tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200393122024-03-13T06:54:12.937-07:00"Bitter Hack"A place to post my theater reviews, originally published in The Davis Enterprise.Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.comBlogger895125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-55424323068620126092022-02-09T17:10:00.002-08:002022-02-09T17:11:03.040-08:00The endI'm retired!I have given up being a critic, after 22 years, and my replacement is Jennifer Goldman. My hearing was just getting too bad and it was time to turn the job over to someone else. Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-47812343389643351682022-02-08T10:44:00.002-08:002022-02-08T10:44:55.601-08:00Our Town Think back to a time before computers, a time before cell phones, a time before television. Think of a time when a date with your best girl was a soda at the drug store, and when the first kiss was a very big deal.Think of Grover’s Corners.Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire is the setting for Thornton Wilder’s classic play, “Our Town,” presented by the Woodland Opera House, under the directionBev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-89725668571500301432022-01-09T15:06:00.004-08:002022-01-09T15:06:47.533-08:00The Producers Director Steve Isaacson lied.In his opening comments to the audience, opening night of Davis Musical Theater’s production of “The Producers,” he promised that the show was funny and wouldn’t offend anyone. It is very funny and offends just about everyone– Jews, Nazis, old ladies, dumb blondes, CPAs, corporate drones and just about anyone in between. And yet when it’s a script byBev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-42382829260668133392021-11-29T15:30:00.001-08:002021-11-29T15:30:34.966-08:00Elf If you are looking for a bright, happy, colorful way to start your holiday celebration, get yourself to the Woodland Opera House for its delightful production of “Elf, the Musical,” written by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. The book is adapted by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan from the 2003 film. The musical ran on Broadway in the Christmas seasons of 2010–11 and 2012–13, in the West End inBev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-2434882748775450642021-11-26T15:23:00.001-08:002021-11-30T15:25:02.725-08:00Titanic One hundred and nine years after the Titanic struck an iceberg near Newfoundland, Canada and sank, the ship has set sail again, this time onto the stage of the Davis Musical Theater Company (DMTC).With story and book by Peter Stone, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, “Titanic, the Musical” won five Tony awards, including Best Musical in 1997 and ran for 804 performances. DMTC director Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-34477771722397077522021-09-25T14:06:00.003-07:002021-09-25T14:06:56.776-07:00Mary Poppins Live theater is back in Davis, and the Davis Musical Theater Company
has started its 37th season with a lively, colorful production of “Mary
Poppins,” directed and choreographed by Kyle Jackson, with a beautiful
set designed by Steve Isaacson. Tylen Einweck is the musical director,
conducting the smaller-than-usual DMTC orchestra.
Audiences must show proof of COVID vaccination and must Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-46154796812189879992021-09-25T14:03:00.003-07:002021-10-03T09:09:53.865-07:00Singin' in the Rain With no theatrical productions at all in 2020, it appears that
Woodland Opera House actors spent the pandemic year studying and
improving their dancing. The dancing and choreography (by Darryl
Strohl-DeHerrera) for their production of “Singing in the Rain,”
directed by Rodger McDonald, which opened on Friday, were the highlights
of the show.
While the Woodland Opera House is backBev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-56716164778833226932021-07-12T17:58:00.002-07:002021-07-12T20:41:27.213-07:00Shrek, Video “I never want to touch a computer again for the rest of my life.,” says Steve Isaacson, musical director and videographer of the Davis Musical Theater Company’s latest video production, “Shrek,” directed and choreographed by wife Jan Isaacson.Isaacson spent six weeks putting together some 300 videos, videos made by the 20 people in the cast of the show, some of them playing more than one Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-60971267004500761402021-06-16T22:06:00.005-07:002021-07-12T20:42:27.855-07:00The Count and the CurseThe Woodland Opera House refuses to be stopped by the pandemic and is
presenting “The Count and the Curse,” two Agatha Christie plays for
live radio, streaming Friday and Saturday May 21 and 22, at 7:30 p.m.
and Sunday, May 23, at 2 p.m.
The plays will be recorded live in the historic Woodland Opera House
and presented online. Director Matthew Abergel, says. “The show must go
on, right? And Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-20026960941256563372021-03-13T15:43:00.003-08:002021-07-12T20:42:01.515-07:00Cinderella Theater people aren’t daunted by a little thing like an international
pandemic. Theaters all over the world have shut down in the wake of
COVID-19, even the big shows on Broadway.The last show I
reviewed for The Enterprise was Davis Musical Theater Company’s (DMTC)
production of “Camelot” in March of 2020. Now DMTC is presenting its
virtual production of Rodgers and Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-36640387329715118162020-09-01T15:52:00.002-07:002020-09-01T15:52:20.635-07:00Ellly Nominations, 2020
Remember theater? You know – that place where you went inside a beautiful building and sat down with a bunch of other people and watched actors perform on stage for you? There is no theater anywhere now (not even on Broadway), but SARTA (Sacramento Area Regional Theater Association) is remembering when there was theater and announced their nominations for Elly awards on Sunday. Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-75188399105231783852020-03-11T13:39:00.001-07:002020-03-17T10:18:34.057-07:00Camelot
he absolutely evil Mordred (Tomas Eredia) stirs up trouble
in the
kingdom in DMTC’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s classic
“Camelot,”
running through March 29.
From the court of King Arthur to the administration of John F.
Kennedy, “Camelot” evokes something beautiful, opulent and democratic.
Steve Isaacson’s set design for the musical, currently at Davis
Musical Theatre Company, Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-54958656904290075732020-03-06T14:52:00.002-08:002020-04-11T16:31:27.960-07:00A Bronx Tale
I’ll bet when you think of Robert DeNiro, you don’t think of musical theater.
Yet, he was the original director, along with Jerry Zaks, of “A Bronx
Tale,” the musical movie (It sounded to me like making “Godfather,” the
musical). The musical theater production of the same name is this
week’s high-energy touring Broadway show in Sacramento.
Based on the semi-autobiographical solo Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-21638596119168457782020-03-05T08:35:00.001-08:002020-03-17T10:19:30.543-07:00Hamlet
I first reviewed Ian Hopps in 2016 in a production of “Bells are
Ringing” for the Davis Shakespeare Festival. I called him “a dream of a
leading man.” I have since seen Hopps in several productions in
Sacramento and Davis, but he has now taken a huge leap and is stunning
as Hamlet in the current Sacramento Theatre Company production. His
rendition of the famous “To be or not to be” Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-60061228945039628532020-03-02T08:39:00.000-08:002020-03-05T08:39:44.010-08:00Peter and the Starcatcher
The UC Davis production of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” now at the
Main Theatre, directed by Mindy Cooper and Granada Artist-in-Residence
Toby Sedgwick is, in a word, spectacular. The directors say they had a
delightful time “creating a potpourri of exciting elements — cavorting,
sashaying, chuckling, galumphing and swimming our way into and through
this wonderful adventure of a Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-81442152234907966202020-02-25T10:34:00.002-08:002020-02-25T10:34:42.266-08:00Of Mice and Men
Stop what you’re doing right now. Immediately go the phone and call
the Woodland Opera House to get tickets for director Gil Sebastian’s
production of John Steinbeck’s classic “Of Mice and Men.” It will be the
best gift you give yourself this month — or perhaps this year.
Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novella was first published in
1937 and was also presented on stage Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-85318243949871331092020-01-28T05:51:00.000-08:002020-01-28T05:54:32.698-08:00Alabaster
Do a Google search on “Alabaster,” the Audrey Cefaly play at Capital
Stage, directed by Kristin Clippard, and you’ll get a list of “text
words” to help describe it:
LGBTQ, PTSD, grief, recovery, alcoholism, same-sex relationships, natural disaster, Alabama tornado, farm life, goats …
Now, how, you wonder, does all that fit together into one play?
Surprisingly well. This is a Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-77093209581544519012020-01-24T10:09:00.000-08:002020-03-17T10:17:47.567-07:00Popcorn Falls
“Popcorn Falls,” the comedy currently at B Street Theatre, directed
by Lyndsay Burch, is advertised to be “a side-splitting tour de force
exploding with humor and heart!”
A small town in Michigan was playwright James Hindman’s inspiration
for the show. The town was on the verge of bankruptcy until a theater
opened. People responded and a couple of years later, the town had two
theaters,Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-72258804806357148242020-01-20T11:04:00.003-08:002020-01-20T11:04:56.791-08:00Dear Evan Hansen
“Dear Evan Hansen,” the current Broadway on Tour production, is
perhaps the most visually exciting show you will see this year. The set
is a cacophony of social media: big screens, little screens, vertical
screens, horizontal screens, which practically fill the stage, slide in
and out and up and down and play various things from text messages and
tweets to Facebook entries, to Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-79297091916032032312020-01-17T11:30:00.000-08:002020-01-17T11:30:00.486-08:00The Burials
The Martin family members — from left, Ryan (Grey Turner), Sophie
(Morgan Hendrix-Chupa) and Chloe (Rebecca Hirsch) — mourn after a tragic
event occurs at Sophie and Chloe's high school.
Acme Theatre Company is opening its 40th season with an excellent,
powerful play called “The Burials,” by Caitlin Parish, directed by Emily
Henderson.
In its 40-year history, Acme has never shied away Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-58268200950089400122020-01-11T10:37:00.000-08:002020-01-15T10:38:23.165-08:00Pump Boys and Dinettes
Any show with a tap-dancing accordion player has got to be fun.
“Pump Boys and Dinettes” by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk,
Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann is now on Sacramento Theatre
Company’s Pollock stage. This is a 1982 Tony-award-nominated musical
written by a performing group of the same name. It became Chicago’s
longest-running theater production for many Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-29632940973999866272020-01-10T10:34:00.000-08:002020-01-15T10:35:43.607-08:00Sister Act
“Sister Act,” the new show at the Woodland Opera House, directed by Jason Hammond, is an absolute delight from start to finish.
Based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie, the stage show adds music by
Alan Menken with lyrics by Glenn Slater. The musical turns the
story-with-music movie into a musical-with-story stage show. I missed
some of the story of the nuns venturing out of the convent Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-25984639020523843282020-01-10T09:38:00.001-08:002020-01-10T09:38:28.787-08:00The Drowsy Chaperone
Aldolpho (Brian McCann), seduces The Drowsy Chaperone (Chris Cay
Stewart) as, in Davis Musical Theatre Company's musical comedy
production, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” on stage through Jan. 26 at the Jean
Henderson Performing Arts Center.
The most celebrated musical of the 2006 Broadway season, “The Drowsy
Chaperone,” a completely original musical comedy, opened this week at
the Davis Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-1547250046535378672019-12-16T23:27:00.000-08:002019-12-16T23:27:06.202-08:00The Wizard of Oz
The land of Oz has gone high tech, in the B Street production of “The Wizard of Oz,” adapted by Lyndsay Burch. Gone is the drab Kansas farmhouse and the evil bicycle-riding Miss Gulch. In this adaptation, Dorothy (Tiffanie Mack) is a video game designer, building a virtual reality Oz game for a holiday release date. But they have discovered a few glitches and Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20039312.post-8524931624885494492019-12-12T11:21:00.003-08:002020-04-10T13:19:05.945-07:00The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley
When friends Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon decided to take a
six-hour drive from San Francisco to Ashland, the two Jane Austen fans
began to conceive a post “Pride and Prejudice” plot that resulted in two
delightful Christmas-themed plays. For the last two years, Capital
Stage has presented “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.” Now comes its
sequel, “The Wickhams: Christmas at Bev Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794928133704720689noreply@blogger.com0