Urinetown

There is a real problem writing a review of the hilarious “Urinetown,” the musical with the unlikely title, currently entertaining audiences at UCD’s main theatre, through June 3.

The problem is that it contains so many funny things on so many levels that I’m reluctant to give anything away—part of the fun is in the discovery.

“Urinetown,” with music and lyrics by Mark Hollman, and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, began life as a production for New York’s International Fringe Festival, where it was so successful that it moved first to an off-Broadway theater, and in September 2001 (not exactly a great time for theater – in fact, the opening was postponed following 9/11), it opened on Broadway, where it ran through January of 2004, for a healthy 925 performances.

This timely piece, which explores a world where water is in short supply and the ability to relieve oneself becomes a social / political firestorm.

Travis Dukelow acts as the quasi narrator, Officer Lockstock (whose partner (Yahya Rouhani) is Officer Barrell), who opens the show in conversation with “Little Sally” (Allison Minick). Dukelow is perfect for this role. He has a deep voice that exudes confidence, and the sardonic delivery that lets the audience know that the whole show is really a big joke.

Minick is cute as a button as Little Sally, as she goads Lockstock into telling the story.

“Say, Officer Lockstock, is this where you tell the audience about the water shortage?... The hard times. The drought. A shortage so awful that private toilets eventually become unthinkable.”

Lockstock sets the stage with the explanation “suffice it to say that in Urinetown (the musical) everyone has to use public bathrooms in order to take care of their private business. That's the central conceit of the show!

Better hope your pennies
Add up to the fee -
We can't have you peeing
For free
If you do, we'll catch you
We, we never fail!
And we never bother with jail

All the public restrooms are owned by one company, run by Caldwell B. Cladwell (Jesse Merz), who believe he is above reproach, that he can do whatever he wants, that he can reward his cronies and the hell with the rest of the people (any resemblance between Cladwell and any current politicians is purely coincidental).

Cladwell’s daughter, appropriately named “Hope” (Emma Goldin) is returning home after graduation from college. Daddy expects her to take over the running of his company, but the idealistic Hope isn’t exactly ready to follow in Daddy’s footsteps.

Goldin is absolutely great. Her costume helps to make her the center of attention (kudos to costume designer Maggie Morgan) and throughout the show, she exudes wholesomeness and goodness. She is at her absolute best in act 2, after her abduction. She’s a walking cliché and pulls it off flawlessly.

Bobby Strong (R. Andrew Hess) works for the worst public toilet in town, under the leadership of Penelope Pennywise (Ara Glenn-Johanson). Hess is delightfully idealistic, a young firebrand who is determined to win back the right to “pee for free” for all the people. He imbues Strong with the same impish likeability that he gave to Sancho Panza in the recent “Man of La Mancha.” His “Run, Freedom, Run” is the high point of the show.

Glenn-Johnson would make a great Evita. Her spirited Penelope is great fun and she does a wonderful job with “It’s a Privilege to Pee.”

This whole show is an homage to classic musicals, with the musical arrangements as much fun as the songs themselves. How many classic musicals can you spot?

The appeal of this particular production, in addition to a stellar cast, is director Mindy Cooper’s crisp direction and choreography. Dancers dance with Rockette-like precision and she creates wonderful groupings and angular freezes that are simply delicious.

Robert Broadfoot has designed a set which nicely represents some futuristic time, without being so over the top that it is unbelievable.

The entire evening is great fun and there are parts which are so funny they will …. well … have you wondering if you can “hold it” until you can get to the public facilities!

Midsummer Night's Dream

If you’re going to set a play in a leafy glade, what better stage for it than a leafy glade? It seems impossible that Acme Theater Company is presenting its 25^th free Shakespeare in the Park – where has the time gone?

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” staged and directed by David Burmester, is being presented free of charge at the Outdoor Pavilion behind the Davis Art Center. It seems fair to say that in Shakespeare’s day, the performers didn’t have ambulance sirens and skateboarders zipping through the audience to contend with, but the actors handle all the auditory distractions with aplomb. The lack of amplification in the outdoor venue is always a problem and some actors handle it better than others, but it is still an enjoyable production nonetheless.

Every couple of years Acme faces a big turnover in company, where the more experienced actors graduate out of the company and there is an influx of younger, less experienced talent. From the look of “Midsummer Night’s Dream”’s cast, we’re in for a couple of exceptional years as these younger actors hone their skills. Only a couple of the cast of this show are seniors and the rest are 9^th, 10^th and 11^th graders. Heading the list of actors to watch are Delany Pelz as Puck and John Ramos as Bottom.

The play tells several stories, each of which occurs during a single summer night in a magical forest outside Athens, in which fairies play pranks on lovesick mortals, earnest youths endure comical romantic confusion, and a group of mechanics attempts to rehearse a play in secret.

Acme, which often sets its productions in strange time periods, seems to have chosen no specific time period for this production. Instead, the three groups of characters are color coded. The mortals of the court of Thesius, Duke of Athens (Ethan Jaffee) are all dressed in black and white. The “Rude Mechanicals,” who are rehearsing their play to present to the king all wear pastel jumpsuits, and it is the members of the fairy kingdom who sport the colored costumes. (Tatiana Ray gets credit for costume design.)

The Duke and his bride-to-be, Hippolyta (Kate McFarland) direct the events of the evening, with their request to Philostrate, the Mistress of Revels (Anna Sparrevohn) to arrange entertainment for their upcoming nuptials

Plans are interrupted by the arrival of Egea (Victoria Gimpelevich), a noble woman asking for help in forcing her daughter Hermia (Genevieve Whitman) to marry Demetrius (Alex Kravitz), the husband of the mother’s choosing, though Hermia is in love with Lysander (Brandon Raphael). (Whitman is particular good as the rebellious daughter.)

To further complicate things, Hermia's friend Helena (Vivian Breckenridge) is in love with Demetrius--setting the stage for all of the twists and turns which develop over the course of the story.

Hermia and Lysander flee Athens into the woods, intending to be married at the home of his aunt. They are followed by Demetrius, determined to win his bride's hand, and Helena, determined to win Demetrius' love.

The mechanics are rehearsing in the woods, under the direction of the carpenter, Quince, a delightful interpretation by Celsiana Warwick. Her four actors are Bottom, Flute (Matt Northup), Starvelling (Julieanne Conard) and Snout (Anthony Estrella). Ramos’ Bottom is expansive, hammy and delightful. Northrup is particularly funny in the female role of Thisbe in the play within a play, while Ali Moreno as Snug is just plain adorable. Anthony Estrella is a solid “wall” with a chink through which the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe communicate and Julieanne Conard makes a good moon under which the lovers die.

No production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" would be effective without a solid Robin Goodfellow ("Puck"), Oberon's jester, a mischevious fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Delany Pelz is just what the doctor ordered. She is lythe and impish and delights in the tricks she performs.

Emily Tracy is tall and regal as Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, under a spell to fall in love with a donkey. Sean Olivares is her king Oberon, while the fairy band is rounded out by Tatiana Ray as Peaseblossom, Hope Raymond as Cobweb, Hanna Feldstein as Moth and Madelyn Ligtenberg as Mustardseed.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a delicious piece of merriment, and a nice diversion on a warm summer's evening. Take the night off and go romping in a magical forest with a bunch of fairies. And if a skateboarder happens to roll through the audience at an inopportune time, think of it as one of Puck’s pranks.

Urinetown

There is a real problem writing a review of the hilarious “Urinetown,” the musical with the unlikely title, currently entertaining audiences at UCD’s main theatre, through June 3.

The problem is that it contains so many funny things on so many levels that I’m reluctant to give anything away—part of the fun is in the discovery.

“Urinetown,” with music and lyrics by Mark Hollman, and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, began life as a production for New York’s International Fringe Festival, where it was so successful that it moved first to an off-Broadway theater, and in September 2001 (not exactly a great time for theater – in fact, the opening was postponed following 9/11), it opened on Broadway, where it ran through January of 2004, for a healthy 925 performances.

This timely piece, which explores a world where water is in short supply and the ability to relieve oneself becomes a social / political firestorm.

Travis Dukelow acts as the quasi narrator, Officer Lockstock (whose partner (Yahya Rouhani) is Officer Barrell), who opens the show in conversation with “Little Sally” (Allison Minick). Dukelow is perfect for this role. He has a deep voice that exudes confidence, and the sardonic delivery that lets the audience know that the whole show is really a big joke.

Minick is cute as a button as Little Sally, as she goads Lockstock into telling the story.

“Say, Officer Lockstock, is this where you tell the audience about the water shortage?... The hard times. The drought. A shortage so awful that private toilets eventually become unthinkable.”

Lockstock sets the stage with the explanation “suffice it to say that in Urinetown (the musical) everyone has to use public bathrooms in order to take care of their private business. That's the central conceit of the show!

Better hope your pennies
Add up to the fee -
We can't have you peeing
For free
If you do, we'll catch you
We, we never fail!
And we never bother with jail

All the public restrooms are owned by one company, run by Caldwell B. Cladwell (Jesse Merz), who believe he is above reproach, that he can do whatever he wants, that he can reward his cronies and the hell with the rest of the people (any resemblance between Cladwell and any current politicians is purely coincidental).

Cladwell’s daughter, appropriately named “Hope” (Emma Goldin) is returning home after graduation from college. Daddy expects her to take over the running of his company, but the idealistic Hope isn’t exactly ready to follow in Daddy’s footsteps.

Goldin is absolutely great. Her costume helps to make her the center of attention (kudos to costume designer Maggie Morgan) and throughout the show, she exudes wholesomeness and goodness. She is at her absolute best in act 2, after her abduction. She’s a walking cliché and pulls it off flawlessly.

Bobby Strong (R. Andrew Hess) works for the worst public toilet in town, under the leadership of Penelope Pennywise (Ara Glenn-Johanson). Hess is delightfully idealistic, a young firebrand who is determined to win back the right to “pee for free” for all the people. He imbues Strong with the same impish likeability that he gave to Sancho Panza in the recent “Man of La Mancha.” His “Run, Freedom, Run” is the high point of the show.

Glenn-Johnson would make a great Evita. Her spirited Penelope is great fun and she does a wonderful job with “It’s a Privilege to Pee.”

This whole show is an homage to classic musicals, with the musical arrangements as much fun as the songs themselves. How many classic musicals can you spot?

The appeal of this particular production, in addition to a stellar cast, is director Mindy Cooper’s crisp direction and choreography. Dancers dance with Rockette-like precision and she creates wonderful groupings and angular freezes that are simply delicious.

Robert Broadfoot has designed a set which nicely represents some futuristic time, without being so over the top that it is unbelievable.

The entire evening is great fun and there are parts which are so funny they will …. well … have you wondering if you can “hold it” until you can get to the public facilities!

Death of a Salesman

Willy Loman is living the American dream, the dream of being rich and well liked by lots of people. The problem is that for 60 year old Willy, after years of chasing the dream, it still remains just a dream.

Willy Loman is the central figure in Arthur Miller’s 1949 classic, “Death of a Salesman,” now being presented at the Woodland Opera House, under the direction of Dean Shellenberger. In Patrick Murphy, Shellenberger has found an excellent Willy. He so beautifully plays the complex emotions of a man who is coming to the end of his life, leaving so much undone, yet whose personality will not allow him to admit failure, a man who is beginning to lose his grip on reality and lives much of his life in a dream state, remembering the past, when the dream seemed possible.

Willy tells his sons, Biff (Eric Baldwin) and Happy (David Campfield) that personality is more important than smarts. He explains, "the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want."

Willy has given up a lot chasing that carrot that always hangs just out of reach. At one point he decides he must buy seeds. "I've got to get some seeds. I've got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground." He talks about retiring and buying a little place in the country where he and his wife Linda (Lydia Venables) can raise chickens.

Despite Willy’s view of his world, the Loman family is a classic dysfunctional family. Biff, the favored son, hit his peak as the high school football star and has never been able to live up to his father’s inflated goals for his son. He blames Willy for telling him that he can do anything, when he is finding the reality quite the opposite. "I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been!"

Baldwin gives a fine performance, bringing out all the bitterness and hopelessness of the character, with a seething anger just under the surface, waiting to explode at his father. "Pop! I'm a dime a dozen, and so are you!" he yells at his father.

"I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!" his father insists.

Hap shares his father’s dream and has tried all his life to live up to the promise that his father found in Biff, but remains the invisible son, nothing quite good enough for his father. Campfield gives a compelling performance as the son who has tried all his life for his father’s recognition.

Lydia Venables is Linda, the woman who tries to hold it all together, who supports her husband and tries to believe his dreams, though she understands the reality of his life. She acts as the referee between Willy and their children. She is a woman who is beaten down by life but who is the soul of the family.

Venables does not inhabit the character consistently. In the earlier scenes one is aware that she is “acting,” saying the roles, following the directions, but it’s not until later that she truly becomes Linda and then her performance is riveting.

There is a mostly strong supporting cast. Greg Collett is Charlie, the next door neighbor who has always been Willy’s friend and who attempts to lend a helping hand when things begin to go sour.

Dan Slauson is Bernard, Charlie’s nerdy son. Micail Buse is Uncle Ben, "The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich!" It is Ben, with whom Willy has many imaginary conversations, who is Willy’s excuse for continuing to chase the dream, even as it begins to fade.

Philip Pittman is Howard, who has to let Willy know that his usefulness to the company he has served for all of his career has come to an end.

Early in the play Willy fantasizes about the hoards of people who will come to his funeral, which will show his family how much he is loved. The reality is just the opposite, with just family and neighbors gathered at his gravesite, where it is Hap who vows that his father will not have died in vain and who promises never to let go of the dream.

The audience for opening night was small, which is a shame because this is an excellent production which will wring every ounce of emotion from those who immerse themselves in the action.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Oscar Levant once said that “a pun is the lowest form of humor…if you didn’t think of it first.” For lovers of puns, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” by Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek, this week’s Broadway Series presentation at the Community Center in Sacramento, will have you in hog heaven. The puns come fast and furious. Groaning was a frequent response of the audience throughout the evening. (“I’m Muriel of Omaha.” “Pleased to meet you.” “It’s mutual.”)

Based on the 1988 movie starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, this production is slick looking with fabulous sets by David Rockwell and costumes by Greg Barnes.

Tom Hewitt is Lawrence Jamison, who has been living on the Riviera, playing a faux prince and bilking rich American women out of their money for years. He becomes a Henry Higgins-esque mentor who takes a brash American con-man, Freddy Bensen (D.B. Bonds) under his wing to teach him the finer points of swindling.

“Chimp in a Suit,” sung by Jamison’s right hand man, the gendarme Andre Thibault (Drew McVety) is a scene right out of “My Fair Lady,” as Jamison attempts to teach Freddy how to dress and act the part. Freddy is a more than willing pupil when he looks around Jamison’s mansion and decides that he, too, wants “Great Big Stuff.”

When the first lesson, the wooing of the hyperactive oil heiress Jolene Oakes (Jenifer [sic] Foote), goes terribly wrong, Jamison is helped out of his predicament by Freddy pretending to be a brother with one too many (or perhaps too few) chromosomes in his DNA.

It soon become apparent that the Riviera isn’t big enough for two scoundrels, and so when the “Soap Queen,” Christine Colgate (Laura Marie Duncan, from the Broadway cast of this show) arrives on the scene, Jamison and Freddie agree to a contest—whoever can get $50,000 out of her will be the winner and the other will leave town. The contest soon turns personal, as they each vie not for her money, but for her affections. There are more than a few surprising twists and turns in the plot before the finale.

This is a delightful cast, with Hewitt the suave, elegant and debonair gentleman to Bonds’ crass yet delightful cad.

McVety is a Frenchman (“only by birth and affectation”) who hasn’t learned to be a ladies man yet, until forced to deal with Muriel Eubanks (Hollis Resnik), one of Jamison’s conquests, who must be kept distracted. The two provide a delightful subplot to the central story.

Duncan is earnest and saccharine as the naive heroine, who proves to have more than one side to her.

Foote is high powered, brash and deliciously over the top as she describes life in the panhandle of Oklahoma to the clueless Jamison, who finds himself engaged in more than just a little hanky panky with her. She has one of the better dance numbers, aided by some outrageously costumed cowboys.

There are no songs in this show which are memorable, but a few, like “Dirty Rotten Number,” a duet for Freddy and Jamison, and Jamison’s “Love Sneaks in” hit high marks.

This is a new musical which has the feel of a classic musical with modern elements to it. It is at times raunchy, the dialogue is rapid-fire and the jokes come one on top of the other. The two heroes are lovable scalawags, so we forgive many of their antics.

While this show may never go down in theatrical history as one of the greats, it is nevertheless a fun evening and worth checking out.

fig (a): the heart

The heart beats approximately 100,000 times a day and 40 million times a year. The left side of the heart could shoot water 6 feet in the air.

These are just two of the bits of information from the program of what is perhaps one of the most original plays you’re likely to see, “fig (a): the heart,” written and directed by Emily Davis, about an organ which, the author points out is, both “meat and metaphor.”

“fig (a)” is part play, part medical lecture, part philosophy, and all intriguing. It also has the most original finale that I think I have ever seen.

The printed program for this play is a little difficult to follow, given the frequent difficulty in understanding names spoken from the stage (or the fact that characters apparently have names, but they aren’t ever used except in the program) and the fact there is no “cast of characters” per se, but only a list of performers. Actors play more than one role so, though the many roles are included in individual bios, this review may confuse one actor for another.

The experience begins before the actors take the stage, with pre-show music by Susan Alexjander. “Sequencia” is derived from the vibrational frequencies of molecules found in the chemistry of DNA.

As the action begins on stage, Ruby (UC Davis visiting lecturer, Melanie Julian) has just had a heart transplant. She received the heart of a young man, Luca (Christopher Jee), who died in an auto accident. The one-act play follows Ruby as she adjusts to her new heart, attempts to discover the identity of her donor, and to find her old heart. Julian is such a natural for this sometimes odd role that it would seem it had been written for her.

Jzeela Refah plays the role of Ruby’s doctor, Dr. Al-Qalb. Refah appears to be handling the acting well, but even straining to listen in the small confines of the Mondavi Studio Theatre, most of her lines were inaudible and important pieces of information were missed. She definitely needs to work on projection.

No such projection work is needed for (I think) Sara Zimmerman, who plays a medical lecturer who introduces various medical texts and philosophical readings about the heart, illustrated by clever shadow puppets created by Art Grueneberger and performed by Shayna Carp and Dustin Murray.

In her surgical recovery, Ruby is met by Wepawet (Daniel Reano-Koven), the Egyptian Jackal Guard Dog, who guides her to the Hall of Two Truths, where her heart is to be weighed and judged. But when she explains that the heart in her body is not her heart, she is returned to the present time to begin the search for her own heart.

(The boat in which she is transported is also very clever, with kudos going to Carrie Mullen, the scenic designer. I don’t have a clue as to the name of the masked character or identity of the actor who steered the boat, whose Hannibal Lecter-like breaths were quite effective.)

On her quest to find her old heart and the donor of her new heart, Ruby finds herself in the Egyptian Underworld, in Venice under the guidance of The Venetian (Brittany Barba), and at the Heartbreak Hotel.

She is visited by a number of mythical figures, including an hilarious Cupid (Bradley Castillo) and his Hindu counterpart, Kama (Reano-Koven). And Elvis, of course.

Ruby attempts to relate her experiences to her sister, Maddie (Lauri Smith), who feels she needs some sort of psychotherapy. Enter Dr. Beatrice Bloomset (Claire Blackstock), who explains that the kinds of experiences Ruby is having are not uncommon among transplant patients, and she gives a fascinating explanation of the workings of the heart, which is described as much more than “just a pump,” and is often called a “little brain,” because of its seeming ability to “think” independent of the brain itself.

The play comes to a logical, if unusual, conclusion.

In the end, incorporating all the various information we have received throughout the evening, we are left with questions about what exactly makes us human. It is up to each of us to find the answer to that questions by…following our own heart.

Hair

Margaret Mead once wrote, “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

I wonder if anybody believes that any more.

In 1967, when “Hair,” the “American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, with music by Galt MacDermot, first burst on the scene, they did.

Artistic Difference’s excellent, energetic production, now running at The Space theater in Sacramento, is both a reminder of a time, 40 years ago, when we were engaged in a disastrous war — and the passion with which people protested that war. It was a time when, despite the horrors of a bad war, people still believed they could make a difference, they cared about raising their voice in protest.

“It’s no coincidence that we’re presenting this show at this particular time in history,” writes director Maggie Hollinbeck. “We’re here all over again, aren’t we? In a war that has divided the country, fighting for equal rights, witnessing horrific acts of violence and racism and hatred on the nightly news.”

The experience of this production of “Hair” begins with the somewhat dilapidated building itself, which could easily have served as some hippie pad in the 1960s. Members of the cast greet the arriving audience with smiles, flowers, and happy pills. Upon entering the theater itself, the audience is transported back 40 years by the set decoration, the cast wandering around the theater offering to share drags of herbal cigarettes (at least we assume they were herbal!) with anyone who wants. There are even seats on the stage for those who want to interact more fully with the cast.

Scenic designer Ian Wallace has nicely recreated the feel of Greenwich Village in the 60s.

The company has also devised an ingenious way to make the opening announcements about cell phones, pagers, and exit signs.

There is a plot of sorts – Claude Hooper Bukowski (Christian St. Croix) has received a draft notice and struggles with his conscience over whether to present himself for induction, or burn his draft card and remain with his friends, enjoying the free lifestyle and protesting the war. St. Croix brings poignancy to the role.

But while Claude’s struggle may be the plot line that drives the action, this is really a show about music, and this was the country’s first “rock musical,” with minimal dialog. Songs like “Aquarius” (hauntingly sung by Netty Carey) and “Let the Sunshine In,” the closing anthem, led by Lindsay Grimes and the irrepressible Cierra Tahsini, have a permanent place in our musical history.

Director Hollinbeck has a strong cast for this production. Jerry Lee, who was so perfect as the very British Earnest in Woodland Opera House’s production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” is equally perfect as Claude’s good friend George Berger, long-haired, barefoot, anti-establishment, and rocking out to songs like “Donna.”

Lee and St. Croix work well together, with Grimes the third point in a love-triangle. Grimes has the task of pointing out that the free-living, free-loving lifestyle is not always what it’s cracked up to be (“Easy to be Hard”).

Joelle L. Wirth as Jeannie, hopelessly suffering an unrequited love of Claude has a stand-out moment with “Hippie Life,” while Tygar L. Hicks stands out in the poignant “Frank Mills.”

Ryan P. Adame adds comic relief as Margaret Mead.

The first act “nude scene,” so shocking when “Hair” first opened in 1967, seems a more natural part of the action than anything to raise an eyebrow over, in this day when nudity in the media has become more commonplace. Some of the cast continued the partial nudity into the second act.

Michael Coleman is costume and wig designer and has done a terrific job recreating the period. The Afro on Inertia deWitt as Dionne is particularly striking.

Musical direction is by percussionist Elaine Lord, aided by DMTC’s longtime musical director Erik Daniels, while the production manager for the show is Mike McElroy, last seen as Frank in DMTC’s “Annie Get Your Gun.”

I was living in Berkeley when “Hair” premiered and I remember the feeling of hope and possibility. Seeing this production makes me realize that I’ve lost that feeling, and I came away from the show wondering if we will ever again see the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, when peace will guide the planet.

Someone's Somebody

Regina Louise would like you to know that love is never wasted, and the love you give a child can change that child’s life forever.

To raise awareness about issues concerning foster care, Sacramento Theater Company is kicking off “May is National Foster Care Month” with the world premiere of an original one-woman show, “Someone’s Somebody,” adapted from her autobiography of the same name, performed by Regina Louise, a survivor of the foster care system, and directed by Peggy Shannon, who helped Regina develop it for the stage.

“Every pair of shoes tells a story,” begins Regina. The set, designed by Marion Williams, consists of a couple of chairs and two racks of shoes, which the actress removes, one pair at a time, and puts on, to illustrate the various periods of her life.

You begin to think about the simple things most children take for granted — like shoes that fit. On stage is a sign for ShoesThatFit.org, an organization which provides new shoes and clothes to children in need to help bolster their self esteem and enable them to do better in school.

Regina remembers her first shoes were a pair she made herself by cutting up the belt that was used to whip her and nailing sections of it to blocks of wood.

The child of a wannabe singer father and an alcoholic don’t-wannabe-mother, Regina was placed into the foster care system at an early age and passed around from foster home to foster home, each with its own set of problems. She took to running away and boasts that her shortest stay in a foster home was 17 minutes.

“I just wanted someone who smelled good,” she says, wistfully.

In time she was placed with Jean Kerr, a white woman who gave her the first sense of love and stability she’d ever had. She began to gain confidence. The simple task of learning to use a napkin took on great significance for the young girl. More importantly, she received something she had never had before: a sense of belonging.

The two created a strong bond and Kerr petitioned to adopt Regina, but her petition was denied because it was felt that Regina belonged with a black family. She was removed from Kerr’s home and put back into the system again.

She talks about mental health hospitalizations where she was kept doped up for over a year, and sexual molestation which occurred in the home of a minister over a six month period of time, and records which branded her as borderline retarded.

When she turned 18, she was handed all of her belongings in a garbage bag and set out on the streets--she had aged out of the system.

Regina Louise is a remarkable woman of great strength, who never forgot the kindness of Jean Kerr and who says that throughout her life, whenever she needed to fill out an application which asked for her parent’s name, she would use Kerr’s and make up an address. It was the closest thing she had to a real “mother.” The inner strength she gained from her short stay in Kerr’s home taught her that she was better than the system assumed her to be.

She began writing her memoir, “Somebody’s Someone” and following its publication, she decided to quit her day job as a hair stylist and salon owner and become an advocate for the more than 500,000 misplaced children in the foster care system.

Now a strong, successful woman, a published author and lecturer, Regina Louise has racked up over 100,000 rail reward miles on Amtrak, traveling across the country to share her amazing story of triumph in every state of the union.

The translation of her story from book to stage, with the haunting musical accompaniment of Aladrian Elmore makes “Someone’s Somebody” a thought provoking evening whose triumphant finale will bring the audience to its feet with applause.