The Peculiar & Sudden Nearness of the Moon

(This was printed in The Davis Enterprise on 11/22/06)

According to comments in the pre-show talk, by Kyle Haden, Velina Hasu Houston is the country’s most prolific playwright. Since 2000, she has had world premieres of six different plays and will premiere four new plays in 2006 and 2007.

One of her newest works, “The Peculiar and Sudden Nearness of the Moon,” directed by Peggy Shannon, opened this week at the Sacramento Theater company, where it will run through December 24. While it is out of the workshop stage, the cast is still in the process of tweaking it and a final script won’t be printed until this run ends.

Many of the multi-racial playwright’s works deal with various aspects of race and “Moon” takes it in an unusual direction.

Sydney Spencer (Saffron Henke) and her husband Brad (Brett Williams) are an upper middle class couple who have planned the perfect life. They have the perfect home, the perfect jobs, and are expecting the perfect baby.

As her pregnancy progresses, Sydney is visited by “The Dark,” (Kyle Haden) a ghost-like figure, speaking all in rhyme, who describes himself as a “fugitive from history” and warns of dark secrets about to be uncovered.

When the baby is born, she isn’t at all what Sydney and Brad expected. Her skin is dark, her hair is black and curly and, not surprisingly, the very Nordic, blonde Brad assumes Sydney has been having an affair.

The baby, who was born prematurely, has some minor health problems and most of the first act takes place in the neonatal intensive care unit, with the baby’s incubator dominating the stage.

As the play progresses Sydney begins to explore some of the deepest meanings of life as she deals with questions of identity and “belonging” in the context of race, culture and class.

Sydney turns to her mother Jessica (Susan Andrews) for answers about her own lineage, but the mother refuses to discuss her heritage, so Sydney is on her own, following clues that lead her to an enigmatic man named Sydney (Vincent Dee Miles), who directs the woman’s questions to a woman named Grace-Maria Marquez (Irene Velasquez).

There is a great difference in “feel” between Act 1 and Act 2. Act 1 has a more spiritual, ethereal aspect to it while Act 2 seems to center more on who knew what when and who is willing to be open and honest, and how everyone reacts to the truths that begin to come spilling out.

The show ends with a “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” situation and though questions are answered, the audience is left hanging as to the outcome for the new baby and her family.

Director Shannon has assembled a strong cast. Henke nicely handles the fear for the safety of her unborn child when “Dark” begins to confront her, the confusion about the baby’s appearance, and the growing love she feels for her child.

Sydney’s husband perhaps goes through the greatest character shifts, from supportive husband, to angry cuckold, to a father who begins to recognize his own child, and Williams makes the character a sympathetic one.

Andrews handles the brittle Jessica adroitly. Haden is outstanding as the enigmatic “Dark.”

While the play addresses very real, valid emotions, the work as a whole doesn’t quite come together coherently. Given experience with Houston’s work in the past, I am certain that as the cast, director and playwright respond to audience reaction, the final product will be a valuable addition to Houston’s total body of work.

Beauty and the Beast

Is Mickey Mouse king of Broadway? If you look at the new musicals to hit the New York stage it may seem that way. After a successful run on Broadway, “The Lion King” has been touring the country for awhile now, “Tarzan” is still playing on Broadway, “Mary Poppins” just opened, a production of “The Little Mermaid” is expected to open soon, and “Beauty and the Beast” released the rights for community theater productions a couple of years ago.

It’s pointless to argue whether there is any “there” there for these productions (I often feel they are much better as cartoons). They are larger than life and if the music isn’t exactly on a par with Rodgers & Hammerstein, who cares? They’re just plain fun.

A Disney production is designed as a big stage extravaganza and yet Director Angela Shellhammer (who is also credited with Scenic Design, along with Jeff Kean) has managed to give her small Opera House production the appearance of a “big stage extravaganza” without making things look crowded.

A narrator (James Shellhammer) opens the show with the story of the beast's origins: An old beggar woman (Taryn Huber) asks a prince for shelter from the cold, though she has only a single rose to give him as payment. Being selfish and heartless, the prince refuses her, simply because she is ugly. The old woman warns him that true beauty is within one's heart, not one's appearance. To teach him a lesson, she transforms the prince into a hideous beast, gives him an enchanted rose, and tells him that "if he can learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal falls, then the spell will be broken. If not, he will be doomed to remain a beast for all time."

Troy Thomas is perfectly cast as the beast. His height is a boon to the illusion of a towering hulk of a creature and he has a magnificent voice to match. He learns to tame his anger as his love for and tenderness toward his “Beauty” grows. His struggles with his complex emotions actually make his “beast” more appealing than the handsome prince he ultimately becomes, and it is easy to see why Belle was won over.

Buffee Ann Gillihan is Belle, the feisty heroine of the story, a girl who is “different” from her peers because she loves books and lives a rich fantasy life, dreaming of a better life and a happily ever after. When her father (Rodger McDonald), an eccentric inventor, becomes a captive of the Beast, Belle offers to take his place, and thus the story begins. Like Thomas, Gillihan is perfectly cast as the idealistic Belle whose heart is touched by the Beast she begins to tame.

Not only is the Beast a victim of the witch’s curse, but also his entire castle staff, who will slowly become tea cups, candles, items of furniture, and other household items.

Laurie Everly-Klassen must have found this either a costumer’s dream, or a costumer’s nightmare. Her costumes for the household staff are simply wonderful. The only slight criticism that one might make is that in other productions of this show, as time progresses, the costumes become more elaborate, indicating that the characters are closer to becoming the thing they represent. Lumiere, for example, is a candlestick and should become more candle-like as the show progresses. However, it is but a very slight criticism because one can hardly fault the costume designs.

The actors themselves are all top notch. Kevin Caravalho is Lumiere, a deliciously fussy maitre d’ who is in the process of becoming a French candlestick.

Cogsworth, the castle’s major domo is played by Jim Lane, who may perhaps be giving the best performance I have seen him give to date, in his transformation into a clock.

Jodi Serrano is delightful as Mrs. Potts, the teapot who sings the show’s title song. Her son Chip, a teacup, is the adorable Abby Miles.

Amy Vyvlecka is charming as Babette, the feather duster.

Scott Woodard is Gaston, the town’s nefarious hunk who has set his sights on Belle and is determined to marry her. Gaston’s good looks are exceeded only by his ego. Woodard is the villain you love to hate, and as male chauvenists go, none can hold a candle to this Gaston.

Gaston’s hapless lackey, LeFou, was the delightful Bobby Grainger, a character with little brains, who is routinely slapped around the stage by Gaston.

This is one of those happily-ever-after stories that will make little girls want to go out and kiss frogs to see if maybe there really is a prince trapped inside. It is highly recommended family entertainment.

Beauty and the Beast

(This review was printed in The Davis Enterprise on 11/21/06)

Is Mickey Mouse king of Broadway?

If you look at the new musicals to hit the New York stage it may seem that way. After a successful run on Broadway, “The Lion King” has been touring the country for awhile now, “Tarzan” is still playing on Broadway, “Mary Poppins” just opened, a production of “The Little Mermaid” is expected to open soon, and “Beauty and the Beast” released the rights for community theater productions a couple of years ago.

It’s pointless to argue whether there is any “there” there for these productions (I often feel they are much better as cartoons). They are larger than life and if the music isn’t exactly on a par with Rodgers & Hammerstein, who cares? They’re just plain fun.

A Disney production is designed as a big stage extravaganza and yet Director Angela Shellhammer (who is also credited with Scenic Design, along with Jeff Kean) has managed to give her small Opera House production the appearance of a “big stage extravaganza” without making things look crowded.

A narrator (James Shellhammer) opens the show with the story of the beast's origins: An old beggar woman (Taryn Huber) asks a prince for shelter from the cold, though she has only a single rose to give him as payment. Being selfish and heartless, the prince refuses her, simply because she is ugly. The old woman warns him that true beauty is within one's heart, not one's appearance. To teach him a lesson, she transforms the prince into a hideous beast, gives him an enchanted rose, and tells him that "if he can learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal falls, then the spell will be broken. If not, he will be doomed to remain a beast for all time."

Troy Thomas is perfectly cast as the beast. His height is a boon to the illusion of a towering hulk of a creature and he has a magnificent voice to match. He learns to tame his anger as his love for and tenderness toward his “Beauty” grows. His struggles with his complex emotions actually make his “beast” more appealing than the handsome prince he ultimately becomes, and it is easy to see why Belle was won over.

Buffee Ann Gillihan is Belle, the feisty heroine of the story, a girl who is “different” from her peers because she loves books and lives a rich fantasy life, dreaming of a better life and a happily ever after. When her father (Rodger McDonald), an eccentric inventor, becomes a captive of the Beast, Belle offers to take his place, and thus the story begins. Like Thomas, Gillihan is perfectly cast as the idealistic Belle whose heart is touched by the Beast she begins to tame.

Not only is the Beast a victim of the witch’s curse, but also his entire castle staff, who will slowly become tea cups, candles, items of furniture, and other household items.

Laurie Everly-Klassen must have found this either a costumer’s dream, or a costumer’s nightmare. Her costumes for the household staff are simply wonderful. The only slight criticism that one might make is that in other productions of this show, as time progresses, the costumes become more elaborate, indicating that the characters are closer to becoming the thing they represent. Lumiere, for example, is a candlestick and should become more candle-like as the show progresses. However, it is but a very slight criticism because one can hardly fault the costume designs.

The actors themselves are all top notch. Kevin Caravalho is Lumiere, a deliciously fussy maitre d’ who is in the process of becoming a French candlestick.

Cogsworth, the castle’s major domo is played by Jim Lane, who may perhaps be giving the best performance I have seen him give to date, in his transformation into a clock.

Jodi Serrano is delightful as Mrs. Potts, the teapot who sings the show’s title song. Her son Chip, a teacup, is the adorable Abby Miles.

Amy Vyvlecka is charming as Babette, the feather duster.

Scott Woodard is Gaston, the town’s nefarious hunk who has set his sights on Belle and is determined to marry her. Gaston’s good looks are exceeded only by his ego. Woodard is the villain you love to hate, and as male chauvenists go, none can hold a candle to this Gaston.

Gaston’s hapless lackey, LeFou, was the delightful Bobby Grainger, a character with little brains, who is routinely slapped around the stage by Gaston.

This is one of those happily-ever-after stories that will make little girls want to go out and kiss frogs to see if maybe there really is a prince trapped inside. It is highly recommended family entertainment.

Probability Theories and Match.com

Where can you go and hear, in the same night recorded music by Beethoven, folk singer Cheryl Wheeler, and Weird Al Yankovic? Where else but at Pamela Trokanski’s Fall Concert, “Probability Theories and Match.com.”

Choreographed by Trokanski, the recital examines the world of dating, not dating, breaking up, living alone, and finding love through an on-line dating service. The dancers are: Caitlin Barale, Nicole Bell, Robin Carlson, Ai Hayasi, Trokanski herself, and Katie Lundgren (whose name was left out of the program).

Section I sets up the premise, comparing “love” to “probability theory,” the mathematical study of phenomena characterized by randomness or uncertainty. Was there ever a human emotion which more aptly fit a mathematical theorem!

The dancers are dressed in scarlet red outfits and first appear seated on stools while a voiceover explains probability theory and the pain of love betrayed. A perfect introduction to the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, which is danced with military precision as the dancers portray the anger of a jilted lover and the pain of trying to recover, including attendance at a lively support group.

Cheryl Wheeler’s “Addicted” follows.

She says she feels like she's addicted to a real bad thing,
Always sitting, waiting, wondering if the phone will ring,
She knows she bounces like a yo-yo when he pulls her string,
It hurts to feel like such a fool.

A piece for three dancers followed, a strident number by experimental performing artist Laurie Anderson, which can only be described as exploring the “prickly” feelings of a love gone wrong.

Following numbers by Lyle Lovett and James Blunt (which features a solo performance by Trokanski), the section closes with a delightful “Love Stinks,” by the J. Geils Band, where the dancers prove that anything, even toilet plungers, can work as props.

Section II examines the premise of living without love and asks if a woman can find fulfillment living with cats, without having to shave her legs. The opening “Moonlight Sonata” presents the dancers perhaps emulating the cat, with long, slow, stretched out movement.

A later piece, the charming “4 legs good, 2 legs bad”(Christine Kane) which asks whether it’s better to have animals or a boyfriend, gives the dancers the opportunity for some real fun mimicking pets (my favorite was the shaking leg response to a scratched tummy).

“Coin Operated Boy” by Dresden Dolls explores the possibility of finding satisfaction, if not exactly love, with an animated doll. It is fun watching how the dancers move so effortlessly from the fluidity of motion of household pets to the metallic precision of a robotic human.

This section ends with Weird Al Yankovic’s “One More Minute,” which embodies the rage of a woman whose lover done her wrong.

I'd rather have my blood sucked out by leeches
Shove an icepick under a toenail or two
I'd rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue
Than spend one more minute with you

Section III, the final in the recital, explores the world of on-line dating and comes with a confession by the choreographer of having done “extensive research” at Match.com.

The section opens with the beautiful Adagio from Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 (the “Pathétique”) and reprises some of the choreography from earlier sections.

Cheryl Wheeler makes a return with her “Arrow,” wishing for another chance at love

Oh, I wish I could fall in love
Though it only leads to trouble, oh I know it does.
Still I'd fool myself and gladly just to feel I was
In love

It is a wistful number, beautifully danced.

The evening ends on a more strident note with music by Kate Bush, which finds the dancers balancing precariously on top of the stools they have carried onto the stage, hoping to open their arms to love, while at the same time conquering their fear of commitment.

This is a short (1 hour) recital with great variety in both music and dance and everyone should find something to enjoy in it. There are two more performances, tonight and Saturday night, both at 8 p.m. at the Pamela Trokanski Dance Workshop and Performing Arts Center.

Oliver!

This was printed in The Davis Enterprise on 11/14/06

The thing that you have to admire about the Davis Musical Theater Company, which opened a production of "Oliver!" this weekend, is that everyone is so sincere and so dedicated. The new fountain in the lobby displays a panel of big money donors, with another panel to be installed soon. The walls of the theater are lined with ceramic tiles,"decorated by individuals supporters. A long-time subscriber who has been watching from the audience for years finally decided to get his feet wet in this production.

Company members work long, hard hours, whether on stage or behind the stage. Love for DMTC is evident everywhere.

Unfortunately, sometimes love just isn’t enough.

When you see a production of a beloved musical such as Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” and the outstanding performer is Mr. Bumble (Brian McCann), the pompous, self-important beadle (minor church official) for the workhouse where Oliver was born, there is a serious problem.

McCann is almost equally matched by the voluptuous Monique McKisson as Mrs. Corney, the matron of the workhouse who lets Mr. Bumble worm his way into her middle-aged heart. Their scene together, ending with “I shall scream” was outstanding, and truly the highlight of the evening.

The production is directed and choreographed by Jan Isaacson, who needs to remember that sometimes less is more. The opening number, “Food, Glorious Food” featuring the orphan chorus waiting for their morning gruel, was so busy that you lost sight of what the song lyrics were. Every phrase had a corresponding action which, after awhile, began to look like a game of charades where the participants forgot they weren’t supposed to be speaking. This style, unfortunately, was repeated in most of the chorus numbers throughout the show.

Isaacson has done much better than this in previous shows and her choreography and blocking for this production were a disappointing surprise.

Blake Thomas was a winsome Oliver. While he lacks the oomph to really do a first class rendition of a song like “Where is Love?” he is so perfectly visually cast and is such a competent performer, that it didn’t seem to matter.

Steve Isaacson is reprising his all-time favorite role, Fagin, the manipulative old man who leads a group of homeless children and teaches them how to pick pockets and steal to survive. Isaacson is good, but not outstanding. His performance seems to lack the energy we’ve come to expect from him.

Jennifer Bonomo, as Nancy, the girlfriend of the villainous Bill Sikes (not Sykes, a common spelling error) who ultimately becomes Oliver’s protector, at her own peril, does a good job. She has a strong voice and is appropriately emotionally torn in the lovely “As long as he needs me,” where she describes why she remains with an abusive partner.

Two young girls in the chorus, Laura Sitts as the rose seller and Karina Summers as the milk seller have lovely voices and stand out, in their small roles, among the peddlers walking the streets.

Michael Elfant makes the most of his small role as Dr. Grimwig, called to Oliver’s bedside after he is rescued from the streets by his benefactor, Mr. Brownlow (Arnold Loveridge).

Danette Vassar, in a larger role than I have seen her in the past, does quite a good job as Mrs. Sowerberry, wife of the undertaker. (Vassar and McKisson switch roles in other performances, McKisson playing Mrs. Sowerberry and Vassar playing the Widow Corney.)

Others in the cast fall short of the mark, at the show’s detriment.

Steve Isaacson designed the set, which mostly works except for a projection on the back wall, meant to represent London. While such projections worked exceptionally well to represent a New York tenement in the recent “West Side Story,” this projection sticks out like a sore thumb because it is not only distractingly inaccurate as far as being anywhere near done to scale (Big Ben sitting right next to the dome of St. Paul’s with some sort of a pillar rising up between the two of them--we never did figure out what that was supposed to be), but it leaves most of the back wall totally blank. Also, with the cast constantly passing back and forth over the elevated bridge at the back, they had to walk right in front of the beam of light, so that the city of London was projected on the actors themselves. It would have been far better to eliminate the projection entirely.

I have a soft spot in my heart for “Oliver!” and was disappointed that this one just lacked that certain “something” to make it all work.

Sweet Charity

This appeared in The Davis Enterprise on 11/2/06

Charity Hope Valentine is a girl with an indomitable spirit who, though buffeted about by the vagaries of love, somehow manages to keep her head held high.

“Sweet Charity,” is the musical developed by Bob Fosse for his wife Gwen Verdon in 1966, brought to film in 1969 starring Shirley MacLaine, revived on Broadway in1986, starring Debbie Allen, and again in 2005 under the direction of Walter Bobbie, starring Christina Applegate. The show is now touring the country, directed by Scott Faris with new choreography by Wayne Cilento and former brat-packer Molly Ringwald, now all grown up, in the title role. The show opened last night at the Sacramento Community Center Theater, and runs through November 12.

Loosely based on Federico Fellini’s “Nights of Cabiria,” this entertaining musical has a book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, a winning combination any day.

As the show opens, Charity is waiting for Charlie (Adam Perry), the man she is certain is going to propose to her (forgetting that little business about his wife, of course). She fantasizes about the wonderful life they are going to have together, and is obviously not prepared for his pushing her into the lake and stealing her purse instead.

Charity returns to the Fandango Club, where she works as a taxi dancer, dancing with any man who can pay for the privilege, and she sings about how she is through with men and won’t let herself be taken advantage of again.

Now hear this and get this
Hold this and Amen
This big fat heart ain't gonna be joined apart
Ever, ever, ever again!

Naturally this is a vow she cannot keep and soon she finds herself swept off her feet by the Italian film star, Vittorio Vidal (Aaron Ramey), trying to make his mistress (Angel Reda) jealous. A night of dancing at the ritzy and rather bizarrely decorated Pompeii Club and Charity winds up back in Vidal’s apartment, where she can’t contain herself at the thought of being with the famous heartthrob (“If they could see me now”), but just as things are heating up, the mistress arrives at the door and Charity is thrust into the closet to keep her out of sight. This gives Ringwald the opportunity to do some very funny physical comedy.

Determined to do better for herself, Charity attempts to take a class at the local YMCA and ends up stuck in an elevator for a long time with Oscar Lindquist (Guy Adkins), a shy, claustrophobic accountant trying to get to a class about self esteem. The elevator scene is one of the best in the show, with a box that moves upwards off of the stage. Adkins does some amazing gymnastics, as his claustrophobia worsens.

The two are rescued at the start of Act 2 and Oscar invites Charity to his Rhythm of Life church, a scene which seems quite dated and perhaps a throwback to the psychedellic 60s, as “Daddy Johann Sebastian Brubeck” (David Gilespie), with a huge Afro, sings “The Rhythm of Life.”

Oscar seems to be the man Charity has been waiting for all of her life, especially after she confesses what she does for a living and he tells her he doesn’t care, and that he wants to marry her anyway, but ultimately her past becomes too much for Oscar to accept and Charity finds herself back in the lake again, her hopes--and her body--doused once more.

Like Cabaret’s Sally Bowles, however, Charity won’t let it get her down and her final exit is a triumph of her spirit over her disappointment.

Ringwald has a winning earnestness about her which surpasses her limited dancing abilities. You can’t help liking her Charity. She has been sabotaged, however, by the costumer (William Ivy Long). While the dress she is wearing in the publicity photos is lovely and seems perfect for the role, she is instead saddled with a triangular shaped dress which makes her look bottom-heavy, and its red color seems to clash with just about everything, making her the odd man out in every scene.

Cilento’s choreography doesn’t have the sizzle of Bob Fosse, but there are excellent numbers, such as the taxi girls’ “Hey, Big Spender” and “There’s got to be something better than this,” a special for Charity’s friends Nickie (Amanda Watkins) and Helene (Kisha Howard).

“Sweet Charity” is an enjoyable evening, not without its flaws, but one which is entertaining and which answers the question “Whatever happened to Molly Ringwald...?”