of those broadcasts is seen on a backdrop of the score for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 as the audience enters the theater. (Set by François-Pierre Couture, lighting by Couture and Christopher Rynne, projections by Couture and Andrew Wilder.)

Felder speaks as if he were Bernstein at his final concert and recreates conversations with and opinions of people in his life.

During the 100-minute, intermissionless show, Felder points to conductors who influenced Bernstein. And he talks about Bernstein’s wife, Felicia, with whom he had three children. He loved her and appreciated the way she helped him with some of his writing, yet he also had affairs with men.

Because Bernstein had such a full life during his 72 years, it’s not easy to encapsulate everything, but Felder does a good job of keeping the focus on his musical career, contributions and influences. It’s an absorbing theatrical work.

“Maestro” continues through July 3 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. For tickets and information, call (510) 647-2949 or visit www.berkeleyrep.org.

Judy Richter

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Although “Show Boat” has generally been considered a pioneering work of the American musical theater, it has an operatic scope. The San Francisco Opera makes that point in its lavish company premiere of the 1927 work that composer Jerome Kern and lyricist-author Oscar Hammerstein II based on a novel by American Edna Ferber.

Many of its songs are familiar to American audiences, but they sound better with operatic voices. As soon as sonorous bass Morris Robinson starts singing one of those songs, “Ol’ Man River,” early in the show,  it takes on a new resonance. Robinson plays Joe, a black worker on the Cotton Blossom, the titular show boat on theMississippi.

Another outstanding singer is baritone Michael Todd Simpson as Gaylord Ravenal, a debonair gambler who happens upon the boat and immediately falls in love with the owner’s daughter, Magnolia Hawks, played by soprano Heidi Stober. Their “Make Believe” upon meeting is another of the show’s many highlights. Stober also is a talented dancer and even plays guitar in one scene.

Joe’s wife, the no-nonsense Queenie, the boat’s cook, is played by soprano Angela Renée Simpson.

The final singer from operatic ranks is longtime SFO and worldwide favorite, soprano Patricia Racette, who plays Julie, leading lady of the Cotton Blossom show and a close friend of Magnolia. She enlivens the stage with “Can’t Help Lovin’ DatMan.”

Playing in two acts with a 25-minute intermission, “Show Boat” spans more than 40 years, starting in the 1880s and continuing through 1927. Paul Tazewell’s colorful costumes and Michele Lynch’s dynamic choreography for nearly everyone in the cast reflect the changing times and styles. Sets by Peter J. Davison take the action to Natchez, Miss., Chicago and New York City.

Others featured in the cast are rubber-legged comic actor Bill Irwin as Cap’n Andy Hawks, the boat’s owner; and Harriet Harris as his dour wife, Parthy Ann. Patrick Cummings plays Julie’s husband and co-star, Steve. The secondary actors in the boat’s show are Ellie May Chipley (Kirsten Wyatt) and Frank Schultz (John Bolton).

John DeMain conducts the excellent orchestra and Ian Robertson’s always wonderful chorus.

“Show Boat” not only examines a facet of American show business history but also looks at the toll taken by racism at the time. It’s also a love story for several characters through the years.

The San Francisco Opera proves that it rightfully belongs on the operatic stage and deserves this outstanding production.

It continues at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House through July 2. For tickets and information, call (415) 864-3330 or visit www.sfopera.com.

Judy Richter

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It’s 1896, and a former whaling ship is sailing from the United States to Liberia with an all-black crew in Christina Anderson’s “pen/man/ship,” being given its world premiere by Magic Theatre.

The only characters the audience meets are the three black passengers and a crew member. Chief among the passengers is Charles (Adrian Roberts), a land surveyor who has chartered the ship and hired the crew because he has a project awaiting him in the African nation. At first, he’s the only one who knows the true nature of the mission.

He is accompanied by his adult son, Jacob (Eddie Ray Jackson), who has brought along a woman friend, Ruby (Tangela Large). The crew member who befriends Charles is the accordion-playing Cecil (Tyee Tilghman).

Part of this psychological drama focuses on the love-hate relationship that Jacob has for his imperious, elitist father, who imbibes regularly in gin. The other part focuses on the astute Ruby and her increasingly contentious relationship with Charles and closer relationship to the crew, who are growing to dislike him.

The passage of time in this two-act play is depicted by the journal kept by the widowed Charles. Many scenes take place on the sabbath, which father and son have regularly observed with hymns and the study of Bible verses. Ruby is invited to join them, but she’s not terribly receptive, especially since Charles doesn’t trust her.

After the death of a crewman who supposedly attacked Charles, he refuses to tell the crew what happened. Consequently, Ruby orders the sailors to lower the sails, leaving the ship adrift on the ocean, until he agrees to talk to them.

Director Ryan Guzzo Purcell keeps the play moving fairly well despite its talkiness and relatively confined quarters (set by Angrette McCloskey). Still, it drags in spots. Likewise, the actors do well, but sometimes the characters reveal key information so off-handedly that some in the audience might not catch its implications.

The often-dark lighting is by Ray Oppenheimer with ocean sounds by Sara Huddleston. Costumes are by Antonia Gunnarson.

The play has undergone a long genesis of workshops at several venues, but it still could benefit from some tightening and clarifying.

It will continue at the Magic Theatre, Building D, FortMasonCenter, San Francisco, through June 15. For tickets and information, call (415) 441-8822 or visit www.magictheatre.org.

Judy Richter

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