Skip to main content
Category

Woody Weingarten

Woody
Weingarten

Apr 13 2025
Love0

Spirituality becomes key element in Alvin Ailey dance troupe performance at Zellerbach

By Woody Weingarten

 

Members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre ensemble display their versatility. Stock photo by Dario Calmese.

 

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

Spirituality, grace, energy.

Those elements have since 1958 been trademarks of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre but never more so than now.

The company’s entire three-part Program C, which Cal Performances staged last week at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, leaned more heavily on spirituality than usual — but in no way to the detriment of the other two components.

The program ended with “Revelations,’ the glorious signature piece that closes so many Ailey shows and is, of course, based on a series of Negro spirituals. But “Sacred Songs” (the emotional, sometimes frenzied opener) and “Many Angels” (danced lusciously with traditional dance movements to the solemn music of Gustav Mahler) both also provided a sense of connection to something greater than ordinary men and women.

In the first and third parts particularly, the dancers were so limber, so fluid, that it appeared they might be minus some bones.

And never did theatergoers need be sure their interpretation of the wonderment on stage (including verbal injections of Jesus, the Lord, and Elijah) were correct; it was sufficient to appreciate the seemingly flawless skill of the performers,

The audience was so enthusiastic it frequently interjected bursts of loud applause topped off with spasmodic cheering.

“Sacred Songs,” a Bay Area premiere whose diverse elements were a cornucopia of energy, fluttering wrists and fingers, and a reaching up to the heavens, featured several scenes so riveting they appeared to last only seconds before a blackout.

Its music — by DuBois AKeen — ranged from extreme softness in “Be Still” to frenzied jazz; garments were rapidly switched from jeans and mesh tops for men to pristine, loose-fitting white for both sexes, but their muted impact was immediately overshadowed by the wild energy, unadulterated smoothness, and synchronicity of the dancers’ movements.

Its choreography by Mathew Rushing ensured the whole stage was used superlatively — so well, in fact, it was impossible for human eyes to take it all in at once. Quickly changing focus from one dancer to another became a necessity, as if one were watching a three-ring circus filled with ballet pros.

One segment of the piece opened with a dancer’s hands moving as if she were playing bongo drums — so realistically you could almost see the instrument that wasn’t there.

“Many Angels,” also a Bay Area premiere, began with dancers on the floor in front of a noteworthy backdrop of clouds with light streaming through them. Both music and dance were a sharp contrast in tone to the rest of the performance. Choreography by Lars Lubovich, who also was responsible for the scenic design, flowed as smoothly as angels’ wings might flap in a celestial breeze.

This segment drew polite clapping and commentary about its soft, pale beauty as opposed to the unbridled tribute-yelling earned by “Revelations,” which brought applause from repeat viewers before the curtain rose.

“Revelations,” a 1960 creation choreographed by Ailey himself and colorfully costumed by Ves Harper, was so spirited that what felt like a third of the audience applauded rhythmically in unison to several of its 10 parts, A multitude of ballet-lovers leapt to their feet to sway and clap during the last one, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” which showcased the entire company.

Raucous applause and shouts of joy reverberated earlier when Xavier Mack finished his solo, “I Wanna Be Ready.”

And ultimately the crowd gave an expected standing ovation as the concert concluded, hints of joyous music still resounding in the acoustically superb auditorium.

Dance will be featured in two upcoming shows at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, through Cal Performances: from a Brazilian troupe, Grupo Corpo, which blends classical ballet with folk and popular dance, April 25 and 26, and the Mark Morris Dance Group’s tribute to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” May 9-11. Info: 510-642-9988 or https://calperformances.org.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com.

Apr 07 2025
Love0

Wannabe thriller at Magic Theatre morphs into cerebral puzzle

By Woody Weingarten

 

Lawrence Redecker, as crazed Carrier X in “The Boiling: A tale of American nihilism,” stands before a striking projection. Photo by Jay Yamada.

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

If you relish theatrical productions that can merge disparate elements into a unique gel, the Magic Theatre’s The Boiling: A tale of American nihilism might satisfy your appetite.

It’s a complicated, offbeat, wannabe thriller that challenges the mental acuity of its audience, which may be left answerless to a carload of questions.

Major themes include roots and the question of if you can go home again, whether human relationships and identity do change, how personal and community histories can be integrated with today’s beings and events, how to deal with major violence in our lives, and whether science and book-learning can protect us from danger.

Plus, where serene birding fits into all of it.

The world premiere that’s presented by the Magic in conjunction with Campo Santo combines acting that ranges from muted subtlety to emotional outbursts, perfectly inserted music that skips from raucous rock to melancholy softness, and striking video, sound and lighting effects that can startle and delight.

Sunhui Chang’s drama, which jumps back and forth in time and from the Carolinas to Colorado, certainly isn’t linear. But there is a storyline:

Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe (left) and John Brougher are befuddled agents trying to track down a killer virus spreader. Photo by Jay Yamada.

Brian, a Korean American virologist from the Midwest, and Vee, a Southern-bred Black detective linked to the Pacific Northwest, team up as agents of a new government agency to hunt down David, a rampaging nomadic Caucasian carrier of a killer virus labeled “the boiling.”

For those who enjoy stage puzzles that dip into mental masturbation, the play covers several aspects of nihilism, including the concept that the attitude can be a source of despair as well as a catalyst for individual freedom. If you have the patience to look deep enough, you may discover that The Boiling also touches on fundamental nihilistic notions such as life is basically meaningless, without purpose or value; objective moral codes and beliefs don’t exist; and the possibility of knowledge or unbiased truth is nil.

That sounds awfully negative on paper, yet in the skilled hands of the cast of seven, it’s not overpowering but integrated with whatever else is happening onstage — and off, because characters join the chain of events from deep in the seats (and even surprisingly plop down in the front row).

The device of characters reading — in the third person — a book entry that describe themselves and what they’re doing can be seductive. Also alluring is the projection of plot locations in big letters on the stage floor between scenes, perhaps an outgrowth of the author originally conceiving of the slow 95-minute creation as a screenplay.

Jesse Vaughn (front) performs a ritual in “The Boiling” as Jeannine Anderson shuts her eyes in quietude behind him. Photo by Jay Yamada.

Off-putting, unlike a movie or video where the volume can be adjusted by a techie, is the choice by director Ellen Sebastian Chang of having two actors turn their backs to the audience in one long scene, muffling their words despite being mic’d.

From a more positive viewpoint, Lawrence Reducer excels as Carrier X, as do Jeannine Anderson as Miss Lolli (a narrator), and John Brougher as Brian.

All three — part of a metaphoric road trip — help bring the puzzle and story home.   

The Boiling: A Tale of American Nihilism runs at the Magic Theatre, 2 Marina Blvd., Landmark Building C, Suite 260, Fort Mason, in San Francisco, through April 20. Tickets: $35 to $75. Info: 415-441-8822 or https://magictheatre.org

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com.

Mar 31 2025
Love0

MMTC’s musical ‘Cabaret’ in Novato comes as close to ideal as possible

By Woody Weingarten

Evvy Calstrom-March (center, as Sally Bowles) and Stephen Kanaski (also center, as the Emcee) star in Cabaret. (All photos by Katie Wickes)

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

There’s no perfect show, no perfect production. But the Marin Musical Theatre Company’s interpretation of Cabaret comes within a hair’s breadth of reaching those pinnacles.

The best Bay Area theatrical work of the year, perhaps the season, it stars Evvy Calstrom-March as chanteuse Sally Bowles, the main draw in Berlin’s shabby Kit Kat Club, circa the Roaring Twenties and the rise of Hitler.

Calstrom-March is a joy to watch every second she’s on stage at the Novato Theatre Company (which presented Cabaret). She’s a quadruple threat: vocals that might make many a Broadway starlet jealous; dancing that puts a capital “L” in limber; dramatic acting chops that make you feel with her; and a rubberized face that can deliver comic expressions with ease.

Also completely watchable is Stephen Kanaski, the Emcee, who changes costumes as often as kids check out their smart phones, and who leers and sneers with the best of them — even though actor/singer Joel Grey originally “owned” the role.

Choreography by Katie Wickes — who also seamlessly co-directed the show with Jenny Boynton — derivatively reminds theatergoers of Bob Fosse at his peak with an underlay of classic Jerome Robbins (and that’s not a bad thing). She staged and rehearsed each of the four nightclub dancers so well they seemed to fill the spotlights as if there were two or three times that many hoofers.

Superlative costumes by Krista Lee and Andria Nyland ranged from a military uniform to glitzy, skimpy burlesque outfits to “ordinary clothing” that blended so well it became invisible so they didn’t distract from the plotline.

A trio of instrumentalists, led by music director Daniel Savio just off the stage, doesn’t miss a proverbial beat and couldn’t have supported the cast better with its bouncy jazz rhythms suitable to the era.

Others worth lauding include Daniela Innocenti Beem, who smoothly injects landlady Fraulein Schneider (who feels pressured by the political upheaval to not marry the Jewish fruit peddler she loves) with humor and pathos and a voice that won’t quit, and Michael Lister, who portrays Ernst, a Nazi smuggler, with appropriate sleaze.

Cabaret, as most theatergoers know, is a rough-edged tragic double-love story engraved on a backdrop of Nazism. Today, the 1966 musical again acts as a red-flag metaphor suggesting that extreme nationalism, racism, Antisemitism, anti-LGBTQ+ism, and blindness to burgeoning authoritarianism can imperil our frail democracy.

Fräulein Schneider (Daniela Innocenti Beem), a landlady, cozies up to Jewish fruit peddler, Herr Shultz (Jere Torkelsen).

The Marin Musical Theatre Company (MMTC) show isn’t for everyone, certainly — despite the production’s overall superb quality and the show’s Tony award-winning history. MAGA devotees probably won’t like it just because. And anyone who can’t handle its cornucopia of heavy sexuality, debauchery, homophobia, immorality, hedonism, prostitution, and drugs most likely will stay home.

Sally Bowles (Evvy Calstrom-March, center) and Kit Kat Club girls come on strong.

Regardless, classic Broadway music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, a team that also spawned another Great White Way blockbuster, Chicago, remain a perfect fit. Several of the tunes, in fact, can be sung or hummed or whistled as you leave the theater, an endeavor that’s almost as dead as the proverbial dodo if you think about more modern musicals.

Joel Grey, not incidentally, gets cited online by Wickes and Boynton, in lieu of a production prologue, by reprinting an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times last November.

In it, he sounds an alarm about “the dangers of apathy” and distraction — as he simultaneously warns us about being seduced by a sense that we are facing dark times but “they won’t really affect our own day-to-day lives.”

That sense, he notes, echoes “the tragically shortsighted assessment of so many European Jews in the 1920s and ‘30s.”

The MMTC/Novato Theatre Company co-production of Cabaret will play at the Novato Theatre Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Novato, through April 13. Tickets: $35 to $50. Info: 415-883-4498 or info@marinmusicals.org.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com.

 

 

Mar 29 2025
Love0

Behind the scenes of ‘Jaws,’ three actors bare their teeth

By Woody Weingarten

Actor Richard Dreyfuss (Dylan James Pereira, front) gestures while the other main performers in the film Jaws, Roy Scheider (Nathan Luft-Runner, left) and Robert Shaw (Matt Cadigan), look on in a dramedy at the Left Edge Theatre, The Shark Is Broken. (Photo by Dana Hunt)

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

The Shark Is Broken may be billed as a comedy but might better be viewed as a drama peppered with laughs.

The 95-minute play details the real-life, repugnant interactions of actors Richard Dreyfuss (Dylan James Pereira), Robert Shaw (Matt Cadigan), and Roy Scheider (Nathan Luft-Runner) off and on the set of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 cinematic blockbuster, Jaws.

Tensions spring from shooting delays caused by pre-CGI and AI mechanical devices — intended to power the threatening shark — conking out. Add to that a feud between a young Dreyfuss and an aging Shaw (known as much for his Shakespearean roles and his writing as for his Hollywood work) that sets a troublesome tone throughout.

Scheider, a more stoic, professorial type, can’t elude Shaw’s negativity either. When he bemoans the two-month ocean shoot in Martha’s Vineyard as “a long time to be stuck together,” Shaw one-ups him: “It’s an eternity.”

Many scenes in the Dana Hunt-directed play replicate precisely what happened. At least that’s what Ian Shaw, the actor’s son, would have us believe. It was he who co-wrote the play with Joseph Nixon (never shrinking from repeatedly depicting his dad as a stumbling drunk).

The Shaw character, who alludes to his own father killing himself when the actor was 12, is fully cognizant of his shortcomings and how they affect others. He refers to priding himself for being able to act at all after “a tidal wave of booze” and notes that he can find himself “with a drink in my hand as a reward for not drinking.”

Trying to cozy up to the British actor, and hopefully eliminating an avalanche of putdowns, Dreyfuss brings his elder joy by looking for and finding two hidden bottles of booze. But he also dumps the contents of yet another bottle, an action that transforms a war of words into more physical combat.

Much of the play’s humor is pitch black, with sarcasm being the main coin of the theatrical realm. Early on, the panic attack-prone Dreyfuss fears for his career because the film they’re in could end up being like Planet of the Apes“without the monkeys.”

In brazen contrast while alone in the show’s funniest moments later, he presents a mocking imitation of Shaw.

 

 

Starring in The Shark Is Broken are (from left) Dylan James Pereira, Nathan Luft-Runner, and Matt Cadigan. (Photo by Dana Hunt)

Together, the three characters touch on a gamut of subjects: father-son relationships, philosophical and scientific journeys of the mind and mouth, and pointed references to Nixon (“tricky Dickie”), the Silent Majority, and Nobel Prize-winning dramatist Harold Pinter,

To pass the time, they gamble on cards and a British coin-flip game — and almost constantly refer to their previous hits, as well as films that crashed and burned, and other actors.

They also debate their billing and who is the film’s star, their egos never letting them think for an instant that it’s the animatronic shark.

Just before their final scene, in both reel and real life, Shaw indicate he doesn’t think much of Jaws and goes on to trash Spielberg’s next unnamed project that will become E.T. — the Extra-Terrestrial with one pejorative word, aliens, and then predicts that the film industry in the future will be limited to churning out “sequels and rewrites and sequels.”

Snarkily, he also says, “Do you really think anybody is going to be talking about this in 50 years?”

The Shark Is Broken will play at the Left Edge Theatre of the California Theatre, 528 7th St., Santa Rosa, through April 11. Tickets: $22 to $33. Info: 707-664-play or https://leftedgetheatre.com.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com.

Mar 24 2025
Love0

Ross Valley Players musical comedy ‘Pet Lingerie’ a tech spoof with some laughs

By Woody Weingarten

L-R, Ron Talbot and Laszlo Horner appear in Ross Valley Players’ new musical comedy “Pet Lingerie,” running through April 6 at the Barn Theatre in Ross. (Robin Jackson via Bay City News)

Did you ever dream up a get-rich-quick app idea? Three wannabes do just that in “Pet Lingerie,” an original musical comedy playing in Ross.

Presented by the Ross Valley Players, the two-act show, which takes clever potshots at technology in general and crowdfunding in particular, can be summed up in a single word: Silly.

Did writers Fred Raker and Bruce Tallerman (who met in Hollywood, writing for TV) expect that every one of their rapid-fire verbal gags would draw laughs? It turns out that the 105-minute play develops a rhythm something like this: Funny gag, laugh-out-loud gag, a bomb, funny gag, lol gag, a bomb, ad infinitum.

However, audience laughter and sporadic applause nonetheless pummel the rafters of the Barn Theatre at the Marin Art and Garden Center, where the show runs through April 6.

“Pet Lingerie” takes place in the Airport Suites Hotel in Terre Haute, Indiana, where muffler peddler Ruben Mondello (Landers Markwick), ex-plumber Frank Pincus (Robin Schild) and yoga devotee Frances Ulrich (Vicki Victoria) try to learn from marketing maven Gary Panko (Laszlo Horner) how to kickstart their products.

L-R, Vicki Victoria and Robin Schild portray aspiring entrepreneurs in Ross Valley Players’ premiere “Pet Lingerie” at the Barn Theatre in Ross through April 6. (Robin Jackson via Bay City News)

His three-day workshops may be too intense for some participants, but there are no refunds — “mental breakdowns are no exceptions.”

Their brainstorms are, to say the least, innovative: how to tell whether orgasms are fake; how to smother a toilet flush with recorded operatic arias; and how to get “sweet revenge” via “FU” cookies and bird-flipping mitts.

Panko’s own apps are no less imaginative: They include a flak jacket that dispenses coffee through a tube and, of course, pet garments.

Supporting characters add to the madcap mirth. Silvana Concino (Natalie Buck-Bauer) portrays a sexy but angry Italian flight attendant jettisoned by Panko, her lover; Susan Night (Annejelika “AJ” Ong Cortez) plays a tribute band singer craving Broadway lights. And Rabbi Moshe Ben-Hogan (Dan Schwager) is a playwright who’s long been blocked.

Also: There’s Ron Talbot, who guides a pope puppet that doubles as a giggle-getter and center of a morality play within the play.

A sample of the show’s humor: “We had sex before there was sexting” and “I always thought we’d tie the knot, but you turned out to be a bot.” And, from old chestnuts: “Why’d the Florida chicken cross the road? … to avoid becoming an early bird dinner.”

As for the music, no one’s likely to leave the theater whistling the tunes composed by Tallerman. Still, Buck-Bauer as Silvana, Markwick as Ruben, and Schild as Frank all showcase impressive singing voices.

Gary Stanford Jr., responsible for the show’s cutesy low-tech choreography, also directs “Pet Lingerie,” which has a delightfully droll twist at its tail. And Valera Coble’s winning costumes contrast bright and colorful garb with an orthodox rabbi’s all-black attire.

“Pet Lingerie,” a Ross Valley Players New Works production, was selected from more than 70 other previously unproduced plays by living Bay Area writers. While RVP New Works have smaller budgets, shorter runs and less elaborate sets than some of the company’s other shows, they often take more creative chances.

Here, for example, are offbeat but endearing concepts as a retired tradesman who still carries a plunger with him, an idea man who hides under the covers wearing a virtual-reality headset, and a non-traditional Partridge Family Tribute Band.

And even if RVP New Works are imperfect, they deserve support. It’s exciting and brave to stage original plays with topical themes.

Ross Valley Players “Pet Lingerie” runs through April 6 in the Barn Theatre at the Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. Tickets are $20-$35 at rossvalleyplayers.com.

This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http://www.baycitynews.org/contact/.  

 

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com.

Mar 09 2025
Love0

Play in Santa Rosa crammed with gags, sexuality, insightful opinions

By Woody Weingarten

Clyde (Shanay Howell) weaponizes a kitchen knife in comedy at the 6th St. Playhouse. (All photos by Eric Chazankin.)

By Woody Weingarten

Clyde’s, at the 6th St. Playhouse in Santa Rosa through March 23, is a sneaky little devil of a play.

Sandwiched between frequent effervescent sight and verbal gags and a generous helping of street slang mixed with overt sexuality, you can discover layers of caustic but insightful opinions.

The Pennsylvania greasy spoon of the title is a work haven for ex-cons, most of whom regret the reason for their incarceration and yearn for a second chance to become more fully realized human beings.

How do the felons aim to achieve that? Believe it or not, by creating the perfect gourmet sandwich — onstage — despite the truckdriver clientele preferring simple turkey on rye.

Love, anger. Teasing, testiness. Thoughtfulness, spite. All are menu ingredients.

Added in are pinches of racial inequities and pain.

And sporadic munching by the six-member cast.

Light throwaway lines like “Now you’re disrespecting the lettuce” and “Don’t say that — she can hear through walls” are precursors to serious tidbits such as “I can’t walk down the street without feeling like everyone’s hating on me” and “Just ‘cause you left prison, don’t think you’re outta prison.”

Shanay Howell instills in sandwich shop-owner Clyde more piss and vinegar than you might imagine, all the while popping her eyes, pouting her mouth, and exaggeratedly strutting flirtatiously so viewers can’t help but laugh.

Nate Musser portrays Jason, a homeless dude dotted with white supremacy face and arm tattoos whose vitriol knows no limits but who can also draw humor from slapstick postures and soften like room-temperature butter when a scene calls for that attitude.

Jason (Nate Musser) rests his head on chest of Montrellous, who gives him a healing hug.

And Tajai Jaxon Britten re-creates Montrellous, resident philosopher with a sonorous voice and a Zen attitude, as someone to emulate.

Meanwhile, director Marty Pistone resembles a conductor timing multiple instruments to end on the same micro-dot — in this parallel case, when characters excitedly talk over each other and then stop abruptly.

Intermittent music, mainly staccato drumbeats orchestrated by sound designer Laurynn Malilay during the blackouts between frequent brief scenes, acts as a perfect accompaniment.

The set designed by Bruce Lackovic also deserves praise for seamlessly blending real and simulated kitchen equipment.

Cast of Clyde’s are tickled by blurb in a local newspaper.

Have you ever stumbled on a hole-in-the-wall that can dish out melt-in-your-mouth food? Or a place that could satisfy your food-for-thought cravings? Whether or not your answer is “yes,” you might want to taste-test Clyde’s.

Not every performance of the fast-paced 90-minute play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, is sold out. That, truly, is a shame.

Clyde’s will play on the Monroe Stage of the 6th St. Playhouse, 52 W. 6th St., Santa Rosa, through March 23. Tickets: $29 to $47.95. Info: 707-523-4185 or https://6thstreetplayhouse.com.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.netor on his websites,

Feb 16 2025
Love0

Waste packs 1906 society’s ills into play paralleling today’s woes

By Woody Weingarten

Amy O’Connell (Liz Sklar) and Henry Trebell (Lance Gardner) contemplate an affair in Marin Theatre’s Waste. Photo by Chris Hardy.

 

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

It’s practically impossible to get away with cramming an excess of philosophical discussions into one drama.

Like abortion, adultery, misogyny, reproductive rights, scandal, suicide, public education, corruption and back-stabbing politics, and church and state morality.

But Carey Perloff, who for years was artistic director at the American Conservatory Theatre, has used a shoehorn to slide all of them into a 119-year-old British play almost seamlessly. She makes sure the accents hold; facial expressions, body language, and timing remain on target; lines sprinkled here and there to elicit laughter do so; and wave-like high and low vocal pitches preclude audience members nodding off.

The director/adaptor apparently could do little, however, about taking playwright Harley Granville-Barker’s 2½ talky hours (plus intermission) to slothfully reach the presumptive climax, which is predictable and therefore anti-climactic.

Waste is both the one-word title and descriptive reference point in the text to a multiplicity of subjects (including the brittleness of human lives).

Lance Gardner, Marin Theatre’s artistic director, paints a flawless onstage portrait of the heavily flawed main character, Henry Trebell, a politician who faces a series of emotional and real hurdles while hoping to eviscerate (“disestablish”) the Church of England.

Gardner, a Shakespearean-quality actor, hasn’t acted in years but must have ridden a theatrical bicycle — his ability to memorize roughly 4,672 lines in conjunction with the audience’s standing-ovation seem to demand he continue his sterling dual roles offstage and on.

Lord Horsham (Daniel Cantor) listens to Justin O’Connell (Joseph O’Malley) as Henry Trebell(Lance Gardner) enters the room and Charles Cantelupe (Anthony Fusco) looks on in Waste. Photo by Chris Hardy. 
He is supported by a nine-member cast that’s professional in every way: stiffly 
Edwardian when appropriate; chewing up the scenery when it’s called for; using 
extreme mugging or body language to convey attitude.

Kudos particularly belong to Liz Sklar (who plays Amy O’Connell, a fragile, conflicted woman on the prowl who repeatedly talks about her “right to choose”); Joseph O’Malley (sharply doubling as Walter Kent, Henry’s scaredy cat secretary, and Justin, Amy’s cuckolded husband); Anthony Fusco (Charles Cantelupe, a blustering church leader); Jomar Tagatac (Dr. Wedgecroft, confidant and friend to Henry, whom the medicine man calls a “visionary”); and Daniel Cantor (Lord Horsham, the cigar-puffing, incoming prime minister).

Noteworthy, too, is the singular angled set, Arnel Sancianco’s large cube with elongated horizontal openings on two sides, perhaps a visual reference to the many dualities in the text.

Waste was banned immediately after its 1906 debut because it deals with adultery and abortion. It was not produced again until three decades later — in a watered-down version. Its themes, however, are parallel to many of today’s dilemmas, and surely Perloff was happy to direct the original narrative for that very reason.

If your buttocks can handle the slow pacing and the fact that any hint of action takes place offstage, and if your mind has the capacity to permanently switch to on, go. If not, there are many mindless Family Feud, Law and Order, and Blue Bloods reruns waiting on your flat screen at home.

Waste plays at Marin Theatre, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley, through March 2. Tickets: $30 to $85. Info: 415-388-5208 or MarinTheatre.org.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com

Feb 12 2025
Love0

Left Edge Theatre’s ‘Motherf– with the Hat’ is funny, heartrending

By Woody Weingarten

by Woody Weingarten, Bay City News   February 10, 2025

L-R, Sergio Diaz, Danny Bañales and Isiah Carter are among the excellent cast in Left Edge Theatre’s production of “The Motherf—- with the Hat” in Santa Rosa through Feb. 22. (Courtesy Dana Hunt/Left Edge Theatre via Bay City News)

Jackie, who dreams of settling down with Veronica, an addict, spies a man’s hat on her nightstand.

“That ain’t my hat,” he growls, and gets fired up to do battle—with her, the owner of the headgear and his own inner demons.

The difference between Romeo and Juliet and the star-crossed Puerto Rican lovers in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “The Motherf—- with the Hat,” onstage in a Left Edge Theatre production in Santa Rosa, is that Shakespeare’s tragedy focuses on unadulterated young love, while “Mother” is seen through a prism of love desecrated by drugs, alcohol and sexual cheating.

“Motherf—-,” which packs a wallop, is devilishly funny in the first act (an early scene has Jackie sniffing their hand-me-down bed to find smells of betrayal). Yet it’s a poignant and heartrending unfunny drama in the second (“We’re broken,” insists Veronica).

This tragicomedy can’t help but make you think. Each of the dysfunctional, multidimensional

characters—all perhaps difficult to relate to for those who didn’t grow up with their kind of people or toyed with their kind of twisted morality—has complex depth, despite the torrent of f-bombs.

L-R, Danny Bañales and Mercedes Murphy appear in Left Edge Theatre’s “The Motherf—- with the Hat” onstage in Santa Rosa through Feb. 22, 2025. (Courtesy Dana Hunt/Left Edge Theatre via Bay City News)

They lie while craving honesty. All swear with abandon and relish sex as if it were the only life-force worth considering. All the while, they’re on mostly futile quests for loving relationships.

The play offers philosophical tidbits while spewing language of the streets. Yet there’s still room for a line like, “It’s funny how a person can be more than one thing, ain’t it?” Or for a woman to describe her man as having “a PhD in self-loathing” or to say about herself, “I’ve got about 10 minutes more of gravity before it all comes crashing down.”

Directed by Serena Elize Flores, The Left Edge cast is notable.

Danny Bañales artfully, and with deft slapstick, plays Jackie, a parolee alcoholic who struggles physically and mentally. Mercedes Murphy passionately portrays Veronica as someone who can’t help going past the red lines society has imposed on her. Isiah Carter is robust as Ralph D, the sensitive, 12-step sponsor who befriends Jackie. Grace Kent as Victoria, Ralph D’s frustrated wife, is filled with dichotomies. Sergio Diaz is Jackie’s gay, sex-addicted cousin Julio, a guy hell-bent on proving his manhood.

The 105-minute (plus-intermission) show is a rarity. It features fleeting male nudity and avoids female nudity. But its mainstay is naked emotion. In the final analysis, that’s nothing to laugh at.

“The Motherf—- with the Hat” continues through Feb. 22 at Left Edge Theatre, 528 Seventh St., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $33 to $44 at leftedgetheatre.com.  

This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http://www.baycitynews.org/contact/.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com

Feb 04 2025
Love0

6th Street Playhouse’s ‘Groundhog Day: The Musical’ is whimsical fun

By Woody Weingarten
POSTED INARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Review: 6th Street Playhouse’s ‘Groundhog Day: The Musical’ is whimsical fun

by Woody Weingarten, Bay City News  February 4, 2025

“Groundhog Day: The Musical,” a fun show based on the popular movie, runs at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa through Feb. 23. (Photo by Eric Chazankin/Courtesy 6th Street Playhouse via Bay City News) 

“Groundhog Day: the Musical” is a well-acted whimsical romp…
“Groundhog Day: the Musical” is a well-directed whimsical romp…
“Groundhog Day: the Musical” is a well-written whimsical romp…
…despite its intentional time-loop repetition.

The 6th St. Playhouse production in Santa Rosa is decidedly edgier, darker and more sexualized than the smash 1993 film starring Bill Murray about a nasty weatherman assigned to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who finds his humanity after getting trapped in a time warp.

Nelson Brown plays weatherman Phil Connors in 6th Street Playhouse’s “Groundhog Day: The Musical.” (Photo by Eric Chazankin/Courtesy 6th Street Playhouse)

Nelson Brown, who alternates in the Phil Connors lead role with Garet Waterhouse, absolutely owns the stage. His frantic physical-comedy chops are extraordinary, and his voice is potent, too. Michelle Pagano as Rita Hanson, his female foil, plays her part much straighter, but has exquisite vocal cords.

Nelson Brown plays weatherman Phil Connors and Michelle Pagano is Rita Hanson in 6th Street Playhouse’s “Groundhog Day: The Musical.” (Photo by Eric Chazankin/Courtesy 6th Street Playhouse)

Ted Smith, who portrays insurance peddler Ned Ryerson, surprises with a soulful voice in his only solo, the plaintive “Night Will Come.”

A multi-racial chorus of singers in all shapes and sizes acquits itself well by starting and finishing together all the time.

Laughter from the audience occasionally drowns out a line or two, with the heartiest guffaws stemming from clever use of a vehicle that redefines minivan; three raucous drunks in a jeep; small dolls that stand in for a groundhog, a newborn, and a pooch.

But there’s a plethora of other gags. Director David Lear not only draws every possible chuckle from them, but he also creates awesome abbreviated, strobe-enhanced scenes and ensures music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and book by Danny Rubin are skillfully delivered.

The production successfully utilizes projections of falling snow and a speedway, and other highlights include cast members marching up the aisles of the cozy theater, a magnificent upbeat eight-person tap dance choreographed by Karen Miles, and a backstage seven-piece orchestra of live musicians led by Lucas Sherman.

Flaws? The first act is a bit sluggish. Occasional lyrics are muffled. Not much to gripe about.

Multiple words can define “Groundhog Day: The Musical.” Try one of these: bouncy, goofy, fun.
Multiple words can define “Groundhog Day: The Musical.” Try one of these: bouncy, edgy, fun.
Multiple words can define “Groundhog Day: The Musical.” Try one of these: bouncy, amusing, fun.

“Groundhog Day: The Musical” continues through Feb. 23 at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. Sixth St., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $29 to $55.95 at 6thstreetplayhouse.com.

This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http://www.baycitynews.org/contact/. 

 

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.netor on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com

 

Dec 21 2023
Love0

Pick! ASR Film ~~ ‘The Crime Is Mine’ — French Screwball Satire Carves Up Justice, Feminism

By Woody Weingarten

By Woody Weingarten

Screwball comedies satirizing traditional love stories peaked in the early 1940s — after having begun to gain popularity during the Great Depression.

New examples of that romantic comedy sub-genre would manage to pop up every few years thereafter, but they’d usually fail to be as funny or polished as those of yesteryear.

But now comes The Crime Is Mine, a French-language satire (with subtitles, of course) that stands up with the best of them. The one-hour, 42-minute film time-warps back to 1930s Paris and provides a Duisenberg-speed storyline that repeatedly twists and turns as it focuses on a sexy, penniless actress who figures she can become famous by confessing to a murder she didn’t commit.

 … “The Crime Is Mine” ain’t subtle, but delightfully tasty it is …

Scheduled for release on Christmas Day by Music Box Films, the flick lays onto the marvelous comedy, an equally marvelous carving up of feminism, the class system, show biz antics, and courtroom machinations.

In the final analysis, though, within weeks after watching the movie, you’re likely not only to have forgotten slices of the plotline but exactly who is who, especially when it comes to lesser characters such as the judge, the prosecutor, the police inspector, and a boyfriend (even though all are amusing) and exactly what who said to whom.

Nadia Tereskiewicz merrily plays blonde bombshell Madeleine Verdier, a talent-less wannabe who desperately craves stardom and her close-up. She’s aided in her quest for fame by her brunette BFF and starving garret roomie, Pauline Mauléon (played by Rebecca Marder), a young lawyer with no other clients who launches a campaign based on the notion of self-defense against sexual assault.

Supporting their skillful acting chops is Isabelle Huppert, a French icon who, while chomping on the scenery, portrays silent film star Odette Chaumette, the real killer turned blackmailer.

All the main characters, each of whom is self-serving, mug a lot (except the murdered producer) — and every now and then, Madeleine’s combined flightiness and earthiness may remind a filmgoer of Renee Zellweger playing Roxie Hart in Chicago.

 … Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100% rating

François Ozon’s direction of this adaptation of a 1934 stage play is almost as perfect. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100% rating with 22 credits so far.

With humor ranging from dry to frivolously farce-like, it’s virtually impossible not to like the film—whether or not you can relate to kooky but intelligent women who easily outmaneuver the men in their lives.

The Crime Is Mine ain’t subtle, but delightfully tasty it is — a cinematic soufflé that never falls.

-30-

ASR Senior Contributor Woody Weingarten has decades of experience writing arts and entertainment reviews and features. A member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, he is the author of three books, The Roving I; Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates; and Rollercoaster: How a Man Can Survive His Partner’s Breast Cancer. Contact: voodee@sbcglobal.net or https://woodyweingarten.com or http://www.vitalitypress.com/

Production The Crime is Mine
Directed by François Ozon
Run Dates Opens December 25, 2023
Venues TBA
Reviewer Score Max in each category is 5//5
Overall 4.25/5
Performance 4.25/5
Script 4/5
Pick? YES!

This story was first published on https://aisleseatreview.com, which publishes independent views and reviews on Bay Area arts, destinations, and lifestyle.

Woody Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com.