Tribes

What does it mean to “hear”?

Can you hear if you are deaf, by understanding the world around you through lip-reading or sign language? Can you be deaf to those loudly speaking around you, though your hearing is just fine? Can you hear with your eyes, reading what others are signing?

These are some of the questions explored by playwright Nina Raine in her powerful play, “Tribes,” now at Capital Stage in Sacramento, under the direction of Jonathan Williams.

It is the story of a dysfunctional Jewish British family, headed by parents Christopher (Lol Levy), a retired academic, and Beth (Jamie Jones), a wannabe writer. Their grown children are , Daniel (Benjamin T. Ismail), who is writing a thesis arguing that language doesn’t determine meaning; Ruth (Elizabeth Holzman), an aspiring opera singer; and Billy (Stephen Drabicki), just home from university.

Sylvia (Brittni Barger) is the woman who enters their lives and turns long-held perceptions on their head.

As the play begins, the family is seated at the table, engaged in an argument. There are actually several arguments going on, each seemingly nastier than the next.r whines continually that he can’t find any good nuts in the nut dish, while Daniel is upset because Ruth is dating a man nearly her father’s age. Daniel is also upset that all of his grown children are still living at home with their parents and repeatedly asks when they are going to move out.

Daniel whines continually that he can’t find any good nuts in the nut dish, while Christopher is upset because Ruth is dating a man nearly her father’s age. Christopher is also upset that all of his grown children are still living at home with their parents and repeatedly asks when they are going to move out.

The F-word is sprinkled liberally throughout the play.

Through all the cacophony of the arguments, Billy sits calmly, reading, his back to the audience. Through dialog of the others, we learn that Billy is deaf, but he is proficient at lip-reading. In fact, we learn later, he knows nothing of sign language, because his parents didn’t want to raise him to be handicapped.

This becomes a major theme of the play when Sylvia, who is losing her hearing, enters the picture and attempts to teach him how to sign. Billy begins to realize that life can be lonely and frustrating when he has to rely on lip-reading, but that his social life opens up significantly when he becomes part of the signing community.

The actor playing Billy is crucial to the emotional arc of this play and Drabicki, who played the role in the Canadian premiere of the play, is perfect. A hearing-impaired actor himself, and member of the New York Deaf Theater and the Association of Musicians with Hearing Loss, he embraces the conflicting emotions of a deaf man living in a hearing world and the complicated relationships within his own family.

I found that I wondered how difficult it must be to learn to speak with a British accent when one is hearing-impaired.

Barger, as Sylvia, beautifully conveys the strain she is under, as the child of deaf parents who is now, in her adulthood, losing her own hearing. She becomes the translator for both the hearing and deaf members of the family.

As Billy moves deeper and deeper into the signing world, this production adopts a beautiful artistic quality, as the words that are projected on the wall to translate for non-signers in the audience have an almost choreographed quality to them.

Other members of the cast are equally strong, with Ismael’s Daniel outstanding as he fights the voices in his own head and displays his own mental problems, though his love for his brother is painfully apparent.

One scene particularly displays the worlds in which each brother is living, when Christopher turns on the radio to help drown out the voices in his head and Billy begs him to turn it off because it causes buzzing in his ear through his hearing aids.

Director Williams has molded a complex family whose emotions, whether they are loving or angry, are over the top and which shows each member in his or her own little tribe, keeping the others out.

By the end of the play, we might all be questioning how we relate to others, and whether we are really communicating as clearly as we think we are.

Romeo and Juliet

In fair Verona does Sacramento Theater Company set its scene.

That would be Verona, New Jersey, 1930.

Two mob households, both alike in dignity – the Italian Capulets and the Jewish Montagues.

For Sacramento Theater company, this is the first time in its 69 year history that it has presented “Romeo and Juliet,” but director Ed Claudio’s updated vision proves, once again, that the themes of family conflict and young love haven’t changed since the time of Shakespeare and remain relevant today.

The character of Romeo has always bothered me.  He’s head over heels in love with Rosaline, to where he cannot eat, cannot sleep and risks sneaking into a ball at the enemy Capulet home in hope of seeing her.  But on viewing the young Juliet, all thoughts of Rosaline dissolve and suddenly he is head over heels in love with Juliet.  Does not bode well for a lasting relationship.

Good thing he doesn’t live long enough to attend another ball and see another beautiful girl. (oops...spoiler alert!)

Despite the failings of Romeo’s character, there are no failings in the performance of Andrew Joseph Perez, a handsome, muscular young man with a six pack he’s not embarrassed to show off.  Perez appeared in the recent Capital Stage production of “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,” where he played a wrestler. A lot of the moves he perfected in that production come in to play in his fight scenes in this production, and he climbs Juliet’s balcony effortlessly...more than once.  (Not surprisingly, Perez is also the fight choreographer for the production)

Denver Skye Vaughn may be a recent university graduate, but her Juliet looks every bit 15, a waifish figure who has to display a range of emotions from giddy young girl experiencing her first love, to defiant daughter who is going to have her Romeo despite the feelings of her dictatorial father, to fearful wife, taking a potion which will knock her out long enough for everyone to think her dead, to distraught widow, unable to live with her husband dead.  She nails each emotion and takes the audience along with her for the roller coaster ride.

Amazing how much can happen in the space of a couple of days!

Despite all the murders and suicides in this play, usually classed as a tragedy, there’s a lot of funny stuff.  In fact, act 1 is hilarious.  Director Claudio explains that there are many elements of comedy before and even after the deaths of some of the major characters in the story.  With comedienne Amy Kelly as the Nurse you can’t help but have laugh out loud scenes.  She is larger than life and dominates nearly every scene in which she appears.

There is little comedy, however, in Kirk Blackinton’s Capulet, whose rage at his daughter more than just borders on domestic violence.  He is a smoldering cauldron whose sadness at the death of his daughter comes a little too late.

Matt K. Miller is back on the STC stage as the wise Rabbi Laurence, a departure from the Friar Laurence of the original.  (Some dialog changes had to be made, as a rabbi is unlikely to invoke the name of “Holy St. Francis” which became “Jumping Jehosaphat”)

The supporting cast is very strong, with Dan Fagan as Benvolio, Sean Patrick Nill as Tybalt, Jeb Burris as Mercutio, Kristine David as Lady Capulet.  Kevin Frame and Ernestso Bustos, as a cop and the Constable are also quite effective in their characterizations.

Scenic designer Anna Katharine Mantz has designed a beautiful wooden set with many levels, the house of each of the families on opposite sides of the stage.

This is a beautiful looking, strongly acted production which has something for everyone, from broad comedy to exciting fight scenes to delicious eye candy to sexy romance to tear-jerking tragedy.  What’s not to like?

Closer than Ever

One of the many outstanding songs in “Closer Than Ever,” a musical revue at the Sacramento Theatre Company, is called “The March of Time.” In it, the four performers – Jerry Lee, Kristen Heitman, Andrea St. Clair (who may be familiar to Davis Musical Theatre and Woodland Opera House audiences), and Nick Adorno sing about getting older:

I wasn’t ready for the burnouts
I wasn’t ready for the jokes
I wasn’t set for seeing cellulite
Or being parent to my folks…

The song was particularly meaningful to me the night we saw the show because that afternoon we had attended a birthday party for a 79-year-old friend, attended by lots of people we had not seen for many years. I was struck with more gray in the hair, more artificial parts, more stooped shoulders, more canes. We were all victims of the march of time.

While Broadway has been presenting many shows lately, hoping to draw a younger audience, as it must if the American Musical is to survive, this little 1989 off-Broadway revue shows there is still relevant material to appeal to an older audience.

The show was cobbled together by Richard Maltby Jr. (lyricist) and David Shire (composer) from songs they had written that had been cut from previous shows. The end result is an evening of short stories, which, without dialog, eloquently capture the human soul (according to director Robert Marra).

Maltby himself has said he believes people are more interesting in real life than when they are stage characters. “I would like to see songs that are at least as complex as my friends.”

You probably have never heard of most, if not all, of these songs, but I overheard more than one member of the audience walk out of the theater saying, “Now I have to buy the CD.”

Some of the highlights include the poignant “She Loves Me Not,” which deals with unrequited love … in some surprising permutations.

St. Clair does a very funny rendition of “The Beat, The Tiger, The Hamster and The Mole,” making her case for the irrelevance of men.

The ensemble number “There’s Nothing Like It,” the most energetic of the songs, talks about the things we do to our bodies in the name of fitness. It had the audience in stitches.

In “Miss Byrd,” Heitman shows how one can make the most of one’s coffee break, while St. Clair sings the poignant, life-changing anthem “Life Story,” which could be the life story of many of us.

Act two opens with St. Clair, Heitman and Adorno singing “Three Friends,” about the love/hate relationship among lifelong friends … and the value of those relationships.

Pianist Samuel Clein joins in the first-act finale and also with Heitman on “There,” while Rod Verette, the bass player, gets to shine with her in “Back on Bass.”

Jerry Lee, who seems to be everywhere these days, has some wonderful songs, maybe the most emotional of which is “If I Sing,” a tribute to the lyricist’s father and his contribution to his son’s appreciation of music.

Lee also joins with Adorno in the lovely “Fathers of Fathers,” beautifully expressing the parenthood experience.
Adorno and Heitman discover the positive points of a second marriage in “Another Wedding Song.”

“Closer than Ever” is probably a show you’ve never heard of, the songs are songs you’ve never heard before and yet anyone who has the good fortune to catch this little gem at Sacramento Theatre Company is certain to recommend it to all of their friends.

It's a Wonderful Life: The Musical

 

Unless you have been living under a rock since 1946, you are familiar with the beloved holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

It’s the show that proves that we may not know what impact we make on the lives of others, but suicidal George Bailey — with the help of an angel, Clarence — gets to find out how his life changed his hometown of Bedford Falls.

By way of disclaimer, I have to admit that this was never my favorite Christmas movie, and I’m not sure that music improves it, but the Sacramento Theatre Company has a winner in its production of “It’s a Wonderful Life: the Musical,” this year’s holiday offering.

The show — with book and lyrics by Keith Ferguson and music by Bruce Greer — was first performed at the University of Michigan in 1986. Performances followed in Warsaw, Ind., in 1988; Milburn, N.J., in 1990; and Washington, D.C., in 1992. In 2005, a staged reading was held at the Shubert Theater in New York, as a benefit for the Actors’ Fund of America.

The show was the holiday choice for the Majestic Theater in Dallas in 1998 and became its annual holiday production for five consecutive years.

Now “It’s a Wonderful Life: the Musical” is making its Northern California premiere, directed by executive producing director Michael Laun.

The original music for this show is rather odd, reminiscent of “The Music Man,” lots of popular music of the 1940s, and “Les Mis” all rolled into one. The choreography is lively and done well, the voices are for the most part quite good and yet the show drags a bit, which is really due not to the production or the performances, but to the nature of the story, which takes forever to do the set-up to George’s emotional breakdown.

It’s a wonderful cast of 27, some of whom are double-cast and alternate within roles. Jerry Lee is George, who, as a young man, had grand plans to see the world, then go to college and become a famous architect. Instead, being the good son, he gives up his plans in order to save the Bailey Building and Loan Association, following his father’s death.

It is brother Harry (Sean Patrick Nill) who gets to have the opportunities George hoped to have, while George stays in Bedford Falls and marries Mary Hatch (Jackie Vanderbeck), with whom he has four children. Vanderbeck is spectacular, the perfect wife to George, as self-sacrificing as he is, and the actress has a gorgeous voice to boot.
George’s nemesis, Mr. Potter, the richest man in town, is played by Gary Martinez. I have seen Martinez in the role of the angel, Clarence, several times and it’s odd to see him be such a mean old man, but he is perfect in that role.
As for Clarence, the second-class angel hoping to win his wings, Jim Lane is endearing and, though bumbling, eventually finds his footing … and earns his wings.

Michael RJ Campbell plays George’s absent-minded Uncle Billy, distraught at the loss of an $8,000 deposit, which brings the Building and Loan to the brink of ruin. Campbell, frequently seen as the larger-than-life Ghost of Christmas Present, seems to be a shadow of his former self, though he still gives a larger-than-life performance.
Anthony Dicorti and Jerald Bolden play the town cop and taxi driver and give good performances, but are probably best known because their character names are Ernie and Bert. (Muppet people claim that any connection between these characters and the beloved Muppets is strictly coincidental.)

Laura Woodruff deserves mention, playing Violet Bick, seductively sweet on young George, and later Ruth Bailey, Harry’s wife. She has a classic beauty and shines on stage.

The four Bailey children are each double-cast, but it is the youngest, ZuZu (Emily Trnka, alternating in the role with Noa Solorio), who catches the audience attention as she recites her famous line about every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

Sacramento Theatre Company has produced several Christmas classics, which are repeated many times over the years, and it is clear there is now a new show that will enter into circulation and be presented many times in years to come.

The Wizard of Oz

We’ve all been there at some point, in our imagination.

Somewhere over the rainbow, where there are brilliant colors, munchkins, Winkies, good and bad witches and a yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City. A place where all the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Now, thanks to the first production of the Music Circus season, we can all go there, for real. Whether 7, 17 or 70 the current sparkling production will enchant everyone.

Directed by Glenn Casale, choreographed by Dana Solimando with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo, this version of the L. Frank Baum classic is a real winner.

Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987 from the motion picture screenplay, “The Wizard of Oz” will be familiar to anyone who has ever seen the 1939 MGM musical, as the dialog and music follow closely (with some minor adjustments) the music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. ("Yip") Harburg.

In the 2003 version of this production, Music Circus paid homage to the original film by making the opening scenes black and white. All costumes were shades of grey or white, set pieces were grey. The only color on stage were the flesh tones of the actors Even the crullers which Auntie Em offered to the farm hands and the hot dog Dorothy’s dog Toto removed from the roasting stick of the traveling huckster, Professor Marvel, were grey. In this production, only Dorothy, her uncle and aunt are dressed in grey, while everyone else, the set, and that hot dog is are muted colors. It’s a design choice that makes no sense.

However, from the time Dorothy lands in Oz, her house flattening the Wicked Witch of the East, until she clicks her ruby slippered heels together and wishes herself back home again, all colors are vibrant and varied and all set pieces are bright and sparkling.

Making her Music Circus debit, Emily Walton is a winsome Dorothy, full of innocence and wonder. She doesn’t try to be Judy Garland, but she so comfortably inhabits the ruby slippers, she doesn’t have to.

Walton’s uncle, Jim Walton, plays the dual roles of the farmhand Hunk in Kansas and the Scarecrow in Oz. He and Emily work well together, and while he doesn’t quite have the boneless quality of Ray Bolger or even 2004′s John Bisom, still he makes a credible scarecrow and best friend to Dorothy.

Shannon Stoeke is Hickory the farmhand and also Oz’s Tin Man. He clanks his way effectively around the stage and is at his most endearing when he learns that the heart for which he has so long hoped is capable of breaking.
Farmhand Zeke and Cowardly Lion are played by Jamie Torcellini. He is perhaps the member of the cast who most does an imitation of the movie, and I must say that his Bert Lahr impression is wonderful, though Torcellini still adds enough of himself to make the role his own.

The best member of this little group of folks off to find the wizard sadly gets no program credit at all, other than a photo. Nigel the dog was perhaps the best Toto I have ever seen. Trained by Bill Berloni, this dog is so well-behaved on stage there were times I wondered if he were a stuffed animal, until he raised an ear or looked around at the audience or up at Dorothy.

When Heather Lee, as Glinda (she also plays Auntie Em) begins to sing to the Munchkins, if you had your eyes closed you might think you were hearing Billie Burke, the original Glinda.

Jacquelyn Piro Donovan scores high marks for her bicycle riding down the Music Circus ramp and onto the stage, and for frightening lots of children in the audience as the Wicked Witch of the West. I did miss the green skin-tone, so identified with the witch, though.

Bill Nolte is a bumbling old curmudgeon as Professor Marvel and later the Wizard of Oz himself.

Others in lesser roles were no less outstanding, such as Doug Carfrae as Uncle Henry and the Winkie General, Zonya Love as the Munchin coroner, tiny John B. Williford as the Mayor of Munchkin city, and Andrew Wilson as Nikko, the Commander of the Monkeys.

The principals are rounded out by a delicious assortment of Munchkins (members of the CMT junior company) trees, poppies, Ozians, optimistic voices and Winkies. There is also a troupe of eight Jitterbugs listed in the program for a number, cut from the original movie and cut, at the last minute, from this production as well.

Kudos to the technical crew who make bicycles, monkeys and broomsticks that fly, balloons that float into the stratosphere, a witch that melts into the floor, an overpowering wizard, a first-rate tornado, eye-blindingly speedy costume changes and a myriad scenery changes, all of which came off without noticeable hitch, the members of the crew were the unsung heroes of the night.

From start to finish this is a wonderful production, which, fortunately is having an extended run at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. Act quickly to get tickets now. Your children or grandchildren will love it — and so will you.

Billy Elliot

When “Billy Elliot,” the musical based on the 2000 movie, with music by Elton John, opened on Broadway, it won just about every award possible, including 10 Tonys, 10 Drama Desk awards, and 8 Outer Circle Critics Circle awards.  America took the story of a young northern England boy who just wants dance to its heart.

The show is now running at the Sacramento Community Theater and judging by the sustained cheers throughout the musical, and the standing ovation at its conclusion, Sacramento has taken the show to its heart as well.

The story is set during the 1984-85 miners’ strike and the story of the dancers intermingles with the story of the striking miners an often ingenious ways.

Billy’s father wants him to be a boxer, but after an unpleasant beginning, Billy stumbles on a dance class being held in the same building.  Intrigued, he begins to mimic the girls in the ballet class and soon is one of the students himself.  His teacher realizes that he has talent and takes him under her wing with private lessons when his father forbids him to attend the class again.

The dancing in this show is amazing.  Billy was played on opening night by Mitchell Tobin, a 12 year old from Florida who has been dancing since he was 3 years old. He shares the role at other productions with Ben Cook, Drew Minard, and Noah Parets. 

Tobin had a few minor fluffs in his dancing on opening night, but is simply amazing.  The Act 1 “Angry Dance” will leave you breathless. And as good as his dancing is, the kid is also a convincing actor who will bring you to tears.

Janet Dickinson is Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy’s dance teacher who discovers the talent in the boy and becomes a sort of surrogate mother to him when she learns that his own mother (Molly Garner) is dead.  Though she obviously cares for the boy, she keeps him at arms length, keeping the teacher/student relationship very strong.

Billy’s father is played by Rich Herbert, a bear of a man who is torn between his desire to make a man of his son and his son’s passion for dancing.

The character of “Dad” has been written, in this show, somewhat confusing.  In the movie, the struggle to accept Billy’s love of dancing evolves over time, when in the musical it seems instantaneous and somewhat unbelievable.

There are some sweet moments between Billy and the ghost of his mother, especially when it comes time for her to finally leave him.

Billy’s cross-dressing friend Michael was played on opening night by Sam Poon, who alternates in the role with Jake Kitchin.  Billy keeps Michael’s secret and their relationship is very sweet.

It was a little unsettling to see this show immediately following the death of Margaret Thatcher. The show goes out of its way to vilify the former Prime Minister for her attempts (ultimately successful) at breaking the miners’ union.  The opening of Act 2 is particularly mean-spirited, being held at a Christmas pageant where people wear Thatcher masks and wigs, a chorus of puppets are dressed as Thatcher, and an enormous inflated Thatcher rises out of the building.  At one point the lyrics include

Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
We all celebrate today
‘Cause it’s one day closer to your death.

while dancers carry around a grave marker with “Thatcher R.I.P.” on it.

In London, a vote was taken of the audience about whether this number should be left in the show for the night of her death and the vote was nearly unanimous that it should remain, with only one dissenting vote.

The show’s biggest problem is difficulty understanding lyrics and dialog, a combination of the difficult Northern England accent and terminology combined with the perennial acoustical problems of the Community Center theater.

However, that should not deter anyone from seeing this show.  I have been wanting to see “Billy Elliot” since it opened to rave reviews on Broadway...and it was well worth the wait!

Beauty and the Beast

There were a lot of sleepy little princesses leaving the Sacramento Community Center Theater on opening night of “Beauty and the Beast.”  This is a sure-fire kid pleaser and, given the number of people in the audience without children in tow, it is equally enjoyable for kids of all ages.

It’s a tale as old as time:  She’s the daughter of the crazy old town inventor, ridiculed by the townsfolk for her bookishness and her dreams of finding her prince charming.  He’s a prince with a curse on his head, hiding his hideous form away in a creepy old castle, feared by the townsfolk because he’s “different.”   The two outcasts find each other, fall in love, and live happily ever after.

The touring company of the Tony award-winning “Beauty and the Beast,” directed by Rob Roth, is a big, bold, opulent production that had everyone totally captivated.  The man behind me was a big, loud laugher and I wondered if he’d ever attended a theatrical production before.

Director Roth has managed to tell the simple love story with just enough glitz to keep it moving crisply and always entertaining, but never detracting from the message of seeing truth beneath physical appearance, or discovering the redemptive power of love.

“Beauty and the Beast” was last on the CMT stage in 2000, and was the first show I reviewed, so I have a soft spot in my heart for the show.  But there have been some changes over the years.  Primarily I missed the increasingly intricate costumes of the household staff as they come closer and closer to becoming permanent pieces of household furniture. Other than Cogsworth, the clock, acquiring a wind-up key, there was no change in any of the other costumes. 

I was also disappointed to note that if you didn’t know that “Babette” was supposed to be a feather duster, you would be hard pressed to figure that out, based on her costume.  But those are small complaints.

“Beauty and the Beast” is a technician’s dream, from the lavish sets by Stanley A. Meyer which flew in from above, rolled in from the wings, swivelled on turntables or just hung there looking every bit like the real thing..  And then there were the special effects--candles which ignited at a moment’s notice, sparkles, flashes, strobe lights, a headless kid who didn’t develop legs until the finale, and a transformation from Beast to Prince that would have done David Copperfield proud.

The lighting of Natalie Katz, however, was often too dark and made it difficult to see what was going on on stage. (If I didn’t know how Gaston met his end, I would not have been able to tell from what I could see on stage).  Likewise, the sound of John Petrafesa, Jr., needed serious tweaking.  Many of the conversations between Belle and the Beast were unable to be heard over the orchestra.

Hilary Maiberger is delicious as Belle, the spunky heroine, who, to save her father’s life, agrees to live in the castle of the Beast forever.  Maiberger is not only a beautiful singer, but no slouch in the dancing department either.

Darick Pead as the Beast is fierce and then endearingly tender as his love for Belle grows. His “If I can’t love her” was beautifully poignant.

 Joe Hager, as the town hunk, Gaston, the muscle-bound fool who is determined to marry Belle, swaggers onto the stage like a combination of Jethro Clampet and Li’l Abner.  He’s the villain you love to hate, and as male chauvinists go, none can hold a candle to this Gaston. 

His hapless foil, Maurice (Jimmy Larkin) was a delight, with a body made of rubber as he is routinely whacked about the stage by Gaston.

The supporting players are a marvelous collection of cartoonesque characters. Cogsworth (James May) the fussbudget clock and  Lumiere, the Candlestick holder (Hasan Nazari-Robati) nearly steal the show with their antics and groaners like “You’ve cut me to the wick...”  They are balanced nicely by Erin Edelle, as Mrs. Potts, the teapot, along with her son Chip (played on opening night by Gabriel L. Reis).  (There is a nice bit where Mrs. Potts carries her son on a tray across the stage.)

There are some gems in the smaller rolls, particularly Jessica Lorion as Babette, the feather duster, and Shani Hadhan as Madame de la Grande Bouche.  Taylor D. Colleton, Amanda Grace Holt and Stephanie Moskai as the three silly girls swooning for Gaston are likewise delightful.

The score by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, from a book by  Linda Woolverton, will be familiar to anyone who has seen the Disney animated feature that was the basis for this show.  There are six new songs added for the stage, with lyrics by Tim Rice, plus another song (“Human Again”) with lyrics by Ashman, which was cut from the movie.

Choreography by Matt West is a delight.  It’s not easy to design for dancing pieces of furniture, but West does well and the familiar “Be Our Guest” is a show-stopper.  Lesser known musically, “Gaston,” a drinking song with intricate moves involving beer steins, is absolutely fabulous, and perhaps my favorite number in the show.

This show will make anyone believe that miracles do happen, people can live happily ever after, and that inner beauty can tame the beast.

A Christmas Carol

If you ever thought it would be fun to take your children or grandchildren to see Sacramento Theatre Company’s sumptuous production of “A Christmas Carol,” do it quickly. When this perennial favorite ends on Dec. 23, it will be going on hiatus for several years.

This sparkling new production, directed by Michael Laun, celebrates 25 years since the work was first commissioned for STC by Dennis Bigelow, who directed the first production. It has since been performed in several cities across the country.

With music by David deBerry and book adaptation by Richard Hellesen, this musical version of the Dickens classic includes a lot of Dickens’ original words, as the actors both narrate and perform seamlessly, while set pieces slide in, rotate and move out again. (Kudos to all the tech people who manage Scrooge’s bed so wonderfully!)

Greg Coffin modernized the music a few years ago, and has reorchestrated the soundtrack for this 25th anniversary production. (The orchestration is recorded; no live orchestra was used … but you’d never know it.)

In years past, I have complained about excessive stage fog and over-use of reverb on the microphones, and I was thrilled to find that neither of these is a problem and I found nothing whatever to grumble at.

The redoubtable Matt K. Miller, back from a tour performing in Greece, is making his fifth appearance as the ultimate Christmas grouch, Ebenezer Scrooge. I am an unabashed fan of Miller’s work and love how he balances the irascible temper of Scrooge with his rediscovered joy in being a child and a young man in love, and how his heart is awakened with feelings for both his nephew Fred (Scottie Woodard) and little Tiny Tim (played in this performance by Miller’s son, Max Miller, alternating in the role with Liam Nevin). Scrooge’s child-like glee at realizing he has not missed Christmas is particularly touching to watch.

Miller is surrounded by a host of first-rate actors, many of whom are products of STC’s Young Professional’s Conservatory.

Jerry Lee gave just the right touch of grisly remorse and dire warning to Scrooge, as his deceased partner, Jacob Marley.

Ninth-grader Courtney Shannon, in her third season with YPC, did a wonderful job as the Ghost of Christmas Past, steering Scrooge through many eras of his young life, where he sees himself as a child (Rion Romero, alternating with Cameron Stephens), an apprentice (Griffith Munn, alternating with Garrick Sigl), and a young man (Brian Watson, who definitely shows the beginnings of the cold, unfeeling Scrooge that he will become in later life). Shannon alternates in this role with Devon Hayakawa.

Could STC do this show without Michael R.J. Campbell as the ebullient Ghost of Christmas Present, whose good humor can take a sharp turn when addressing the problems of “ignorance” and “want” that Scrooge has chosen to ignore? Campbell also plays several other smaller roles, including the delightful Fezziwig, Scrooge’s first boss, kicking up his heels with his wife (Lindsay Grimes) and showing that you don’t have to spend great sums of money to make your employees feel good about their jobs.

The Cratchit family is well represented by Michael Jankinson as Bob, long-suffering clerk to Scrooge, who steadfastly maintains his good cheer despite poor working conditions, low wages, his large family and worry about Tiny Tim.

As Mrs. Cratchit, Miranda D. Lawson is a loving wife, who displays the ire against his unfeeling boss that Bob refuses to at this holiday season.

It is Tiny Tim who steals the show, however. At age 4, little Max Miller is as professional as any other actor on stage. He never stepped out of place, handled his braces and crutch expertly, knew all the words to all the songs, and recited his “God bless us, every one” in a clear voice that could be heard in the back of the house. Obviously, the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

Sacramento Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol” is a long-standing holiday favorite and this 25th anniversary production does it proud. It’s the Christmas show that everyone should see, at least once.

The Music Man

Last night I had one of those special theatrical moments that I will remember for a long time. It was opening night of Music Circus’ 20th production of “The Music Man,” one of my favorite musicals. Shirley Jones, who originated the role of Marian Paroo on Broadway and who played the role in the classic movie, was playing Marian’s mother, Mrs. Paroo. Her real life son, Patrick Cassidy, was doing the role of Harold Hill.

At the end of this wonderful production, when all the bows had been taken, Ms. Jones took the microphone and shared memories of making the movie with actor Robert Preston. She then sang a brief duet with her son, to tumultuous applause. It was a real “wow” moment and brought down the house.

There were a lot of “wow’ moments in this rollicking, delightful production, directed by Glenn Casale. After the always wonderful opening number, of traveling salesmen on a train complaining about the swindler Harold Hill, who has ruined so many towns for them, the entire town of River City, Iowa, explodes onto the stage with “Iowa Stubborn.” Such a colorful, tightly knit production number with lots of fresh-faced earnest young people mixed in with all the adult characters.

There follow all the scenes in which Hill convinces the town it needs a boys’ band and collects the money for instruments, uniforms and instruction books, all with the knowledge that he will be long gone from the town before the parents discover they have been conned.

Cassidy is a suave Hill, who plays the role of a slick swindler with great panache. It is easy to understand why he has a girl in every town.

Jason Graae plays Hill’s old partner, Marcellus Washburn, now settling for respectability and a nice girlfriend, Ethel Toffelmier (Diane Vincent), but ready to join Hill in one last swindle. Graae shines in leading the town’s young people in the dance, “The Shipoopi.”

If I confess a guilty secret, Shirley Jones has always been the only Marian Paroo for me, all others paling in comparison. How fortunate, then, that Brandi Burkhardt is so wonderful that I easily accepted her in the role. With an amazing voice and a no-nonsense personality, she makes the perfect match for Cassidy’s Harold.
Jones herself, of course, is great as Marian’s mother, the widow Paroo. Loved her Irish accent and her duet with Marian was lovely.

Young Winthrop Paroo, Marian’s shy, lisping younger brother is played by Carter Thomas, who has a lengthy performing resume and is a member of actors’ Equity. He is simply wonderful. He takes command of the stage in “Wells Fargo Wagon,” and is adorable in “Gary, Indiana.” While perhaps a bit tall for a 10-year-old, it didn’t matter when he began to perform.

The feuding members of the town’s school board, Jacey Squires (J.D. Daw), Ewart Dunlop (Jack Doyle), Oliver Hix (Michael Dotson), and Olin Britt (Joseph Torello) are a wonderful hit as a barbershop quartet.
Music Circus favorite, Ron Wisniski is Charlie Cowell, the anvil salesman, determined to bring Hill to justice once and for all and plays it to the hilt. (My favorite line: “anvils have a limited appeal.”)

The town’s first couple, Mayor and Mrs. Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn (Kevin Cooney and Paula Leggett Chase) are great characters and Mrs. Shinn’s Delsarte dance company is a delight.

“The Music Man” always makes me feel happy and, based on the filled theater last night, and the report that the show is almost completely sold out (though there are still a few tickets left), there are lots of others who agree with me. As productions go, this Music Circus production is one of the best.

 Patrick Cassidy and Shirley Jones

Mamma Mia

“Mamma Mia” may be the longest, fanciest paternity test on record.

This musical, celebrating the music of the 1970s Swedish group ABBA, is a collection of ABBA songs loosely hung on the story of young Sophie, on the eve of her wedding, trying to figure out which of her mother’s three old boyfriends might be her father, so that he can give her away.

Now you can find out who it is by going to the Sacramento Community Theater, through Sunday.

Though ABBA, which burst onto the scene when its song ‘Waterloo” won the Eurovision Song Festival in England in 1974, was “bigger than the Beatles” in Australia when it did its first world tour in 1977, it only had one song (“Dancing Queen”) that made it to the top of the charts in the United States.

The group enjoyed only modest success in this country until the release of its album “ABBA Gold” (after the group had broken up) in the 1990s, when everyone realized they actually knew most of the songs — they just hadn’t appreciated them before!

In 1999, Catherine Johnson decided to take 22 of the best-known ABBA songs (written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus) and weave a story around the lyrics. “Mamma Mia” was born.

The show is now celebrating more than 4,000 performances in its 10th year at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theater and it remains among Broadway’s top-selling musicals. The current North American tour has played more than 3,700 performances in 150-plus cities, with 145 repeat visits. (This is its third time in Sacramento.)

The Associated Press calls “Mamma Mia” “a phenomenon, and it has succeeded in the impossible — making bell-bottom pants cool again!”

At Tuesday’s opening performance, many of the touring principal roles were played by understudies, but you’d be hard-pressed to know that without checking the substitute board in the lobby.

The story centers around single mother Donna Sheridan (Kaye Tuckerman) raising her daughter Sophie (Chloe Tucker) on the Greek island where Sophie was conceived, the product of a liaison with one of three men. Donna has built herself a successful taverna and has no need of a man in her life.

But Sophie is about to be married to Sky (Travis Taber) and she wants her real father to give her away. Having snooped through Donna’s diary, she invites three men — Harry Bright (Jeff Applegate), Bill Austin (John Michael Zuerlein) and Sam Carmichael (Christian Whelan) to her wedding, unbeknownst to Donna. The men all arrive, thinking Donna has invited them.

Also attending the wedding are Donna’s two friends, her back-up singers when the three were Donna and the Dynamos. Tanya (Michelle Elizabeth Dawson) and Rosie (Kittra Wynn Coomer) are delightful comediennes. It’s hard to know which is funnier — watching the tall, distinguished, somewhat bored Tanya take a pratfall or the more robust Rosie trying to fit into her old costume.

Choreography by Anthony van Lasst is a delight, particularly the male chorus on the occasion of Sky’s bachelor party (you try tap dancing in those things!).

For ABBA fans, the fun is trying to figure out which of the ABBA songs (printed alphabetically in the program, not chronologically) is going to fit in with the current plot twist.

By the end of the show, you will be having the time of your life, and enthusiastically shouting “I do! I do! I do!” with the bride. Standing and waving your arms is OK, too!

Dial M for Murder

When the lights go up on Sacramento Theatre Company’s wonderful production of Frederick Knott’s “Dial M for Murder,” the first thing the audience notices is not the actors on the stage, but the gorgeous set itself.

This is Mims Mattair’s second set design for STC and it is stunning. It is the living room of the affluent couple, Tony Wendice (Matt K. Miller) and his wife Margot (Jackie Vanderbeck) in 1950s London. The apartment’s lush red walls with various embellishments and tchotchkes on the shelves are just beautiful.

But that’s just the start of the delicious things to come in this three-act classic play. Many may remember the 1954 Hitchcock movie with Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings. It was a perfect vehicle for Hitchcock — a foolproof murder plot that somehow isn’t quite foolproof after all.

Mystery writer Max Halliday (Barry Hubbard) explains that there are five reasons why murders are committed: fear, jealousy, greed, vengeance and romance.

For former professional tennis player Tony Wendice, four out of five was enough to decide to hatch an elaborate plot to kill his wealthy wife, whom he has discovered has been cheating on him with Halliday. The wife would be out of the way and Tony would inherit her fortune.

After sending Margot and Halliday out for a night on the town, Tony makes arrangements to meet with Captain Lesgate, aka C.A. Swann (Scott Divine), an old classmate and petty criminal, whom Tony has been stalking for a long time, in order to get incriminating evidence with which he can blackmail the man into doing the murder.

It’s the perfect crime. Tony has thought of everything. Everything, in fact, except Margot surviving the attempted murder and, in the process, killing her attacker.

The investigation part of the story is right out of the 1970s detective series, “Columbo,” with Inspector Hubbard in a rumpled trench coat, always having “just one more question” to ask of Tony, who is forever offering possible answers for unanswered questions, unaware that he may be digging his own grave by doing so.

Matt Miller is at the top of his game (again) as the seemingly affable husband, with the sneering malevolence behind the friendly grin. There is a frenetic energy as he thinks on his feet when his plans go awry and an evil cackle when unexpected twists seem to be making his plan work more beautifully than even he imagined.

Jackie Vanderbeck plays the intimidated wife beautifully. Weighted down by guilt because of her earlier indiscretion, she unquestioningly follows Tony’s orders, even when they seem silly. She was somewhat sabotaged by an Act 1 dress that was just … silly, with a huge ruffle outlining the front of it (fortunately, her subsequent costumes were lovely). When the plot takes an unexpected turn, she is very flustered and displays her confused fragility well.

As for Max Halliday, Margot’s former lover, Hubbard plays him as an open, friendly American, who, at the start of the play, has accepted that his relationship with Margot is over and hopes they can now be friends. Max creates a scenario for Tony to save Margot that is closer to reality than he realizes.

Gary Alan Wright is just great as Inspector Hubbard, who never accepts the police version of who killed Captain Lesgate and keeps sleuthing even after the trial has concluded. He’s the investigator you’d like to have on your side.

Scott Divine as the luckless bungling would-be assassin has a small role, but he makes the most of it, as he slowly realizes how Tony has been playing him for months and how he has been backed into a corner from which he cannot escape.

Making his on-stage debut, Aaron Hitchcock is the policeman, Thompson, whose very brief appearances delight the audience.

“Dial M for Murder” is a great thriller. It’s not a mystery because we know exactly what happens, but watching how the story plays out is the fun of it all. Kudos to director Greg Alexander for commanding a tight ship and creating such an enjoyable evening — even if it does last three hours!

In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play

(Actors from left to right: Katie Rubin, Shannon Mahoney and Michael Stevenson)

Capital Stage general manager Keith Riedell came on stage before the start of “In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play” and gave the usual instructions about where to find the exits, asked everyone to turn off their cell phones and then said, with a wicked look in his eye, “or at least set them to vibrate.”

Sarah Ruhl’s comedy, directed by Peter Mohrmann, is set at “the dawn of the age of electricity, circa 1880s.”

For a little background, electromechanical vibrators were first used in medicine in 1878 to treat women for what was described as “hysteria,” a condition whose symptoms include any number of conditions with no clear physiological cause, historically treated by sexual stimulation.

Vibrators were available as a consumer product by 1900. The vibrator was the fifth home appliance to be electrified. It was preceded by the sewing machine, fan, tea kettle and the toaster. It would be another 10 years before the electric vacuum, iron and frying pan became available as consumer products.

“In the Next Room” features Dr. Givings (Michael Stevenson), whose practice is primarily concerned with treating sufferers of hysteria, mostly women. As he explains it, “The congestion in your womb is causing your hysterical symptoms and if we can release some of that congestion and invite the juices downward, your health will be restored.”

While Dr. Givings is producing orgasms in his office, the room next to the family living room, he is blissfully unaware that his wife Catherine (Elena Wright) is suffering her own bout of “hysteria,” brought on by depression over her inability to breastfeed their newborn child, and her husband’s inattentiveness.

Into the office come Mr. and Mrs. Daldry (Greg Alexander and Katie Rubin). Mrs. Daldry has been suffering from hysteria for some time. As Dr. Givings proceeds to give the woman her first treatment, he regales her with an amusing story about Benjamin Franklin and violent convulsions caused by electric current. “Do you feel calmer?” he asks his patient.

Stevenson, as Dr. Givings, is just so wonderfully detached from what he is doing to his patients. These treatments are all very scientific for him and he keeps that aloofness no matter what is happening on his examination table.

Wright, for her part, runs through a gamut of emotions throughout the play as she gradually reaches the depths of her frustration, and convinces her husband to try his good vibrations on her. She later shares her experience with Mrs. Daldry and with her baby’s wet nurse, Elizabeth (Victoria Alvarez-Chacon), who remarks that it sounds very much like the feelings that should happen in love-making between men and women, a concept totally foreign to the other women.

As for Rubin, was there ever a more perfect role for her? She is hilarious as she experiences her first unexpected arousal and returns again and again for more treatments.

It should be noted that while Dr. Givings has discovered the value of “paroxysms,” the concept of afterglow is completely ignored. This is definitely a slam-bam-thank you-ma’am treatment and the patients are on and off his exam table so quickly there’s hardly time to shake hands before it’s all over.

Kirk Blackinton plays the artist Leo Irving, suffering his own form of hysteria and treated by Dr. Givings’ own invention, The Chattanooga, a vibrator slipped into the anal cavity to stimulate the prostate gland, while Givings’ nurse Annie (Shannon Mahoney) operates the foot pedal which controls the speed.

This is a fast-paced comedy with an amazing amount of dressing and undressing on stage. Costumes by Gail Russell are integral to the period of the piece and are not only beautiful (especially those lovely corsets) yet must be easy to slip on and off quickly.

Stephen C. Jones has designed a two-level set, which places Dr. Givings’ medical office a small step up from the family home, separated by a single door. The office is clinical in appearance, including the vibrating machines, while the home is filled with lush furniture, Oriental rug and one of those new electric lamps that everyone is talking about.

In the interest of full disclosure, there is brief full male frontal nudity, but it is tastefully done and integral to the story.

This is a fun comedy and everyone should drop by Capital Stage to see what all the buzz is about.

West Side Story

From the moment a handful of members of the Jets gang step on stage and begin to dance, it is clear that the touring Broadway production of “West Side Story,” now at the Sacramento Community Center, is going to be an exceptional experience. The energy from everyone was electric and practically crackled off the stage.

This classic American musical almost never made it to the stage. In its first version, the tensions were supposed to be between Jews and Catholics on New York’s Lower East Side during the Passover and Easter holidays, but somehow that never worked.

It wasn’t until six years later that Arthur Laurents suggested changing the conflict in this modern-day “Romeo and Juliet” from religion to race and setting it in the fire escapes and back alleys of Hell’s Kitchen, and the “West Side Story” we know today was born.

Originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, “West Side Story” opened on Broadway in 1957 and today is credited with changing the entire course of the American musical theater.

The show has been revived on Broadway several times, this latest revival opening in 2009 and became the longest-running production of “West Side Story” in Broadway history.

This is a grittier “West Side Story,” according to Laurents, who directed this revival on Broadway not long before he died. Laurents wanted to be more realistic to the city of New York itself. He felt the gangs in the original production had been too “sweet.” These gangs are more sullen. “The truth is, they’re all killers,” he was quoted as saying, adding “What I thought 50 years ago, I certainly don’t think today.”

Also, the Puerto Ricans occasionally lapse into Spanish for dialog or song (translation by Lin-Manual Miranda), which gives those characters a bit more authenticity, and reflecting more accurately the actual sound of New York.

Ross Lekites and Evy Ortiz play the star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria. There is more sensuality in this version of the show and the two actors are beautifully suited to each other.

Lekites has an amazing voice; he can belt out lyrics at full power, and yet in his quieter moments, he gently lets the notes float out over the audience and linger for a moment before fading away.

Ortiz is a beautiful, innocent young girl who looks like she may be dressed up to celebrate her quinceañera (celebration of her 15th birthday). She has a fresh face that is open to all the wonders of her new country and eager to experience all that life has to offer. She has a voice that could be equally at home playing “Madame Butterfly.”

Michelle Aravena has the role of Anita, created in the original production by Chita Rivera. There is much of Rivera about her, in her manner and her carriage. She is a firecracker ready to explode, and explode she does, especially in “America,” that comparison of this country to Puerto Rico, and in “A Boy Like That,” as she angrily confronts Maria for her relationship with the boy who killed her brother.

German Santiago is Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. He is a smoldering cauldron of rage directed toward any of the Jets who cross his path, while Drew Foster is Riff, Bernardo’s mirror image in the Jets, ready to fight any of the Sharks who cross his path.

Special mention goes to Alexandra Frohlinger as Anybodys, that female gang wannabe.

This is a “big” feeling show, with massive set pieces, including the underside of a bridge that moves in over a playground, and the angular silhouettes of the fire escapes. Even the numbers that are performed on a bare stage are augmented by complicated light patterns.

“West Side Story,” like “Romeo and Juliet,” always seems a bit contrived just for the fact that everything happens in only two days, from the immediate passionate love affair between the two lovers to the tragic ultimate conclusion. Still, the raw emotion of the piece can’t help but leave you moved.

Even if you’ve seen “West Side Story” a number of times, this production is one not to be missed. It’s like seeing the show for the first time.

Ruthless, the Musical

Fasten your seatbelts … it’s going to be a funny night.

Sacramento Theatre Company is presenting “Ruthless! — The Musical,” with book and lyrics by Joel Paley and (mostly forgettable) music by Marvin Laird, a spoof about all those “bad girl” movies like “The Bad Seed,” and “All About Eve” with a lot of Mama Rose from “Gypsy” thrown in.

As director Michael Laun says, “you don’t need to be familiar with some of the shows this musical spoofs to enjoy its backstage show business plot, … but those in the audience who know these shows will surely find some familiar themes, characters and plot points sprinkled throughout the evening.”

It would be a disservice to the show to give away the plot since part of the fun is watching it all unfold, but suffice to say that STC has assembled a wonderfully talented cast who get into their roles and play them to the hilt.

Andrea St. Clair is Judy Denmark, a housewife and mother, who freely admits she has no talent whatsoever except to be mother to little Tina, a child just like Baby June in “Gypsy,” with her bobbing curls and militantly adorable smile. Tina’s goal is to be a big star and she is willing to do anything to accomplish that goal.

The role of Tina is double-cast, and the night we saw the show it was played by Jillie Kate Randle (her alternate is Lauren Metzinger). Randle was so perfect, I almost expected her to do the splits while saying “Hi, my name is June … what’s yours?” This is an 11-year-old bundle of talent with an already long list of theater credits to her name. It will be fun to watch her as she grows older.

St. Clair, making her STC debut, is no slouch in the talent department either, continuing to display her considerable talents while professing to have no talent whatsoever.

“Talent” is at the heart of this show, as explained by the talent scout Sylvia St. Croix (Michael. RJ Campbell). “Where does it come from? Is it a product of one’s environment — something picked up on the street? Or is talent something you’re born with?…”

I’ve always been a fan of Campbell’s and he is deliciously overbearing in this pivotal role.

In the pre-show talk, director Laun explained that in the original production, the talent scout role was played by a man in drag and in subsequent productions it has been played by men as men, women as women and men as women.

Laun chose to go back to the original vision, and how lucky patrons are for it. Campbell does not disappoint, and his larger-than-life character is just perfect.

Becky Saunders, last seen at STC in “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” really gets a chance to shine in three different roles. She won my heart as the theater critic Lita Encore singing “I Hate Musicals.” (Though I love musicals, there is something every critic can relate to in that song, especially when she decries “keyboards” and longs for “real clarinets.”) Saunders is a very funny lady.

Rounding out the cast is Netty Carey as “Eve.” Can’t have a ruthless show without an Eve, now, can you? She also appears earlier in the show as the hapless Louise Lerman, a classmate of Tina’s.

Pianist Erik Daniells is offstage, but keeps things rolling along.

Jarrod Bodensteiner is the set designer and he literally does double duty, as there are two completely different sets (not an easy thing to accomplish on the small Pollock stage). There is a longer-than-normal intermission to allow for the changing of the set.

Laun keeps the madcap tale moving at a brisk pace, and sorting out all the plot twists is just part of the fun.

Every Christmas Story Ever Told

I have a guilty secret. A critic reviews many Christmas-themed shows at this time of year, but I have to admit that my favorite is “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some),” the holiday offering at Capital Stage again this year.

I first saw this show — written by Michael Carleton, Jim Fitzgerald and Gary Alvarez, and directed this year by Jonathan Williams — in 2004 and thought it hilarious then. The appeal has not diminished over the years.

While this is an intelligent, funny show in its own right, what makes it work is the strong cast of three, who must each sweat off a few pounds during every performance.

Eric Wheeler, as Eric, is determined to present a straight version of “A Christmas Carol” but runs into opposition from his two partners, Peter Mohrmann and Gary Martinez, who are tired of repeating the Dickens story every year and want to pay tribute to all those other BHCs (Beloved Holiday Classics) of screen, TV and print. Eric agrees, just as long as “A Christmas Carol” is included.

And off they go.

The trio elicits suggestions from the audience for favorite movies, television programs, Christmas foods, traditions, commercials, etc. It doesn’t stop at Christmas, but also gives a nod to Hanukkah (“It bears similarities to other Jewish festivals: They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat!”) and Kwanzaa (“The best part of Kwanzaa is that you’ll never see a special called ‘A Very Brady Kwanzaa.’ “)

But the meat of the show is the retelling of all the stories we all know so well.

Wheeler is reluctantly dragged into the project when he is dressed as The Grinch for a very funny send-up of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Later, he will shine in such roles as Hermie, the elf who wants to be a dentist from “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” (hilariously renamed, for copyright reasons) and makes a fabulous Scotsman.

A wonderful impersonator, Wheeler’s Scrooge (so perfect in voice and body language as The Simpsons’ Mr. Smithers), Tim Gunn from “Project Runway,” and Jimmy Stewart from “It’s A Wonderful Life” are spot-on.

Mohrmann as the Ghosts of Past, Present and Future, his wonderful recreation of host Jim Lange on the fruitcake version of “The Dating Game,” his funny Yukon Cornelius from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and even his attempt at being supermodel Heidi Klum are all great fun (and he is particularly fetching in his Carmen Miranda headpiece in the opening segments).

Mohrmann also shares with the audience Christmas customs from around the world, such as the story of Holland’s “Sinterklaass,” who arrives on a steamer from Spain with his helper, a twisted dark gnome known as “Black Peter” who punishes bad children. Just to put the “joy” in Christmas, you know.

And each year, I try to find a different way to say how much I love Martinez’s characterizations but keep coming back to the fact that he is the heart of this show. Zaniness abounds throughout, but when Martinez steps into the spotlight as Linus and tells us the true meaning of Christmas, or becomes Cindy-Lou Who asking the Grinch why he is taking her Christmas tree, or talks to George Bailey (from “It’s a Wonderful Life”) as Clarence Goodbody, the angel trying to get his wings, there is no denying that he reminds us what Christmas should be about.

The script for this show is usually updated, this year adding a line about pepper spray, which didn’t get quite the big laugh they’d hoped. (“Too soon?” asks Mohrmann.)

The show is so fast-paced as to leave you breathless, whether from the pace, or from laughing. It’s a wonderful way to see all of your own personal favorite BHCs in one place for one price.

Scenic design this year is by Jonathan Williams, and if I am remembering correctly from previous productions, is not as lavish as before, but with the larger area of the new Cap Stage theater, the cast is able to interact with the audience more, and that is more fun.

Do yourself a favor and treat yourself and your family to this show. It is an absolute delight, whose enjoyment does not diminish with multiple viewings. As you leave the Capital Stage theater, you’ll be ready for the Christmas season and may go about greeting everyone with a cheery “Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi” (“Merry Christmas” in Icelandic).

A Christmas Carol

On reviewing Sacramento Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol” last year, I made three suggestions for improving the show: turn down the thunder, cut the fog in half and get rid of the reverberation on Marley’s mic.

It’s nice to see how much power I have, since those are the same three suggestions I would give this time. While the thunder may be a tad less loud, there is still entirely too much of it. Some scenes are so filled with fog, it’s impossible to see the actors. They were, for example, well into the opening scene between Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas yet to come before I even saw the hooded ghost.

But what do I know?

As for Marley’s mic, Jim Lane is too good an actor to be sabotaged by a distorted voice that requires him to overact to make it effective. Nonetheless, Lane offers a suitably chilling performance.

The Dickens classic has been enjoyed in book, on stage, on radio and on screen for decades without all this technological assist and has done just fine. Why mess around with it now?

That said, however, the popular holiday classic is once again captivating audiences on Sacramento Theatre Company’s main stage.

This is STC’s specially commissioned 1987 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” by Richard Hellesen. Music was written by STC’s then-resident composer David de Berry. Hellesen uses the device of having the characters tell the story as they move sets and then move in to become the characters about whom they are speaking. DeBerry’s music does indeed sound like old Christmas music that you can’t quite place, but you’re sure you’ve heard somewhere before.

The cast is smaller than in some years (22 as opposed to 30 to 40 actors), and judging by the program bios, all are very happy to be in the show. Eight say they are “thrilled,” five are “excited,” two are “privileged,” one is “ecstatic” and one is “passionate” about the show!

It is such a delight to see Matt K. Miller back grousing about as everyone’s favorite grouch, Ebenezer Scrooge. Miller may be one of my favorite Scrooges, and after four productions of this show, he has had the opportunity to shape the role to fit him like a glove.

He is able to be as grumpy and mean as Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, yet when shown memories of his childhood and taken to watch his nephew and friends celebrating Christmas, he can display the innocent joy of a child. The scene of his almost, but not quite, dancing with his old love Belle (Hannah Zimmerman) was very touching.

Scrooge’s long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit, is played by Barry Hubbard and he makes a loving husband to his wife (Jackie Vanderbeck) and a wonderful father to their five children, the youngest of whom is, of course, the adorable crippled moppet Tiny Tim (Zac Ballard), who was as cute as he could be.

As promised by the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge is visited by three spirits, who take him to witness various scenes from his past, the present and the possible future. Sydney Christoffersen (double cast with Bella Bagatelos) is the Ghost of Christmas Past. She is a second-year student with STC’s Young Professional’s Conservatory and obviously is a talented student who shows great promise.

The indomitable Michael RJ Campbell returns for his third time as the Ghost of Christmas Present, a larger-than-life spirit whose entrance is always the high point of the STC production.

Campbell is also seen in several ensemble roles and also as the ebullient Fezziwig, Scrooge’s first employer.

Jerald Bolden is the hooded Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (when you can see him through the thick fog). The ghost does not speak, but is really good at pointing ominously!

Others worthy of note in the cast include Emily Miller (double-cast with Meghan Greene) as Ebenezer’s sister, Fan. She sings the beautiful “Home at Christmas Time,” a touching ballad. Likewise, Courtney Shannon (double-cast with Marcos Orozco) is very moving as the beggar child.

And I think anybody with a character name like “turkey boy” deserves to get his name in a review. Good job, Dafydd Wynne! (Wynne does triple duty in this production, also playing Ebenezer the Child and Edward Cratchit).

It should also be noted that in addition to being Jacob Marley, Jim Lane also appears as several other characters throughout the evening.

The Ghost of Christmas Present exposes “ignorance” and “want” to Ebenezer to make him face the plight of the poor and destitute outside his own door. With street people shivering in the December cold along the streets of midtown Sacramento, we, like Scrooge, would do well to open our own eyes and do whatever we can to help wherever we can this holiday season.

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

At its core, “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” currently on the Sacramento Theatre Company’s Pollock Stage, is a story about loneliness, isolation and friendship. This play, by Richard Alfieri and directed by Michele Hillen-Noufer, is both hilariously funny and painfully poignant.

The material is somewhat dated and the plot is repetitious and predictable, yet in the hands of talented actors Becky Saunders and Justin Samuel Cowan — both newcomers to STC — it turns out to be an enjoyable evening of theater.

This is the story of an older woman, Lily, who arranges for private dance lessons in her St. Petersburg Beach, Fla., condo. Enter Michael, a middle-aged ex-Broadway chorus boy with a huge chip on his shoulder. The sparks fly from the beginning. Lily is the wife of a Baptist minister; Michael can’t control his temper and uses foul language.

Each of the seven scenes in the play follows the same format — Michael arrives for the lesson, his boom box and the foot cut-outs he places on the floor to help learn the dance steps in his duffel bag. There are personality clashes resulting from some hidden secret one or the other are trying to protect, Lily threatens to end the lessons, they talk, they argue and they dance.

The scene ends with a phone call from a downstairs neighbor, Ida, who is upset about the sound of dancing feet on her ceiling.

As they work through their differences, secrets are revealed. Lily’s husband isn’t out running errands, he actually died a few years ago. Michael’s wife isn’t sick, he has no wife because he’s gay and mourning his own losses. As they work their way through the swing, the tango, the Viennese waltz and others, a grudging friendship begins to form as more secrets are shared and the loneliness that both people feel begins to dissolve.

Saunders and Cowan make these characters believable and play beautifully off each other. Lily is reserved and her Southern gentility has been forged by years of being a minister’s wife, always smiling, always gracious, keeping all of her real feelings bottled up. She has perhaps never encountered anything as open, brash and vulgar as Michael.

Michael uses anger to protect himself, suspecting homophobia in every person he meets, but he senses Lily’s vulnerability. Over the weeks, he responds to her desperate need for friendship, which early on telescopes the emotional final scene, “Bonus Lessons.”

The set for this show, designed by Mims Mattair, also a newcomer to STC, is perhaps the most memorable I have seen in the Pollock Theater. He uses the entire stage, from door to door for Lily’s condo, complete with kitchenette and a sweeping view of the ocean. It is all painted white and the brightness draws the audience into Lily’s world.

Despite its predictability, and the dated material, “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks” is an enjoyable production, especially in this age when “Dancing with the Stars” has brought dance into greater prominence.

I wonder what Lily and Michael would have done with the Paso Doble.

Superior Donuts

Director and Capital Stage co-founder Stephanie Gularte received a standing ovation before her production of “Superior Donuts,” by Tracy Letts, had even begun. Not only was it opening night for the play, it was the inaugural production for Capital Stage’s brand-new theater in midtown Sacramento.

Leaving the Delta King, their home since 2005, the company has built a charming performing space that is both larger and more intimate than the Delta King, with a bigger stage that will accommodate larger casts (nine in “Superior Donuts”), and with on-street parking easier to find than in Old Sacramento.

The standing ovation was well-deserved, but just the prelude of the special evening to follow.

The Letts play is a perfect first production for Capital Stage. It’s a little bit of everything — a comedy that’s not a comedy, a tragedy that’s not a tragedy, a character study of several disparate people all coming together in a family-owned doughnut shop in Uptown Chicago, which was already on the way down in 1950, when Arthur Przybyszewski’s immigrant parents bought it.

Matt Miller creates yet another memorable character as Arthur, an aging hippie who looks as beaten down as his doughnut shop. Over the course of the evening, we discover that Arthur was an embarrassment to his father, a member of the Polish Army, who spent most of the war in a POW camp. Arthur fled to Canada during the Vietnam war and is still haunted by his father calling him a coward.

As the show opens, Arthur’s shop has been vandalized, an act that seems to bother everyone else in the neighborhood more than it does Arthur, who takes it all in stride. He has withdrawn from life and is existing rather than living.

Young Franco Wicks (Jammy K. Bulaya), bursts through the door, applying for the job Arthur has advertised in the window. Arthur is uninterested in hiring anybody, but Franco is so excited about the possibilities, and wins Arthur over. He is hired and sets about to bring life back into the doughnut shop … and to Arthur.

Bulaya gives an amazing performance. He is ebullient and engaging, excited about life, determined not to let anything get him down. He has plans for his future and he has written the Great American Novel. His face would light up a room and you can’t help but smile when you look at him.

In contrast, his final scene is one of the most emotional and so beautifully played. It was an unforgettable experience.

The rapport between Arthur and Franco carries this story, as the old man is slowly shaken from his numbness by the younger man’s unflagging enthusiasm. The friendship they form is essential as the story progresses and their roles are reversed.

Arthur’s neighbor, Max (Gary Pannullo) is a Russian immigrant who owns the video store next door and who desperately wants to buy Arthur’s doughnut shop so he can expand and find his own American dream. Pannullo is just great, a stereotypical Russian — bombastic, argumentative, but a longtime loyal friend of Arthur’s.

The stellar cast also includes Janis Stevens, almost unrecognizable in her multi-layered costume as “Lady,” an alcoholic street woman who begins each day with a doughnut and a cup of coffee. Stevens gives this old woman an air of regal dignity, and her sharp wit delivers some of the funniest lines. She can’t seem to maintain her sobriety, but she keeps starting anew every day.

Lori Russo is Officer Randy Osteen, who obviously is attracted to Arthur, who doesn’t even know she exists until Franco points out that she has been trying to get the old man’s attention.

Anthony D’Juan plays the beat cop, Officer Bailey, a “Star Trek” fan who cares about the people in his neighborhood.

Barry Hubbard and Shane Edward Turner are Luther Flynn and Kevin Magee, who come to collect on Franco’s gambling debt.

Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly is Max’s nephew, Kiril Ivakin, who has little to say, but makes his presence known very effectively.

The heart of this play is the unlikely friendship that develops between Arthur and Franco, a friendship that will bring both of them back to life after major setbacks.

The new Capital Stage theater is off to a very good start.

Frankenstein

Forget Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney or any of the Hollywood renderings of the Mary Shelley novel, “Frankenstein.” You will see no green tinted skin or neck bolts coming from “the creature” in the production, dramatized by Tim Kelly, now at Sacramento Theatre Company through Oct. 30.

This production, directed by Michael Laun, sticks more closely to the original book. We never see Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory, and the horror comes from dialog that will have you leaving the theater talking about the philosophical implications of the story and asking … who was the real “monster”?

“Frankenstein,” was written in 1818 as the result of a contest among Mary Shelley and other writers — including husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and John William Polidori — to see who could write the best horror story. (Polidori later would be known as the creator of the vampire genre with his novel “The Vampyre,” in 1819.)

The STC production includes a top-notch cast, almost all at the top of their game.

William Elsman, last seen as Sherlock Holmes and a perennial favorite as Mrs. Baddenrotten in STC’s frequent Christmas show, “Cinderella,” is definitely bad and rotten as the tortured scientist, who confesses to his wife, on their wedding night, of all of his terrible misdeeds as he warns her that he is about to be killed.

The story is a bit vague on how the creature (who is never called by any name, but only “the creature”) was constructed, other than to say that a lot of grave robbing and deals with shady persons in back alleys were involved. We do know that Victor’s life passion had been to discover the cause of life and, by using various human parts, he is able to bring his creation to life.

It is his refusal to take responsibility for his success in doing what he set out to do that forms the basis for the story. It is difficult to understand why, after creating this human-like lifeform, he would then be horrified and run away from it.

But one must suspend disbelief in order to become involved in the rest of the story, which is that the creature (Ed Gyles Jr.), who is remarkably eloquent, has tracked down his maker, demanding that Victor create a mate for him. The creature suffers incredible anguish because he is terribly lonely. He is ugly so people shun him.

”I am an outcast with no hope of redemption and no love,” he wails. All he wants is a companion and promises that if Victor creates a female partner for him, the two of them will go away and nobody will hear from them again.

There are lots and lots of holes in the plot but the real drama comes from the discussions between man and creature and between Victor and his best friend Henry (Jerry Lee), to whom the scientist has confessed his actions and who agrees to help in the creation of a second (female) creature.

The success of this production, which becomes a morality tale about the creation and destruction of life, rests on the brilliant interaction between Victor and the creature and between Victor and Henry.

Gyles makes the creature almost likable, and we definitely feel the pain of his isolation, but then we remember that for some unexplainable reason, he killed Victor’s young brother and we see that he is capable of flying into rages when frustrated. He is Lennie, in “Of Mice and Men.” but with more stitching.

With Elsman, we see the brilliance of Victor Frankenstein, but also his weakness which results in the destruction of everything he loves in life.

Henry, as played by Lee, is still full of the wonder of Victor’s accomplishments and eagerly agrees to assist in the creation of another life, which ultimately proves to be his undoing.

Others in the cast include Brittni Barger, as Victor’s fiancée Elizabeth. Her role is small, but she ably displays her love for Victor, though surprisingly not much disbelief as he tells her of his creation.

Linda Montalvo gives a solid performance as housekeeper Sophie and Jim Lane can always be relied upon to give a good performance, in this production as Ernst, the inspector-general of police.

Miriam Gilbert (double cast with Kristal Celik) shows great promise in her first main stage production as Justine, a gypsy girl.

Susan Andrews, as Frau Frankenstein, Victor’s mother, may be the weakest in the show as one was always aware of her “acting,” and not really involved with the character.

The set by Jarrod Bodensteiner is sumptuous and the lighting design of Jessica Bertine nicely helped create the “horror” mood, especially during scene changes. Jessica Minnihan’s costumes and makeup were fine, though the creature didn’t look all that scary from the back of the house.

If you’re looking for an old-fashioned, Hollywood-style Halloween horror experience, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you want to find your horror in the things that men can do without thinking their actions through to their ultimate conclusion — which may be even more horrifying, though easier to believe in this day and age — this is a perfect way to spend an evening.

One thing is certain. You will be discussing the various elements of this show as you leave the theater, and perhaps for days to come.

Miss Saigon

Sacramento’s Music Circus closes its 61st season with a Music Circus debut of “Miss Saigon,” the modern version of “Madam Butterfly” by Claude-Michel Schonberg, Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil, the guys who gave us “Les Miserable.” It is a show that is big and loud and bawdy, but it’s also small and tender and always emotionally raw.

The writers set their story between 1975 during the chaos leading up to the fall of Saigon and 1978 when we see the aftermath of America’s time in Vietnam.

Director Stafford Arima has a stellar cast headed by Ma-Anne Dionisio as Kim, an naive 17 year old country girl who has lost her family and her home and is forced to work as a bar girl in a sleazy club in Saigon, where the owner, “The Engineer” (Kevin Gray) sells his girls’ services to the soldiers. The opening number, “The Heat is on in Saigon” should earn the show an R, or at least a strong PG rating.

Kim is saved from becoming simply a girl someone would hire for an hour when she meets Chris (Eric Kunze), an American soldier who is bored with the club scene. His friend John (Josh Tower) buys the innocent girl for Chris and in the morning, he invites her to live with him.

The bar girls hold a mock wedding for the couple and Chris promises to take her with him when he returns to America.

Three years later, Kim is still in Vietnam with the son Chris does not know he has and Chris is married to Ellen (Misty Cotton). In flashback we see the chaotic scene at the American embassy as they are evacuating Saigon and Kim is unable to reach Chris.

John, now working for an agency trying to connect children of American soldiers with their fathers, finds Kim and learns her secret. He lets Chris know that he has a son. Chris and Ellen fly to Vietnam to find the boy, Kim learns of Chris’ marriage and makes the ultimate sacrifice so her son can have a better life in the United States.

The story is a simple, familiar one, but when given the big musical treatment with lots of glitz and special effects, it becomes something far more and it hits a high note in many numbers.

“Miss Saigon” is perhaps most known for the appearance of a helicopter on stage. I wondered how Music Circus was going to handle that effect, and it was done brilliantly with the use of lights, strobe and sound effects. It added incredibly to the emotional high of the fall of Saigon scene.

There isn’t a weak performance in this hard-hitting musical. Dionisio has played the role of Kim several times before (she originated in the Canadian premiere of the musical in Toronto plus the Australian premiere production and the London Production) and she is a wonder. Her most emotional scenes were gut wrenching and her love for son Tam fairly bleeds onto the stage when she sings “I’d Give My Life for You.”

Kevin Gray as The Engineer is an outstandingly sleazy manipulator who hits his high in “The American Dream,” as he tries to find a way to get into America.

Tower’s John is the rock that centers the piece and his “Bui Doi” at the start of Act 2 was so beautifully chilling. It was by far my favorite number.

Kunze, who has also played the role of Chris before gives a powerful performance and we feel his emotions as he is torn between the woman he loves and the girl he loved.

Misty Cotton has a brief, but memorable role as Chris’ wife, who suddenly learns about the girl he left behind and the child the two of them created. Her “Now that I’ve seen Her” was very poignant.

This is not a show that will leave you remembering any of the songs, but memory of the emotions felt throughout will last for a long time.