Suds

As its title suggests - 'Suds: The Rocking '60s Musical Soap Opera' - the final show of the Cosmopolitan Cabaret's 2010 season is light, frothy and insubstantial.

And the audience loved it.

This jukebox musical has a paper-thin plot, but who cares about plot when you have more than 50 songs from the 1960s?

But for those who do care about such things, the story revolves around perky Cindy (Melissa Wolfklain), decked out in crinoline skirt and bobby socks, who runs the local Fluff and Fold Laundromat. The action begins on her birthday, and she is the happiest girl in the world: She's almost engaged to her long-distance boyfriend, whom she's never met, but with whom she has been a pen pal for four years.

She also loves her little cat.

But then tragedy hits: Said boyfriend breaks up with her, because he has found someone with better penmanship. Her cat dies, all her relatives are killed in an automobile accident, and she receives a $10,000 overdue notice from the IRS.

Cue appropriate song: 'The End of the World.'

Cindy decides to kill herself in a most ingenious way, which I won't reveal. Let's just say that much agitation is involved, and it's hilarious.

Enter her guardian angel. Two of them, in fact.

The perpetually perky Dee Dee (Eydie Alyson) is overly optimistic, and convinced they can pull Cindy out of the doldrums. DeeDee is joined by Marge (Nanci Zopp), a tough ol' broad who has been around the stratosphere a few times (if you know what I mean).

Alyson is given the lighter songs, but Zopp is the standout, especially in her show-stopping 'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me.'

The cast is rounded out by Michael Dotson, who plays 'Everyone Else': the postman; the nerd the angels set up as a date for Cindy; and even Johnny Angel, a surprise revelation to whom Dee Dee finds her heart drawn ('I Will Follow Him,' 'Johnny Angel'). Dotson provides several of twists and turns throughout the evening.

Like 'The Marvelous Wonderettes,' a Music Circus production this past summer, the appeal of 'Suds' rests on one's nostalgia for songs of a certain era. 'Suds' include more songs than some jukebox musicals, by using the device of humorously stopping a singer after just enough of a song is presented, to receive audience recognition and applause.

'Suds' was created by Melinda Gilb, Steve Gunderson and Bryan Scott, with musical and vocal arrangements by Steve Gunderson. The show has toured the country, receiving rave reviews from California to New York. It broke many box-office records, including at the prestigious Old Globe Theater, the Actors Theater of Louisville and the San Diego Repertory Theater.

The current production is directed by Glenn Casale and choreographed by Joann Lewis.

If your tastes tend toward meaty shows, this one probably isn't for you. But anybody wanting to take a break from all the heavy news of the day, in order to wallow in a bit of cotton candy for a couple of hours, may find this just the very thing.

Especially if you loved the music of the day.

Camelot

Camelot.

The word immediately conjures up mental images of knights in shining armor, castle pageantry and magical happenings.

All those things can be found in the Woodland Opera House production of Lerner and Loewe's classic musical, adapted from T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King.'

Director Rodger McDonald has created a world that is long on talent, opulent in terms of costumes (by Laurie Everly-Klassen), spare on actual set pieces, but effective on suggested scenes (set and lighting design by Jeff Kean).

One cannot go wrong with Bob Cooner's Arthur. The precision that Cooner brought to WOH's recent 'Noises Off' - as director - beautifully translates into his performance as the reluctant king, who is afraid to meet his new bride. As the play progresses, Arthur grows into his role as king, as his love for Guenevere (Alexandra Ralph) deepens.

His pain at discovering her betrayal - and the anguish of sending her off with Lancelot (Ryan Favorite), as Arthur watches his dream of a world ruled by law crumble - are palpable.

Alexandra Ralph is a mesmerizing Guenevere, whose 'youth was sold' when she was given in marriage to this stranger, King Arthur. Guenevere isn't ready for maturity, since she hasn't yet had an opportunity to experience the 'simple joys of maidenhood':

Shall two knights never tilt for me
and let their blood be spilt for me?
Shall a feud not begin for me?
Shall kith not kill their kin for me?

Ralph sings beautifully, and her manner and bearing are so reminiscent of local actress Lenore Turner-Heinson, that I was surprised to discover that her previous performances have been in the Bay Area. Ralph is wonderfully sympathetic, warm and flirtatious all at once; it's obvious that while Guenevere has come to love Lancelot, she still has feelings for Arthur as well.

As for Lancelot, what can I say about Ryan Favorite?

He makes his entrance through the boxes on the side of the theater, and when he bursts out with the first lines of 'C'est moi,' he leaves the audience stunned at the force and tone of his voice. Favorite is a real treasure and perfect for the role: full of himself but later softening, as he becomes the king's friend and, later, the queen's lover.

My only complaint with his performance is that he speaks in a French accent, but inconsistently. Sometimes it's a thick accent, sometimes it's barely noticeable, and sometimes it's not there at all. When one can sing like this, it's a minor point ... but it does jar the suspension of disbelief.

McDonald, also taking an acting role, dominates the stage during his first scene as the eccentric Pellinore, who becomes Arthur's oft-befuddled aide. McDonald is delightful.

It's a wonder that Steve MacKay's Merlin has such a stout figure under his flowing robes, because with that unbelievably thick mustache, I can't imagine how he could eat anything at all. Still, his brief appearance - before being lured away by the spell of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake (Laura Wardrip) - adds just the right touch.

Dan Sattel also turns in an outstanding performance as Mordred, Arthur's deliciously bitchy illegitimate son, who is responsible for bringing down the king's dream of a world where disagreements are solved by rule of law, rather than by swordplay. Sattel enjoyed the loud round of boos that he received at the curtain call.

Young Liam Murdock, as Tom of Warwick, is earnest in his desire to become a knight of the round table; he gives an excellent performance.

In the opening scenes, Arthur tells Guenevere that 'there's not a happier spot for happily ever-aftering' than Camelot. Even though Arthur's dream ultimately falls apart, we're fortunate that this happy spot can be seen for a few more weeks at the Woodland Opera House.

Romeo and Juliet

Davis' newest theater company, the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble, selected a beautiful spot and a lovely night for the opening of its debut offering, 'Romeo and Juliet.'

The production, directed by Rob Salas, is presented in the gazebo at the UC Davis Arboretum; a circle of folding chairs is placed around the stage area, and twinkling lights add to the setting's magic. As the audience enters the seating area, the cast members stand at the posts surrounding the stage and ring chimes.

These chimes become part of the play itself, as the evening progresses.

This shoestring production doesn't have a 'set' per se, but the actors bring the story to life without really needing much.

Likewise, the play is done in modern dress.

This is a lusty, modern version of Shakespeare's classic tale. The opening sequence is a whirl of bodies, with actors coming dangerously close to the seated audience, although stepping agilely over patrons' toes.

The seven-member cast handles all the roles; only the actors playing the title characters do not take on multiple parts.

Ian Walters is a perfect Romeo: a curly headed lad in the throes of his first love. He has the swagger and bravado of a young man when in the company of his friends, upholding the family honor against their generations-long enemy, the Capulets.

And yet Walters is awkward and shy when Romeo is in the presence of Juliet, who makes his hormones rage.

He doesn't quite know how to woo her.

The structure of the gazebo calls for a rather ingenious 'balcony scene,' the likes of which you probably won't see again.

You'll wonder how they'll pull it off, as the play approaches that scene, but it works beautifully.

Gia Battista's Juliet, no shrinking violet, is a young woman who knows what she wants and what she doesn't, and won't let family enmities stand in her way.

The wedding night scene is both sensuous and innocent, and both actors make excellent use of a long piece of filmy cloth to suggest a bedroom.

All this said, the actor who impressed me most on opening night is Mark Curtis Ferrando, who played both Mercutio and Paris. Ferrando did his first Shakespeare ('The Winter's Tale') only a year ago, and at that time was unfamiliar with the style.

Ferrando certainly has blossomed in this production. He brings the necessary physicality to his fight scenes, and oozes sexuality as he instructs Romeo on the art of wooing.

Every young girl should have a nurse like Stephanie Hakinson (who also plays Sampson in this production). The nurse engages in almost conspiratorial chatter with her mistress, regarding her amorous adventures, and becomes a real friend to the girl.

Kristopher Ide's Friar Lawrence is a lone voice of reason amid pride, prejudice and persecution.

Matthew Canty plays both Romeo's cousin Benvolio and the servant Balthasar; Brendan Ward is Juliet's cousin Tybalt and her father.

This 'Romeo and Juliet' is an impressive start for the fledgling theater company, which promises even better things to come in the future.

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The Tony Award-winning musical comedy, 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' is based on 'C_R_E_P_U_S_C_U_L_E,' an original play by The Farm. The musical is conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with its book by Rachel Sheinkin, and music and lyrics by William Finn, perhaps best known for his 'Falsettos' trilogy, about a man dying of AIDS.

'Putnam County Spelling Bee' has no such heavy themes; it's peopled not only by a zany cast of characters, but also assisted by volunteers from the audience. The current UC Davis theater and dance department run featured UCD Chancellor Linda Katehi as one of opening night's three volunteers.

So, the question: Can a children's spelling bee be transformed into an interesting two-hour musical?

Intermittently.

Each quirky character's authenticity is integral to the entertainment.

It all starts with Rona Lisa Peretti (played by Alison Sundstrom), a former spelling bee winner and real estate agent, who now runs the annual spelling bee. This is her opportunity to return to former glory, which appears to have been the high point of her life. Sundstrom wrings all she can from the role, and she beautifully sets the tone for the show.

Her cohort, and reader of the words and the delicious definitions and sentences, is vice principal Douglas Panch (Ryan Geraghty), returning to the competition after 'that unfortunate incident' five years earlier. He's much better now, he reassures the audience.

Mitch Mahoney (James Marchbanks) leads the pledge of allegiance, and he escorts each loser off the stage, while presenting a commemorative box of apple juice. He's doing community service after being released from prison.

Then there are the children themselves: each a perfect depiction of a certain type of child. Olive Ostrosky (Elizabeth Tremaine) is a latchkey kid whose mother has gone off to India to find herself, and whose father forgot to come to the spelling bee; Olive who doesn't have the money to enter, but is allowed to compete anyway.

She learned to spell because she grew up in a house with an oversized dictionary, which she liked to read while sitting on the toilet.

Chip Tolentino (Jazz Trice) won the previous year's contest and is confident that he'll easily repeat the victory, until an unfortunate hormonally induced incident spoils his chances. Chip has perhaps the most unusual song of the night: certainly a first for song lyrics!

Leaf Coneybear (Esteban Gonzalez), who looks like a Richard Simmons wannabe, got into the contest on a fluke, because both the previous spelling bee's 'real' winner and runner-up had to attend a bat mitzvah. He insists he's 'not that smart,' a notion that he seems to have picked up from his many siblings, and keeps surprising himself with correct answers.

Leaf's manner of honing in on the correct spelling is ... quite unusual.

Overachiever Marcy Park (Erica Kalingking) speaks six languages, and is good at music, sports and everything else she attempts. But she just wants to be normal, and eventually seeks advice from a surprisingly unlikely source.

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Wendy Mumolo) is president of her school's Gay Straight Alliance, has two dads who dote on her, and is a budding feminist. Despite all this, she wonders: 'What about me?'

William Barfee - whose name rhymes with 'parfait,' but is continually mispronounced - has a 'magic foot' and an unusual technique for figuring out the correct way to spell a word. Matthew Dunivan is delightful in the role, and his character's growing friendship with Olive is quite special.

The engaging characters aside, the show lacks tuneful songs. The tune 'Pandemonium' is aptly named and, unfortunately, also reprised.

Ultimately, at two hours with no intermission, the sporadic entertainment value doesn't compensate for the feeling that it all runs on a bit too long.

Singing in the Rain

The finale of Davis Musical Theatre Company's production of “Singing in the Rain” — which opens the company's 26th season — is spectacular, with everyone on stage in yellow rain slickers and red umbrellas, tap dancing up a storm to the title song.

It's a sight to behold.

I wish that same energy had been evident through the rest of the show, which dragged on opening night: particularly during Act 1, and perhaps because of the time required for scene changes.

“Singing in the Rain” has an inherent problem, no matter who performs it. When adapting an iconic piece of American film, which almost everyone in the audience undoubtedly has seen many times, it's difficult to erase the memory of the original movie. And what stage show can live up to that 1952 classic, or to the performers with whom those roles are so intimately tied?

The story, set at the end of the silent film era, deals with the turmoil that faced Hollywood when it became clear that “talkies” were here to stay. Many of the top stars in silent films had terrible voices; movies with sound ruined many successful careers.

Don Lockwood (played by Rand Martin) and Lina Lamont (Wendy Young) have been longtime screen idols, but the latter has a classic, shrill “New Joisey” accent; she can't possibly transfer from silents to movies with sound. A chance encounter between Don and wannabe starlet Kathy Selden (Christina Rae) leads to this newcomer providing the voice for Lina, to save the studio from having to shut down production on its newest film.

Merriment and hijinks ensue.

Young gives one of this production's best performances. Lina isn't a sympathetic character and is easy to dislike, and Young does an excellent job of embodying the clueless movie diva, whose skreetchy voice is irritating on the ears, as it should be.

She sings one plaintive song, “What's Wrong With Me?,” and does it very well.

Rae is a lovely Kathy, with a warm voice and a warm demeanor to boot. Martin is OK as Don, although he had problems staying in key several times during the opening night performance.

Matthew Kohrt is fun as Cosmo Brown, Don's sidekick; he's a hoot in the dance number “Make 'em Laugh.” All three — Don, Cosmo and Kathy — are delightful in “Good Morning.”

The supporting cast includes Mary Young as the ubiquitous Dora Bailey, a one-woman National Enquirer; Gil Sebastian as R.F. Simpson, head of Monumental Pictures; and Steve Isaacson as Roscoe Dexter, director of the Lockwood-Lamont movies.

(Sebastian and Isaacson haven't appeared together on stage for many years, and it's fun to see these two local warhorses cavort together again.)

Devin DeGeyter and Jacob Navas, as the younger Don and Cosmo, are quite cute; they do a nice dancing job during their brief appearance.

The choreography is by Ron Cisneros, who never disappoints. Jeanne Henderson's costumes are beautiful, especially the white fringe dresses for four women in the chorus.

The minimal set design is by Isaacson and Mark Deamer. And yes, it does rain on stage.

Three movies are shown during the evening, including a “talking picture demonstration” by local TV celeb Mark S. Allen, and two “typical” films: “The Royal Rascal” and “The Dueling Cavalier.” Both are written and directed by Isaacson, and both are very well done.

DMTC's “Singin' in the Rain” is filled with familiar melodies and characters we've loved for a long time. It's a true “feel good show,” and you're guaranteed to leave the theater with a smile, and the title song still ringing in your ears.

Paper Chase

The meeting was underway before I finally made it to the Dos Pinos Community Room, buried deep in the middle of the Dos Pinos housing co-op on Sycamore Lane.

I was just in time to see a man make a heart-shaped box out of a dollar bill, into which he placed a quarter; he explained that he likes to give gifts to children in this fashion.

I had been invited to a meeting of the Davis Origami Group, in order to write this article. In truth, this was my first hint that Davis even has an origami group, and, my manual dexterity being limited to hitting the keys on a computer keyboard, it's unlikely that I ever would have found out, absent the invitation.

By the end of my time with this small group of dedicated folders, I had a tremendous appreciation for both the simplicity and the complexity of origami.

The small group attending this meeting, smaller than usual, I was told, covered the whole spectrum of origami. I met three experts, along with beginners ranging in age from 83-year-old grandmother Gene Manzo, attending her first folding meeting, to young Aaron Ecky, whose mother brought him and his sister. Aaron was thrilled, at the end of the session, to show everybody how to fold and fly a paper airplane.
After the meeting, I met with Andrew Hudson, who had just returned from an origami conference in Singapore. He told me more about origami than I knew there was to know.

Origami's origins are shrouded in mystery and conflicting ideas. Some say it began in China 2,000 years ago, but that theory is probably wrong. Others say it originated in Japan during the Heian period (794 to 1185), but experts feel that this, too, is wrong.

The oldest printed document referencing origami dates from a poem written in 17th century Japan. Other references to paper folding date from the same period in Europe.

But as an expressive, creative art form, origami is relatively new.

"People didn't start creating their own designs until the 1950s," Hudson told me, "and a lot of the really complex stuff didn't start happening until the 1980."

The artform's popularity is growing, thanks to folding groups around the world.

Hudson lived in Japan for a year, when he was 4, and learned to fold a few simple models (although he can't remember if he folded them while in Japan, or after his family's return to the United States).

"I had a background in the traditional Japanese repertoire. Then, in fifth grade, I got a Borders gift card; I couldn't think of anything else to spend it on, because all the books I wanted to read were at the library. So I wandered over to the origami section, and thought some of the books looked really cool.

"I bought one, started folding through it and got stuck. That's when I really got hooked, because I wanted to finish that."

Hudson, now 20, has gotten in on the ground floor of origami as art. It has become the ideal hobby for him.
"Origami has a hyper-focusing element. A lot of people with ADD, like me, have a hard time focusing on things. But certain kinds of tasks allow us to hyper-focus, and really concentrate on one thing for hours at a time; for me, it's things like reading, playing piano and doing origami."

Judy Ng, who co-founded the Davis Origami Group with Hudson and Glenn Sapaden, is the youngest of three daughters. She learned origami from a baby-sitter.

"I would fold off and on, collect books over the years," she said. "I received several origami books as gifts."

She also attended many origami conferences over the years.

"The last one held in San Francisco was in 2009, and I met Andrew in one of the classes. I gave him a ride back to Davis."

Ng had belonged to a short-lived folding group in Davis several years earlier.

"We called our group Valley Folds … but it folded. It never really got off the ground."

Which meant it was time to try again.

"Andrew spearheaded our group, and got it off the ground," she said.

Their first meeting was in December 2009, and the members have met monthly ever since.

"We've had as many as 17 people at our meetings," Ng added. "Some only come once; some have stayed. A man and his wife brought their three children and his mother to our first meeting, so we had three generations."

Ava Hess came to a recent meeting by chance. At the funeral of a friend, she met Andrew's father, Davis Enterprise reporter Jeff Hudson, who happened to mention the group.

"I've been doing origami since I was a child," Hess said. "We didn't have TV until I was 13. We saw a few programs on public television, and there was a Japanese brush-painting lesson and origami lesson for half an hour. I found them inspiring, and so I learned some very easy things: butterflies and cranes.

"My interest was sparked again in Holland, where one of my cousins was friend of a woman who does origami for graphics arts. That was 20 years ago."  Hess has been using origami in art projects ever since.

"I make greeting cards and earrings. I've been selling them in a gallery on the coast, but decided it's too far away and too cumbersome, and their demands are too much. Now I just make them for fun."

Hess demonstrated how to make a crane at the meeting I attended. My own attempt at said crane was pretty pathetic, but I received encouragement from Manzo, also attending her first meeting.

"I have 10 thumbs, not 10 fingers," she laughed with me.

"It was shocking how much they knew," she added, a bit later. "I was so far behind everybody; I felt lost."

But thanks to the patience with which the demonstrators worked with her, she intends to continue attending meetings.

"I've been looking for something like this for a long time. I used to take care of my grandchildren every once in awhile. We would make little animals from the origami books. But recently I've been trying to learn how to fold up a dollar bill so it makes a ring."

Mazzo will get great ideas on things to do with dollar bills from Glenn Sapaden. His favorite routine: He jokes that his mother wanted him to get into law, because that's where "the big money" is. Then he holds up a pad of oversize dollar bill-patterned paper, lifts one eyebrow and everyone gets the joke.

"A little origami humor," he laughed.

"Glenn is an avid collector of dollar origami designs," Hudson said. "He carries around a binder that has all his dollar bill designs. He teaches them a lot. Glenn does one design where you take the dollar bill, and the O and E on the back get folded over, and become the face of a jack-o-lantern. The bottom part of the O becomes the smile, and the E has the eyes and the nose.

"You can do all sorts of cool things with dollar bills."

Hudson's love for origami got him invited to an international conference in Singapore.

"I was talking in San Francisco with this lady named Patsy Wang-Iverson, who organized the Singapore convention. She encouraged me to submit a couple of abstracts, for publication in their book of the proceedings. I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never published that kind of paper, so I was kind of hesitant about doing it. But I figured it would be good experience, if nothing else, just to go through the process.

"And then both the abstracts were accepted to the conference."

Hudson liquidated most of his assets to pay for his plane fare, and arranged living accommodations with a friend from MIT who was in Singapore for the summer.

"I presented two lectures and taught a couple of classes. I did one lecture on the connections between origami design and music composition. I'm a music composition major; there are a lot of parallels between origami and music composition, because you're working within a limited system. You have to follow somewhat rigid rules when you're designing or creating, and the dynamics of how the creative process works, in both, are really similar."

Warming to his subject, Hudson continued.

"The other thing I presented was an origami design using polygons, and different polygons other than squares, and using properties of polygons to optimize, for example, a fish. It has a fin on top and a fin on the bottom, and two side fins and a back fin, and it's actually much easier to make certain arrangement of fins with 60-degree symmetry, than with square symmetry.

"Another thing I was doing was figuring out a way to construct an algorithm that you could apply to a different polygon."

By this point, my eyes had glazed over; he had lost me in the technicality of it all. But I had learned that origami is an art form that can appeal to small children and grandparents. It can be as simple or as complicated as one desires.

I asked Hudson if anybody actually makes a living doing origami. He cited five people in North America who do just that, with things like working with NASA on a folding telescope, and with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on folding air bags. Hudson hopes to find his niche in that field.

Based on his dedication and enthusiasm for the craft, it won't surprise me when he joins the ranks of the important figures in origami.

As for me, having neither the manual dexterity nor the patience, I'll probably never get past the level of folding young Aaron Ecky's paper airplane!

The Davis Origami Group's next meeting will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at the Dos Pinos Community Center, 2550 Sycamore Lane. For additional information, call (530) 753-6093 or e-mail andrew.hudson13@gmail.com.

www.flickr.com/photos/ahudson

42nd Street

'Kid, you're going out there just a girl from the chorus, but you're coming back a star!'

Or words to that effect.

Shows such as '42nd Street,' continuing through Sunday at Sacramento's Music Circus, still encourage young kids to flock to Hollywood or Broadway, certain that they'll be the next one who steps from obscurity into the spotlight, to become an overnight sensation.

This play's oh-too-predictable book is by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin. '42nd Street' is replete with well-known songs, including - in addition to the title number - 'You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me,' 'I Only Have Eyes for You,' 'We're in the Money' and 'Lullaby of Broadway.'

As for the plot, Peggy Sawyer (Melissa Lone), from Allentown, Pa., arrives in New York in the middle of the Depression, all fresh-faced and certain she'll immediately get cast in a big Broadway musical. She can dance up a storm, but has never been on stage before.

Naturally, the show that'll put director Julian Marsh (Patrick Ryan Sullivan) back on top just happens to be short one girl for the chorus, and so Peggy is chosen.

The show's star, Dorothy Brock (Lynne Wintersteller), is an aging, fading Big Name whose sugar daddy, Abner Dillon (Lew Lloyd), has backed the production so that his girl can have another hit.

Interestingly, although all the people in the cast groan about how Dorothy can't sing, dance or act, she does a lot of all three, and quite competently!

An accident on stage causes Peggy to bump into Dorothy during the first out-of-town performance. The show must be stopped because Dorothy's ankle is broken. Peggy is fired.

This leaves the production without a leading lady, of course, so the cast persuades Julian to bring Peggy back, because she's the only chorus member with enough talent to take over the leading role in this big musical. She has just 36 hours to learn some ungodly number of pages of dialogue, several songs and lots of dance numbers.

She's a bit nervous about this, but - trooper to the core - she works herself to the point of collapse.

I won't spoil the show by revealing how it ends, but let's just say lots of tapping and arm waving are involved.

It's all very silly, and involves a lot of suspension of disbelief from anyone with even the vaguest inkling of what goes into producing a show, but what the heck: The important thing is getting from one musical number to the next, and everybody does this exceptionally well.

The real star of this show is choreographer Michael Lichtefeld, whose chorus of amazing tap dancers brings down the house with every dance. 'We're in the Money' is particularly wonderful, thanks to Leon Wiebers' gold costumes. The number is such a knock-out that it gets a reprise during the curtain call.

It's no surprise that Sullivan, making his Music Circus debut as Julian, is such a strong character; he played the role on Broadway and in a national tour of the show. He looks every bit the way we expect a Broadway producer to look.

Lone, returning from three years on Broadway to play Peggy, is an amazing dancer; she effortlessly handles the transition from uncertain ingenue to star.

Wintersteller was last seen on the Music Circus stage being dragged around as Kate in 'Kiss Me Kate.' The hard part here is picturing her as a has-been, although she plays the diva role convincingly.

The supporting cast is outstanding. Zachary S. Berger, as the tenor Billy Lawlor, has a fresh, earnest face; he reminded me of Dick Powell, whom I later realized had played the role in the 1933 film. Berger is an equally talented dancer, and he acts the role with a flair.

Maggie - one of the writers of 'Pretty Girl,' the show within a show - is played by Susan Cella, who makes a big impact.

With terrific dancing, familiar tunes and a predictable plot line, '42nd Street' is good, old-fashioned fun. It's a great way to cap off Music Circus' 60th season.

The Marvelous Wonderettes

In a Music Circus season that includes heavy hitters such as 'Funny Girl,' 'Oklahoma!' and '42nd Street,' the inclusion of a lightweight called 'The Marvelous Wonderettes' seemed rather strange.

This isn't a show everyone has heard of, or has been waiting to see.

'The Marvelous Wonderettes,' written and created by Roger Bean, doesn't have a high-powered history. It first opened at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 2001, then moved to Los Angeles, where it garnered many awards and nominations, including the 2007 Los Angeles Ovation Award and a 2007 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. It debuted off-Broadway at the Westside Theater in September 2008, where it ran until 2010.

This Music Circus production is directed by Bean, who helmed the New York run, with choreography by the Big Apple's Janet Miller.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around four young girls at a high school prom in 1958. A boys' singing group, The Crooning Crabcakes, won't be able to perform for the evening, because their leader was caught smoking near the girls' locker room; as a result, The Marvelous Wonderettes are asked to fill in.

Beginning with the Chordettes' hit, 'Mr. Sandman,' the girls run through a long list of popular music from the 1950s, probably familiar to most of the over-50 crowd in the Music Circus' opening-night audience. Songs such as 'Lollipop,' 'Allegheny Moon,' 'Secret Love' and 'Sugartime' follow, one after another, with short bits of business allowing us to learn a bit about the girls.

We discover that Suzy (Bets Malone, one of the original cast members) is in love with the unseen Ritchie, the guy running the prom lights; he blinks the lights whenever she giggles his name. Missie (Misty Cotton, whom we just know will grow up to become a teacher) has a big crush on Mr. Lee, one of the teachers sitting in the audience.

In a bit of audience interaction, an unsuspecting patron is brought up on stage during the number 'Mr. Lee.'

Cindy Lou (Lowe Taylor) is convinced she's going to be named prom queen, and she spends much of Act 1 preening. She also has her eye on the boyfriend of prankster Betty Jean (Lindsay Mendez), a master of mugging.

The rivalry between Betty Jean and Cindy Lou gets a bit old and repetitious by the end of the first act, but the music certainly had toes tapping, and lots of people sang silently along with the familiar tunes.

The second act takes place at the high school's 10-year reunion, with the singers now in miniskirts and go-go boots. Sadly, life hasn't been as kind to these women as their 1958 prom promised.

Cindy Lou went to Hollywood to get into the movies, only to discover that she didn't really want to be in the movies; she just wanted to be somewhere else. She learned that her heart's desire was waiting for her back at the sweet shop, where she worked in high school.

Suzy, pregnant and having marital problems with Ritchie - he's still back at the lightboard - sings a rousing medley of 'Rescue Me' and 'Respect.' She's very funny, transforming her nervous giggle into a helpless sob of advanced pregnancy.

Act 2 ignores the whole psychedelic part of the 1960s and concentrates on story-generating songs, such as Dusty Springfield's classic 'Son of a Preacher Man.'

The show involves additional audience participation, such as having patrons vote for prom queen during Act 1 - with pencils and ballots given to each person entering the theater - and a few other surprises throughout the evening. The counting of the ballots is particularly funny.

Its lightweight origins notwithstanding, this 'jukebox show' delivers in its own way. For people of a certain age, who remember what it was like to be young, with a life full of promise ahead, 'The Marvelous Wonderettes' certainly brings back memories and puts a smile on one's face.

Funny Girl

I'm not sure whether actress Vicki Lewis channeled Fanny Brice or Barbra Streisand during Tuesday's opening performance of the Music Circus production of “Funny Girl,” but whatever she did, it worked for her.

“Funny Girl” is so closely identified with Streisand — who played the role of stage and screen star Fanny Brice for 1,348 performances on Broadway, and in the subsequent film adaptation — that it never has had a Broadway revival.

The show was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including best musical and best composer and lyricist (Jule Styne and Bob Merrell).

The 1968 film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including best picture, and Streisand took home the Oscar for her performance.

In this Music Circus production, directed by Glenn Casale, Lewis manages the seemingly impossible task of evoking Streisand, in both voice and mannerisms, and yet somehow making the role her own.

And it's a huge role, in which Lewis sings 14 of the 19 songs. She can belt out a number like “Don't Rain on my Parade” with gusto, yet be touchingly vulnerable in songs such as “People.”

The semi-biographical plot, told in flashbacks, is based on Brice's life and career. With the help of her dance instructor, Eddie Ryan (Michael Patternostro), she lands a gig at Keeney's Music Hall, where her debut as a roller-skating chorus girl turns her into a major star overnight.

It's a quick step to an audition with Broadway impresario Florenz “Flo” Ziegfeld (Ron Wisniski), and a leading role in the famed Ziegfeld Follies.

Meanwhile, Brice falls in love with a handsome entrepreneur and gambler, Nick Arnstein (Brad Little), who makes his living on luck.

Eventually abandoning her Broadway career for love, Fanny and Nick settle down in the country to raise a family. Unhappily, things take an unexpected turn for the worse before too long: Nick's luck suddenly runs out, forcing Fanny to make an unexpected comeback to the stage.

Brad Little, well known for his performance in “Phantom of the Opera” — and Music Circus performances as the lead in “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and Javert in “Les Miserables” — is a wonderfully suave, debonair Arnstein. He's a playboy, gambler and con-man, and his ruffled shirt is a subject of much comment on their first meeting.

Nick's duet with Fanny — “You Are Woman, I Am Man” — is outstanding.

Fanny's mother (Alix Korey) and her three card-playing friends — Mrs. O'Malley (Kim Arnett), Mrs. Meeker (Jennie Scott) and Mrs. Strakosh (Helen Geller) — are wonderful as stereotypical New York housewives who share information on everybody's business, and try to top each other with the accomplishments of their own children.

Geller is particularly memorable.

Wisniski gives a solid performance as the beleaguered Ziegfeld, who isn't quite sure what to make of his unusual new star. But he's too much of a showman, recognizing the extent of her talent, to fight her all that much. He evolves, over time, into more of a father figure.

Patternostro gives a noteworthy performance as Eddie, and gets a chance to shine in his own number, “Who Taught Her Everything,” which celebrates Brice's success.

Bob Richard choreographs some stylish dance numbers. The Keeney Music Hall “Coronet Man” and the Follies finale, while short on women, echo the production numbers we identify with Ziegfeld.

Marcy Froehlich has designed some grand costumes, from the over-the-top Follies girls' outfits and colorful trumpet dance finery, to the muted browns and golds of Fanny's Henry Street friends and neighbors.

Done well, “Funny Girl,” is an enjoyable show ... even without Streisand in the lead.

When one has a leading lady as strong as Lewis, the result is a very satisfactory evening indeed.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

The first time I saw “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” which continues through Sunday at the Music Circus, my review centered on how pun-riddled the show is, and how I spent the evening groaning and rolling my eyes.

I therefore was surprised to count only two audible puns in this production; worse yet, my favorite bad pun was botched. The set-up line, “I'm Muriel, of Omaha,” was so muffled that the following lines — “Pleased to meet you.” “It's mutual.” — didn't get so much as a titter from the audience.

Whether some minor script re-write had taken out most of the puns, or whether the poor sound quality on opening night — much more muddled than usual — was to blame, remains irrelevant. The audience members, particularly two very loud ladies sitting behind me, had the time of their lives.

The show is based on the 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin — itself drawn from 1964's “Bedtime Story,” with Marlon Brando and David Niven — and has been adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Lane (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics). This Music Circus production is directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford, with musical direction by Darren Cohen.

Burke Moses plays Lawrence Jamison, who has lived on the Riviera for years, playing a faux prince and bilking rich American women out of their money. He becomes a Henry Higgins-esque mentor when he takes a brash American con-man, Freddy Bensen (Timothy Gulan), under his wing to teach him the finer points of swindling.

Gulan played the same role in the touring production of this show, which came through via Sacramento's Broadway Series a few years ago.

“Chimp in a Suit,” sung by Jamison's right-hand man, the gendarme Andre Thibault (John Scherer), is a scene right out of “My Fair Lady,” as Jamison attempts to teach Freddy how to clean up his act. Freddy is a more-than-willing pupil, as he looks around Jamison's mansion and decides that he, too, wants “Great Big Stuff.”

When the first lesson goes terribly wrong — the wooing of hyperactive oil heiress Jolene Oakes (Amy Bodnar) — Jamison is helped out of his predicament by Freddy, who pretends to be a brother with one too many (too few?) chromosomes in his DNA.

It soon becomes apparent that the Riviera isn't big enough for two scoundrels, and so when “Soap Queen” Christine Colgate (Jessica Rush) arrives on the scene, Jamison and Freddie agree to a contest: whoever can get $50,000 out of her will be the winner, and the other will leave town.

The contest soon turns personal, as each vies not just for Christine's money, but also for her affections. More than a few surprising plot twists and turns pop up before the finale.

This is a delightful cast. Moses, who has one of the most flexible mouths since Joe E. Brown, is the suave, elegant and debonair gentleman to Gulan's crass yet delightful cad.

Scherer is a Frenchman (“only by birth and affectation”) who hasn't learned to be a ladies' man yet, until forced to deal with Muriel Eubanks (the delicious Cynthia Ferrer); she's one of Jamison's conquests, and must be kept distracted. Scherer and Muriel provide a delightful subplot to the central story.

Rush is earnest and winsome as the naive heroine, who proves to have more to her than meets the eye.

Bodnar is high-powered and brash as she describes life in Oklahoma panhandle to the clueless Jamison, who finds himself engaged in more than just a little hanky-panky with her.

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” has the feel of a classic production with modern elements, though none of its songs is actually memorable. The show is raunchy and crude at times, but always funny; we can't help forgiving the antics of two heroes who are such lovable scalawags.

The Three Musketeers

Summer marks the time when the oldest Acme performers must move on to college, and the local theater company brings in a crop of newbies.

Such transitions sometimes can be felt for a show or two, before the fresh faces properly hone their acting chops and blend in with the group.

Not so this time.

Whether the new kids on the block are exceptionally talented, or playwright Ken Ludwig's zany adaptation of Alexander Dumas' 'The Three Musketeers' is a perfect selection for a mixed group of experienced and less experienced young actors, the end result is an absolute delight ... and a marvelous way to close Acme's 30th anniversary season.

This show is fresh. It's fast-paced. It's funny.

And it's modern, with a fifth musketeer - D'Artagnan's sister - thrown into the mix.

What's not to like about a show heavy on swordplay? (I counted 19 sword fights in two hours!) Acme alum and professional fight choreographer Dan Renkin flew in from New York for a week, to build and polish the fights.

His efforts paid off: The kids obviously had a marvelous time on the Veterans' Memorial Stage opening night, engaging in each skirmish with considerable gusto.

Directors Emily Henderson and Allie Polubiec kept the action moving, with no lag time.

Delany Pelz and Alex May's lighting design greatly enhances the production. Hannah May and William Delacorte's set is minimal - a platform makes a sweeping arc around the stage - and so the lighting assumes even greater importance. The first appearance of the original three musketeers, silhouetted against a white backdrop, is extremely dramatic.

The cast includes some particularly good performances, starting with Jeremy Reinhard's Cardinal Richelieu, looking for all the world as if he just stepped out of some 17th century painting. Reinhard makes an excellent villain, as does his partner in crime, Milady (Hope Raymond), who revels in all her delicious wickedness.

Zach Salk also is wonderfully campy as King Louis XIII, pawn of Richelieu, who seems terribly inept and better suited to planning the castle meals than mounting any sort of attack.

The Musketeers give strong and individual performances. Andrew Lampinin is Athos, hiding a deep dark secret. Torin Lusebrink is Aramis, who believes that the ties of friendship are paramount. Antonio de Lorea-Brust is Porthos, the group's extrovert.

Matt Gibson plays D'Artagnan, raised by his father (Sam Wheeler) to be a musketeer, and now headed to Paris to join this select band. D'Artagnan also is placed in charge of his sister Sabine (Gigi Gilbert-Igelsrud), who is to be deposited in a Parisian convent.

Sabine, however, has other ideas. Apparently she's as good a swordsman as her brother - if not better - and isn't about to settle for being locked in some dull convent.

In the minor role of an innkeeper, Alex Clubb has a wonderful scene that I won't spoil by describing. It's a standout moment.

Margaret Starbuck, as the Mother Superior, has a similar brief moment: also handled beautifully.

Kudos to Hope Raymond and Alix Miller on the gorgeous costumes, which go far beyond what one would expect from a company of young people.

This rambunctious 'Three Musketeers' is a huge undertaking, with more than 30 actors, a dozen different settings and almost 100 crucial props. And those great sword fights.

Congratulations to the entire cast, on a job well done ... and to Renkin, for helping make a crucial element truly outstanding.

Oklahoma!

Lots of heels are being kicked up amid much whoopin' and hollerin' at the Wells Fargo Pavilion this week, as the Music Circus celebrates the American pioneering spirit with a production of 'Oklahoma!'

Based on Lynn Rigg's 1931 play, 'Green Grow the Lilacs,' 'Oklahoma!' was the first collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and its 1943 debut changed the course of American musical theater.

Evoking genuine emotion by integrating song and dance into a story hadn't been done before.

Thousands flocked to the theater, trying to get in, and the show ran for a then-unprecedented five years on Broadway (2,212 performances). It won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944. 'Oklahoma!' also was the first musical to have its score recorded (a common practice today).

The story is set in 1907 in the Oklahoma territory, during the days just before statehood, and tells the story of Curly, a cattleman, who's in love with Laurey, who lives on a farm with her Aunt Eller and the hired man, Jud Fry. The latter is the dark character who has his eye on Laurey, while she has her eye on Curly.

I must confess that I couldn't watch this production without thinking about hair. Both lead male actors - Jeremiah James (Curly) and Kevin Earley (Jud) - are outstanding, yet James has straight hair that looks like Prince Valiant, and a dark brooding face, while Earley seems young and earnest, and has a mop of curly hair.

The two could have switched roles, and it would have been much more believable.

Even during the ballet sequence toward the end of Act 1, dancer 'Curly' has short, straight hair while dancer 'Jud' has curls. (And dancer Jud also is much more believable as a surly, scary farmhand than Earley.)

Nit-picking? Maybe, but it was significant enough to bother me throughout the evening.

Hair aside, James gives a powerful performance as Curly. He has a strong, clear voice and an easy charm and bravado, all of which make it obvious why Laurey is so taken with him.

Laurey is played by Brandi Burkhardt; she's beautiful, feminine, coy and flirty with Curly, yet conflicted about her feelings. She also has a lovely soprano. We don't want to think about Laurey's character too deeply, since she rejects all of Curly's advances and then has her heart broken when he turns to another girl.

Call it one of this show's several 'does not compute' plot elements.

Burkhardt's dialogue was difficult to understand sometimes on opening night, perhaps because of the Music Circus sound system.

Kay Walbye's Aunt Eller is a tough old broad who has weathered the hard life of turn-of-the-20th-century Oklahoma. She deals with everyone in a sardonic if soft-hearted manner, though she's not above shooting a gun to get people's attention.

Heather Jane Rolff is a firecracker who explodes onto the stage as the zaftig, hormone-charged Ado Annie, who has 'known right from wrong since she was 10,' but still finds that she 'cain't say no' to any guy who sweet-talks her. Rolff is a delight, and she frequently steals the show.

Michael D. Jablonski plays Will Parker, hopelessly in love with Ado Annie but not overly bright: a man who rides bucking broncos in order to win $50 so he can marry the girl of his dreams, and then spends the money on gifts for her instead of bringing home the cash. Jablonski does an exuberant dance number in 'Kansas City,' describing all the wonderful new things he's seen on his trip there.

Amir Talai sets the perfect tone as Ali Hakim, the peddler who charms Annie until she decides to marry him and then, realizing that she's serious about this marriage business, must find a way to extricate himself.

Kevin Earley grows into the role of Jud Fry. Laurey fears him, but it's difficult to see why in Act 1; it becomes apparent only later, when he gives in to his rage.

Vanessa Sonon is annoyingly giddy in the brief role of Gertie Cummings, who also has her cap set for Curly. Ron Wisniski gives a solid performance as Pop Carnes, Annie's father.

If you've never seen 'Oklahoma!' - or even if you have - this Music Circus production is certain to please. Just don't look for a lot of logic in the plot ... or in the casting!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The Music Circus doesn't exactly have a 'cast of thousands' for its outstanding production of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,' but with 48 members of the Music Circus Junior Company for starters - along with a large adult cast - the play puts about 75 people on stage.

Director/choreographer Richard Stafford has chosen to present the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical closer to its original format than is generally seen.

Webber was only 19 years old when he was asked to write a piece for a local school choir, to sing during an Easter service. He asked his friend Tim Rice (then 22) to write the lyrics, and the two settled on the Genesis story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. As originally performed by those children, the work was only 15 to 20 minutes long.

After a number of additions, changes and performances by amateur companies, the full production of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' opened on Broadway in 1982.

The first Music Circus production of 'Joseph' appeared just one year later, in 1983, with Jimmy Osmond in the title role. (His brother Donny starred in the film version, made a few years later.)

Although 'Joseph' originally was written for a children's choir, that element wasn't added back into the play until the 1991 London Palladium production; a children's choir subsequently became a feature of the U.S. touring company. This 2010 Music Circus production is the first time the original musical score - with choir - has been presented in Sacramento.

Jennifer Paz, as the Narrator, starts the show off with the young people's chorus. Paz starred as Kim in the first national tour of 'Miss Saigon,' and she played both Cosette and Eponine in Broadway's 'Les Miserables.' She brings genuine sparkle to this role, and interacts well with the children. She's a real treasure.

Max von Essen reprises his title role performance from the 2003 Music Circus production of this play. He's a local favorite for his roles in 'Sweeney Todd,' 'Cabaret' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' and most recently was seen in Sacramento in the touring company of 'Xanadu.'

Once again, von Essen gives us a strong, commanding Joseph.

The story is the whimsical tale of Joseph, favorite son of Jacob (Paul Ainsley), who is singled out from his 11 brothers and given a colorful coat by his father.

His jealous siblings gang up on him, take away his coat and sell Joseph into slavery. The torn coat is dipped in sheep's blood, and Jacob is brought the sad tale of his son's demise.

Joseph becomes the slave of Potiphar (also played by Ainsley) until his wife (Naomi Kakuk) seduces the young slave, who then is thrown in jail. He then begins to interpret the dreams of the butler (Michael McGurk) and baker (Aguirre) employed by the Pharaoh (David Engel). Joseph's skill brings him to the attention of the Pharaoh himself, who also suffers from confusing dreams, and who appoints Joseph as his No. 2 man to get Egypt through an approaching drought.

That this grim tale could be told in such an entertaining manner is surprising. But with lyrics like 'And when Joseph tried it on, he knew his sheepskin days were gone,' how could it be anything but charming?

Joseph's brothers have some of the best musical numbers in the piece, especially the wild hoedown of 'One More Angel in Heaven' and the 'Benjamin Calypso' (which highlights Lain Gray's Judah).

Engel's Pharaoh makes a memorable entrance, and when he takes microphone in hand to sing ... well, he's a true 'king' in every possible sense of the word.

Richard Bay, who surely must be 120 years old by now, designed the animal puppets used in this production. I've enjoyed Bay's whimsical puppets for as long as I've lived in Davis, and was delighted to see his camel meandering across the stage.

Marcy Froehlich's costumes - particularly for Joseph's coat, the Pharaoh and his entourage, and the Las Vegas show girls - are outstanding.

The Music Circus has an ingenious arrangement of lifts to raise and lower various parts of the stage, at different points in time; the entire stage also can turn.

I haven't seen such an imaginative use of a lift system for a long, long time; this added greatly to the show.

'Joseph' never fails to delight, but this production delights a bit more than most.

Things that Fall from the Sky

What does a community theater do, when a scene that takes place at sunset requires a tree and a truck?

Most companies would get a carpenter to build an artificial tree, perhaps with some authentic-looking leaves, along with the shell of a truck, which performers or the tech crew move forward by foot power. The lighting designer would create as 'natural' a sunset as possible, given the equipment available.

While Barnyard Theater was preparing 'Unusual Epitaphs,' the first of three one-act plays running through July 31 at Schmeiser's Barn, the short piece called for a tree, a truck and a sunset. No problem. The show was scheduled to begin at sunset, and the audience is seated outside the barn, in front of a tree.

Harris (Josh van Eyken) sits beneath the tree as the play begins, and Laurie (Maddy Ryen) hops in an old truck down the road a piece, and drives it into the barnyard area and up to the tree.

It not only adds a touch of realism, it is real.

Rob Rinow's heartwarming story tells of a man with no roots who has decided he wants to be eaten by a bear. He has this desire because of a plaque on the tree: It honors Peter LeBeck, the town founder, who was eaten by a bear and - as a result - had a town named for him.

Harris wants that kind of immortality, and is willing to wait as long as it takes for a bear to come by. And eat him.

Laurie is a lonely security guard/tour guide/event planner who has been told to convince Harris to move on, by pointing out that bears haven't been seen in the area for years.

As the two chat in this tightly written little play, we learn a surprising amount about both characters. Van Eyken and Ryen are both likable actors who inhabit their characters well; as the sun begins to set and the play concludes, a bond has been forged.

The audience then 'transitions into the barn,' where a more traditional theater setting awaits.

Eva Konstantopoulos' 'Fly Me to the Moon' has a kind of O. Henry quality, with its story about a shop that sells memories. The play makes us question the value of memories - memories of things we've experienced ourselves, and those we wish we had experienced - and how far people are willing to go for those they love.

Louise (Ashley Bargenquast) and Frank (Bernie Goldsmith) are a married couple; they wander into the memory shop run by the Gift Shop Girl (Madelyn Ligtenberg). The memories are represented by a collection of helium balloons, which rest with weights on the floor. Each is tagged with a price and a description of the memory it holds.

Louise has come to look at the most special memory: a trip to the moon. That special balloon hangs on the wall, larger than all the rest; Louise is giddy as a schoolgirl, thinking about how wonderful it would be to close her eyes and 'remember' a trip to the moon whenever she desires.

The price of this memory, however, is way beyond Frank's means. As he watches his wife's disappointment, he struggles with a choice regarding this memory, and the possible consequences.

The absence of a delineated 'end' to this play was a bit disconcerting (especially since the start of the third and final piece, 'Things that Fall from the Sky,' was delayed on opening night, perhaps by technical problems).

Brenda Varda's 'Things that Fall from the Sky' tells of Melvia (Genevieve Whitman), a young dreamer who corresponded with the astronauts on the ill-fated Columbia, before that space shuttle exploded. Now she fears her beloved night sky, and is afraid of the great fiery things that might fall from it.

It's a story about love, grief and looking up at the stars.

I found it the least satisfying piece, perhaps because of problems with projection by the actors (and a squirmy man in front of me, whose chair squeaked so badly that it covered up much of the dialogue). Whitman is joined by Mike Sullivan, Timothy Smith, Diane Buttz, Sean Olivares, Maddy Ryen, Geoffrey Albrecht and the voice of Anthony Pinto.

That said, this play's conclusion is beautiful; it transitions nicely into an invitation for the audience to hang around and enjoy some actual star-gazing.

All three plays are helmed by new director Lindsay Carpenter, who embraced this monumental task with professionalism and talent.

I'm not sure why bows aren't taken after the individual plays; instead, the performers take a communal bow at the end of the evening.

'Things that Fall from the Sky: An Evening of Short Plays' is well worth a trek into the country.

Back in the Barnyard (Feature Article)

Barnyard Theater, the charming, quirky group that performs out at Schmeiser's Barn on Road 31 every summer, is back for its seventh season.

'It's exciting!' said co-founder Stephen Schmidt. 'It doesn't feel like seven years, but when I think of all the shows we've done, I realize it's a lot.'

Schmidt has directed everything in Barnyard's history until now, but is taking more of a backseat role this year.

'Lyndsay Carpenter is directing this time,' he said. 'As an organization, we're trying to do more and trying to have more people involved. We want lots of people filling lots of roles. Lindsay has been involved in Barnyard Theater since 'Galileo' in 2007, but this is the first time she has directed a full production.'

Carpenter has taken on an ambitious project for her directorial debut. This season, instead of offering the usual single play, the company is doing three new one-acts.

'I've been acting since I was 9 years old,' Carpenter said, 'mostly with the Davis Musical Theatre Company, but also with Acme and Barnyard Theater. I also did some high school productions. And last semester, at Tufts University, I directed a 10-minute piece.'

But there's a big difference between directing a 10-minute piece and directing three one-acts, she realizes.

'In the past, I showed up and was told what to do. Now I have to know what I'm doing. I have to be ready to make decisions. A lot more goes on than I ever realized. There've been challenges, but it's nice, because I'm not allowed to not come up with solutions. I have to work through them, because nobody else will.'

Carpenter's directorial debut is in keeping with the company's goal of promoting new talent in all sorts of roles, but still with a safety net of the old timers.

'I've been at most of the rehearsals, and I'm there to provide support and guidance,' Schmidt said. 'It's a cool relationship. I'm functioning more as an artistic director, which is new for me. I enjoy both the artistic and technical sides, but I really like it when I can combine the two and make them work together.

'One thing Barnyard Theater does well is have the tech crew support shows in ways that sometimes don't happen in other companies.'

Over the years, Barnyard Theater has used many interesting technical devices to add to the fun of their shows, perhaps the most memorable of which was during 2006's 'A Flag Touched the Ground.' Instead of having a scene change, the entire platform on which the audience was seated rotated, when it was time for a new scene.

Schmidt promises new tricks this year, as well, but won't go into detail so as not to ruin the surprise.

The decision to perform three plays instead of one came about in conference with company member and playwright Brian Oglesby, about how audiences rarely see fully produced short plays. Then, too, fresh challenges are involved.

'They don't take less production than a full-length play,' Schmidt said. 'We still have to create all the worlds. Production-wise, directing three short plays is the same as directing three long ones.'

The three original one-acts will make use of the unique performance space in and around the working barn, to tell stories about love, relationships and memories.

Rob Rinow's 'Unusual Epitaphs' - opening the evening's entertainment - is a 10-minute piece about a longtime traveler with no roots, who wants to be remembered for being eaten by a bear. He meets a lonely security guard/tour guide/shindig planner whose roots are too deep to break free.

'It's a really heartwarming piece that will start out in the arena outside the barn, facing west, just before sunset,' Schmidt explained. 'As the audience watches the piece, it'll end at sunset.'

Then, in the barn itself, Eva Konstantopoulos' 'Fly Me to the Moon' will present a husband and wife trying to buy themselves the perfect memory: a trip to the moon.

The evening's final play, Brenda Varda's 'Things That Fall From the Sky,' tells the story of Melvia, a young woman whose preoccupation with the Columbia space shuttle disaster changes her relationships with her astronaut brother and astronomer boyfriend.

'Unusual Epitaphs' and 'Things that Fall from the Sky' were read aloud during an earlier season of Barnyard Theater's 'Night of New Plays,' which the company presents each year as unstaged debuts.

Following the plays, audience members are invited to stay for star-gazing in the barnyard. Patrons are reminded to bring sweatshirts in case of chilly weather; bug spray will be provided. Parking at the barn is limited this year, so carpooling is strongly encouraged.

Curtain time is 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday and July 22-25, and 29-31. Advance tickets - $12 general, $8 students and seniors are available at (530) 574-1318 or http://www.barnyardtheatre.org. Tickets at the door will be $16 and $12.

Spamalot

Sacramento's Music Circus opened its 60th anniversary season Friday evening with the long-awaited 2005 Tony Award-winning “Spamalot,” the hilarious musical “lovingly ripped” from the 1975 smash hit motion picture, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

(The program is responsible for the “rip off” designation, although since the play is written by Eric Idle, an original Python, I'm not sure if that's exactly accurate!)

To confess a deep-dark secret, I wasn't a Monty Python fan, although I've seen odd bits here and there, and one or two of the films. But I never saw “Holy Grail,” nor did I memorize lots of favorite skits from the 45 television episodes. I barely know what the parrot sketch is.

So as I wandered through the halls of the Wells Fargo Pavilion, surrounded by people wearing T-shirts with Python quotes, and as the man in the seat next to me began laughing uproariously before the action on stage had really even begun, I wondered how a noncognoscenti would enjoy the show.

Well ... there's a lot to like, and even if you're not exactly liking it, just trying to figure out the frenetic action on stage will keep your mind occupied!

The plot, if it can be called that, traces King Arthur's search for the holy grail — the cup from the Last Supper — but at its core, this show is just two hours of cheap shots, fart jokes and lowbrow humor.

All of which the devoted audience absolutely loved.

The Historian (Steven Strafford) sets the scene with the precision of a weatherman: “In Guinard, Palace and Difford, plague. In the kingdoms of Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Kent, plague. In Mercia and the two Anglias, plague, with a 50 percent chance of pestilence and famine coming out of the northeast at 12 miles per hour.”

Following his announcement that this is “England,” the stage is filled with brightly costumed dancers singing about Finland. They hit each other with fish in the delightful “Finland/Fisch Schlapping Dance,” until the Historian reminds them that the setting is England, whereupon the dancers leave the stage, disappointed.

This pretty much sets up the type of tomfoolery to follow.

The actual story begins with the entrance of King Arthur — Tony Award winner Gary Beach, most recently seen on the Music Circus stage in last summer's “Guys and Dolls” — who announces his search for knights for his Round Table. Arthur, assisted by his sidekick Patsy (Andy Taylor), sets off on this quest; they encounter ridiculous setbacks along the way, riding nonexistent horses and using coconuts to make the noise of the clopping hoofbeats.

Director Glenn Casale has assembled a first-rate cast for all this silliness. Mika Duncan, playing Lancelot, is a veteran of the show's Broadway and Las Vegas productions. Steven Strafford, as Prince Herbert, also was part of the Las Vegas cast. Ron Bohmer, who recently starred on Broadway as “Father” in the revival of “Ragtime,” is Sir Galahad.

Ron Wisniski, a Music Circus favorite, is Sir Bedevere (the first of his four productions with Music Circus this summer).

The Lady of the Lake is played by the delicious Lesli Margherita, fresh from her award-winning performance in London's West End production of “Zorro.” Wearing a succession of beautiful gowns (costume design by Tim Hatley), Margherita is Idle's tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber, as she belts out arias like “The Song that Goes Like This”: “That's the trouble with this song/It goes on and on and on/For this is our song that is too long.”

Other nods to Broadway include “You Won't Succeed on Broadway” (“We won't succeed on Broadway if we don't have any Jews”) and a bottle dance from “Fiddler on the Roof.”

You'll also hear a song plucked from Monty Python's “Life of Brian” (“Always look on the bright side of life”).

Newbies like me may not have roared with laughter at the first “ni” uttered by the dreaded “Knights who say Ni,” but this show's pace is so fast that just about the time you're scratching your head, wondering why a given bit is funny, something else will have you guffawing.

“Spamalot” is a fun evening, with lots of laughs. Judging by what I saw around me, it'll more than satisfy all Python fans.

Same Job, New Stage

Peggy Shannon beamed at me over coffee at Starbucks.

“I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world,” she said ... and she meant it.

Shannon, artistic director of the Sacramento Theatre Company for the past 11 years — and a professor in UC Davis' theater and dance department — had reason to be happy. She recently signed a contract to become the chair of the Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto, described as “The Juilliard of Canada.”

Since its founding in 1971, the Ryerson Theatre School has produced hundreds of working actors, dancers, playwrights, choreographers, teachers, educators, directors, lighting and sound technicians, set and costume designers, stage managers and other theater professionals. Alumni work in stage, film, television, festivals, concerts, education, trade and industrial shows, as well as other venues in Canada, the United States and abroad.

Some continue with postgraduate studies or launch their own theater and dance ventures, companies, schools or festivals.

“Up to now, they've been very inwardly focused, to maintain the excellence of the curriculum,” Shannon explained. “Now they want to be externally focused, to build relationships with other theaters. That's exactly what I do, so it's going to be great.”

If Shannon has learned one thing during her time at STC, it's how to build relationships.

“The day after I got here, our then-president said 'By the way ... we didn't tell you, but we really need to design a new building.' ”

Shannon laughed.

“I spent my first few years in a wonderful partnership with California Musical Theatre, trying to raise money, figuring out naming rights and completely renovating the site. From where it began, to where it is today, is a difference of night and day.”

She also learned how to be an artistic director for the Sacramento community.

“It takes awhile to understand the aesthetic of a community: What do they like? This is an intelligent community, a discerning community. Our demographic is young and a little bit older, and they didn't want the really hard-hitting, cutting-edge stuff. They actually did want the classics.

“They like the diversity that I brought.”

Diversity has been the name of the game at STC, during Shannon's directorship: everything from Moliere to Patsy Cline, from “Noises Off” to a traditional “Othello” and a cowboy version of “The Taming of the Shrew.” She introduced audiences to the works of Indian playwright Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and African-American playwright August Wilson, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning “Pittsburgh Cycle” of 10 plays she hoped to bring to STC over the coming years, starting with last year's highly successful production of “Gem of the Ocean.”

“That legacy will live on,” she said.

Shannon's legacy also includes STC's School of Arts, which offers elementary, middle and high school students after-school and weekend training programs.

“When I first got here, we had lots of little classes and things, but with no guiding philosophy: just a hodge-podge. I spent about four years devising curriculum, and this is our school's eighth year.”

The Young People's Conservatory includes weekly master classes with renowned theater artists, a season of three shows and the opportunity to audition for age-appropriate roles in STC Mainstage productions.

“Kids Write Plays” is an intensive after-school program designed for elementary and middle schools; it incorporates theater games, writing exercises and performance to introduce local students to the world of theater, At the program's conclusion, students perform their works for teachers, family and friends. The program typically lasts at least six weeks.

Coming soon: a 10-month program that'll teach young people about technical theater, and another program that will focus on training for a career in musical theater.

Despite the economic downturn and the overall slow-down in subscribers — not only at STC, but at all theaters in the region — Shannon is proud to report that “fewer people are buying season subscriptions, but more people are buying single tickets. It's a different paradigm nationally.”

Clearly, Shannon is leaving behind a healthy, robust theater company. She will be succeeded by Matt K. Miller, familiar to STC patrons for his many acting and directing roles, not only at STC but at other area theaters.

“I'm really excited that it's Matt. He's so talented. I brought him here, nurtured him; it feels right and good. Our patrons know him; our parents and students know him; our staff knows him. It's a smooth transition.”

“The symmetry is nice,” Miller said. “I started here when Peggy did. I've had the opportunity all these years to be an actor and director. Peggy fostered my playwriting as well, and she helped me become a teacher.” (Miller teaches master classes at the Theater of Arts.)

“It feels natural and logical now, to bring it all to a leadership role. It's a nice succession, as a culmination of our friendship.”

Miller has not been given the job permanently.

“It's de rigueur to do a national search for a job like this,” he explained, “but the board has made it clear to me that my hat is definitely in the ring, and they're willing to consider me for the permanent position.”

As for Shannon, she's in Greece at the moment, leading her UC Davis Summer Abroad program, a four-week “theater retreat” where students study ancient Greek theater, music and dance. This is the 10th year for the program, which originally was offered under the auspices of STC.

After that, Shannon and her daughter will move into a “tiny, tiny apartment” in Toronto, while her husband and son stay in their home in Sacramento.

“It will be an adventure,” she admitted. “It'll be tough, but everybody in my family seems excited and supportive. We all know it's going to be a hardship in some ways.”

Looking back over Shannon's accomplishments during the past 11 years, one certainly believes that the temporary hardship will be worth it: The Ryerson Theatre School will benefit greatly from Shannon's expertise, and from her love of and enthusiasm for her chosen career.

Crazy for You

When 'Crazy for You' opened on Broadway in 1992, New York Times critic Frank Rich said it was '...the moment at which Broadway finally rose up to grab the musical back from the British.'

He went on to describe the show as 'the American musical's classic blend of music, laughter, dancing, sentiment and showmanship, with a freshness and confidence rarely seen during the 'Cats' decade.'

With music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, both of whom died before this show was developed, one could hardly call 'Crazy for You' a 'new' show, musically. But Ken Ludwig, who wrote the book, nonetheless described it as a 'new Gershwin musical comedy,' and Broadway fell in love with it.

The play was nominated for nine Tony Awards - winning three, including best musical and best choreography - and eight Drama Desk Awards (winning two, again best musical and best choreography).

Davis Musical Theatre Company is closing out its 25th season with a gala production of 'Crazy for You': a show that pulls out all the stops, with a cast of 33 and an orchestra of 19.

The near-capacity opening night audience laughed, cheered and applauded long and loud throughout the show; clearly, everybody was having the time of their lives.

The story is very loosely based on the 1930 musical, 'Girl Crazy' - made into a perfect movie vehicle for Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in 1943 - although enough plot elements have been changed, and enough additional Gershwin songs added, to make this a show unto itself, with only faint echoes of what went before.

Bobby Child (Joseph Boyette), the spoiled son of a rich banking family, has no interest in banking and only wants to get into show business. He's trying to audition for the famous Bela Zangler (Mike Ball, playing an obvious reference to Florenz Ziegfeld). Alas, the showman is underwhelmed by Bobby's talents, and his mother (Dannette Vasser) insists that he give up his dream of stardom and settle down into the family business.

She sends him off to Deadrock, Nev., to foreclose on a rundown theater.

Boyette is a gem, and he brings great energy and sparkle to the role. In one scene, at a bar in Deadrock, you'd swear he was channeling Mickey Rooney, so perfect are his body movements.

Vasser is a powerhouse, and clearly the matriarch of the Child family.

Once in Deadrock, Bobby immediately falls in love with Polly Baker (Danielle Hansen), whose father owns the theater that is scheduled for foreclosure. Hansen is very sweet, although she lacks the lungs to give the role a lot of oomph. Still, she and Boyette play well off of each other.

The villain of the piece is Lank Hawkins (Nick Thompson), who owns the saloon adjacent to the theater and has his eye on expanding. He's also sweet on Polly, and sees Bobby as a threat to both plans.

Nine 'Follies girls' are led by Tess (Wendy Young), on whom Zangler has his eye; they're joined by 10 cowboys/miners. Of these, Moose (Kyle Hadley) is a genuine crowd pleaser, especially when he takes to the bass with 'Slap that Bass.'

Director Ron Cisneros also handles the outstanding choreography, which boasts several lively tap dance numbers. The chorus girls, resplendent in costumes designed by Denise Miles, glitter up the stage beautifully.

That said, this isn't a perfect production. While the 19-piece orchestra is nice, the musicians aren't always on pitch. A trio of cowboys struggled with their own pitch, especially in 'Bidin' My Time,' and Friday's opening night performance suffered from a few technical glitches.

Overall, though, this delightful production is a perfect way to end the season.

Shear Madness

Is “Shear Madness,” the new offering at Sacramento’s Cosmopolitan Cabaret (replacing “My Way,” the Sinatra show), a bad play, or a very good cabaret show? Well...yes to both. Seen as a play, even a comedy, it’s not very good. It’s full of eye-rollingly bad/good puns, situations where the actors break each other up frequently, excessively loud delivery, and a plot that has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

But as a cabaret show, it’s great. It involves lots and lots of audience participation, and the gang in the cabaret audience on opening night seemed to be having a wonderful time and laughing uproariously.

There’s no doubting, however, that it truly is sheer madness.

The show dates back to 1976 when Bruce Jordan discovered a German play called “Scherenschnitt,” by Paul Pörtner, which had been written to use as a study of how people perceive or misperceive reality.

Jordan was intrigued by the concept of the script and suggested that he and writing partner Marilyn Abrams stage the play at a dinner theater in New York. The play continued to evolve for two years until they finally brought it to Boston, where it began a thirty year run, 23 years at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and other record-breaking productions all over the country.

The plot, such as it is, is part script, and a lot ad lib, so that the lines blur and it’s hard to tell if the characters are breaking up because of something unexpected another actor did, or if it’s written into the script. Unlike improv, where the actors must invent entire scenes and characters from audience suggestions, these actors perform short vignettes, based on responses they get from the audience. One has the feeling that there is a repertoire of responses to every conceivable audience comment and jokes are performed with good comic timing.

The script is riddled with both local and timely social and political references (though they need to update their reference to “Desperate Housewives,” as it appears to be a season or two old).

The setting is a midtown beauty salon and the characters are as stereotypical as you can get. The owner of the salon is Tony Whitcomb (Neil A. Casey), who is Very Gay; the dumb hairdresser is Barbara DeMarco (Lindsey Alley), the snooty matron is Mrs. Eleanore McClatchy Shubert (Jamie J. Jones), the suspicious Brit is Eddie Lawrence (Lol Levy) and the two police officers (who know a surprising amount of information about everything even before they begin their investigation) are Mikey Thomas (Ryan Pratton) and Nick O’Brien (Gary Alan Wright).

The never seen Isabel Cheney is Tony’s landlady. She’s an aging concert pianist (“she played at the Firehouse in Old Sac when it was just Sac”) about to stage a come-back, despite a terrible breakdown she suffered during a concert many years ago. She appears to have had some sort of problem with every character in the play, so predictably, Isabel is murdered and everybody is a suspect.

A good portion of the first act is spent eliciting information from the audience, to see how much they remember of what happened up to the point of the murder. There is opportunity for the audience to question the cast at intermission and the revelation of the murderer is dependent on audience vote, so there are four possible endings and the show may change each night.

The real secret is that whodunnit doesn’t really matter. It’s the journey of discovery that is at the heart of this comedy and if the audience gets into the spirit of the thing, it can be a very enjoyable journey indeed.

“Shear Madness” is a zany evening of fluff and laughter and sure to please the audience. Be advised that table service for drinks and snacks, which has been available for all shows prior to this one, seems non-existent this time, so if you want something to eat or drink at your table, buy it on the way in.

Hunter Gatherer

It’s time for the annual dinner that Bay Area foodies Richard and Pam (Cassidy Brown and Kelley Ogden) are throwing for long-time friends Tom (Jonathan Rys Williams, who also directs) and Wendy (Katie Rubin) to celebrate their mutual anniversaries. This year lamb is on the menu.

There’s only one little problem – the lamb (Carl is his name) isn’t dead yet.

And thus starts the hilarious dark comedy of “Hunter Gatherers” by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, currently running at Capitol Stage.

Richard, a gourmet cook, needs to raise the bar each year at these dinners. Last year he cooked a turducken (chicken inside a duck inside a turkey) and this year he’s slaughtering a lamb, trying to follow the directions in his “Joy of Cooking,” which indicate that the very best lamb should be “as the blood has just stopped. Caught in the muscles. Swishing. Unsure. ‘Where do I go now,’ it wonders?”

Richard needs Pam’s assistance as the two lean into the box toward the unseen, but apparently resisting lamb. “The holder,” he tells her, “calms the lamb, much like a mother calms her babe. A soft caress, a scratch on the nose, stories of magic and happiness softly cooed into the ear steady the throat and relax the soul to help assure a clean cut.”

It’s such a great visual, that without any sight of lamb or blood, the audience is repulsed again and again, while all the while convulsed at the hilarity of the scene.

Character personalities are established very early. The decor of Pam and Richard’s apartment immediately puts us in a jungle-type motif, which perfectly complements Richard’s cave-man attitude about killing the food he is about to eat. Pam seems the exact opposite, a timid thing, appalled by the thought of actually killing a lamb, but falling into and participating in Richard’s fantasy.

Brown and Ogden are both making their Capital Stage debuts in this production and each is outstanding. Brown is bigger than life, striding about the stage making his he-man statements, while Ogden, who has the biggest eyes ever is at once repulsed by his ideas, but head over heels in love with him. She’s a great physical comedienne.

The doorbell rings and Wendy arrives, full of anger, stating that Tom is parking the car. She explains that she is still suffering “some residual road rage from the car” and adds that some of their worst moments as a couple are in the car.

Rubin is deliciously over the top as Wendy, earthy, sensual, and so much more attuned to Richard than Pam. She is positively orgasmic in her description of his cooking and in the reaction to the smell of Carl baking there in the kitchen. There is an obvious spark between Wendy and Richard, which we just know is going to explode later in the evening.

When Tom arrives, he is a Caspar Milquetoast-esque man, uncomfortable in his body, and still in the throes of his argument(s) with Wendy. There is great rivalry between Tom and Richard, an annual physical besting of Tom by Richard, which Richard sees as a contest, and Tom does not.

Wendy and Richard are the hunters, while Pam and Tom are the gatherers and the evening progresses in the best tradition of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” with some surprising revelations and some not so surprising revelations during the course of the evening. And what happens to poor Carl shouldn’t happen to...a lamb.

Steve Decker gets high marks for his opulent set and lighting design, which put us in mind of an African savannah before the action starts, all nicely complemented by Brad Thompson’s lush sound design.

Hunter Gatherers is a delightful evening sure to leave everyone laughing.