Midsummer Night's Dream

If you’re looking for something to do for entertainment on one of these late summer nights, why not get yourself over to the UC Davis Arboretum Gazebo and take in the fun production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”? This is the fifth production of the no-longer-fledgling Davis Shakespeare Ensemble.

Even if you are familiar with this Shakespeare comedy, I think you will find the setting and the theme of this production, directed by Rob Salas, surprising. It is a loving salute to the bicycle.

“Without a doubt, bicycles make Davis unique. What has fascinated us about bikes is not just their presence in Davis or their convenience, but something deeper,” the program notes say. “We are inspired by the thriving culture and sense of community that comes from a town that embraces bikes. We are inspired by their mechanics, which still seem magical amidst today’s advanced technology.”

Bicycle pieces adorn the posts of the gazebo, bicycle tires are strung together to create a ladder to the crawl space above the stage, and characters make their entrances either riding or pushing all sorts of wheeled vehicles, from scooters to clunker bicycles, to specially designed cycles. (Special thanks are given to The Davis Bike Collective and The Bike People.)

Since there is no specific set designer listed in the program, this was obviously a collaborative effort, and very successful.

Local artist Rebecca Portney is credited with “more intricate props,” including the figure of the young Indian Prince kidnapped by Titania, Queen of the fairies (Jessica Spaw, who also plays Hyppolyta, betrothed to Theseus, the Duke of Athens).

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” tells several stories, each of which occurs during a single summer night in a magical forest outside Athens, in which fairies play pranks on lovesick mortals, and earnest youths endure comical romantic confusion.

(There is a bit of confusion for the audience as well, since the cast has chosen to rearrange scenes, putting a scene between Oberon and Titania as the opening scene, rather than later in the play.

(“We moved the scenes around to set a precedent for the use of bike parts, the importance of the magical fairy world, and to get the feel for why Titania and Oberon are fighting,” explains Steph Hankinson. “Usually we feel that this gets lost in the action of the play and with the ‘changeling child’ never being a physical presence.”

The cast of this show numbers nine, with most actors playing two or three parts. The exception is Robert Williamson, playing the slow-witted Bottom, head of the bike mechanics, rehearsing a play in the woods to later present to Theseus (Rob Salas, who also plays Oberon, the king of the fairies).

Williamson is a terrible actor. But that’s OK, because he’s supposed to be and one must be a pretty good actor to portray the character of a believably terrible actor. Bottom is later turned into a donkey by the mischievous fairy Puck (Gia Battista) and I won’t even begin to describe his donkey costume. It must be seen to be believed. It is definitely in keeping with the bicycle theme; kudos to costume designer Caitlin Cisek, who outdid herself on that one!

Battista (also playing Philostrate, charged with organizing entertainment for the Duke’s wedding) is a less playful Robin Goodfellow (“Puck”) than many, but still manages to create enough mayhem for everyone.

The ever-solid Hankinson (who also plays Quince, the mechanic and Cobweb the fairy) is Egeus, who brings daughter Hermia (Brianna Owens) to the court of Theseus, asking that the Duke convince her to marry Demetrius (Jose Cagigal, also playing the mechanic Snout and Peaseblossom), her mother’s choice for her daughter.

(Owens is adorable as Hermia, and yet changes character completely in her roles as the mechanic Starveling and one of the fairies. It’s a very talented performance.)

Headstrong Hermia, however, is in love with Lysander (Will Klundt, also playing mechanic Flute and Mustardseed).

To confuse matters even further, Hermia’s best friend Helena (Erika Haaland, also mechanic Snug and Moth) is in love with Demetrius, who can’t stand her because he is in love with Helena. The plot is confusing enough itself, without having actors play multiple roles! However, thanks to ingenious costuming by Cisek, somehow it all works, and works well.

Puck, trying to carry out his master Oberon’s orders, confuses things and it results in all the wrong people falling in love with all the wrong people. Mayhem and merriment ensue, but all gets sorted out at the end.

The mechanics finally get to put on their play, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which is worthy of any slapstick comedy you may have seen. It’s hilarious. My favorite costume was that of Snout, who plays the wall with a “chink,” through which the star-crossed lovers communicate. Brilliant bit of costume choice!

This production works on so many different levels. The costumes and scenery are a big hit, but the play would go nowhere without the work of nine very talented actors. Do yourself a favor and see this show before it ends Oct. 2.

The King and I

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” directed by Steve Isaacson and choreographed by Michael Miilar, was the show that closed out Davis Musical Theatre Company’s run at the Varsity Theatre in 2005. A beautiful new production, directed and choreographed by Jan Isaacson, is opening DMTC’s 27th season.

Right off the bat, I give failing marks to the audience, most of whom rudely talked among themselves throughout the overture. Even though the lights in the theater were not turned down until the end, the orchestra, which was quite good, deserves better than this!

The sets, by Steve Isaacson, are based on the design by Juan Ramos (who also played the King in that 2005 production). They are gorgeous, particularly the King’s bedroom, which is spectacular. The combination of the warm colors in the set and the warm lighting design (by Isaacson and Dannette Vassar) makes for a very inviting setting on which to place the story.

In previous productions of this musical — a subtext to the story of Anna Leonowens, the widow who comes to Siam with her young son to become teacher to the children of Siam’s beloved King Mongkut — there’s a sense of sexual tension, as the relationship between Anna and the King develops. This is particularly evident in the jealousy the king shows toward Anna’s friendship with British Envoy Sir Edward Ramsey (Gabriel Jacobo) and the dance between the King and Anna following the banquet held in Ramsey’s honor.

The decision to cast an older actress as Anna removes that sexual tension and leaves the way open to explore the professional relationship between the protagonists. Chris Cay Stewart has a lovely voice and beautifully portrays the relationship between herself and the King’s court (especially the children), and the on-again, off-again friendship with the King. Her age also makes for a more poignant and beautiful reminiscence as she sings “Hello, Young Lovers,” remembering her marriage to her husband, Tom.

Mark Suarze is a strong, vibrant King, straddling the fence between long-held cultural beliefs and his desire to move Siam into the modern age. He is powerful in his emotional numbers, particularly “A Puzzlement,” where he questions what he knows, what he should know and what he knows nothing about, but should.

Anna’s son, Louis, is played by William Chan, a talented young actor who could give lessons to many in the cast about projection, as his dialog was crystal-clear at all times. Sadly, that could not be said of Larry Lipman, playing the captain of the ship that brought the Leonowens to Siam. I never heard a word he said, and he also seemed to stumble over his lines as well.

Lenore Sebastian plays Lady Tiang, the King’s First Wife and the mother to Prince Chulalongkorn (Horace Gonzales), who is heir to his father’s throne. Sebastian is a wise and loving wife and that voice of hers is as warm and delicious as melted butter.

The lovers Tuptim (Lydia Smith), gift of the King of Burma to the King of Siam, and her escort Lun Tha (Kevin Foster), were very sweet. Smith has a lovely voice in her lower register, but loses it somewhat in her higher notes. Foster, however, has an amazing voice and showed it at its best.

Adam Sartain is an imposing Kralahome, the principal guard of the King, wary of anything that might upset either his boss or the long-held traditions of the court.

Tuptim’s theatrical performance of “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” was a real highlight of the evening and was danced beautifully by Shannon Mo, Kimmie Ruanto, Allison Ruanto, Rachel Pinto, Natalie Mo and Anthony Swaminathan. Jenny Plasse, who plays “poor Eliza,” deserves special notice, as she was quite good.

Of course, “The King and I” would not be as popular were it not for the King’s children, each one cuter than the other: Jenny Chen, Naomi Debello, Amaralyn Ewey, Cedric Hughes, Emma Kehr, Lily Linaweaver, Elena Lipman, Natalie Mo, Jihan Moon, Jimin Moon,Keri Ruanto, Kimmie Ruanto and Anthony Swaminathan.

DMTC’s 27th season is off to a good start.

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.

I Do! I Do!

In 1966 Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (the guys who wrote “The Fantasticks”) wrote a little two-person show to celebrate marriage. It was based on the Jan de Hartog play, “The Fourposter” and was called “I Do! I Do!” It starred Mary Martin and Robert Preston. The show ran for 560 performances and received seven Tony nominations, including the Best Actor award for Preston.

It was revived in an off-Broadway production in 1996 and has become popular with regional theaters, including 22 years (7,645 performances) at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater in Minnesota, from 1971 to 1993 (the actors who starred as the married couple through the run of the show, got married themselves 18 months into the production).

So it’s not surprising to find “I Do! I Do!” as the penultimate production for the 2011 Music Circus season, though somewhat surprising to find that it has not been performed here since 1979.

The story consists of a series of vignettes following Agnes and Michael from their wedding in 1898 through their 50-year marriage until they leave their family home in the 1940s.

Playing Michael and Agnes in this production are real man and wife (of 24 years) Matthew Ashford and Christina Saffran Ashford, both of whom have lengthy Broadway and off-Broadway credentials (Matthew will be familiar to soap opera fans as Jack Devereaux in NBC’s “Days of Our Lives.”) Both give excellent performances, he as the self-absorbed aspiring writer, she as the long-suffering housewife and mother, though the love for and care about each other shines through any slight negativity that may rear its ugly head.

The story begins on the wedding night for the virginal couple, dealing with “first time” jitters, handled adroitly and without need for explanation with the two songs “Goodnight” and, after a brief blackout, the exuberant “I love my wife.”

Then, in quick succession the couple go through pregnancy, birth, another birth, infidelity, the empty-nest syndrome, marriage of their children, Agnes’ “finding herself” and the continuing advancement into their older years.

Scenic designers Scott Klier and Jamie Krumpf, costume designer Leon Wiebers, and director Will Mackenzie have worked together beautifully to get the actors from their youth to their old age, with most costume changes occurring in view of the audience, through use of several interesting devices. Costumes which are able to morph into other costumes with the addition or subtraction of a coat or scarf, and all in complementary colors work to achieve the desired effect. The final transition is particularly clever.

While in general the music, though pleasant, isn’t anything special, there are a couple of stand-out numbers. One is the song which became a popular hit, “My cup runneth over.” But lesser known songs would include the energetic “Flaming Agnes,” as Agnes defiantly dons an expensive feathered hat and begins to feel her oats.

Another would be the more quiet, reflective, and sweet “Where are the snows?” as the couple begins to settle into middle age. And you can’t forget “When the kids get married,” which has Agnes playing the violin and Michael playing the trumpet (both badly) as they celebrate the approaching empty nest and what they will do when they have it.

“I Do! I Do!” looks at an idealized view of marriage, one which has its ups and downs, but no real external problems (they seem to have enough money, the kids don’t seem to cause many problems, nobody has substance abuse problems — this is no “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”).

If there is a message here, it is that “marriage is a very good thing, though it’s far from easy.”

Annie Get Your Gun

Yeehaw!! Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show are back in town!

It has been 11 years since Annie Oakley and Frank Butler held a shooting match at Music Circus, but Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun” is this week’s production, directed by Gary John La Rosa, and it is loads of fun.

Berlin’s score is filled with familiar gems like “Anything You Can Do,” “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun,” “They Say It’s Wonderful” and, of course, the iconic “There’s No Business like Show Business.”

If you are “of a certain age” and remember seeing an early stage version, or the movie starring Betty Hutton, this may not be the “Annie” that you remember. At some point it was revised to make it more politically correct, taking out anything that might be construed as offensive to Native Americans.

So, gone is the number “I’m An Indian, Too” and the ceremony to make Annie Oakley a member of the Sioux tribe, but what’s left gives more dignity to Sitting Bull.

This is, of course, the fictionalized story of Annie Oakley and her relationship with her soon-to-be-husband, sharpshooter Frank Butler, under the auspices of Buffalo Bill’s traveling show.

Music Circus newcomer Beth Malone is a superlative Annie, a wild, illiterate, backwoods girl taking care of her young siblings by shooting local animals and trying to sell them to local restaurants. Over the course of the show, she grows into a mature woman, sure of herself and the equal of Butler, in every way.

Edward Watts, also a Music Circus newcomer, is everything one would want in a Frank Butler. Tall, handsome, virile, charming, but with an exaggerated opinion of himself that makes him aggravating. With a strong baritone voice, his duets with Annie are wonderful, but in his solo, “My Defenses Are Down,” he comes into his own.

Annie has never seen anything quite like this guy and is smitten from the first time she looks into his eyes. The two actors play well off of each other and their on-again, off-again relationship is believable.

The always-satisfying Ron Wisniski (seen earlier this season as Fagin in “Oliver!”) is a bombastic Buffalo Bill, bigger than life as he struggles to find a way to keep his show in the black.

Paul Ainsley is a sardonic Sitting Bull, who has a special soft spot in his heart for Annie and makes her his adopted daughter.

Annie’s siblings are adorable. Haley Finerman as Jessie, Rachel Finerman as Nellie, and cute little Zac Ballard (I hope he gets the chance to play Winthrop Paroo in “Music Man” before he gets much bigger!) are professional kids who do a great job with “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly,” but they don’t become cloyingly cute.

Heather Lee is a brazen Dolly Tate, Frank’s assistant, who has no love lost for Annie.

The young lovers, Michael D. Jablonski as Tommy Keeler and Jill Townsend as Winnie Tate, are adorable.

The opening “No Business Like Show Business” displays the lively choreography of John Macinis, which is such a big part of the success of this show. The high-kicking dances at the Hotel Brevoort are particularly enjoyable.

This is a delightful little package that obviously was a crowd pleaser, since the Wells Fargo Pavilion had more filled seats than any other opening night this season. Nobody left disappointed.

Two Acme Shows

I am so glad that Acme Theatre’s summer show is in the Veterans’ Memorial Theater … no need to endure the heat of a Davis evening!

This year’s summer show is actually two one-act plays. “Shane of Third Street” was specially written for Acme by alum Brian Daniel Ogelsby (Acme ’02) and directed by Ryan Lagerstrom (Acme ’09) who, we are told, “took a break from directing films and took on the challenge of telling a story live.”

The lines of fantasy and reality blur in this story of Shane, a misfit living on Third Street in a run-down section of town. Alex Clubb gives a powerful performance as a young man whom we first meet preparing for a swordfight with Lord Pain (Nick Mead). No program credit is given for the choreography of the swordfights in the play, but they were staged beautifully.

We learn that Lord Pain is a figment of Shane’s imagination as he prepares for the Bakersfield Renaissance Fair. Other characters come in and out of Shane’s present and become part of his fantasy. Particularly good are Roxanne McNally as the Queen and Callie Miller, as Shane’s sister, Marie.

Mead, who is a menacing Lord Pain, becomes part of Shane’s real life and gives the young man the opportunity to make the sort of choices that a true knight would be expected to make.

Emmett Barnes makes a brief, but memorable appearance as the young dinosaur and the tech crew gets high marks for special effects.

After some delicious local strawberries with whipped cream, we were ready for the second play, “The Secret in the Wings,” written by Mary Zimmerman and directed by artistic director Emily Henderson and Maddy Ryen (Acme ’05). It is described as “seven dark fairy tales interwoven in a kaleidoscope of fractured story telling.” Fractured is putting it mildly.

The story opens with mother (Hannah Nielsesn) and Father (Will Kingscott), who must be the absolute worst parents in the world, going off for the night and leaving daughter Heidi (Gigi Gilbert-Igelsrud) in the care of the creepy Mr. Fitzpatrick (Antonio de Loera-Brust), of whom Heidi is deathly afraid (“He’s an ogre!”) and who clomps about the stage like Bella Lugosi, with a very long, very thick tail.

Mr. Fitzpatrick immediately asks Heidi to marry him, as he does before each of the fairy tales he begins to read to her.

Zimmerman’s fairy tales make the original Grimm stories positively Pollyanna-ish. In one, the eyes of three princesses are removed and they are banished to the desert, where two of them turn to cannibalism.

In another, a princess who hasn’t laughed in years agrees to let the men of the kingdom try to get her to crack a smile, but only on the condition that if she does not smile, the unsuccessful men will be beheaded.

In a third, a princess is resurrected by her loving husband, but rather than rewarding him for bringing her back to life, she takes to the arms of another man.

And so it goes.

Each fairy tale is told until it reaches its most climatic moment and then it ends abruptly without the conclusion being read and the next story starts. At the end of the seventh story, the tales begin to be completed, in backward order, until all conclusions have been reached.

The cast for this play numbers about 30 and many actors play several roles. Many are worthy of special mention, especially Clubb (back from “Shane of Third Street”) as the father of “The Princess Who Wouldn’t Laugh”; (Kashmir Kravitz also gets special mention for doing a good job in the title role). Deanna Gee performs the silent part of “Silent for Seven Years” stoically.

De Loera-Brust is suitably scary as the Ogre, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Gilbert-Igelsrud handles the role of Heidi, who bridges several of the stories, quite well.

Directors Henderson and Ryen keep things moving and visually interesting. Of particular note is “Silent for Seven Years, or The Seven Swans,” which includes a beautifully choreographed group of swans.

This delightful pairing of plays gives a solid evening of entertainment (and don’t forget to try the strawberries at intermission!)

Camelot

Whether you are speaking historically, theatrically or politically, the word “Camelot” conjures up a special time, a special magic.

Music Circus’ current production — its first in the Wells Fargo Pavilion, the previous production of “Camelot” having played in the old tent in 2002 — does not disappoint and hits all the right magical points throughout.

For starters, there is Davis Gaines as Arthur, the unexpected king who is poised on the brink of greatness, but still needs to turn to his friend, the magician Merlin (Time Winters) for advice.

Gaines, with a hefty biography including more than 2,000 performances as the Phantom in “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, is an unforgettable Arthur. He neatly balances the uncertainty of a fledgling king with the nobility of a king who is reaching his full potential. His is an Arthur to rival Richard Burton’s, though he has a much better voice.

A newcomer to Music Circus is Lisa O’Hare as Guinevere, the princess brought to Camelot to marry the king in a trade agreement. She’s angry about the her “youth being sold” and afraid she will never have the “simple joys of maidenhood.”

“Shall two knights never tilt for me
and let their blood be spilt for me?
Oh where are the simple joys of maidenhood?”

O’Hare has an elfin charm about her that makes her mesmerizing. There is a special charisma with Gaines that makes it almost impossible to understand how she could be drawn away from the king to an attraction with Lancelot.

The story follows the reign of the idealistic Arthur, who develops the idea of the Round Table, a guild of Knights, that would promote justice and use strength for purposes of good — might for right, rather than might makes right (i.e., no more whacking the heads off peasants just for the fun of it).

One of the knights answering the call is Lancelot du Lac (Sean Hayden), a pompous, self-adulating Frenchman who desires only to serve the great King Arthur. He’s confident, almost swaggering, and his quest for inner perfection to go with his physical prowess annoys everyone, especially Guenevere, who bribes three of the best knights to joust with him.

When Lancelot surprises everyone by winning the jousts and mortally wounding (and then bringing back to life) one of the three, the queen begins to see him in a different light and falls in love with him.

Shannon Stoke is Arthur’s illegitimate son Mordred, determined to destroy Arthur’s dreams for a world of laws. He’s a spoiled, bitchy young man whom Stoke played to the hilt; Stoke enjoyed a chorus of boos at the curtain call.

Time Winters is the wise Merlin in the opening scene, the magician who lives life backwards and is able to help Arthur because he can “remember the future” and knows what is coming. But, alas, he is spirited away by the spell of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake (Karen Culliver), leaving Arthur to his own devices.

Winters returns as the delightfully befuddled, eccentric Pellinore, who has been roaming the lands for 18 years looking to fight “the beast.”

(Culliver also returns as Guinevere’s best friend, Lady Anne.)

“Camelot” is the story of honor, of love, of friendship, of betrayal, of remorse and of honor again, as Lancelot and Guinevere deal with their love for each other and their mutual love for Arthur, whom they do not wish to hurt.

Arthur also must deal with his love for his wife and his best friend, but sets thoughts of revenge aside following their betrayal, because he still loves them both and would rather see them happy together than to lose them completely.

In the end, nobody wins.

But it is young Tom of Warwick (Alex Greenlee) who saves the day. He is a lad who has heard tales of the work of the round table and who was inspired to come and serve. Arthur realizes it is Tom who will carry his message to a new generation, and perhaps his work will not have been in vain after all.

Glenn Casale has directed a beautiful production, made more enchanting by the costumes, especially for Guinevere. The costume designer is listed as Mark Koss, with a notation that the original costumes were designed by Marcy Froehlich, with additional costumes designed and built by the Utah Festival Opera. It’s not clear who gets the credit for Guinevere’s costumes, but they were outstanding.

This is a beautiful, memorable production for Music Circus.

Anything Goes

It is no surprise that “Anything Goes,” the 1934 musical with words and music by Cole Porter, continues to be revived nearly 80 years after its Broadway debut. It has more Porter hits — songs that have become American musical classics — than any of his other works, all neatly packaged into one two-hour show.

You have the title song, one of the best love ballads (“All Through the Night”), a sexy torch song (“I Get a Kick Out of You”), a song filled with wonderful rhyming pairs (“You’re the Top”) and a Sunday-go-to-meetin’ showstopper (“Blow, Gabriel, Blow”) just for starters.

The show itself is so perfect that all Music Circus director and choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge really had to do was to get a bunch of actors who could follow direction and carry a tune and she’d have a hit on her hands.

But no, she did much more. She got a first-rate cast that takes this show out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.

The indomitable Vicki Lewis plays big, brassy nightclub evangelist Reno Sweeney. a role originally written for Ethel Merman. Porter actually gave almost all the dynamite songs to Merman, so Lewis had big shoes to fill and filled them beautifully. She smolders in “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and belts out the title song, “You’re the Top” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” with a voice that is to die for.

Reno is in love with Billy Crocker (David Elder), but Billy has his heart set on debutante Hope Harcourt (Natalie Cortez). Hope is about to board a ship with her mother (Anita Flanagan) and Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (John Scherer), whom she plans to marry on their way to Europe.

Billy stows away on the ship, in the hopes of winning Hope back.

Also on the ship are criminals Public Enemy #13, Moonface Martin (Jason Graae), and his companion, the sailor-happy Erma (Melissa Fahn).

It is the thinnest of plots, in which a bunch of silly characters deliver dated gag lines, while sorting out various shipboard romances, mistaken identities and absurd misunderstandings. The whole point seems to be to get from song to song, but really, that is sufficient reason.

Elder, making his Music Circus debut, is handsome and winning as stockbroker Billy, with leading-man charisma and a voice as smooth as butter.

As Moonface Martin, Graae turns in one of those performances that will stay with you for a long time. His body twitches are hilarious.

Cortez is a sweet Hope, in love with Billy, but feeling she must marry Lord Evelyn in order to save her mother from bankruptcy.

Scherer is properly stuffy as Lord Evelyn, but gets a chance to cut loose in Act 2 with the delightful “The Gypsy in Me.” He also reveals a deep secret from his past, which is a plot turner.

Kevin Cooney is delightful as Billy’s perpetually inebriated boss, Wall Street Kingpin Elisha Whitney, who is in love with Hope’s mother.

A sub-plot concerns a couple of Chinese men, who have been converted to Christianity by the Rev. Henry T. Dobson (Michael Jablonsky), who is arrested early in the show in a case of mistaken identity, leaving the Chinese men (Billy Bustamante and Peter King Yuen) to fend for themselves, which they do by returning to their gambling ways.

The dancing in this show is spectacular, with scenery changes woven into the numbers, several turns for small groups of dancers and a terrific tap number for everyone as the finale to the first act.

Sets are minimal, with parts of the ship suggested by a fence here, a porthole there, but great use is made of Music Circus’ multi-section revolving stage.

If you’re looking for some good old-fashioned fun, step aboard this ship, settle back and enjoy the ride. It’s a good one.

Oliver!

The last production of “Oliver!” at Music Circus was in 1997, but it is back for a huge extravaganza this week.

Directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford, this production has a cast of nearly 60 which, at times, on the small Music Circus stage looks like rush hour in London.

Christopher Bones has the title role and is a wonderful young actor. His “Where Is Love” was clean and clear and true, without a wobble, even in the high notes. He effectively conveys the loneliness of an orphan who has never known love, his fear of the people who are out to do him harm, and his joy at the possibility of having a real family of his own.

Veteran actor Ron Wisniski has a great time as Fagin, the leader of a band of lost boys whom he teaches to pick pockets. Wisniski has a list of national credits to his name and also has been seen in many Music Circus productions. He’s a first-rate Fagin.

Jacquelyn Piro Donovan is outstanding as Nancy, lover of the cruel and abusive Bill Sikes, a woman who takes a liking to Oliver and attempts to be his protector. Donovan can belt out a song with the best of them, but also can bring a gentle vulnerability to her songs, when expressing her love for Sikes.

I must speak up for Sykeses everywhere and say that while the name is spelled with a “y” in the Music Circus program, traditionally it is spelled with an “i.” (I am always quick to point that out, for obvious reasons!)

Aaron Serotsky sings the heck out of the Sikes character, but was not as menacing as others I have seen.

Matthew Gumley, who was last seen at Music Circus as the adorable Winthrop in the 2006 production of “The Music Man” (whom I described at the time as “one big ball of talent”), has only improved since that production. He gave the Artful Dodger a real panache and the stage came alive whenever he was on it.

This is a good place to insert that the choreography for this show is performed very well, but is at times overly ambitious, especially for such a huge cast. It almost seems as if there was an attempt to make a movement for every line of music when sometimes less might have been more.

That said, however, whenever Gumley was singing, he made all of those hand and foot gestures sizzle and I stopped trying to decide if this was too over the top or not.

In smaller roles, Roland Rusinek as Mr. Bumble and Karen Culliver as the Widow Corney were quite good, while Shannon Stoeke and Cynthia Ferrer as Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry, the undertaker and his wife, were exceptional.

Paige Silvester, whom we have watched grow up on Sacramento stages, was adorable in the small part of Nancy’s young friend Bet.

This is a show where the first act is much better than the second. There is so much to get into Act 2 that it all seems to tumble together every which way. In a stage-in-the-round situation, the final scenes just become a jumble of people not being where you think they are going to be, making entrances and exits where logic tells you they shouldn’t be.

The show doesn’t seem to come to a finale so much as it does to slide to a stop.

There are also some changes in this production. The addition of “That’s Your Funeral,” not always included in the show, was fun. I missed my favorite line — “if you pass by the Tower of London, have a look at the crown jewels for me,” and the addition of Dodger to Fagin’s final scene was something I have not seen before and added a touch of lightness that was unexpected.

My criticisms of this production are slight and perhaps overly nit-picking. The average theatergoer will absolutely love it. This is a perennial favorite and Music Circus serves it up beautifully.

The Producers

“The Producers,” directed by Glenn Casale, kicks off Music Circus’s 61st season and is a great way to start a season that will include “Oliver!” “Anything Goes,” “Camelot,” “I Do! I Do!,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Miss Saigon.”

Whatever your ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or political affiliation, there will be something in Mel Brooks’ “The Producers,” to offend everyone, yet it’s all done with such a sense of fun that you’re amazed at the things that make you laugh. You’ll find yourself laughing at things you never ever thought you would find funny.

It’s Catskills in-your-face humor in a tuxedo, burlesque all grown up.

When it opened on Broadway, the show won an unprecedented 12 Tony awards, breaking the record previously held by “Hello Dolly” for 37 years.

“The Producers” is the show that Mel Brooks wanted to write all of his life, the musical that we saw glimmers of in several of his movies, especially, of course, the 1968 movie from which the plot of this show was taken.

It’s the story of Max Bialystock, the worst producer on Broadway, played energetically by Bob Amaral, who played the role a couple of years ago as part of the touring company that played Sacramento. Amaral is a force of nature and holds nothing back.

Every bit his equal is Matt Loehr, as Leo Bloom, the mild mannered bookkeeper who figures out that a producer can make millions of dollars by over-selling stock in the show and then producing a flop that will close immediately. Loehr’s performance is amazing and, like Amaral, he holds nothing back. The two men decide “We can do it” and set about finding the worst play ever written.

That would be “Springtime for Hitler,” a paean to the Fuhrer by an old pigeon-raising Nazi, Franz Liebkind (Bill Nolte, who also was seen as Liebkind in the touring Broadway Series production) who wants the world to know that Adolph really wasn’t such a bad guy and feels that showing him frolicking about the countryside with Eva Braun is just the way to change history’s negative opinion of his idol.

Once the world’s worst play is chosen, the next step is to find the worst director and in that we have the best actor, Gary Beach, who originated the role of Roger DeBris on Broadway. The flamboyant DeBris makes his entrance in a stunning silver and black gown, which he says makes him look like the Chrysler building.

DeBris has to be convinced to take on the directing job, but once allowed to make the whole Hitler story less depressing by adding cute song and dance numbers, and maybe letting Germany win for a change, because it’s less of a downer, he’s all for it. When you see him goose step into “Springtime for Hitler” after Liebkind suffers an injury on opening night, well there just was never such a cute Hitler before.

DeBris’ “common law assistant” is Carmen Ghia (Michael Paternostro) who is about the gayest thing you’ve ever seen and who got the first standing ovation of the evening.

The Swedish bombshell who wants to audition for the show, and who ends up working in the office for Max and Leo is Ulla (Sarah Cornell), the tallest, blondest, sex-goddess you’re ever likely to meet. She can run an office, paint a room during intermission, and star in a musical all without mussing a blonde curl. The height difference between her and both Max and Leo gets played for every laugh it can possibly be played.

Choreography is by Dan Mojica and the dancers of Little Old Lady Land (including such hormone-crazed silver haired women as “Hold-me-Touch-Me” (Diane Vincent), “Lick-Me-Bite-Me” (Merrill West) and “Kiss-Me-Feel-Me” (Kim Arnett) is one of the funniest of the evening.

If you want a good laugh, “The Producers” is just the solution. Music Circus Executive Producer Richard Lewis says there are still a few tickets left, so hurry and get your tickets before they are sold out.

Or,

If you have been complaining lately that there is too much sex on TV and in the movies, that we have gone way too far with what is and is not acceptable when it comes to sex in our entertainment, and rolled your eyes about these kids today, then you probably have never heard of Aphra Behn.

Behn was the very first professional English female playwright, in the middle of the 17th century, the period of the Restoration. She was one of the most prolific dramatists of her time (she was also a spy for the court of Charles II).

And she was wonderfully scandalous, even by modern-day standards. She was famous not only for being a pioneer female writer in a male-dominated profession, but also for addressing issues of gender and sexuality. Her forte was comedy and she created strong, independent female characters who made their own choices.

Behn is the subject of a very funny play, “Or,” (the comma is part of the title), written by Liz Duffy Adams and directed by Peter Mohrmann, which is being presented at Capital Stage to close out the company’s life on the Delta King. (The new season will inaugurate Capital Stage’s new home in midtown Sacramento in October.)

Director Mohrmann could not have chosen a more fun way to say goodbye to the company’s riverboat home. It is a play rife with delicious wordplay, cross-dressing, amorous liaisons in many interesting combinations, and is a marvelous celebration of the birth of feminism.

There is a cast of three — Stephanie Gularte, who plays the ambitious, sensual Behn; Jonathan Rys Williams, playing the double role of Charles and Behn’s husband William; and, in her Capital Stage debut, the amazing Jessica Bates, who plays everybody else. Incredible quick costume changes take place throughout the 90 minute, one-act play.

The action begins in debtor’s prison, with Behn composing a letter to the king, who has not paid her for her services. She writes her note in rhyme:

Here in debtor’s prison I do lie
For lack of funds promised me as your spy.
To nag and scold my own adored king
Believe me, pains me more than anything.
But justice to myself demands no less
Than princely favor and full recompense.

Before she can finish her note, she is visited by a masked stranger with whom she apparently has had a previous intimate relationship. The visitor is revealed as the king, who informs her that her debts have been paid and she is free to leave. He wants her as his mistress, an idea about which she is less than enthusiastic. But she needs a place to write, so they strike a bargain, with Behn dictating the terms (which include intimacies that do not extend to the bed).

What follows takes place in a boarding house the king has found for Behn and the play becomes a regular bedroom farce, with two doors and an armoire to go in and out of as Williams and Bates change characters.

Bates first appears as the actress Nell Gwynne, England’s first leading lady of the stage. (Women had not been permitted to act before. In Shakespeare’s time, all female roles were played by men.) Gwynne is dressed as a man and is eager for a relationship with Behn, not only professionally but physically as well.

The fun is when Behn’s husband William returns, presumably from the dead, and the actors begin to switch back and forth as various characters, while Behn interacts with them, and then gets an idea and rushes to her desk to write it down.

Bates is particularly amazing as Lady Davenant, the widowed proprietor of an acting company, who rattles off a monologue that runs the better part of two solid pages of dialogue, sounding like Julia Child speaking a mile a minute. It’s a performance that stops the show with applause.

Virginia Woolf once wrote, “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”

In “Or,” Liz Adams has sprinkled the grave of Aphra Behn liberally with flowers and given us a wonderful, if not quite historically accurate, picture of a remarkable woman.

Peter Pan

The little boy in front of me looked to be about 4 years old and he was absolutely mesmerized by the antics of the pirates on stage at the Davis Musical Theatre Company’s sparkling new production of “Peter Pan,” directed by Steve Isaacson.

There is something for all ages in this funny, colorful production, which was fortunate because DMTC had a near sell-out house for the opening. There were patrons of all ages, every one of them enjoying the show.

The role of Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, is traditionally played by a female and this was no exception. McKinley Carlisle is a high school junior but with a professional adult stage presence. She is a gymnast in school, which helped her make all of Peter’s flying sequences beautifully realistic.

She was endearing trying to attach her shadow with soap, wistful in her comments about wanting someone to read stories, and chivalrous in saving Tiger Lily and Wendy from the evil pirates.

The Darling children, while somewhat tall for the roles (especially John, Noah Papagni) were all wonderful. Wendy (Amanda Jane Melhuish) moved seamlessly into her mother role and Michael (William Chan) was just adorable, carrying his teddy bear around with him.

The Darling parents are played by Jenny Plasse and Michael Cross (who later appears as Captain Hook). Cross, in particular, was effective in his role. Plasse was very sweet.

Levi Fuentes was one of the more believable nursemaids, as Nana the dog.

There was some problem with Tinkerbell, who appears as a ball of light darting about the stage, thanks to the operation of Karay Himo, who seemed to have some problem operating the light. Rarely was Tinkerbell where a character was speaking to her.

Wendy would look in one place, but Tink was on the wall behind her. But it really didn’t matter. When Tink begins to “die,” it was very poignant and we all clapped enthusiastically to show that we did believe in fairies.

Michael Cross as Captain Hook was simply wonderful. His performance was strong and intimidating without being over the top, as he leads his bumbling band of pirates in an attempt to capture the Lost Boys in general, and Peter Pan in particlar. His sidekick Smee was appropriately deferential.

This is not a production that has been rendered politically correct by changing the portrayal of the Indians, and Emily Jo Seminoff is fun as Tiger Lily, doing several Indian dances with her cohorts — Danielle Debow, Isabel Machado, Monica Parisi, Jenny Plasse, Madelyn Robinson, Anissa Smith, Lydia Smith and Hannah Wallace.

Thomas Eredia is very funny as the crocodile who hungers for the rest of Captain Hook, having had a taste of one hand years before

Others in the cast include Monica Parisi as the maid Liza, Kimmi Kuanto as the grown-up Wendy’s daughter Jane, and a multitude of actors of all ages as Lost Boys, Pirates, Indians, Trees, Animals and Shadow Dancers.

Choreography is by Cyndi Mitterholzer and is lively and appropriate for the abilities of the dancers.

Costumes by Jean Henderson, are wonderful, as always, and in this case, very colorful as befits the cartoonesque story.

Steve Isaacson’s sets are better than many DMTC sets and deserve kudos.

This is a cast of dozens, combining adults and children, and it all comes together beautifully.

Before the show began, DMTC awarded its annual scholarship to Ashley Hickman and Rebecca Rudy, alumnae of DMTC’s youth program. This is one way DMTC gives back to the community and supports young people as they begin their college studies. The girls received engraved boxes and checks to go toward their tuition.

There is never a slow spot in this production. It is appropriate for children of all ages — by all means, do take your little ones. They, like the little boy in front of me, will be on the edge of their seats throughout the show.

Mary Poppins

It was no ill wind that blew in with the weekend rain. It was a very friendly wind that brought the world’s best nanny, Mary Poppins, to the Sacramento Convention Center.

The stage show, directed by Richard Eyre, is not a recreation of the movie, but takes bits of the movie and merges them with bits from the book series by P.L. Travers. (I wondered how they were going to get the penguins in … and they did, though subtly.)

In truth, I went to the show as a jaded critic — ho-hum, another Disney movie transferred over to the stage. I didn’t expect to be blown away … but I was.

Our seats happened to be next to the parents of Nicolas Dromard, who plays the role of Bert, the chimney sweep, in this production. The proud stage parents cheered and whooped and talked audibly to each other throughout the production, which at first was quite annoying but then didn’t matter because he was so good, the cheering was well earned.

Dromard, who has played the role on Broadway, is quite endearing, has a more convincing British accent than Dick Van Dyke, and is so continually active on stage that he has his own dresser whose primary task is to follow him around backstage with a water bottle.

Steffanie Leigh may be new to the cast but she’s a delightful Mary Poppins, with a winning smile and ability to command the stage, whether she’s riding up a banister or sailing out over the audience under her ubiquitous umbrella.

The obstreperous Banks children, who have driven away all former nannies, are double-cast. Camille Mancuso and Tyler Merna played Jane and Michael on opening night and were wonderful. Merna in particular has a face that you find it difficult not to watch.

Playing their parents, George and Winifred, are Laird Mackintosh and Blythe Wilson. Each has his or her moment to shine. George is the staid, stuffy banker through most of the story, but when he begins to let go in the “Spoonful of Sugar” reprise, he reveals a carefree father that we never thought possible.

Winifred steps into the spotlight with “Being Mrs. Banks,” which makes her more of a “person” than we had seen up to this point.

Q. Smith grabs the stage as the evil nanny, Miss Andrew. She does justice to just about every Disney villainess with a voice that fills the Community Center and probably several nearby buildings as well.

Choreography is by co-director Matthew Bourne and is outstanding. The frenetic “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is so complicated that the actors spend several hours per day during their first week of rehearsal to learn the complicated hand, foot and arm movements.

But it is “Step in Time,” the dance of the chimney sweeps, that steals the show and brings down the house, earning all those whoops and hollers from Mr. and Mrs. Dromard.

As wonderful as the acting, dancing and special effects are, it is the set that may be the biggest star in this show — and, at 11,000 pounds, I mean that literally. It’s a three-story house that opens like a child’s doll house, with a nursery that moves up to the top of the house, or down to the stage as a stand-alone scene.

In combination with some of the 250 different props, it performs surprising tricks, and when the lights dim, the mechanics behind the Disney magic is mostly invisible.

“Mary Poppins” is the winner of 25 major theater awards around the globe, including the Tony, Olivier and Evening Standard awards.

Every single one of them is well deserved.

The Moby Dick Variations

We met someone headed into the Mondavi Theater on Thursday night to see a concert. I told him we were on our way to see “The Moby Dick Variations” in the Vanderhoef Studio theater. “Good luck with that,” he said, rolling his eyes.

As I entered the theater, someone spotted me and said “I can hardly wait to read your review of this.”

Half an hour into the piece, when I was comparing it to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” meets “The Snake Pit,” I was wondering how I was going to handle it myself.

In an interview with the Cal Aggie earlier this week, director John Zibell described his work, saying “...it’s not a play, it’s 135 little theatrical events inspired by ‘Moby Dick.’” His comment gave me the perfect inspiration for trying to describe this piece...remarking on the “little theatrical events” that I personally took away from the evening.

As promised, this piece (I am reluctant to call it a “play”) “breaks every expectation that the audience has when they walk into the show.”

For one thing, there is no “audience” section. There are no seats (though a few small, uncomfortable wooden benches line two walls and can accommodate maybe a dozen people). There is a lengthy description of the director’s concept for this work in the program, but it is written in tiny print, in one long paragraph and there is not sufficient lighting in the theater to read it. The audience is expected to mill about and mingle with the performers throughout the two hour performance.

The program lists the twenty-two actors in the production, but there is no indication as to who is playing which role. And it probably doesn’t really matter because there is no real plot that follows any logical linear progression. (I only know that Will Klundt plays Ishmael because he is mentioned in the Aggie article. As to who played Ahab, or Queegqueg, or any other character, it doesn’t really seem to matter since most of the work didn’t really seem to be about Moby Dick anyway.)

At one point I wondered if things would be more clear if I had actually read Moby Dick at some point in my life, but I suspect that would not have helped at all.

For example, I don’t really think a lecture on basketball was written by Herman Melville. And while the scene of a young girl saying goodbye to her dying grandfather was touching, it didn’t have much to do with a white whale.

There was the feel of a frat party about it. Most of the people in the audience seemed to know all the performers and the noise level rose throughout the evening, accompanied by mostly cacophonous instruments playing music written especially for this work by Dylan Bolles and the Thingamajigs Performance Group.

I’m not sure what the girl in the pink lace dress and Superman undershorts was doing on roller skates being pulled through the crowd by someone hanging onto a rope.

Nor am I sure why the woman in the diaphanous gown was hanging from the door frame and then climbing down the outside of a staircase.

It seemed that whenever someone got hold of a microphone and began to say something you could actually understand, three other people in three other parts of the room also began to speak and you couldn’t understand anybody.

At an hour into it, I had a splitting headache, and I was counting down the last minutes of the two hours so I could escape. I hoped that maybe something worth mentioning would happen. But, no.

I finally decided that maybe I’m just too old to appreciate a show like this. Maybe avant garde theater is for the young. But I wasn’t alone. The best overheard quote of the night came from a group leaving the theater whispering to each other “We won’t say ANYTHING until we get to the car, OK?”

They were lucky they didn’t have to go home and write a review.

Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure

Now we know what Sacramento Theatre Company’s Mrs. Badden-Rotten (Cinderella) looks like when she gets out of drag and off those impossibly high heels. Underneath, she’s … Sherlock Holmes!

Director Michael Laun has successfully reunited two of STC’s most beloved performers, William Elsman and Michael RJ Campbell, as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively, in a delightful adaptation of Stephen Dietz’s “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure,” based on the original 1899 play by William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle.

The opening-night performance was particularly delightful because of the large number of audience members who dressed in traditional Victorian costumes, with tall hats and day coats for the men and feathered hats and long, layered skirts for the women. It was like stepping back into the 19th century.

It’s difficult to know quite how to classify this play, which is both a tribute to the Conan Doyle mysteries and a parody of those mysteries. In the end, it probably doesn’t matter because, whether homage or parody, it was just downright fun.

Elsman is a delight to watch as Holmes, drawing conclusions about a person’s life and change of habits from clues (such as which side of the face is more poorly shaved), as does television’s “The Mentalist.” He is totally in command at all times, striding about the stage puffing on his calabash pipe and issuing orders.

It was, then, a bit of a surprise to discover that Holmes has his Achilles heel, a crush on Irene Adler (Michele Hillen), an American opera star whose career the detective has been tracking. Hillen is lovely and conniving and is that rare person who can match wits with Holmes.

Michael RJ Campbell is a perfect Watson, Holmes’ ever-obedient sidekick and best friend, with just enough bluster and always somewhat befuddled by the things Holmes is asking him to do.

The plot, which combines two original short stories (“A Scandal in Bohemia” and “The Final Problem”) involves the King of Bohemia (Justin Munoz), about to be married but with the little matter of an affair with Ms. Adler hanging over his head. She has a photo of them that could derail his wedding plans and he enlists the help of Holmes to retrieve the photo.

Holmes’ attempts to retrieve the photo bring him into contact with the infamous Professor Moriarty (Troy Thomas) and carry the plot into areas we never expected. Thomas is deliciously malevolent, as befits one of the most famous villains in history.

Jake Murphy delivers a delightful performance as the would-be safe cracker, Sid Prince. Murphy’s performance is electric and makes him the person to watch in each of his brief scenes.

Brian Watson is James Larrabee, who marries Ms. Adler before his connections to Moriarty are uncovered.

Kristen Majetich is an energetic Madge Larrabee, who is either the maid or James’ wife. (There are so many cross-overs in amorous liaisons that it’s difficult to follow the players without a scorecard!)

The scenic design of Morgan McCarthy and Jarrod Bodensteiner (also the lighting designer) is nicely arranged so that a change of scene involves only a change in position on the stage and a change of lighting, and thus allows for a brisk progression through the story without having to wait for set changes.

Once again, Sacramento Theatre Company has given us a polished, intelligent, fast-paced production that will delight any theatergoer. And if you really want to get into the fun, try dressing to fit the period.

How to Succeed in Business...

The Davis Musical Theatre Company has a solid hit on its hands, if the sparkling premier performance of “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” is any indication.

Despite a utilitarian set, which sometimes had a mind of its own, this production, directed and choreographed by Rand Martin (who also designed the set), boasts a strong cast and a good-sounding orchestra and hits all the important points spot on.

The book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, is based on the book of the same name by Shepherd Mead. The original show, which opened in 1961, was a big hit for Robert Morse, won seven Tony awards, the New York Drama Circle award and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

A film was made in 1967 and the show was revived on Broadway in 1995, starring Matthew Broderick. It is currently in a new Broadway revision, starring Daniel Radcliffe of “Harry Potter” fame.

It is the story of an ambitious young window washer, J. Pierrepont Finch, who is convinced he can quickly rise in the corporate world with the help of a book called “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.” Throughout the play we hear the unseen voice of the author of the book (the voice of Don Geronimo).

Director Martin explained that he went looking for the original Mead book, hoping to get a better cultural understanding of corporate America in the middle of the last century, and was immediately struck by the fact that he could have been reading a book written in 2011.

Except for women having a slightly bigger role in running America’s corporations and more of an attempt to control sexism in the workplace today, much of the advice by the author still holds true, and everyone still strives to do things “The Company Way.”

Integral to the success of a production like “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” is a likeable Finch, and David Holmes, reprising his 2003 performance, certainly fits that bill. Despite his conniving to get to the top of the World Wide Wicket Company, Holmes remains a guy we can relate to.

Thanks to a chance meeting with WWW President J.B. Biggley (Paul Fearn, in one of his best roles), Finch gets a position in the mail room, where he encounters Biggley’s nephew, the whining, lazy Bud Frump (Clocky McDowell), who has his own ideas about how to climb the corporate ladder, and it has everything to do with nepotism. McDowell succeeds in making Frump the guy you’d most like to root against.

Finch also gets a hand from secretary Rosemary Pilkington (Kay Hight), who immediately sets her hat for him and reveals that her only real goal in life is to find a husband for whom she will be “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm,” as he rises to the top.

Almost everyone in the cast gives a strong performance, particularly Eimi Taormina as Rosemary’s friend Smitty, and Andy Hyun, doing double duty as Mr. Twimble, the head of the mail room, and Wally Womper, the Chairman of the Board.

Gerald Shearman as the womanizing executive, Milton Gatch, and Scott Minor as the personnel manager, Bert Bratt, are particularly good in their roles.

Mary Young does not disappoint as Biggley’s secretary, Miss Jones, who takes a liking to Finch and helps him in his endeavors. Brittany Bickel does a wonderful job as Hedy LaRue, the femme fatale. (And you can buy a Hedy LaRue martini in the theater’s new bar in the lobby at intermission.)

There are wonderful production numbers such as “Coffee Break,” which most people probably can relate to, and “Brotherhood of Man.”

This is another hit for DMTC and is highly recommended.

Young Frankenstein

There is no mistaking a Mel Brooks musical. From the distinctive musical style to the off-color Catskill-esque humor (mostly involving male genitals), to the pompous soldier with the Hitler mustache to the leggy buxom blonds. It’s all there in “Young Frankenstein,” the current offering of the Broadway Sacramento series at the Community Center Theater.

“Young Frankenstein” is the musical which is based on the cult classic smash hit 1974 film of the same name. It reunites the production team of Mel Brooks (book, music and lyrics), Thomas Meehan (co-author of the book) and Susan Stroman (director and choreographer) who produced the wildly successful “The Producers,” also based on a movie by Brooks.

While “Young Frankenstein” does not match the cohesion of “The Producers” (which, at 12, won more Tony awards than any other show in history), and while much of its humor is lost to the muddle of the Community Center sound system, there is no denying that this show is a definite crowd pleaser.

The original Gene Wilder/Mel Brooks screenplay has been closely followed, and many of the songs are based on familiar lines from the movie (such as “Please Don’t Touch Me,” “Roll in the Hay” and “He Vas My Boyfriend”) and turned into full blown musical numbers. But the best musical number, by far, is by Irving Berlin: “Puttin’ on the Ritz” is done “straight” (or as straight as a duet between a scientist and a monster can be), and brings down the house when the duo are joined by the full cast, coming out in monster footwear and top hats, doing a kick-line, which never fails to win applause.

The corniness of the dialog is set early on when brilliant young scientist, Frederick Frankenstein (Franken-STEEN), having learned of the death of his famous relative, arrives by train on Track 29, and asks someone, “Pardon me, boy — is this the Transylvania station?” The tone is set for the rest of the show.

Christopher Ryan has the difficult task of making the iconic character of Frankenstein, so familiar to us from the Gene Wilder performance, his own. And he does. His Frankenstein is less of a mad scientist and more of an ordinary guy in unusual circumstances. He is likable more than zany, and his relationship with his assistant Inga (Synthia Link) is more that of two people in love than that of a lecherous man with an air-headed blonde. In fact, Inga herself is played more “straight” than off the wall, and her frisky foreplay in “Roll in the Hay” is very funny.

Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor (EYE-gore), is given a delicious portrayal by Cory English (who played the role on Broadway), who wants desperately to be scary, but who succeeds in just being cute.

Joanna Glushak is suitably creepy as Frau Blucher, the housekeeper of the elder Frankenstein’s castle, the very mention of whose name causes horses to shudder.

Janine Davita is deliciously over the top as Frederick’s narcissistic fiancee, who can’t be touched for fear of mussing her hair, make-up or freshly polished nails. All thoughts of untouchability, however, fly out the window when she meets the monster, who offers her “Deep Love” in the most suggestive song all evening.

As for the monster himself, Preston Truman Boyd is charming as he lurches his way around the stage trying to figure out who or what he is. He may be the most likable person in the cast. His scene with the blind hermit (David Benoit) displays his talent for physical comedy.

This is a show that seems to flow from corny joke to corny joke, many situations predictable, but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment.

Costume designer William Ivey Long provides some of the most amazing costume changes you’ll ever see. Set Designer Robin Wagner manages to create the creepiness of a Transylvania castle with its dungeon of secrets.

“The Producers” it isn’t, but “Young Frankenstein” has its own appeal and is an enjoyable evening.

Sound of Music

“The Sound of Music,” currently at the Woodland Opera House, under the direction of Angela Frost Baltezore, may just be the best community theater production of this beloved classic that I have ever seen.

Everything from the actors to the orchestra under the direction of James C. Glica-Hernandez to the lovely costumes by Laurie Everly-Klassen, down to the sets by John Bowles and even the speed and efficiency of the backstage crew changing the scenes was first-rate.

And what’s not to like about “The Sound of Music”? This popular Rodgers and Hammerstein musical story of the von Trapp family has more familiar tunes than most musicals. Nearly every single one of them is familiar to everyone in the audience, including ”Do Re Mi,” “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Edelweiss” and, of course, the title song. If you don’t leave the theater humming at least one of them, you must have slept through it all.

The audience could tell from the very first scene, with nuns gathered on the stairs to the stage singing in bell-clear Gregorian chant, that we were in for something special.

Crissi Cairns Kessler is the earnest young postulant, wanting so much to become a nun; the loving governess who teaches her young charges how to sing, and reminds them about having fun; the woman learning about love for the first time, melting the heart of a military man. Kessler’s winsome personality and beautiful voice are just the frosting on the cake.

Michael Maples is a stern and distant Georg von Trapp, using brusqueness to mask the pain of losing his wife. His children must answer to whistle calls and their only exercise is marching. As Maria works her magic on him, he softens and allows himself to love his children as they are.

The children themselves are wonderful. Director Baltezore has found a group of seven professional young actors, each of whom was talented and disciplined, down to adorable little 5-year-old Anneli Spieler (Gretl), who squirmed a bit toward the end, but who never missed a cue or failed to sing with her siblings.

Emily Jo Seminoff was a lovely Liesl and Christian Salmon as Friedrich hits a high note that was nothing short of amazing. Abby Miles (Louisa), Campbell Salmon (Kurt), Hayley Harrison (Brigitta) and Casey Wathen (Marta) also were perfect in their roles.

Rodger McDonald owns the stage whenever he appears and his Max Detweiler was strong and memorable. He’s a fabulous asset to any production.

Elizabeth Nilsen is sufficiently “upper crust” as Elsa Schraeder, a woman who has her cap set for Georg, but who isn’t sure she’s ready to be mother to seven children. She’s not the most likable character in the story and Nilsen effectively manages to be both beautiful and icy.

But the most memorable character of the evening had to be Nancy Agee as the Mother Abbess, whose guidance helps Maria discover God’s plan for her. Agee has a professional voice and could easily play this role in a professional production. Her “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” was the high point of the evening and when she hit that last high note, it truly sent chills down my spine.

Though this entire production is wonderful, it would be worth seeing if only to hear Agee.

Others in the cast included Mollie Smith as Sister Berthe, Ryan Wathen as Sister Margaretta, Stephanie Blackwell as Sister Sophia and Matthew Kohrt as Rolf, the telegram delivery boy in love with Liesl.

Melissa Dahlberg makes the most of her tiny role as the second-prize winner at the music festival.

Everly-Klassen’s costumes were beautiful, particularly the children’s concert costumes and Maria’s honeymoon dress (as well as her wedding dress).

John Bowles’ set works wonders on the tiny Opera House stage, and including the aisle of the house itself was a wonderful idea. The abbey’s stained-glass windows were beautiful and the painted backdrop of the Alps gave the perfect setting to the outdoor scenes.

This is a not-to-be-missed production, if you are fan of “Sound of Music.” Even if you think you have already seen it, this production makes it worth seeing again.

Master Class

Actress Janis Stevens is a rare gem, and how lucky we are that she chooses to share her talent with us in this area.

Stevens opened in “Master Class,” which is essentially a one-woman show (though there are actually six people in the cast) at Capital Stage on Friday night. Anyone who saw that show, or who will see the show during its run through April 10, will long remember it.

Directed by Jonathan Williams, “Master Class” is based loosely on a series of 12 master classes held by Maria Callas at the Juilliard School in 1971. Callas, you will recall, was the controversial American-born Greek soprano, the lover of Aristotle Onassis and perhaps the definitive operatic diva of the 20th century.

The experience of this marvelous play begins the minute one enters the theater to see the sumptuous set design of Stephen Jones, with the grand piano on a stage surrounded by rich red and brown draperies. The lighting design of Ron Madonia will later add a magical element to the deep folds of those draperies in scenes where Callas goes through flashback moments.

Stevens is in control of the class from the moment she makes her entrance. She is funny, cruel, sardonic, abrasive and sad all at once. In her performance we see the fat, awkward, “ugly” young girl she once was and the beautiful woman she became, as well as the heartache and sheer guts it took to transform one into the other.

There is no real plot to the show. Three aspiring singers come to be critiqued by the diva. With each she is uncompromising, accepting nothing less than perfection.

Wendolyn Cooper, the first soprano, barely gets a note out before she is interrupted. Callas stresses the importance of listening to the music, of hearing the composer’s instructions in the music. Several times Callas interrupts Cooper before she has a chance to get to the second note. She can tell from her body language that Cooper hasn’t listened to the music thoroughly enough to really understand her character.

She stresses that “trying” is never good enough. A singer must “be,” must “do.”

“It’s not a note we have to hear,” she says. “It is a stab of pain.”

“It’s all there in the music,” she tells the singers over and over again.

As the students struggle to understand, we see the emotion Stevens brings to her character. We see the wisdom and the vanity of Callas, the cattiness as she speaks of other singers (particularly Renata Tebaldi, with whom she had a renowned feud).

Ian Cullity is the tenor, Tony, who saunters onto the stage like he is God’s gift to women. He knows he’s good and he’s there to sing songs, not really interested in studying a character in depth. Callas is intrigued by the handsome man but her withering critique soon knocks the swagger out of him.

Laura Pyper is the second soprano, who is sent off in tears by Callas’ remarks about her choice of clothing, but she wins the diva’s respect when she returns in spite of her bruised ego and even has the chutzpah to stand up to the singer.

As she sings her aria, the student fades into the background as Callas remember her own performances and heartaches. It’s an unforgettable moment.

“Tears will get you nowhere,” she says. “Not in the theater, not in real life. Certainly not with me. No one cares how many nights I cried myself to sleep.”

Through all of the class there is Michael Wiles at the piano, sitting ramrod straight and looking like a young Peter Sellers, bringing a slight bit of humor to the proceedings, but in awe of the great singer and eager to cater to her every whim.

Rounding out the class is Andrew J. Perez, the jaded stagehand for whom Callas is just another temperamental singer there to make his day more difficult.

But the night is all Stevens and all Callas, and in the end it reveals the heart of the singer behind her brittle exterior. As she reads a card on some flowers that have been delivered, she remarks, with a sad irony, “It’s always ‘we love you,’ never ‘I love you.’ ”

9 to 5

“9 to 5, the Musical,” this week’s production at the Sacramento Community Center, is a pleasant piece of fluff, without the heart or the intensity of the 1980 movie and, except for the title song, without any songs that you will remember once the curtain goes down.

But it has fun, it has frenetic dance numbers, it has a great, innovative movable set, and it has most of the plot points and dialog from the movie. (The script was written by screenwriter Patricia Resnick, who wrote the film’s script, though this being the less restrictive 21st century, there were a few more risque references in the stage show).

The audience applauded enthusiastically.

The original movie was a wonderful vehicle for songwriter/lyricist Dolly Parton, who played Doralee Rhodes, the buxom secretary whom everyone assumes is the office slut. Parton also wrote the title song. And so it just wouldn’t be “9 to 5″ without Dolly.

This problem is solved by Parton appearing at the start of the show as a huge projection over the stage, setting up the scene and asking the audience to envision 1979, a world of cheap gas, electric typewriters and sexual harassment in the workplace. She then introduces the characters and the story begins.

Basically, this is a story of female empowerment and the women who find they really can get it. It follows three women, the aforementioned Doralee (Diana DeGarmo); Violet Newstead (Dee Hoty), the boss’ private secretary, waiting for her shot at management, which she can never attain because she’s a woman; and newly divorced Judy Bernly (Mamie Parris), who has never held a job in her life and whose whole purpose disappeared when her husband drove off with his secretary.

Director Jeff Calhoun, with the assistance of casting office of Telsey & Co. has done a good job of recreating the movie. DeGarmo looks, talks and walks like Dolly Parton, and Hoty bears a resemblance to Lily Tomlin, who played the role in the movie, only without Tomlin’s level of acerbic wit.

Parris is not quite recognizable as a Jane Fonda look-alike, but the character of Judy was perhaps the least strong of the three. The resemblances helps the audience get into the story right away.

Joseph Mahowald plays the misogynistic Franklin Hart Jr., who objectifies all of the women under his control until a little mishap turns the tables and the three women are able to kidnap and hold the boss captive in his own home while they attempt get the goods on a little double-entry bookkeeping at the office.

Since nobody likes him to begin with, nobody seems to notice that the boss isn’t around except the office snitch Roz Keith (Kristine Zbornik), who is easily distracted by sending her off to a language school to learn French. This frees the women to establish all the nice touches that Hart has refused to consider — personal items on the desks, job-sharing, an in-office nursery, flex time.

But what happens when Hart finally manages to extricate himself from his prison and return to the office?

The plot is often interrupted for big dance numbers, choreographed by Calhoun and Lisa Stevens. The opening number, showing people waking up and going to work, is particularly clever, with all those moving set pieces.

And in the end, Dolly is back to lead a singalong of “9 to 5″ again.

I’m not a big fan of taking perfectly good comedy films and turning them into stage musicals. But Broadway seems to have done it successfully with the likes of shows like “Legally Blonde,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “The Wedding Singer.” But the musicals are long on glitz and short on substance, and “9 to 5″ follows suit.

However, there’s no denying that it’s a crowd pleaser and it was nominated for four Tony and 15 Drama Desk awards.

The Mystery Spot

What do Santa Cruz’s Mystery Spot and Sylvia Plath have in common?

They are both part of playwright Steve Lyons’ new play, “The Mystery Spot,” now at California Stage in Sacramento, directed by Ray Tatar.

Lyons, whose plays have won multiple awards and been produced in London, Edinburgh, New York City, Boulder, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and elsewhere always knew that he wanted to write a play that used the setting of The Mystery Spot, a tourist attraction in Santa Cruz which refers to itself as a “gravitational anomaly.”

The play was one of four selected for the Ashland New Plays Festival in 2008 and had a staged reading at City Lights Books in San Francisco. It won first prize in a playwriting contest by Actors’ Theatre of Santa Cruz County in 2010.

A great part of the appeal of this staged production is actor Nick Koehler’s interpretation of the principal character Dingo. Dingo is from Oroville and has come to UC Santa Cruz for the women. He has discovered that by sitting on the quad with a cup of Starbucks coffee and an IKEA catalog, and pretending to read Sylvia Plath he can catch the attention of the ladies.

Koehler is just so darn engaging. He’s hormone infused without being either offensive or cloying.

The trick works and Dingo catches the eye of Liz, a Women’s Studies major (Emily Kentta), who actually questions him about his thoughts about Plath (nobody has ever done that before and he tries, successfully, to bluff his way through her questioning).

Kentta gives a solid performance, especially as she learns the truth about her relationship with her mother.

On learning that there is a whole department for studying women, Dingo declares himself a Women’s Studies major, though is disappointed because there is a lot of reading and not a lot of hands on projects involved.

In the meantime, to pay the bills, Dingo gets a job as a tour guide at The Mystery Spot which just, coincidentally, happens to be owned by Liz’s mother Shirley (Michele Koehler), who has a rocky relationship with her daughter.

Into the picture comes the spirit of Sylvia Plath (poet Bonnie Antonini) and the Angel Celestine (Mahlon Hall), who is sending her back to earth to learn something (which is not made clear to her–she has to figure it out for herself).

Antonini sparkles in this role, at times both moody and sultry as she plots for a way to remain on earth rather than return to the afterlife.

Also part of the cast is Mr. Williams (William A. Bergen), who takes several tours of The Mystery Spot trying to convince others that everything is just an optical illusion, and intent on suing Shirley for perpetuating a falsehood.

If the plot sounds a bit convoluted, that’s because it is. The pace is somewhat slow and not all of the actors were secure in their lines (particularly Bergen, who made a better attorney in 2007's “Patriot Act” than he does a skeptic in this play, where he seemed to suffer from opening night jitters.)

Set designer Lynn Perry has attempted to recreate the sorts of optical illusions one would find at the Mystery Spot. It is more effective in some areas than in others.

“The Mystery Spot” is an entertaining, unusual play which runs through April 10 at the California Stage’s main stage.

Guys and Dolls

The popularity of and enduring affection for Frank Loesser’s “Guys and Dolls” is easily seen in its award history. It swept the Tonys in 1951, the year it opened on Broadway (where it ran for 1,200 performances), winning not only “Best Musical,” but also awards for Best Actor, Actress, Director and Choreographer.

It had nominations again for Best Actor (Jerry Orbach) in 1965, and was nominated in 1977 for Best Revival of a Musical.

In 1992 it again won an award for Best Revival of a Musical, as well as awards for Director, Choreographer and Actress, with four additional nominations for the revival. In 2009 it was again nominated for Best Revival.

Various productions also hold Drama Desk awards, Olivier awards and Helpmann awards.

Often called “the perfect Broadway Musical,” “Guys and Dolls” is a perennial favorite for community theater. The Davis Musical Theatre Company last presented the musical in 2004 and is now reviving it for a limited run at the Hoblit Performing Arts Center under the direction of Jan Isaacson.

The book, by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, is based on two short stories by Damon Runyon, “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure,” and also borrows characters from other Runyon stories.

Burrows’ book actually won the Pulitzer Prize in letters in 1951, but because of the author’s problems with the House Un-American Activities committee, the prize was never awarded and instead no prize for letters was given that year.

It is the story of good and evil clashing in the bustling streets of New York City, only the good isn’t always completely likable and the evil is often endearing.

Steve Isaacson is reprising his 2004 role as Nathan Detroit, who runs the “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.” Giving Isaacson the role of a wise-cracking New Yorker is like casting Stallone as a not-too-bright fighter. Isaacson fits the role perfectly and you know you’re in good hands whenever he is on stage.

At the start of the show, Detroit is looking for a place to hold his nightly game because Lt Brannigan (Mike Ball) is hot on his tail and all of his usual locations have refused to let him set up there. This game is particularly important because Harry the Horse (Giorgio Selvaggio) is in town and has brought high roller “Big Jule” (Spencer Johnson), who has lots of big bucks and is eager to earn more.

In the meantime, Detroit’s fiancée of 14 years, Miss Adelaide (Brittany Bickel), a dancer at the Hotsy Totsy Club, is getting tired of waiting for Nathan to set the date (“Adelaide’s Lament”).

Nathan learns he can use the Biltmore Garage for his game, but must pay $1,000, which he does not have. He tries to borrow the money from Skye Masterson (Travis Nagler), a gambler known to bet on anything. Nathan bets that Skye can’t convince Salvation Army missionary Sarah Brown (Laura Wardrip) to accompany him to Cuba.

While lacking the pizzazz of Isaason’s performance, Nagler looks every bit what one would expect from a New York gambler. And while Wardrip, despite being sabotaged by a terrible wig, had some vocal problems early in the show, she managed to come into her own in her duet with Adelaide (“Marry the Man Today”).

A very sweet moment was the song Sarah’s father (Dave Isaacson — no relation to Steve) sang to his daughter (“More I Cannot Wish You”).

Masterson delivers a group of sinners to the mission in an effort to help save it, as “General Cartwright” (Mary Young) feels that it has been a dismal failure and is ready to shut it down. The song “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” from that service is always the high point of the show, and Kyle Hadley as Nicely-Nicely Johnson continued the tradition and did not disappoint.

“Guys and Dolls” is a big, brassy musical that suffers a bit in this production from the muffled sound of the DMTC orchestra, but it still manages to persevere and left the audience applauding enthusiastically at the end.