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Kedar K. Adour

Kedar K.
Adour

Apr 14 2013
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THE HAPPY ONES shines at the Magic

By Kedar K. Adour

Walter (Liam Craig) andGary (Gabe Marin) are living the 1975 version of the good life in The Happy Ones at Magic Theatre (Photos Jennifer Reiley)

The Happy Ones: Drama. By Julie Marie Myatt. Directed by Jonathan Moscone. Through April Magic Theatre, Building D, Fort Mason Center, S.F. (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.

THE HAPPY ONES shines at the Magic

Have you ever wondered how a theatre company turns a formulaic play into a winner? Go no farther than the Magic Theatre in the Fort Mason Center to observe how it is done. First they assemble four of the best actors in the Bay area and bring in Jonathon Moscone, Artistic Director for California Shakespeare Company to direct.  Then allow Eric Flatmo to design a multi-area set where the production crew can keep the action flowing without interruptions except for a 10 minute intermission.

It is all there on the intimate three sided stage and Julie Marie Myatt’s post-Vietnam drama will keep you entertained but not enthralled. In a series of brief scenes where most of the characters are off-stage voices, Myatt establishes that Walter Wells (Liam Craig) is living the American dream with a home in the suburbs the obligatory pre-adolescent son and daughter, beautiful wife and a swimming pool. A matter-of fact acknowledgement to his best friend, Unitarian minister Gary Stuart (Gabe Marin), “This is the dream right here. We got it” it telegraphs that these ‘happy ones’ are in for a rough ride. With simple question that Walter asks on the telephone, “Are you sure it was my family. . .” he learns that all of his family has been killed in an auto accident.

The perpetrator of the crash is Bao Ngo (Jomar Tagatac) a Vietnamese refugee who has survived and is deeply repentant wishing to die for his offense and has made ineffectual attempts at suicide. When he has recovered he confronts Walter begging to give him something for his transgression as atonement. It is a very powerful scene that begins to shape and change the personality of both men.

Before that happens, author Myatt introduces Mary-Ellen Hughes (Marcia Pizzo) a hyper-active, divorced girlfriend of Gary who is the ultimate do-gooder and literally invades Walter’s space while she and Gary do all the things that good meaning but intrusive friends do to cheer up the bereaved.  Walter will have none of it.

Without plausible explanation Myatt allows Bao to ‘do something’ for Walter without the two physically meeting. In between developing the eventual understanding between Bao and Walter Myatt interjects the thought of an unjust God through the weak semi-alcoholic Gary who admits he is a poor clergyman and is intellectually having battle with God.

You will not find better actors to pull this play together. Liam Craig has the right balance of self-pity, depression, humor and anger to make you want to reach out and touch him. Gabe Marin nails the insecure traits of a boy-man acting as a perfect foil for Walter and Mary-Ellen. Marcia Pizzo is a whirlwind in action that makes Mary-Ellen a yenta hiding her fears that no one will ask her to be his wife. She dominates, and rightfully so, the stage with her burst of energy. Jomar Tagatac, in the most difficult role, under plays the hidden sorrows of Bao as he gradually reveals that the same sorrows that invade Walter are also in his soul.

There is an all too pat ending but director Moscone’s deft hand and his control of the action/timing combined with the acting lift this play above the ordinary. Running time two hours including a 10 minute intermission.

Kedar K.Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

Apr 13 2013
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THE ARSONISTS at Aurora Theatre is classic Mark Jackson

By Kedar K. Adour

Firefighters (front l-r, Tristan Cunningham*, Kevin Clarke) observe as a policeman (r, Michael Uy Kelly) pays a surprise visit, and Mr. Biedermann (c, Dan Hiatt*) tries to get to the bottom of the arsonists’ (l, Tim Kniffin*, c. l, Michael Ray Wisely*) actions in his attic in The Arsonists

THE ARSONISTS: Comic/Drama by Max Frisch and directed by Mark Jackson. Aurora Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA (510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org. April 11 – May 12, 2013

THE ARSONISTS at Aurora Theatre is classic Mark Jackson

Ever since auteur Mark Jackson exploded on the local scene with his brilliant production of The Death of Meyerhold that he wrote and directed under the auspices of The Shotgun Players in 2003, he is in great demand as a director. His works do not ‘grace’ the local stages they explode with energy. So it is with Aurora Theatre’s staging of The Arsonist by Max Frisch.

Frisch is not new the bay area since his play, then titled The Firebugs was presented in 1999 by American Citizen’s Theatre, directed by Allen McKelvey starring Louis Parnell (Biedermann) Schmitz (Matthew Henerson), Phoebe Moyer (Babette), and Peter Hadres (Eisenring) on the intimate Off Center stage at the Dean Lesher in Walnut Creek. Their translation was by Michael Bullock and relied on the words and quality acting to convey its meaning. The acting in this Aurora mounting is superb with the male characters being dominant to the underwritten female roles but the play is not the thing. Mark Jackson’s direction is.

Frisch has rewritten the play that began as a radio drama before being converted into a stage play and has had imaginative staging elsewhere. Jackson’s conceptual interpretation is brilliant but his tendency to use excessive physicality overpowers any message(s) that the author wishes to convey.

The play can be interpreted on multiple levels but seems to be a parable about appeasement and it has been suggested it was Frisch’s “way of getting at political issues through the medium of theatre.”  It certainly lives up to that interpretation since it was inspired by the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948.

There is an arsonists loose in the town and no one knows where he (they) will strike next. The main character Biedermann (Dan Hiatt at his best) a respected, ruthless businessman who will protect his property and family at all costs. The dynamic first scene where Biedermann attempts to light a cigar and three firefighters [Frisch’s Greek chorus] (Kevin Clarke, Tristan Cunningham, and Michael Uy Kelly) burst from the wings, sets the tone: Biederrmann to the audience: “It’s not easy these days, lighting a cigar everyone thinks the whole world’s about to go up in flames.” How prophetic.

When homeless Schmitz (Michael Ray Wisely) appears at the door Biedermann becomes implicitly involved in his own destruction. With an extremely clever dialog repartee between the two men Schmitz is invited to sleep in the attic and the start of the action that will lead to a fiery destruction begins.

Schmitz’s abettor Eisenring (Tim Kniffen), unbeknownst to the family shares the attic and is the brains behind the operation. Where Schmitz is the brawn behind the plot, Eisenring is the brains and Kniffen’s acting creates a character that is frightening beginning with a disarming entrance and builds to a frightening level. Hiatt conveys the frustration and fear to the nth degree as he deludes himself thinking that by making friends with the arsonist his domain will be spared. A mesmerizing  85 minute running time without intermission.

Even though the quality of the acting is unquestioned it is Nina Ball’s powerful set that steals the show with sound (Matt Stines) and light (Stephanie Bucher) cues bursting within the intimate theatre engulfing the audience in the cataclysmic ending. It is a theatrical event that should not be missed although you might desire the more staid but no less frightening translation and performance by the American Citizen’s Theatre.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com


Apr 11 2013
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THE 39 STEPS at CenterRep is a tour de force for the actors

By Kedar K. Adour

The 39 Steps: Mystery/Comedy. From the novel by John Buchan. Adapted by Patrick Barlow. From an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon. Directed by Mark Anderson Phillips. Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic Drive in Downtown Walnut Creek, CA. 925-943-7469 or www.centerrep.org.

THE 39 STEPS at CenterRep is a tour de force for the actors

It has been almost 100 years since The Thirty-Nine Steps novel was written by John Buchan. In the interim there have been a series of incarnations of the basic plot used for movies and TV. This adaptation by Patrick Barlow uses the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie as its starting point and director Mark Anderson Phillips has thrown in more than a modicum of references to Hitchcock’s work to extract laughs throughout the evening.

Yes, you are reading that right. That director Phillips is the superb actor who has been entertaining the Bay area audiences for years. He gave an absolutely smashing performance, winning a Shellie Award, in Center Reps’ 2012 staging of Rumors. He also received rave reviews playing Richard Hannay in TheatreWorks production of The 39 Steps.

What then is he doing in the director’s chair and who is Richard Hannay? Phillips is in the director’s chair because he is extremely versatile and his directorial skill is on exhibit in this play. Richard Hannay (Ben Johnson) is the protagonist and he is the only actor who does not double in another role in the play. That leaves Cassidy Brown, Jennifer Erdmann and Mark Farrell to play the other 100 or more roles. They are fantastic, hilarious and adept with quick costume changes and a marvel at slapstick actions. They almost put Tuna Texas character’s shenanigans to shame, but not quite.

Richard Hannay is a stiff upper lip bachelor Brit complete with tweeds (costumes by B. Modern) and pipe. A quick pick-up in a local theater of shady-lady with a secret and a German accent leads to her murder with a knife (think the movie Psycho) and Hannay has to flee since he is accused of the murder. We hear the phrase “39 Steps” early in the first act the remainder of the evening is devoted to finding out the meaning of the phrase. He picks up a love interest, sort of, along the way and Johnson an Erdmann milk their “bed room” scene while handcuffed together for all its worth.

There is even a plane crash scene that brought a gale of laughter as did a silhouette of the portly ‘master’ Hitchcock parading behind the scrim. The music has been usurped from the ‘master’s’ movies and you will recognize, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, North by Northwest and others.

Brown and Farrell carry most of the action but are ably assisted by Erdmann. Phillips wisely uses a relatively empty theatre set that allows the action to flow but he must share credit with the production team: Scenic designer Eric Sinkkomen, sound designer Lyle Barrare, lighting designer Kurt Landisman, stage manager Wesley Apfel and any other behind the scenes workers.

Although the evening had its shares of laughs and is well worth a visit, there were lapses where action was forced. Although Ben Johnson did a creditable job one would wish that director Phillips had cast himself in the role or Richard Hannay. Running time just under 2 hours with an intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Apr 10 2013
Love0

THE WHIPPING MAN a gritty, brilliant Marin Theatre production

By Kedar K. Adour

Tobie Windham, L. Peter Callender and Nicholas Pelczar in The Whipping Man

The Whipping Man: By Matthew Lopez. Directed by Jasson Minadakis. Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. (415) 388-5208. www.marintheatre.org.

Extended through April 28, 2013

THE WHIPPING MAN a gritty, brilliant Marin Theatre production

Having recently been reunited with the Bay Area Theatre scene after a long personal hiatus, it was an absolute pleasure to attend The Whipping Man at the Marin Theatre. Written by Matthew Lopez who is no stranger to the Bay Area with a recent production of his Somewhere at Theatreworks, it is a co-production with the Virginia Stage Company in association with the nomadic Lorraine Hansberrry Theatre. The acting is brilliant, the play’s construction almost perfect and the staging dynamic.

Almost perfect, since there is fact that Jews owned slaves and were accepted in Southern society but there is no documentation that the slaves were indoctrinated into the Jewish religion. Once you accept that as fact, then the impact of a seder taking place at the end of the Civil War becomes a powerful analogy of Moses freeing Jewish slaves in the time of the Pharaohs and Abraham Lincoln’s freeing the black slaves.

The time is April 13-15, 1865, a week after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, and the place is a once grand mansion torn physical asunder by the ravages of the war. Into this chaotic atmosphere amidst thunder, lightning and rain stumbles Caleb (Nicolas Pelczar) the son of the Master of the household. The family has fled with only Simon (L. Peter Callender) the old, formerly loyal but now emancipated slave, living in the house waiting to be reunited with his wife and daughter. Caleb, an officer in the Rebel army has been wounded in the leg and gangrene has set in requiring a below the knee amputation.

Simon’s description of the ultimate outcome without the amputation is stomach turning but is not as horrendous as the on-stage amputation begins. The third character is rebellious John (Tobie Windham) labeled “nigger” John who is about the same age as Caleb and forages the abandoned homes stealing whatever he desires. This ‘foraging’ supplies clothes (costumes by Jacqueline Firkins), food, furniture and the most useful liquor needed to sterilize the wound and induce stupor in the soon to be amputee Caleb.

Lopez cunningly layers fact upon fact as the interaction between the three characters become interdependent only to be explosively rendered asunder at a perfect ending to the play. The title of the play becomes fully understood in two dramatic spellbinding scenes, first by Tobie Windham and in a penultimate scene by L. Peter Callender.

Amongst the tribulations and sordidness Lopez has woven poetry and beauty with Callender almost stealing the show with his initial display of loyalty to the Master, love of God and reverential belief in prayer. His description of meeting Abraham Lincoln that he dubs as the black man’s Moses is a thing of beauty that is a spectacular contrast to baring his back displaying the damage inflicted by the Whipping Man.

To reveal the total interdependency of the three characters would be a disservice to the audience. Be reassured that the standing ovation given on this non-opening night performance is well deserved. (Running time about 2 hours including an intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.

 

 

Mar 31 2013
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reasons to be pretty at SF PLAYHOUSE IS A STUNNER

By Kedar K. Adour

reasons to be pretty. Written by Neil Labute. Directed by Susi Damilano. SF Playhouse, 450 Post Street (2nd Floor of Kensington Park Hotel) between Powell/Mason, SF 94102 in downtown San Francisco. 415.677.9596 or www.sfplayhouse.org.

March 26 to May 11, 2013

reasons to be pretty at SF PLAYHOUSE IS A STUNNER

The conceit of using lower case letters for the title of reasons to be pretty is not made clear by the author, press material or the storyline of the play that is the final cog of Neil Labute’s trilogy dealing with America, and the world’s obsession with physical appearance. The other two plays are The Shape of Things and Fat Pig, all in capital letters.  Regardless of the lower case title, the play mounted at SF Playhouse’s new theatre is a capital production that should not be missed.

Yes, the play has a misogynistic bent with the F word abounding but it is a slice of blue collar life and perfectly appropriate for the dialog. LaBute creates universality to his thesis by being non-specific about the time and place of the action except that three of the characters are in low end jobs working the night shifts without much chance for advancement. There is a touch of Tom from Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie in the protagonist Greg (Craig Marker) who spends is off duty time reading and is passive in his relationships with best friend and macho fellow worker Kent (Patrick Russell).

Greg has been living with Stephanie (Lauren English) for four years when he has made an off-hand remark to Kent that triggers a violent tirade from Stephanie.  During an innocuous man-to-man bull session Greg had remarked that, compared to the sexy new co-worker, Stephanie has a “regular face.”  Stephanie’s indignant outburst gives Lauren English a chance to emote and she nails the part in spades with Craig Marker a perfect foil for her histrionics.  It ends with Stephanie storming out and the relationship is over.

Bill English’s marvelous set is mounted on a revolving stage allowing the action to flow without interruptions. The excruciating first scene is tempered in the second when we meet dominant alpha male Kent and his very attractive wife Carly (Jennifer Stucker) who as a best friend to Stephanie has spilled beans about “the” remark.  Labute’s ability to define character through conversation is legion and he is at his best in this play as he telegraphs impending action layer on layer.  When Kent engages in a sexual liaison with the unseen Crystal (don’t you love the choice of name), the sexy new co-worker that has been compared to Stephanie he takes Greg into his confidence binding him to secrecy. That secrecy becomes a major source of conflict within Greg.

As well as being a denunciation of our obsession with personal appearance that the author has emphasized in his previous two plays, reasons to be pretty is also a coming-of-age story as Greg breaks the male bond with Kent with more than a suggestion that he will move on with his life dumping the stifling job as a warehouse worker. Whereas the breakup scene with Stephanie is a shocker the brutal confrontation of the two men who are still acting like boys is eye-popping.

Each actor invests their roles with verisimilitude that this reviewer can attest to having been brought up in a dying mill town in upstate New York. Occasionally the spectacular set interferes with the candor and dynamics of the story but one can never complain about the crackerjack production values of the SF Playhouse. Susi Damilano directs with complete understanding of human relationships doing honor to LaBute’s words and philosophy. Running time is about 2 hours including the intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Full Cast: Patrick Russell (Kent), Jennifer Stuckert*(Carly), Craig Marker* (Greg), Lauren English* (Steph)

Mar 29 2013
Love0

DISCONNECT AT SAN JOSE REP VIVID ACTING & DIRECTING

By Kedar K. Adour

(l to r) Ross (Imran Sheikh) celebrates closing a sale while colleagues Vidya (Sharone Sayegh) and Giri (Ray Singh) continue to call in San Jose Rep’s West Coast premiere of Disconnect.

DISCONNECT: Comic-Drama by Anupama Chandrasekhar and directed by Rick Lombardo. San Jose Repertory Theatre (SJR), 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose (Between South 2nd & 3rd Streets). 408.367.7255 or www.sjrep.com. March 27 – April 14, 2013

DISCONNECT AT SAN JOSE REP VIVID ACTING & DIRECTING

Have you ever wondered what is happening at the other end of the telephone line when you are talking to a company web site that has out-sourced its staff to India? My only exposure to Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)has been requests for technical help and the experience has been a mixture of elation and frustration. In Anupama Chandrasekhar’s depiction of the India end of the telephone line emphasizes the frustration that invades the lives of the workers. That frustration also invades the audience with the cacophony of overlapping dialog causing the vivid acting and directing to lose some of its luster.

Disconnect had its world premiere at the Royal Court theatre in London in 2009 that is also the time frame of the action and the place is a call center in the city of Chennai. This call center is named ironically True Blue and is the collection agency for bad credit card debt that has been farmed out to them by a major credit corporation.  We learn that there is great pressure to increase collections or they may lose the account to a call center in the Philippines.

In the introductory scene Jyothi (Devon Ahmed) the titular supervisor has summoned Avenish (Rajesh Bose) an older lower level manager for the New York accounts to her office. The office is adorned with smiley faces and mundane uplifting phrases. His staff has not been meeting the collection goals set for him and using every cliché reason in the books she banishes him from his cherished office with a window (even though it overlooks a garbage dump), to the smaller Illinois section on the windowless fourth floor. It is a degrading demotion that he accepts with dignity.

In India where 50 percent of the population is under 25, there are 4 million college graduates a year. These graduates have been taught English and are the source of workers for the BPOs. Speaking English without an accent is highly desirable and the workers often take English sounding names. The three young characters Chandrasekhar has created are emblematic of that group. When it is daytime in the United States it is nighttime in India thus the three callers are working at night with a disruption of their social lives.

The character that causes the major conflict is Roshan (Imran Sheikh) who has mastered the art speaking without an Indian accent using the name of Ross Adams and is the most successful in the drab office with the only color being a red nonfunctioning Coca-Cola dispenser.  His erstwhile girlfriend Vidya (Sharone Sayegh) works as Vicki Lewis and Giri (Ray Singh) became Gary Evans. Their personal interactions take up most of the conflict but it is their verbal contact with the deadbeats who are defaulting on their credit card debt on the other end of the telephone lines that drive the story.

Ross unceremoniously has dumped Vicki and fallen in love via the phone line with a Sarah who owes $23,000. This long distance psychological infatuation causes him to gain unauthorized access to the credit card data bank to erase her debt. That bit of chicanery does not go unnoticed. Vicki’s trauma derives from the suicide of one of her callers that occurs while she is on the phone with him. Gary has a problem of being over-extended on his credit card becoming one of the ‘dead beats’ he calls during working hours. Avinash is assigned to sort out the mess. All this leads to overly dramatic confrontation scenes and the penultimate scene ends on a strange note with the drab office decorated for a Fourth of July (??an American holiday) party and the cast in garish costumes. There is an epilog that leaves the audience confused with delayed clapping at the end of the one hour and 40 minutes without intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Disconnect 1: (l to r) Call center supervisor Avinash (Rajesh Bose) receives feedback from his manager, Jyothi (Devon Ahmed) about his job performance in San Jose Rep’s West Coast premiere of Disconnect.

Disconnect 2: (l to r) Ross (Imran Sheikh) celebrates closing a sale while colleagues Vidya (Sharone Sayegh) and Giri (Ray Singh) continue to call in San Jose Rep’s West Coast premiere of Disconnect.

Mar 25 2013
Love0

GUYS AND DOLLS DISAPOINTS AT BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE

By Kedar K. Adour

 

(Left)Miss Adelaide (c, Sarah Mitchell) and the Hot Box Girls (l-r, Catherine Duval Petru, Simone Olsen-Varela, Louise Barcellos) perform “A Bushel and a Peck” at the Hot Box Club.(Below) In Havana, Missionary Sarah Brown (front l, Angel Burgess) finally lets loose with Sky Masterson (front r, Carmichael J. Blankenship) after accidentally drinking a milkshake laced with rum, as onlookers (back l-r, Louise Barcellos, Lucas Brandt, Melissa Martinez, Matthew McCoy, and Leslie Waggoner) watch with amused interest.

 

GUYS AND DOLLS: musical Comedy. Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser. Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Based on “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure” by Damon Runyon. Directed by Jon Tracy. Musical Direction by Robert Michael. Choreography by Chris Black. Berkeley Playhouse, Julie Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 510-845-8542×351 or www.berkeleyplayhouse.org. March 23 – April 28, 2013

GUYS AND DOLLS DISAPOINTS AT BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE

Berkeley Playhouse continues its fifth season with an energetic mounting of Guys and Dolls one of the most beloved musical comedies ever to be produced. Although there were problems for the musical that arose between the concept finally reaching Broadway in 1950, none of those behind the scene hitches were detrimental and it played for 1200 performances winning a Tony Award for Best Musical. The shows luster has not diminished in the intervening 63 years and the present production bursts from the Julie Morgan stage and appears to be a labor of love.

Jon Tracy’s style of directing in a physical upbeat manner abounds and he has taken further control of the production by creating the scenic design in partnership with the talented Nina Ball (who happens to be his wife). A bare uncluttered center stage is very appropriate since much of the show consists of dancing to complement the incredible music and lyrics that carry the story line.

That story line was based on two short stories, “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure” written by sports columnist Damon Runyon. To refresh your memory the one of the major characters Sarah Brown (Angel Burgess), the leader of the evangelical Save Your Sole Mission situated in the more seedier side of New York City that is populated with rather loveable ‘sinners’ addicted to gambling. Nathan Detroit (Michael Scott Wells) is one of those sinners responsible for setting up illegal dice games for the local denizens. He has been sort of engaged to Miss Adelaide (Sarah Mitchell) a lead singer and dancer in the Hot Box revue.  Enter Sky Masterson (Carmichael J. Blankenship), the suave inveterate gambler who would bet on anything.

The gambling denizens are mostly loveable, with the exception of Chicago hood Big Jule (Terry Rucker), include, to mention a few, Harry the Horse (Matthew McCoy), Angie the Ox (Lucas Brandt) Rusty Charlie (Aejay Mitchell) and the full bodied Nicely Nicely Johnson (Joshua Castro). The rest of the cast comes in and out of the wings without distinction.

One wonders what director Tracy’s concept for this show is and how it should be judged. He allows all the cast to over act with a great deal of mugging playing their roles for laughs. The dialog itself is loaded with laughs and does not require a blitzkrieg of physicality. There are plenty of laughs and intermittent great performances by individual cast members. Sarah Mitchell’s Miss Adelaide was obviously an audience favorite but she had to share accolades with Joshua Castro’s Nicely Nicely Johnson’s belting of “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat.”

Even though Blankenship and Burgess have excellent voices the acting is a bit stilted and their loves scenes seem contrived without conveying charisma. The entire show is not aided by the costumes by the usually reliable Abra Berman who has elected to dress Sarah Brown and the evangelists in all white and the Hot Box girls in ludicrous garb.

Despite the perceived onus, Guys and Dolls with its plethora of words and music(“I’ll Know[when my love comes around]”, “A Bushel and a Peck”, “Adelaide’s Lament”, “Havana”, “If I Were a Bell”, “My Time of Day”, “I’ve Never Been In Love Before”, “Take Back Your Mink”, “ More I Cannot Wish You” “Luck be a Lady”, “Sue Me”, ‘Sit Down Your’re Rockin’ the Boat and “Mary the Man Today” comes through as a great musical comedy.  Running time about a bit over two hours including an intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Mar 23 2013
Love0

ENCHANTED APRIL AT RVP IS ANOTHER HIT… Do not miss it!!

By Kedar K. Adour

 

 

 

 

 

 

L to R, Top Row: AvilaReese as Lotty;TweedConrad as Rose.  Seated L to R:  Anne Ripley as Mrs. Graves; Kate Fox Marcom as Lady Caroline

 

ENCHANTED APRIL: A romantic comedy by Matthew Barber, novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim. Directed by Cris Cassell. RossValleyPlayers (RVP) Barn Theater, MarinArt & GardenCenter, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross.  415-456-9555, ext. 1 or www.rossvalleyplayers.com. March 15 –April 14, 2013

ENCHANTED APRIL AT RVP IS ANOTHER HIT… Do not miss it!!

This reviewer always attempts to avoid the first person singular when writing reviews but this time I personally endorse this production of Enchanted April, a sentimental old chestnut that probably has been staged by every community theater in the country. My first experience with the play was a bare bones affair in the Redwood Grove just down the hill from the RVP barn put on by Cinnebar Theatre of Petaluma. It was a joy to see.  The second performance was by the professional Equity Center Rep in Walnut Creek with a spectacular buffo cast and second act set that earned thunderous applause. Now the RVP in its 83 continuous season comes up a winner that is best described as a cross between the previous two mentioned and probably is the best buck for your theatre allowance.

The time is 1920 and the effects of WW I are still apparent and play a role in setting the tone in the early scenes played out in front a simple gray background with sound effects of depressing rain filling the stage. The play is book ended by unhappy housewife Lotty Wilton (a superb Avila Reese) who is described by her husband Melleresh (Ron Daily) as having a “mind like a humming bird” with incessant talking.

Lotty reads an ad in the paper offering a “sunny small castle, draped with wisteria and a view of the sea” in Northern Italy for rent. With her effusive charm she cons Rose (beautifully under played by Tweed Conrad) a member of her club and an equally unhappy wife of straight laced lawyer Frederick  (a fine Tom Hudgens who almost stole the show Tuna Texas as Vera Carp) to join her in the rental.

Needing a couple more ladies to share the cost of the rental, Lotty places an ad in the paper for two others to share the castle in Italy. Next up is the beautiful sophisticated society woman Lady Caroline Bramble who is depressed with her life in the limelight seeking solitude in the sun. That role is a perfect fit for the gorgeous Kate Fox Marcom whose elegant bearing makes up for the limited dialog written for the role. Finally, there is the grumpy older Mrs. Grave (an appropriate name) played to perfection by the always professional Anne Ripley who delivers her Oscar Wilde type lines with spot on timing always getting a laugh without breaking the ensemble acting concept. Wilding (Ross Berger) is the owner of the castle and is also an artist. His role, although limited, is a minor deus ex machina needed to solve minor problems and charm Mrs. Graves out of her grumpy attitude and be a love interest for Lady Caroline Bramble.

Then there is the cook and housekeeper Costanza (Maxine Sattizan) whose dialog is entirely in Italian except for a final “Marvellous” near the end of the play that caused the audience to erupt in laughter. She absolutely ‘nails’ the role and becomes the center of attention with her entrances and exits but never upsetting the ensemble concept. Credit Cris Cassell with a directing job well done.

Conflict is never serious and often hilarious and the ending justifies the title of Enchanted April. After the drab first act set is struck a glorious sunlight patio, complete with the promised wisteria abundant flowers and a naughty statue of Cupid propped in center stage. After all, the play is a love story. This play is highly recommended with running time about two hours.

Kedar K. Adour MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

Mar 23 2013
Love0

FALLACI A DRAMATIC ‘TWO HANDER’ AT BEREKLEY REP

By Kedar K. Adour

 

Marjan as Maryam

Concetta Tomei as Oriana Fallaci

 

 

Fallaci: Drama. By Lawrence Wright.  Directed by Oskar Eustis. Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley.  90 minutes. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org. Through April 21, 2013.

FALLACI A DRAMATIC ‘TWO HANDER’ AT BEREKLEY REP

If you are not familiar with the name Oriana Fallaci you are not alone. If so, plan on arriving early to read the program and discover she was an Italian journalist that became famous for her confrontational yet influential interviews of people in power as well as the famous in Hollywood. These included Quaddafi, Castro, Kissinger, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir among others. Where journalists are expected to be factual without bias, she injected her personal views often being accused of writing self-serving articles that had more than a touch of fiction.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright is himself a journalist famous for his essays in The New Yorker and best-selling books about al Qaeda and Scientology. He also writes plays and has acted in many of his own monologues. His journalistic background qualifies him to create a script where a fledgling journalist undertakes to interview Fallaci and before the evening is complete the pair is inextricably fused.

Fallaci who has been diagnosed with lung cancer has become a relative recluse in her New York apartment. Maryam (Marjan Neshat) a neophyte female New York Times reporter arrives to interview Fallaci (Concetta Tomei).

When Fallaci discovers that the purpose of the visit is to obtain data for her obituary the first conflict begins. Bit by bit Wright feeds scraps of information about each character into the play. Maryam is an Iranian and her family were resistant to the oppressive regime. Similarly Fallaci’s family were resistance fighters to the Italian fascists regime in World War II. Fallaci herself became an active fighter at the age of 14. After dropping out of medical school she became a full time reporter in Italy with an astounding career that brought her to the United States and places throughout the world. Her stint in Vietnam that reported the atrocities committed there where written after her actual visits to the front lines. She even interviewed the North Vietnamese. After the 9/11 downing of the World Trade building she wrote a scalding book denouncing Muslims that sold 500,000 copies in Italy.

The play is written in three scenes and the second scene takes place three years later. A more mature Maryam is back to confront Fallaci and we learn that Maryam had returned to Iran suffering severe indignities. The verbal exchanges between them start out as arguments about their differences but by end of the second scene their differences become shockingly similar and by the end of third scene, that is an epilog after Fallaci’s death, ends the evening on a hopeful note.

Neshat and Tomei are both superb and director Oska Eustis keeps the verbal sparring and the stage movements flowing adding emphasis to a rather strange play that will keep you thinking and may influence you to go to the Internet to find out the whole story about this tiger of a woman.

Photo: – courtesy of kevinberne.com – Marjan Neshat portrays a young woman sent to interview Fallaci – Concetta Tomei portrays legendary journalist Oriana Fallaci 

Kedar K. Adour, MD

 

 

Mar 21 2013
Love0

McNALLY’S THE LISBON TRAVIATA HAS FINE ENSEMBLE ACTING

By Kedar K. Adour

Opera Queens Stephen and Mendy discuss records and love.L to R: Michael Sally (Mendy) and Matt Weimer (Stephen).

THE LISBON TRAVIATA by Terrence McNally. Directed by Dennis Lickteig. New Conservatory Theatre Center, (Decker Theatre), located at 25 Van Ness Avenue near Market Street in San Francisco, 94102. (415) 861-8972 or online at www.nctcsf.org.  Through March 31, 2013

McNALLY’S THE LISBON TRAVIATA HAS FINE ENSEMBLE ACTING

The multitalented Terrence McNally has many interests, two of which are opera (Maria Callas in particular) and gay relationships. He paid homage to Callas in 1995 with his Master
Class that became the award winning vehicle for many actresses including Zoe Caldwell and Patti Lapone.  His plays involving gay relationships are legendary including Love, Valor and Compassion and Lips Together, Teeth Apart that received an excellent performance at NCTC last year.

The Lisbon Traviata predates those mentioned above (1989) and became a starring vehicle for Nathan Lane who played the role of the opera devotee Mendy in San Francisco and on Broadway. It is a juicy role that Michael Sally performs with gusto and perfect timing that is reminiscent of Nathan Lane and that is good. The other three members of the cast give yeomen performances creating a unified ensemble effort.

Clever McNally creates two distinct character types, those who appreciate opera and those who do not. If you are of the former persuasion you will be more appreciative of act one where Mendy is sharing an evening of esoteric opera banter with good friend Stephen, a top-notch editor who has perfect pitch for music and a fantastic store of opera trivia. Mendy and Stephen  seem to be made for each other and there is more than a suggestion that they were intimate in the past. If Mendy had his way, they would (could?) be so again.

The title of the play derives from 1958 Callas production of La Traviata  at Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos in Lisbon. An unauthorized recording was made of the live performance and due to the limited number of copies; it became a collector’s item. Stephen just happens to have a copy and Mendy wants to hear it now and not tomorrow. The record is in Stephen’s apartment where Mike (Philippe Gosselin) his doctor lover of eight years is having a tryst with Paul (Adam Roy) a hunky graduate student.  Apparently it is an “open” relationship and Stephen is scheduled to have an assignation with a young fledgling writer who is a waiter. That meeting never happens and Stephen stays over at Mendy’s place.

We learn a good deal about Mike who appears briefly     and Paul who never appears in act one, through conversations, telephone calls and answering machines. The banter is decidedly gay with some great zingers as Stephen and Mendy upstage each other with their individual knowledge of opera. The entire act can be described as frothy with a touch of uncertainty prescience of drama in act two.

During intermission the entire set depicting Mendy’s colorful cluttered apartment is replaced with the immaculate apartment of Mike and Stephen. It becomes apparent through subtle directorial touches that Mike is a compulsive. Licktig moves the characters about the stage creating understated apprehension and conflict. Whereas humor abounds in act one it is totally absent in act two where Stephen returns early to meet a nude Paul stepping out of the bedroom. What happens could be the basis of an opera and the outcome will not be divulged here.

Although the storyline is riveting the running time of 2 hours and 25 minutes is a bit long. However, this play is stunning and well worth seeing.

Kedar K. Adour, MD