{"id":15520,"date":"2014-11-22T14:45:43","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T22:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=15520"},"modified":"2014-11-22T14:47:24","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T22:47:24","slug":"jolly-juliana-and-the-festive-holiday-vaudeville-6th-street-playhouse-santa-rosa-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/jolly-juliana-and-the-festive-holiday-vaudeville-6th-street-playhouse-santa-rosa-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cJolly Juliana\u201d and \u201cThe Festive Holiday Vaudeville\u201d, 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Photos by Eric Chazankin<\/em><\/p>\n

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Fruits and Nuts Take the Stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A delightful slice of nineteenth-century Americana is being served up in its world premiere at 6th<\/sup> Street Playhouse complete with old-timey footlights, just perfect for the holidays. \u201cJolly Juliana\u201d, with the loaded subtitle \u201cHer Fruitcake Has Nuts\u201d, is an original melo-dramedy written and directed by local renaissance man Larry Williams<\/strong>. It\u2019s a play-within-a play set in the Santa Rosa of 1905 performed by \u201cOsgood\u2019s Traveling Vaudevillians\u201d and serves as the first act. For the most part Williams keeps the energy wheel spinning, and it only slows down in a couple of spots. There are place references and local jokes galore (Lucifer\u2019s Rancheria draws a huge guffaw).<\/p>\n

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Evan Attwood, April Krautner in “Jolly Juliana”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cJuliana\u201d is faithful to the exaggerated and hyper-emotional style of acting that saw its heyday in the 1800s. Williams adds a generous helping of broad comedy which makes this show really fun to watch. The cast mostly has the melodramatic thing nailed down, especially April Krautner<\/strong>\u00a0 as our sanguine Heroine and major fruitcake-baker\u00a0 Juliana, and Williams as the evil Lucifer Bellows. Remember the now-clich\u00e9 scene where the villain ties his victim to a railroad track with a speeding train approaching? It was first seen in 1870 in a play called \u201cUnder the Gaslight\u201d and\u00a0 ever after was shown again and again in early films like \u201cThe Perils of Pauline\u201d. Naturally, Juliana soon finds herself in this predicament, with Evan Attwood<\/strong> as our Hero Teddy saving the day.\u00a0 A nice assortment of nutty performers rounds out the cast. Just one tiny issue with the play-within-a-play concept: if you were watching the show without seeing the playbill, you never would know that you are watching actors playing other actors.<\/p>\n

The second act is \u201cThe Festive Holiday Vaudeville\u201d, a series of lively vaudeville-style skits that are pure pleasure and really hold your attention, relying heavily on audience participation. Notable are the spectacular vocals of Robert Ellison<\/strong> who, in addition to playing the singing Narrator of \u201cJuliana\u201d, also delivers one of the high points in the vaudeville part of the show, a thrill that brings down the house. The wildly funny finale features a rousing and zany version of \u201cThe Twelve Days of Christmas\u201d. Through it all, it\u2019s plain that Krautner – here at her lovable, goofy and gorgeous best – is the star of the show. The girl can\u2019t help it.<\/p>\n

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Ensemble cast, “The Festive Holiday Vaudeville”<\/p><\/div>\n

The ensemble in both acts worked well, with Williams doing a nice job blocking and staging the movements of the cast and guiding the difficult techniques that are used in the melodramatic and vaudevillian arts. Seeing Krautner, Williams and Ellison do their stuff is well worth the price of admission. All in all, it\u2019s jolly cornball fun for the whole family.<\/p>\n

When: Now through December 21, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

8:00 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (no show on Thanksgiving Day, November 27)<\/strong><\/p>\n

2:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets: $15 to $32 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Location: GK Hardt Theater at 6th<\/sup> Street Playhouse<\/strong><\/p>\n

52 West 6th<\/sup> Street<\/strong>, Santa Rosa CA<\/strong>
\nPhone: 707-523-4185 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Website: <\/strong>www.6thstreetplayhouse.com<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC)   Photos by Eric Chazankin Fruits and Nuts Take the Stage A delightful slice of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-greg-suzanne-angeo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"