Kedar K. Adour

Kedar [rating:5] (5/5 stars)

CARRIE: The Musical. Book by Lawrence D. Cohen based on the novel by Stephen King. Music by Michael Gore and lyrics by Dean Pitchford. Directed by Jason Hoover. Ray of Light Theater Company, Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St. (between Mission/Capp), San Francisco, CA 94103. www.rayoflighttheatre.com. October 4 –November 2, 2013.

CARRIE: The Musical gets new life by Ray of Light Theatre

There were ambivalent feelings expressed amongst some theatre critics about the new version of Carrie: The Musical at last night’s opening of Shocktoberfest where blood (and guts) littered the stage. They were expecting to see more blood flowing at tonight’s opening and all were anxious to see the reincarnation of the 1988 production labeled the worst musical ever and “New York Times critic Frank Rich likened to the Hindenburg disaster.” Surprise, surprise, the revamped, stripped down rewrite of Carrie was received with appreciative applause and a standing ovation.

Standing ovations are de rigor at Ray of Light (ROL) openings. They have a very dedicated loyal following since ROL consistently produce award winning shows with non-equity casts. For Carrie: The Musical they have rounded up a top-notch group with excellent singing voices and stage presence, a simplified staging relying on projections and lighting and a great director utilizing congruent choreography (Amanda Folena). The rather spectacular ending will have you jumping out of your seat.

This production can be considered a Chamber Musical consisting of part musical comedy and part opera. The story is based on the Stephen King novel that became a 1976 cult movie that was directed by Brian DePalma. For the record, a newer version will be hitting the screen this month.

Carrie (Cristina Ann Oeschger) is a shy introverted 17-year old High School student who does not fit in with any group and has a religious fanatic mother Margaret (Heather Orth) who has not taught her anything about becoming “a woman.” Carrie becomes terrified when she has her first menstrual period while taking a shower at school. Her ignorance is ridiculed and she shunned from the “in” group. When she discovers she has telekinetic powers (after all this sort of character is what made Stephen King famous), the final humiliating prank at the Senior Prom leads to catastrophic consequences.

The storyline is written in flash backs with the characters being interviewed by off-stage voices about “the incident.”  There is an attempt to add universality to the plot with the opening number of “In” where the student ensemble bemoan the fact that getting accepted into cliques is a major hurdle of growing up. Christine Ann Oeschger, who is a High School Junior, captures the audience with her first number “Carrie.” Heather Orth gives a magnificent performance with the operatic arias of “Eve Was Weak” and “Evening Prayers.” Her duets with Oeschger are mesmerizing and spine chilling.

Carrie’s nemesis Chris Hargensen (Riley Krull) gives added meaning to the word “bitch” often dominating the ensemble numbers with her presence. Among the “good guys” are students Tommy (Nitkita Burshteyn ), his girlfriend Sue (Courtney Merrell) and gym teacher Miss Gardner (Jessica Coker). Burshteyn’s full but soft tenor voice and disarming stage presence is a perfect match for the beautiful Merrell who radiates genuine compassion with her lines and soprano voice. Jessica Coker’s duet with Oeschger “Unsuspecting Hearts” is a gem.

Forget about most of the harsh criticism leveled at previous productions of this play and get your ticket for Ray of Light’s staging that captured the opening night audience and ended with memorable ‘bang’. Running time about 2 hours with an intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

A WINTER’S TALE by William Shakespeare. Directed by Patricia McGregor. CalShakes, Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda. (510) 548-9666. www.calshakes.org.

September 25 –October 20, 2013

A WINTER’S TALE a ‘double header’ at CalShakes

When was the last time you saw a Shakespearean play produced as it was written?  Difficult question to answer? In modern times the Bard’s plays have tread the boards as “concept” performances and those concept performances have ranged from brilliant to outrageous and all descriptions in between. Then there are concept performances by Patricia McGregor that defy description and CalShakes’ production of the preposterous A Winter’s Tale fits in between with a touch of brilliance and an outrageous second act.

In Shakespeare’s time “a winter’s tale” suggests “an old wife’s tale’ and what you hear is hardly true and often embellished.  The play is divided into two parts with 16 years intervening. The first locale is King Leontes’s court in Sicily infused with high drama and the second the carefree land of Bohemia depicted by a May Pole with multicolored ribbons.  This being the end of the regular baseball season referring to the play as a ‘double-header” seems appropriate. 

Before the play begins director Patricia McGregor (her sister Paloma is listed as movement director) has members of the cast warm-up the audience with a juggling act and audience participation. Center stage is dominated by a psychedelic three level tower and stage right a small version a recreational trailer. The trailer may symbolize that we are going to be taken for a ride. 

Omozé idehenre, Margo Hall and L. Peter Callender

Before we take that ride to Bohemia drama unfolds when King Leontes (L. Peter Callender) and his wife Hermione (Omoze Idehenre) have entertained his best friend King Polixenes of Bohemia (Aldo  Billingslea) for the past nine  months. Leontes accuses Hermoine of making him a cuckold with Polixenes being the father of her unborn child.  No matter how earnestly Paulina (Margo Hall)  Hermoine’s lady-in-waiting defends the Queen, Leontes’ rage increases. Margo Hall matches Callendar’s histrionics line for line creating a dynamic confrontation. The female child is born and rejected.  Hermoine and the child Mamillius (Akili Moore alternating with Zion Richardson) heir to the throne die of broken hearts. The female child is whisked away by the courtiers and is rescued by a poor shepherd (Callender) and his son (Margo Hall). Eight cast members play double roles and are part of the ensemble. End of act one.

In the intervening 16 years the babe, now named Perdita (Tristan Cunningham) has blossomed into a beauty and has fallen in love with Florizel (Tyee Tilghman), Polixenes’ son and heir to his throne. True love never runs smoothly. The Prince Florizel cannot marry the commoner Perdita.

Before all gets resolved and the statue of Hermione mystically comes to life (after all the play is listed as a romance) Shakespeare introduces a rogue Autolycus (Christopher Michael Rivera) who is a peddler and a pick-pocket who becomes instrumental in the resolution of the play. Although Callender and Hall give yeoman performances, Rivera is the spark that keeps the story interesting.

Director McGregor has given the cast free range and the acting is extremely broad best described as emoting.  This Shakespeare play is often remembered as the one that includes a bear in the cast. The tall imposing Aldo Billingslea plays the bear with aplomb as he chases a hapless courtier off the stage to devour him.

All in all the drama, romance, redemption and staging make this a tongue-in-cheek evening worth seeing. Running time of this truncated production is 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 
Omozé idehenre as Hermione, Margo Hall as Paulina, and L. Peter Callender as Leontes in Cal Shakes’ A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare, directed by Patricia McGregor; photo by Kevin Berne.

Kedar Adour

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The cast of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, this year’s Tony Award winner for Best Play, pose for a “family portrait.” (l to r) Anthony Fusco (Vanya), Caroline Kaplan (Nina), Lorri Holt (Masha), Mark Junek (Spike), Sharon Lockwood (Sonia), and Heather Alicia Simms (Cassandra). All Photos courtesy of kevinberne.com

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE: Comedy by Christopher Durang. Directedby  Richard E.T. White. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Rhoda Theatre, 2015 Addison Street @ Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 647-2949 orwww.berkeleyrep.org.

September 20 – October 20, 2013

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Berkeley Rep is Christopher Durang at his best.

Berkeley Rep has won the prize (if there is one to be offered) for being the first to bring the 2013 Tony Award winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike to the Bay Area. Be assured it will be back because Custom Made Theatre Company helmed by Brian Katz has a love affair with Christopher Durang’s plays but there may competition with SF Playhouse who will surely make a bid for the next production.

Durang’s plays seem to fit the mood of San Francisco playgoers. His plays skewer sacred institutions such as with Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You (Catholic Church), Beyond Therapy (psychoanalysis) and The Marriage of Bette and Boo (marriage and family). This time around he sort of pays homage to Chekov with this side splitting play that is being given a superb production by an outstanding cast and seasoned director.

Not only has he taken the names of his characters from the depressing Uncle Vanya he imports an ingénue named Nina from The Seagull. It will help if you are familiar with Chekov’s work and also with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Greek Mythology and Maggie Smith’s Oscar award winning role in California Suiteand a few other theatre and movie references. Familiarity is not necessary because this play will have you in hysterics.

(l to r) Sharon Lockwood (Sonia), Heather Alicia Simms (Cassandra), and Anthony Fusco (Vanya)

It all begins with Vanya (Anthony Fusco) enjoying a cup of coffee in the sun room of a Buck’s County mansion (fantastic set by Kent Dorsey) that he shares with his bi-polar sister (adopted) Masha (Sharon Lockwood). They have been burdened with taking care of their senescent parents who had required extended care as they aged into dementia. Those parents, who were local thespian admirers of Chekov, gave them Chekhovian names.  The third child Sonia is a famous movie actress playing in exploitative films. While Vanya and Masha have spent their later years tied to the homestead where the excitement of any day was watching a Blue Heron eat frogs in the pond outside the sun room, Sonia (Lorri Holt) has travelled the world and has been married 5 times. Housekeeper Cassandra (Heather Alicia Simms) true to her namesake can portend the future . . . well most of the time, and practices voodoo.

Sonia arrives with her 20 something year old boy-toy Spike (Mark Junek) who prefers to be undressed to dressed,to attend a neighbor’s movie-themed  masquerade party and to sell the house. Sonia will attend the party as Snow White insisting that her retinue be the dwarfs with the exception of Spike as Prince Charming.  Nina, who is visiting relatives who live across the pond enters with Spike and is reluctantly given an invitation to the party.

Anthony Fusco (Vanya), Lorri Holt (Masha), and Mark Junek (Spike)

Durang with his disparate and sometimes desperate characters has set the stage for a total romp that should not be missed. Local luminaries Anthony Fusco, Lorri Holt and Sharon Lockwood are absolutely superb with each getting their time to shine upon the stage.Lockwood’s transformation from unhappy depressed 52 year old into a glamorous “Maggie Smith” wannabe in a sequined dress will have you applauding. Lorri Holt’s take charge woman who expects homage is pitch-perfect. Anthony Fusco gets his turn in the second act with his diatribe against everything technologic bemoaning the loss of “charming humanity”  and social intercourse of the 50s is a solo performance worth a Tony. The audience broke out with thunderous applause.

Heather Alicia Simms who understudied the role of Cassandra in the Broadway show that included David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen and Sigourney Weaver brings a new meaning to hysterical with her shenanigans. And then there is Mike Junek with six-pack abs, a mobile body to die for (mentally coveted by gay Vanya) unbelievably bouncing around. Last but not least is the beautiful, charming and disarming Caroline Kaplan playing the star struck youngsters with verisimilitude.

There is not a single dull moment in this 2 hour and 45 minute evening (includes an intermission) and Berkeley Rep should bring director Richard E. T. White around more often.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

BAND FAGS!: Comedy. Written by Frank Anthony Polito.  Directed  by Stephanie Temple.  New Conservatory Theatre Center Walker Theatre, 25 Van Ness Ave @Market, San Francisco, CA. 415-861-8972 or www.boxoffice@nctcsf.org.  

September 13 – October 13, 2013

BAND FAGS! is a coming of age play at the New Conservatory Theatre Center

Coming of age stories are almost always personal reminiscences and can be charming, bitter-sweet or dark. Since playwright Frank Anthony Polito sets the place of Band FAGS! in his home town of Hazel Park, a Detroit superb known as “Hazeltucky” one can assume it is at least semi-autobiographical. The time is October 1984 to October 1988 when he would have been a pre-teen.

His characters in this two-hander grow from age 13 to 17 and from junior high-schoolers to seniors.  It is a time when sexual hormones begin and in that four year span can rage. So it is with best friends Jack Paterno and Brad Dayton, who is black. They developed a close friendship when they became members of Varsity Band and they often need to reassure themselves that they are best friends.

Sadly the male members of the band are derogatorily called “Fags” hence the title of the play. As the 20 plus scene play progresses there is no subject off limits for the boys and director Temple allows them to excessively horse around taking the sting out of some hurtful observations. They constantly deny that they are fags but often the dialog suggests otherwise. Author Polito does not put forth nor explore any new observations about the hardships of growing up gay and his two characters lack distinctive qualities.

Whereas Brad is the dominant more masculine one of the two and has secretly accepted his homosexuality, it is Jack who is in denial and filled with angst. Polito has written the angst into the dialog but neither Paterno nor Dayton has sufficient acting ability to covey that angst. This is very apparent in one of the final scenes where Brad has been elected as one of the “Top 25 Personalities” in the Senior Class and Jack who has coveted that honor for years has not. As staged by Temple the poignancy is absent. Similarly, when Jack has received a valentine from Joey his heartthrob and “other friend”, Brad’s confrontation lacks depth.

(L-R)James Arthur M as Brad shows off his Top 25 award to a disappointed Jack (Blake Dorris)

Further, the multiple scenes lack fluidity and are demarcated by the boys changing a sweater, a trouser or both on stage with an occasional reference to the date such as when Brad is writing a letter he begins with “October 6”, Dear Jack.

Paterno and Dayton are to be commended for their enthusiasm and apparently never missing a line but the arduous task of aging from age 13 to 17 would stymie an Equity actor. Knowing that actors have an aversion to “line direction” director Temple who has successfully helmed other shows would have better served by doing so creating what could have been a charming, heartwarming evening.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

Jarrod Zimmerman (Edward Rutledge) and the cast of the West Coast premiere of Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati’s triumphant new staging of the musical 1776, now playing at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater through October 6, 2013. Photo by Kevin Berne

1776: A Musical Play. Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and book Peter Stone.Directed by Frank Galati. American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), 415 Geary Street, San Francisco.  415.749.2228 or www.act-sf.org  September 11 – October 6, 2013.

1776: A mesmerizing musical look at the creation of the Declaration of Independence

A block-buster production of the musical play 1776 opened American Conservatory Theater’s (ACT) 2013-14 season with a superb 26 member cast bringing an entertaining yet realistic look at American history, specifically the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.  For this production ACT has imported the brilliant director Frank Galati who helmed its run at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida. He has brought along seven of that cast and integrated them with local talent to create a memorable evening.

In 1969 during 1776’s out-of-town tryouts major changes were made and its 1969 Broadway run was a smashing success earning three Tony Award nominations winning as Best Musical. It starred Williams Daniels, Howard de Silva, Betty Buckley and Ken Howard and ran for 1217 performances. Similar success was attained in its London run and on the road. Although ACT’s staging is listed as a West Coast premiere; Willows Theatre mounted an excellent production in 2000.

The physical action takes place during the Second Continental Congress from May 8 and July 4, 1776 on hot and humid days in the main chamber of the Pennsylvania State house in Philadelphia. Irrepressible, obnoxious and disliked John Adams (John Hickok) of Massachusetts is spearheading a resolution to disavow English rule and seek independence for the 13 colonies. The separate factions and infighting are harbingers of what is happening in our present Congress. The inability to reach any consensus is rather ridiculously apparent when no decision could be made whether to open a window. With the lines drawn between the North and South colonies, John Dickinson of Pennsylvanian (Jeff Parker) posits a resolution that any decision must be unanimous.  It is passed.

In an attempt to break the deadlock Benjamin Franklin (Andrew Boyer) proposes that a written document (declaration) would be needed to clarify what independence means. Thomas Jefferson (Brandon Dahlquist) is maneuvered into writing it. Jefferson who misses his bride of six months Martha (Andrea Prestinario) is unable to complete the task. Franklin sends for her and after a night of delight he is able to finish the task.

When the declaration is submitted to the Congress changes are insisted upon and mostly accepted by Jefferson with the exception of the one stating slavery be abolished.  Rutledge of South Carolina (Jarrod Zimmerman) being the most vocal in a devastating song with singing “Molasses to Rum” forcefully telling the hypocrisy of the North whose ships bring in the slaves in exchange for the rum trade. Zimmerman controls the stage and received thunderous applause for his scathing satirical presentation.

Although the major characters who individually add great class to this well constructed play, it is a true ensemble performance with the minor characters adding depth to the action. John Hickok’s booming voice is commanding but he has to share accolades with the fore mentioned Jarrod Zimmerman, the avuncular Andrew Boyer, and Jeff Parker who nails the song “Cool, Cool Considerate Man” as he leads the conservatives in a dance.

The only two ladies in the show are absolutely perfect in their rolls. In the sequences between John Adams and his wife Abigail (“Yours, Yours, Yours”), Abby Mueller is a shining gem with a personality to match her flawless voice. Andrea Prestinario as Martha Jefferson in her turn in the spotlight with Hickok and Boyer is sheer delight with “He Plays the Violin.”

The most poignant moment of the evening belongs to the beautiful rendition of “Momma, Look Sharp” sung by Zach Kenny as the courier describing a mother looking for her wounded son on the battlefield.

There is a great deal of necessary humor throughout the play beginning the rousing “Sit Down John” and “Piddle, Twiddle” and continuing to a “battle of canes” between the members of congress. There might be unintentional humor injected into scene 2 when Ryan Drummond as Richard Henry Lee performs an energetic foppish song and dance “The Lees of Old Virginia” as he is off to get a proclamation approving independence from the Governor of Virginia.

Frank Galati’s direction is brilliant utilizing every member of the cast bringing them forward to the step-down apron that covers the hidden ten piece orchestra directed by Michael Rice and back into the framework of Russell Metheny’s set. Add to this are the fantastic costumes created by Mara Blumenfeld.

All in all it is an unforgettable stirring history lesson with a running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes including the 15 minute intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

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Vince (Patrick Alparone, standing) comes to terms with his family legacy with his grandfather Dodge (Rod Gnapp) in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child at Magic Theatre through October 6. Photo: Jennifer Reiley

EXTENED THROUGH OCTOBER 19, 2013 

Buried Child by Sam Shepard. Directed by Loretta Greco. Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, 93123.  415-441-8822 OR or www.magictheatre.org.   September 11 – October 6, 2013

BURIED CHILD rivets the audience to their seats

Opening night audiences at the Magic Theatre are very loyal and appreciative often times giving spontaneous standing ovations to a great or near great performance. Last night at the return of Buried Child to the Magic stage the applause was thunderous but nary a person standing.  The entire evening was mesmerizing thus riveting the audience to their seats.

To inaugurate their 47^th season the Magic has reached back into its archive for a revival of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child that he wrote when he was play-wright-in- residence in 1978. During the 12 years in that position the Magic also produced his True West (1980) and Fools for Love (1983). When Buried Child moved to New York in 1979 it won the Pulitzer Prize and Sam Shepard became a theatrical personage to reckon with. In the year 2000 he received a  performance by the Magic of a new play, The Late Henry Moss with an all-star cast, including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and Cheech Marin at the Theatre on the Square in downtown San Francisco.

Shepard revised the Buried Child script for the Steppenwolf Company for their 1995 Broadway production. Using that script  The Magic have gathered a superb cast, used every inch of the three sided stage with a fantastic set (Andrew Boyce) and as helmed by director Lorreta Greco it is an evening not to be missed. Even with all those accolades the entire play defies description and might be called abstruse realism. It certainly is a family play involving three generations living in an unnamed rural mid-west locale.

It is a thoroughly dysfunctional family with a deep dark secret tearing them apart and at the same time binding them together for emotional and culpable reasons. It begins with Dodge (Rod Gnapp) the alcoholic and dying septuagenarian patriarch sitting on an exceedingly worn sofa watching an ancient TV without sound with a light flickering on his face. He is having an extended conversation with his younger wife Halie (Denise Balthrop Cassidy) off-stage at the top of a two story staircase that is symbolic of the emotional as well as physical distance between them.

Tilden (James Wagner), a compellingly mentally crippled son has returned to the homestead under devious unexplained circumstances and is charged by Halie to look after his father. At the same time Dodge is charged with keeping him from going outside. Yet strangely Tilden harvests corn and carrots from the fields that have been barren for 12 years.

An eldest son Bradley (Patrick Kelly Jones) has lost a leg in a chain saw accident and has become maniacal terrorizing Doge and Tilden.   There is reference to a younger deceased son Ansel who was Halie’s favorite and she fantasizes about erecting a bronze statue to his memory enlisting her paramour Father Dewis (Lawrence Radecker)to the effort. All the boys were athletic with competitive jealousy that carries over into their adult life.

Into this mélange enters Tilden’s young son Vince (Patrick Alparone) who has been away for six years and has returned to relive the past. When he is not recognized by the family he quickly learns Thomas Wolff’s truism you can’t go home again. Sanity is introduced by Kevin’s girlfriend Shelly (Elaina Garrity) whose inquisitive personality and understanding nature pries the naked truth from Dodge that leads to a gut wrenching final scene leaving the audience stunned.

With the exception of the rightfully underwritten part of Father Dewis, Shepard has created fully rounded realistic characters while placing them in a mystical family conclave. Rod Gnapp, who never leaves the stage, gives a tremendous performance combining pathos with humor yet blending into the ensemble. James Wagner uses spare full body movements and facial expressions capturing the mental retardation of Tilden. Patrick Kelly James’ realistic anger permeates the stage. Patrick Alparone and Elaina Garrity dominate the second act almost upstaging Rod Gnapp who has a brilliant denouement speech. It seems that Shepard has given short shrift  Halie and Densie Balthrop Cassidy’s performance defies accolades although her off-stage dialog with Rod Gnapp is beautifully timed.

You have the facts but it is neither hardly a full discussion of Shepard’s motivations nor the technical structure of this particular or subsequent plays.  Questions will remain when you leave the theater after seeing this performance. Running time 2 hours and 10 minutes including the intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

RANDOM ACTS of LOVE: 3 Dark Comedies by Lee Brady. Directed by Scott Boswell. Company Players at the SF Fringe Festival. Exit Theatre on Eddy, EXIT Stage Left, 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco. Tickets online www.sffringe.org.  

SEPT 7th@1:00, 11th@7:00, 14th@7:30, 15th@4:00
Random Acts of Love a “should see” at SF Fringe Festival
Getting a play or performance piece into the 22nd San Francisco Fringe Festival is completely the luck of the draw. The submissions are not scrutinized in any manner and the result is a mélange, thus selection of what to see is daunting. Luckily for this years audiences local auteur (playwright, songwriter, actor and director) Lee Brady has had her submission Random Acts of Love selected.
Brady’s virtues as a playwright and songwriter are  on display and her selection of a director and actors are equally virtuous. These selections are essential since most of the productions use  minimal props on black box bare bone stages. Director Boswell is a film maker by trade and is adept at keeping a tight rein on the actors and the acting.
The total evening is only 50 minutes long but are diverse and tied together by failings of love. The curtain raiser, Sunday Lovers,  is without plot but a series of verbal vignettes with the five male actors sitting on high stools sharing their thoughts with the audience without reference to each other. Brady’s use of dialog allows each to be distinctive even as they inter cut each other. Boswell adroitly  keeps a sharp tempo and at the same time allows the audience to form a complete picture of the tribulations of each character. It is a bittersweet experience and true ensemble acting by Nathan Brown, Paul Gerrior,  George Duryea,  Austin Nation and Steve Johnson.
Next up is Too Old To Ride a musical interlude about a man and his bike sweetly performed by Tom Shaw with book in hand and an off stage piano accompaniment. San Francisco is probably the city most  populated bicycles. There is a “love affair” between the bicyclists and the city. That is not the only tie in with love. The poor performer sings that he has love problems in the mid west and hops on his bike to San Francisco. All does not go well but his love persists.
The final show is the darkest of the evening and uses violence and strong language to make its point. Although BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and Antioch exist in the Bay Area, Brady’s play is metaphorical with realistic touches to whet the appetite. The train will never reach Antioch , the ancient city on the Mediterranean, that was torn asunder by battles. Brady throws in the “battle” actors have auditioning for parts. But it is the love (again) of the stage that keeps the actor always striving. So it is with Actor (George Duryea) who thinks he has nailed a part. A macho man called Cowboy (Austin Nation) gets on the train with the oversexed Solange (Danielle O’Dea) and conflict arises as it usually does when there is one woman and two men.  The tension builds slowly and erupts in violence. O’Dea has choreographed the violence and one would hope the actors have medical insurance.
Random Acts of Love most probably one of the better to be “selected” for the Fringe. Try not to miss it. 

Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of  www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/

Yvette Cason* with Kelly Park, Mark Wright, Joe McKinley and Mark Lee  in Ella the Musical at Center Rep (Photo by Kevin Burn)

Ella, the Musical. Book by Jeffrey Hatcher. Conceived by Rob Ruggiero & Dyke Garrison. Musical Arrangements by Danny Holgate. Directed by Robert Barry Fleming. Starring Yvette Cason. Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic Drive in downtown Walnut Creek. 925.943.SHOW (7469).  Or www.centerrep.org.

Through October 12, 2013

ELLA, The Musical is backed up by a top-notch jazz quartet

The PR notes suggest “. . . this swinging celebration is a must-see dazzling musical event for anyone who wants to fall in love with the magic and soul of Ella Fitzgerald all over again.” There is no suggestion for those of us who are not familiar with nor were in love with Ella and her music. This reviewer is one of the latter and is unable to comment on the ability of Yvette Carson to emulate Ella “The Queen of Jazz, the first Lady of Song.”

The show, under previous sponsorship has been around for about ten years with various revisions along the way. Center Rep’s version has a book by a talented triumvirate and is backed up by a jazz quartet of Mark Lee (Drummer), Joe McKinley (Bassist), Kelly Park (The Piano) and Mark Wright (Trumpet). They are by far the best of the evening even though their stints as actors taking part in the storyline will not earn them Equity Status,

The time and place is 1966 in a Concert Hall in Nice, France.  Ella’s manager Norman Granz (Cassidy Brown in the underwritten part) suggests that jazz is passé, “scat” is in and she needs to add patter to her routine. She insists to that she doesn’t do patter but the remainder of the show is patter about her life interspersed with song. Some of those songs are the best of best written in her era by Duke Ellington, Hoagie Carmichael, George and Ira Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Johnny Mercer, George Shearing and Gus Kahn. An audience favorite is one written by Ella with Van Alexander, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (I lost my yellow basket) that became her signature song.

Born in dire surroundings she ended up at the age of 17 living alone on the streets of New York. This was 1934 when she entered and won an Apollo theater amateur contest singing “Judy” (Hoagie Carmichael) and caught the attention of band leader  Chuck Webb. They end up playing in Harlem hot spots. When Webb died she took on the management of the band and hooked up with Norman Granz and the rest is history. She became the Queen of Jazz and on Granz’s suggestion added “scat” to her style.

According to Wikipedia “In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.” Ella Fitzgerald is considered to be the greatest scat singers in jazz history.

Yvette Carson as Ella

Without making any comparison to the great Ella Fitzgerald, Yvette Carson has an expressive voice and to this untrained ear is a marvel at singing scat. One of best comes late in the evening with a smash rendition of “That Old Back Magic.” She has a fun duet with The Man (Anthony-Rollins Mullins) imitating Louis Armstrong with “Cheek to Cheek” (Irving Berlin) and “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” (George and Ira Gershwin).

For the second act she comes out dressed in a fancy sequined dress and the band in tuxedos to add a bit of class to the evening that has down moments when her patter involves dramatic and depressing periods in Ella’s life. Everything ends on a up note with six smash songs including: My Buddy (Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson), A-Tisket, A-Tasket, (Ella Fitzgerald and Van Alexander), The Man I Love, (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin), Something To Live For (Edward Kennedy Ellington and Billy Strayhorn), Blue Skies (Irving Berlin) and How High The Moon (Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis). 

At the curtain number of “Lady Be Good” (George and Ira Gershwin) the joint was rocking as Yvette Carson and the on-stage quartet received a partial standing ovation. Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes including the intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Yvette Cason* with Kelly Park, Mark Wright, Joe McKinley and Mark Lee

Kedar Adour

forallevents.com/reviews/