South Pacific

 It was some enchanted evening at Music Circus’ opening of the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, “South Pacific.”

This 1950 Tony Award-winning musical, based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Tales of the South Pacific,” is an old war horse, but its popularity has not dimmed. At times, the plot seems very dated. At other times, one marvels at — and is perhaps depressed by — the consistent timeliness of its message.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were not afraid to tackle the problems of the day, albeit in a musical way. They made a courageous statement about racial bigotry, which was not a popular thing to do in the 1940s, and yet the song “You’ve Got to be Taught” remains today — sadly, perhaps — an anthem to answer the bigots of every race, gender and sexual orientation.

“You have to be taught to be afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made and people whose skin is a different shade. You have to be carefully taught. … You have to be taught before it’s too late, before you are 6 or 7 or 8, to hate all the people your relatives hate.” (It’s a simplistic explanation still today for the reason it is so difficult to achieve peace in many parts of the world.)

“South Pacific” is the odd musical that neither opens nor closes with a big musical number, instead opening on the veranda of the home of plantation owner Emile deBecque (John Cudia), where the children, Jerome (Matthew Feniger) and Ngana (Ayanna Navarro) — both adorable, disciplined and talented actors — are singing a French children’s song, the same simple song that ends the show as well.

DeBecque, a French expatriate, is entertaining Arkansas-born Nellie Forbush (Beth Malone), a nurse from the nearby naval base, with eyes toward making her his wife, to fill the loneliness of his life on the island.

Malone establishes herself as a winsome Nellie with her first song, “A Cockeyed Optimist,” with her Kellie Pickler-type accent and sparkly personality. She struggles with her feelings for deBecque, weighed against the reality of his life before she met him. She seems to have no problem accepting that he has killed a man, but can’t handle the reality of his late Polynesian wife.

When Cudia opens his mouth to sing “Some Enchanted Evening,” one has to gasp at the voice. I wish they had put some gray in his hair as he really doesn’t seem old enough to play this character, but there is no denying his talent or charisma, and there is no doubt why Nellie has fallen for him in a matter of only a couple of weeks.

Returning for her second appearance as the Tonkinese woman, Bloody Mary, is Armelia McQueen, who is simply marvelous. She will sell you cheap trinkets, grass skirts, shrunken heads or the body of her young daughter, if she thinks you’ll make beautiful babies together. Her “Bali Ha’i” is outstanding.

Mary has her eye set on Lt. Joe Cable (Eric Kunze, reprising his role), arriving on the island, hoping to enlist deBecque’s help with a covert mission to spy on the Japanese. Cable is young and handsome and, when offered Mary’s daughter Liat (Briahna Yee), he easily succumbs to the temptation, though when faced with the opportunity to marry her, he can’t so easily turn his back on his rigid New England upbringing. The anguish of his situation is painfully clear in his “You Have to be Taught.”

The Liat-Joe plot line feels strikingly inappropriate in this day and age, where there is such emphasis on sexual exploitation of innocent young girls. The lieutenant is taken to meet a very young girl for what becomes an instant physical encounter. As the two embrace for the first time (this being a show from 1949, the manner of the encounter is only hinted at, when the lights go down and then come up on a shirtless Joe lying in the lap of a happy-looking Liat), there is such depth to the emotion that it does not ring true. But the plot line has been playing successfully for more than 50 years, so the audience must not mind.

Providing comic relief is Jeff Skowron as Luther Billis, a Seabee who is a wheeler-dealer, out to make a buck whether it’s making grass skirts or doing laundry for Nellie (who praises his pleats). He has a big, mercenary heart and when he causes a diversion to allow Cable and deBecque’s operation to succeed and is chastised by the Commander, he’s thrilled to discover the unauthorized action cost the military $600,000 because his uncle told him he’d never be worth a dime.

While Skowron is a delight whenever he is on stage, he is at his best in the Thanksgiving show, doing “Honey Bun” with Nellie and the other nurses.

Music Circus stalwart and favorite Ron Wisniski turns in an outstanding performance as Cmdr. William Harbison, trying to keep everything on the base in order. He barks out orders like Mayor Shinn in “The Music Man.”

The ensemble is excellent, particularly the Seabees, a group of men who each have small solos to sing. As someone remarked on leaving the theater, “there is no weak voice in this cast.”

“South Pacific” evokes situations and emotions still prevalent today. In the end, it is through the children that we see hope for a more tolerant tomorrow, a tomorrow for which we are still waiting, more than 50 years later.

Grease

The Woodland Opera House sounded like the gymnasium of Rydell High School as the full house cheered, shrieked and wildly applauded the talented cast of “Grease,” that 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey that spoofs high schools of the 1950s (the story is set in 1959).

I will say at the start that this is a spirited production filled with outstanding performances, but I always have difficulty with this show. I like the show and I hate the show. I like it because it has wonderful musical numbers like “Greased Lightnin’,” “We Go Together,” “Born to Hand Jive” and “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee.” It has great dance numbers (handled beautifully by choreographers Crissi Cairns and Angela Baltezore).

But I hate the message. Sandy (McKinley Carlisle) met Danny (Donovan McNeely) over the summer and the two fell in love. But when school starts, she’s the new kid, and he’s the head “greaser” and is too cool to admit he likes her.

She joins the “Pink Ladies,” who would have been the “bad girls” in my 1950s high school. They’re the ones who smoke, drink and sleep around, yet you can’t help liking them. Not sure why they admitted Sandy, who has high moral values, dresses conservatively, doesn’t smoke or drink and doesn’t even have pierced ears (which, in my school in the 1950s, was a sure sign of a “bad” girl!).

Yet by the end of the show she realizes her only hope of being accepted by the Pink Ladies and Danny is for her to frizz her hair, put on skin-tight leather and lots of make-up, pierce her ears, start smoking and in general look like a slut. Or, as someone put it to me recently “A happy ending means changing yourself and compromising your morals for a guy.”

Then we can sing a reprise of “We Go Together” and everybody lives happily ever after.

Ironically, the popular film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (which I watched when I got home from the matinee!) gave it a kind of O. Henry ending, with Danny changing to please Sandy and Sandy changing to please Danny. The original stage show does not do that.

That said, let’s get to the actual Woodland production, directed by Crissi Cairns, which is lots of fun. Carlisle is both the virginal Sandy and the bad girl Sandy and plays both full out. McNeely nicely balances the softy who fell for Sandy and the tough guy who has to cover up his feelings so his friends won’t think him weak.

Rizzo (Gabby Delgado) is the head of the Pink Ladies, a gruff, hard-edged girl who obviously has had a hard life and now is faced with a possible pregnancy she didn’t anticipate. She has the right attitude for the role, yet she managed to show her vulnerability as well.

Amy Miles plays Frenchy, who can’t quite make it in high school and only wants to be a beautician … and then discovers she can’t make it in beauty school either. She gets help from a Teen Angel (Sean Covell) whom she sees in a dream and who encourages her to go back to high school.

Marty (Abby Miles) has an eye for older guys and flirts shamelessly with slimy radio disc jockey Vince Fontaine (Mike Maples), who comes to Rydell to do a show from the boys’ gym and maybe get a little action on the side.

Emily Jo Seminoff, who has a long history with the Woodland Opera House, and other local theaters, is the always-hungry Jan. As usual, Seminoff lights up the stage and it is always such a pleasure to see her perform.
Horacio Gonzalez nailed the role of Danny’s best friend, Kenickie, and gave us an exuberant “Greased Lightnin’ ” in displaying his new/old car.

Tomas Eredia as Sonny stood out from the rest of the Burger Palace Boys. He’s obnoxious and the first one to make fun of someone, but Eredia’s performance makes him likable despite it.

Dalton McNeely is Roger, who has a thing for Jan, and is the buffoon of the group. His solo, “Mooning,” was very funny.

Seth Rogers rounds out the quartet as Doody, foolish and gullible.

You can’t have a high school story without the dweeb, and Cameron Turner as Eugene fits the bill to a T. His ruffled shirt for the high school dance (Denise Miles is the costume designer) was particularly fetching.

The program, printed to look like the Rydell High newspaper, is cute, but there wasn’t enough room to list the band, which is too bad because they did an excellent job under music director Lori Jarvey.

This is a show I really want to dislike, but when you have a good production like Woodland’s, that’s difficult to do. This show has been a popular favorite of community theaters and high school productions for decades and it’s easy to see why, though its message will always make me cringe.

Maple and Vine

 

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by a world that is filled with hundreds of emails, tweets and Facebook status updates; a world where the 40-hour work week is no more; where many are working 80 hours a week and consider that normal?

Is the stress getting to you, buddy?

Well, Capitol Stage’s “Maple and Vine” by Jordan Harrison, directed by Peter Mohrmann, may be just the escape you need. “May” being the operative word here.

Katha (Stephanie Gularte) an executive with Random House, and Ryu (Wayne Lee), a successful plastic surgeon, are a power couple living in New York but feeling the pressure of their jobs and the emptiness in their lives after Katha’s miscarriage a few months before.

Enter Dean (Jason Heil) and Ellen (Shannon Mahoney), a couple from the Society for Dynamic Obsolescence, a group of 1950s re-enactors who live in their own compound where every day is 1955, there are no cell phones, or computers. A time when wives didn’t worry about finding themselves because their job was to run the house and raise the children while fathers brought in the money.

Ryu is unsure about giving things a try, but Katha is enthusiastic and to save their marriage, he agrees to go along.
Hints of problems surface when Dean and Ellen refer to them as a “mixed-race couple” (Ryu is Japanese, though born in Long Beach) and say they will have to move to an area where mixed-race marriages are tolerated.

“We have everything in microcosm, yes. So there are areas with the spirit of the south and areas that have more the feeling of the north.”

Katha (who changes her name to Kathy to blend in more with the community) and Ryu begin studying 1955 so they can fit in better. They acknowledge that sometimes things will be bad and agree that if they need to remember the 21st century they will use a safe word — they decide on “Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

Ryu gets a job working in a box factory for floor boss Roger (Ryan Snyder), who is forever making references to Ryu’s Japanese ancestry.

The second act is more uneven than the first and sends the audience off in all sorts of directions — sexism, homophobia, racial bigotry. Kathy uncharacteristically instructs the members of her neighborhood about how to be intolerant of her Japanese husband in order to make the 1955 experience more authentic: “We don’t expect flaming crosses on our lawn; that would be out of proportion. But here are some ideas. You might stare at me in the supermarket. You might tell Ryu how much you like Chinese food. Your teenage boys could bang trash can lids outside our house … I know that we’ll be able to find even more ways to give each other an authentic experience.”
The big surprise reveal toward the end of the show comes from left field and leaves one wondering what is going to happen to these people as they grapple with 2014 problems in 1955.

The ensemble for this show is marvelous. Gularte gives an outstanding performance, both as the 2014 executive and the 1955 Stepford-ish wife, embracing all of the simplicity of an earlier time and even embracing the negative aspects of it.

Lee is wonderful as a man with a sardonic secret — that he’s really a plastic surgeon, when everyone else accepts him as a box maker, but so in love with his wife that he’s willing to follow her into this wacky old world.

Heil is a smarmy salesman who has an answer for everything and could sell refrigerators to Eskimos, though he doesn’t always practice what he so eloquently preaches.

Mahoney is a marvelous throw back to June Cleaver, the perfect 50s wife, while hiding a big secret.

Snyder is wonderfully campy in Act 1 as Katha’s gay co-worker, and in Act 2 barely conceals his feelings of superiority to a man he thinks is an Asian refugee unable to do more than put a box together.

This is billed as a comedy, and it is very funny, but it goes beyond comedy into areas you never expect to explore by the time it ends, and will give the audience something to think about long after the final bows have been taken.

Mary Popppins

 

The Music Circus’s first-ever production of “Mary Poppins” is nothing short of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

In his introduction to opening night, Richard Lewis, president and CEO, said this was the biggest show the Music Circus had ever done. And based on the number of things that come out of the ceiling, go into the floor or rotate around the stage, I believe him.

Not only is it a big “stuff” show, but it’s a wonderfully acted show as well. Kelly McCormick, making her Music Circus debut after extensive regional theater and national touring companies for “Les Miserables” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” is a perfect Mary Poppins, the enigmatic nanny who arrives just in the nick of time to help the Banks family find their way to a better overall relationship.

McCormick sings, dances, flies and inspires. She has a warm relationship with the Banks children, takes no prisoners in the discipline department, yet can kick up a heel or two with chimney sweep Bert (Robert Creighton). She is more than “practically perfect.”

Creighton is a delight. He seems to know “things” about Mary and has a special relationship with her, but he keeps her secrets. And he dances up a storm, particularly in the show-stopping “Step in Time” on the rooftops of London with the other chimney sweeps.

Mary’s relationship with the Banks children is critical, and Music Circus has two excellent young actors in those roles.

Davis’ own Noa Solorio — who cut her acting chops in the Davis Musical Theatre Company’s Young People’s Theater, and already has two other Music Circus seasons under her belt — is Jane, too old, really (she feels) to need a nanny, but warming to Mary and entranced by the magic she brings to the household.

Ben Ainley-Zoll is Michael Banks, a bit of a scamp and more mischievous than his sister, but a kid who just wants his dad to go fly a kite with him.

David Engel is father George Banks, a stiff-collared businessman who believes parenting should be left to his wife and the current nanny. He has forgotten what it is to be a kid and needs a Mary Poppins to give him gentle reminders.

Long-suffering wife Winifred Banks is Shannon Arne. Winifred is a former actress stuck into London society and hating it, and unable to quite connect with the business associates her husband wants her to court. She is a warm and loving mother, but seems unable to understand why her children are out of control much of the time.

Helen Geller makes a wonderful impression as the “bird lady,” selling birdseed for “tuppence a bag.” She is a street person, but warm and caring toward her birds, and her song “Feed the Birds” is a lovely moment in the show.

Steve Schepis is a marble statue of the god Neleus come to life in the park. He has a marvelous dance routine and befriends the children.

Ruth Gottschall is Miss Annie, the nanny you love to hate. She is George’s former nanny who offers “Brimstone and Treacle” instead of a spoonful of sugar in the children’s daily tonic and rules with an iron fist. I am surprised she didn’t get hissed by the audience.

Of necessity, much of the fantastic Banks house one would see in a Broadway production of this show cannot be duplicated on the Music Circus stage, but unlike the disappointing “A Chorus Line,” it didn’t matter for this show. Use of the entire theater for the chimneys of London, Music Circus techies who whisk furniture in and out with amazing speed and precision, and a magical kitchen that certainly does surprising things creates Mary Poppins’ world beautifully.

Lewis announced that the show is already nearly sold out, so tickets may not be possible to get, but through Raley’s, a special children’s rate is offered. Children (as well as their adult companions) will certainly love this show.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

How do you write a review about a show that you can’t really talk about without spoiling the fun?

That is the dilemma I am struggling with in reviewing “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” which opened recently at the B Street Theatre.

Set aside any preconceived notion you may have about Sherlock Holmes mysteries. This wacky adaptation of the familiar Arthur Conan Doyle story by Steven Canny and John Nicholson could have been written for the Marx Brothers or The Three Stooges.

All the characters are played by three talented actors. Greg Alexander is mostly the befuddled Dr. Watson, gone to investigate a suspicious murder in Holmes’ stead. Jason Kuykendall is mostly Holmes, though also plays a few other memorable characters, of both genders, while John Lamb is everybody else. I suspect that it must look like Act 2 of “Noises Off” backstage most of the time, with all the quick — very quick — costume changes that go on.

(The costumes by Paulette Sand-Gilbert take a lot of wear and tear and seem to hold up well.)

But as things speed up, there are on-stage costume changes, too, with conveniently placed scarves, hanks of hair, wigs, hats and what have you sitting around the stage or in containers that double as furniture. There is a hilarious tour through the Baskerville family portrait gallery, which is one of the funniest bits in a long line of very funny bits.

Definite kudos go to props intern Brianne Kuffell for keeping all the props straight and easily accessible.

In addition to playing the characters from the Holmes story, the actors also are playing actors, conveniently named Greg, Jason and John, who are forever conferring with each other and with the audience regarding things that have just taken place.

And when a section of the script seems unclear, well … let’s just do it again, double-time. And they do.

A show like this requires a fairly minimal set to allow for all the physical comedy, and Samantha Reno has designed a set that can be moved in countless ways, while a backdrop projects scenes of wherever the cast is supposed to be, whether out on the moors, in a fancy hotel or at 221B Baker St.

Director Buck Busfield adroitly walks that fine line between believability, however silly, and over-the-top camp, and gives the audience sort of the actual Conan Doyle story, but which will never be quite the same again.

Not being an expert on Sherlock Holmes, I can’t know in my gut what a real aficionado would think of a beloved classic treated in such a fashion, but the opening-night audience didn’t stop laughing throughout the two acts, and I think that is high praise indeed.

Much Ado About Nothing

“Much Ado about Nothing” is the second of two offerings in the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble’s summer festival, playing through Aug. 3 at the Veterans’ Memorial Theater.

It is fun that the pairings in both plays — “Much Ado” alternates with “She Loves Me” — are the same. Love interests Laura Baronet and Ian Hopps (Amalia and Georg) in “She Loves Me” become Hero and Claudio in “Much Ado.” Susanna Risser and Matt Edwards (Ilsa and Kodaly in “She Loves Me”) become the relationship-phobic Beatrice and Benedick in “Much Ado.”

These two plays were chosen for this festival because the pairs were so similar. Director Rob Salas felt that presenting the two plays in repertory would help strengthen each. In fact, that decision works beautifully.
“Much Ado About Nothing” was written in the middle of Shakespeare’s career, just after the “Comedy of Errors,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” He would go on to explore more serious topics with his tragedies.

“Much Ado” relies on two schemes. One is to convince Beatrice and Benedick they are in love. The other is to prevent the marriage of Hero and Claudio. All this occurs when Don Pedro (Tim Gaffaney), on his way home with his army, stops at the home of his friend, Leonato (John Haine), the governor of Messina.

DSE has chosen to set this play in the 1940s, just after the end of World War II, and Salas sees the fiery Beatrice as a “Rosie the Riveter” type, strongly independent, quick-tongued and needing no man in her life. Risser projects all of these qualities.

Benedick, who openly despises the whole idea of marriage, is not quite as sleazy as Edwards’ “She Loves Me” counterpart, but he is the master of wisecracks and one-upsmanship. Ultimately, however, it is he who is tricked into admitting his feelings for Beatrice.

The other love pair is the virginal Hero and the jealous Claudio. Baronet’s face glows as she expresses her love for Claudio and plans their upcoming nuptials.

But nobody expected the scurrilous plot of Don John (Matt K. Miller), a dark and thoroughly despicable character. He contrives with Don Pedro’s servant Borachio (Pablo Lopez) to convince Claudio of Hero’s infidelity.

Hopps, almost always likeable in both plays, becomes a disappointment as Claudio (he’s supposed to be!) when he so easily believes the lies that Hero has betrayed him, and publicly humiliates her. Baronet’s character does a right proper meltdown, thinking her life has been ruined. But we like Claudio again when the accusations against Hero are proven to be false.

An overstuffed Miller returns in Act 2 as Dogberry, the buffoonish constable. This is a delightful performance, aided by the comedic antics of Gabby Battista as Verges, which steal the show. Dogberry’s bumbling ends up saving the day, and the relationship of Hero and Claudio.

Incidental music for this production is provided by a trio of musicians, headed by musical director Richard Chowenhill. The reason for setting the play in the 1940s is that it provided the opportunity to use a swing style of music. “Swing is very flexible so we can really work all the different tones in the play,” Salas said.

This show belongs to Risser and Edwards. Their chemistry is undeniable as they convey both scorn and love for each other. Watching them perform, one cannot help but note how totally modern they seem. This is a tribute both to Shakespeare and to Salas’ excellent direction.

She Loves Me

Prior to the opening of its very first musical, “She Loves Me,” directors Gia Battista and Rob Salas welcomed the audience to the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble’s new home: the Veterans’ Memorial Theater. Salas invited everyone to enjoy the show and then return home and tell all of their friends, enemies and acquaintances how awesome it is.
Fortunately, I have a much wider audience than anyone else in the theater, so I am here to tell everyone — this is one awesome show!

“She Loves Me” by Joe Masteroff, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and directed by Battista, is the first non-Shakespeare production for DSE and is being presented as part of the Davis Shakespeare Festival, in repertory with “Much Ado about Nothing.” (Check their website, www.shakespearedavis.org, for which show plays on which date).

To start, leaving bug spray outside, entering the air-conditioned Vets’ and sitting in soft seats was wonderful already. The set by Tatiana Kuilanoff is simple, but well-constructed and adequately represents the parfumerie of Mr. Maraczek (Matt K. Miller).

Miller, a familiar face to Sacramento theatergoers, is perfectly cast as Maraczek and plays him in the spit and polish, crisp gentlemanly fashion of a Leo G. Carroll. He runs the gamut of emotions from perfectionist boss to depressed husband to angry cuckold to needy invalid to warm friend, and plays each of these emotions beautifully. He is a wonderful addition to the DSE ensemble.

“She Loves Me” is the third (of four) adaptation of the 1937 play “Parfumerie” by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo. In 1940 Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan brought it to life in “The Shop Around the Corner.” Judy Garland and Van Johnson set it to music in the 1949 film “In the Good Old Summertime,” and Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan brought it up to 1998 with “You’ve Got Mail.”

Briefly, two employees of a store dislike each other at first sight, which makes working together difficult. At the same time, both employees are secretly carrying on an anonymous correspondence with a “Dear Friend” met in some sort of lonely hearts group, and both have become infatuated with their disembodied correspondent. Neither realizes that the disliked co-worker is the “friend” in question.

Laura Baronet is Amalia, hired by Maraczek because she helps him win a bet by selling a music box that store manager Georg (Ian Hopps) was certain would never sell.

Baronet is warm, with a sharp edge to her. She is lonely, a bit desperate, and pinning her hopes on meeting her Dear Friend. Baronet displays a good comedic sense and has a beautiful voice. Her second act “Vanilla Ice Cream” song was both funny and a poignant act of self-discovery.

Hopps is a winsome Georg, immediately lovable. He’s a loyal employee and very good at his job, though that darn Amalia just gets under his skin at times. When he discovers who she really is, his true nature shines through. Though every song he sings is a pleasure, his “She Loves Me” is a real highlight of the show.

This show has a stellar supporting cast, including Susanna Risser as the middle-aged oversexed saleswoman Ilona Ritter, not so secretly carrying on an affair with the shop’s roué Kodaly (Matt Edwards) who is so sleazy you want to wash your hands at intermission.

Georg’s good friend is Sipos (John Haine), a middle-aged man with a family who becomes Georg’s wing man as he approaches his date with his anonymous girlfriend.

Pablo Lopez is delicious as Arpad, the delivery boy who has higher aspirations. His “Try Me” was very funny.
Tim Gaffaney first appears as a private detective hired by Maraczek, but he completely shines in a later scene as a waiter at a restaurant that insists on a “Romantic Atmosphere.” Gaffaney here makes much of a small role, proving that there are no small roles!

An ensemble of customers, lookers-on, diners, etc., are played very well by Gabby Battista, Caitland Martin and Patty Shade.
The five-piece band, under the direction of Emma Gavenda, is on stage, hidden by the scenery, but not hampered by it. They provide a lush accompaniment for the action on stage.

This production is pure enjoyment from start to finish. The only thing that kept opening night from being a five-star performance is a problem was an audio one that I hope will be fixed later in the run. All the actors wear body mics and the sound was problematic at this first performance, sometimes much too loud, sometimes too soft. As there was a sound check going on when we got to the theater, I assume this is a situation they are aware of and are working on.

This had the feel of a professional production and bodes well for upcoming productions at future festivals. I just worry that it will be difficult to bring enough patrons to the show to meet the expenses of the larger venue. The show runs for six weeks … there is no excuse to miss it!

A Chorus Line

 

Theater in the round may not be the ideal way to present Michael Bennett’s 9 time Tony award winning, “A Chorus Line,” now at the Music Circus, under the direction of Stafford Arima.

That is not to say that this production was not spectacular.  The opening number alone will leave the most robust in the audience panting from the sheer athleticism of a stage full of dancers leaping, twisting turning and dancing their hearts out.

For those now old enough to see the show (it opened in 1975, so it is quite likely that it is now playing to a whole new generation, unfamiliar with it), this is a two hour audition for eight roles in a show that is being cast by director Zach (Eric Sciotto) a mostly disembodied voice giving the dancers directions.  Zach appears on stage from time to time, but his part is mostly unseen.

Throughout the audition each of the finalists (some in the opening number dancers are eliminated after that number) tells his or her story, sings and/or dances and “really hopes I get this job.”

While the singers and dancers are for the most part outstanding, one problem with doing this in the round with a sound system where every voice comes from center stage, whether the performer is on stage or in the aisles of the Wells Fargo Pavillion is you are often busy trying to find out who is speaking and where the speaker actually is standing, and so a lot of the intimacy of a proscenium stage is lost.  By the end of the show, there are few actors with whom you have an invested relationship.

The circular stage is also difficult for the more intimate scenes when, of necessity, half of the audience watches the action from the back.  The character of Paul (Xavier Cano) may be one of the more emotional of the cast and the last time I saw this show he brought me to tears, but since I witnessed his entire interaction with Zach from behind him, it didn’t have the same impact. Cano gave it his all and was one of the few for whom I felt a twinge later in the show, but I didn’t get a chance to love him the way I wanted to.

At the end of the show, when Diana (Selina Michelle Verastigui) sings “What I did for Love” you should feel in your gut what all dedicated, talented performers really go through for their art, because you have watched it all throughout the show, but again, with not much invested in their lives it becomes an emotional song, which Verastigui puts all of her heart and soul into, but it doesn’t have the impact it might have had if we knew the performers better.

The biggest disappointment, however is the finale.  A Chorus Line is known for the crisp choreography of dancers standing in front of a mirror wall, their numbers growing, as the rest of the cast joins them for the iconic “One”

It is impossible to use a mirror on the Music Circus stage and while the dancing is crisp and impeccable and the circle dancing, escalating in speed breathtaking, the impact just can’t be the same as it is on a proscenium stage.  Adding lots of lighting helps, but I missed that grand finale.  This was just a good finale.

However, with those caveats of a cranky old critic (I’m sure most of the enthusiastic audience never gave them a thought), the performances were outstanding.  Cassie (Kate Levering, a veteran of more than 15 Music Circus shows), a one time rising “star” now unable to get a job and wanting to start over again in the chorus was desperate and poignant, trying to get past her former relationship with Zach and just get a job. 

Jennifer Foote is Sheila, an aging chorine with a chip on her shoulder hiding the sadness of her childhood.  She joins Juliane Godfrey (Bebe), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Maggie) in singing the poignant “At the Ballet,” which describes how dancing saved them.

Allison Blair McDowell mops up the stage as Val, whose looks prevented her from getting jobs until she found a unique way to solve the problem.  Her song is always an audience favorite.

Nick Varricchio makes an impression as Mike, telling about his start in dancing, by literally stepping into his sister’s shoes.

Newlyweds Kristine (Katie Huff) and Al (Adam Fleming) are funny, trying to explain Judy’s problem with vocal pitch.

This production is definitely an audience pleaser, and, my own personal disappointments aside, should be a big hit for Music Circus.

Les Miserables

Forty-two cast members. A 25-piece orchestra. Hundreds of costumes. Amazing lighting effects.

“Les Misérables” is the show that Steve Isaacson has dreamed of directing since he first saw it in Los Angeles in 1988. Now the Davis Musical Theater Company has finally brought it to the Jean Henderson Performing Arts Center, playing to a sold-out, opening-night audience which gave it an enthusiastic standing ovation at the finale.
This is a mostly outstanding cast, whether principals or chorus. The first act finale (“One Day More”) will give you goose bumps, and there are minor characters who will knock your socks off.

F. James Raasch, returning to DMTC after a 26 year hiatus, is Jean Valjean, that hapless hero imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to keep his sister’s child from starving to death. Raasch gives his character nobility and dignity and his “Bring Him Home” was achingly poignant, as he prays to God to keep his daughter Cosette’s boyfriend safe in the coming battle.

A bitter man, Valjean takes his anger out on a bishop (Jeff Nauer) who befriends him, only to have the bishop change his life. Valjean resolves to devote the rest of his life to doing good for humanity.

Nathan Lacy could give Russell Crowe lessons in how to play the role of Javert. The Inspector is obsessed with Valjean and determined to see him back in prison — years after he turned his back on his parole — despite the honorable man he has become in the interim.

Andrea Eve Thorpe is Fantine, the factory worker whose secret is the child she had to leave behind, whom she now works to support. She imbued the character with tremendous pathos and heart and it was just too bad that she was saddled with a curly blond wig that made her head look more like Harpo Marx and was out of place among the tattered factory workers. No wonder they all hated her.

But that did not prevent her from giving a knockout rendition of the iconic “I Dreamed a Dream.”

Fantine’s young daughter Cosette (Lily Linaweaver on opening night, alternating with Katie Smith-Induni) was a little taller than one might expect, but she was very fragile as the scared little girl who has been exploited by her caregivers. The older Cosette (Jori Gonzales) has a lovely duet with Marius and at her wedding wears one of the most beautiful bridal gowns I have seen (kudos to costume designers Denise Miles and Jean Henderson).

The villains we love to hate were Thenardier (Mike Mechanick) and his wife (Cyndi Wall), caregivers to Cosette, who were loud, gross, over the top and very funny. Obviously audience favorites. “Master of the House” is always a crowd pleaser and this was no exception.

Eimi Taormina is their daughter Eponine. (The younger Eponine is played by Smith-Induni, alternating with Linaweaver.) It is a role Taormina was born to play and she did not disappoint. “On My Own” will tug at your heartstrings, as she sings of her love for young Marius, who has given his heart to Cosette.

Scott Scholes as Marius is nothing short of outstanding. Scholes was seen in last year’s “Cabaret” as “tenor soloist” who set the tone for the whole show, and in this production, he takes his talents another step forward and makes Marius a more memorable character than he sometimes is.

The real treat of the night was Ryan Favorite as Enjolras, the leader of the student rebels, who gave a spirited performance with a powerful voice which made you sit up and take notice.

Marley Michel as Gavroche, the street urchin, had a lot of spunk, but sadly not a lot of volume, but his (or her, as Michel is female) death was handled so emotionally that it brought tears.

One cannot review this show without giving the set a big bravo. Thanks to what Isaacson described as “Flintstone mobility,” the student barricade on the street put itself together, turned itself around, and took itself off stage again. It was a marvel.

James Cubbage also deserves mention for the intricate lighting design. There were a few glitches on opening night, but when it all works right, it’s wonderful. I particularly liked the water effect in the Paris sewers.

For a company the size of the Davis Musical Theater Company, this is a monumental undertaking, but it was handled beautifully and the audience left thrilled. (“This is the best night I’ve had in this theater,” one patron told me).

Tickets are selling fast and many performances are nearly sold out, so order soon.

Wicked

 

It is clear when you enter the memorial auditorium and see a fire breathing (or rather smoke blowing) dragon hanging over the stage, when you watch Glinda float to the stage in her metallic bubble, or when the Great and Powerful Oz starts huffing and puffing, why “Wicked” has been declared a “cultural phenomenon” by “Variety,” “The best musical of the decade by “Entertainment Weekly,” and has won over 50 major awards, including the Grammy and three Tony Awards.

There’s no question about it, this musical is magnificent.  A large cast, a spectacular set, beautiful costumes and more special effects than have been seen on the auditorium stage in a very long time.  There is an added plus of a real orchestra that does not need so much amplification that your ears hurt.

It is also clear why after an absence of only two years, the California Musical Theater Company is already bringing it back.  The ~2,500 seat house appeared to be, if not completely full, at least very nearly full.

“Wicked” is based on the wildly popular novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, which tells the “back story” of the beloved Oz characters.  It is Maguire’s prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” answering such questions as “why is the wicked witch green?” “Does she have a name?” (Yes--Elphaba--Maguire’s homage to L. Frank Baum’s name), “Why is she so mean?” “What do we know about her sister, other than that she was killed by a falling house?” and “Can anyone really be as sticky sweet as Glinda?”  (We never do learn if there was ever a Witch of the South, though).

Maguire’s book was adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman with music and lyrics added by Stephen Schwartz.

Those familiar with the performances of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the characters on Broadway will find that Emma Hunton (Elphaba) and Gina Beck (Glinda) have made the roles unique to themselves. Hunton, a powerful Elphaba, has appeared in no previous productions of this show, though Beck, making her U.S. debut, did play Glinda in London.

The characters meet at school.  Glinda is the overly perky, blonde, cheerleader type, who arrives at Shiz University surrounded by her adoring entourage and just knowing she is going to end up with the most handsome guy on campus.  She is a flibbertigibbet concerned only with herself, her looks, and what makes her look good.

Elphaba, having had a sad childhood that included abuse at the hands of her father, and being made to be the caretaker for her disabled sister Nessarose (Jenny Florkowski) is a serious student, concerned about real world problems, in particular the fact that something baaaad is happening in Oz, as Professor Dillamond (a goat) (Tom Flynn) is losing his ability to speak and forgetting how to understand, as are many of the heretofore English speaking animals in the country.

Through an error, Glinda and Elphaba are assigned to be roommates and it’s instant loathing for both, though over time Glinda can’t help herself and decides to help Elphaba become “Popular” (one of the perky hummable tunes from this show).

Rounding out the cast are a host of Ozians, such as Boq (Jesse JP Johnson), the Munchkin who is in love with Glinda and is willing to do anything she wants to win her heart, though in the process he loses his own.

Nick Adams is Fiyero, who arrives at Shiz the male equivalent of Glinda...not interested in study, wanting only to party and hang out with the most beautiful girls on campus.  Over the course of the show, he finds true love and undergoes perhaps the greatest transformation of anyone in the show.

Tim Kazurinsky is the Wizard, harboring a secret longing all of his life and realizing, too late, that he didn’t have to look farther than his own front yard because it was there all the time.

Alison Frasesr is Madame Morrible, headmistress at Shiz, who takes Elphaba under her wing when she discovers the girl has magical powers that can help her in her own goals.

There are wonderful enchanting moments in this show (such as the Act 1 Finale) and the tender farewell of Glinda and Elphaba, singing “For Good,” a song with which anyone who has had and lost a good friend can identify.

It’s a long show, but passes in an instant.  It’s also a pricey show, so see if you can win one of those $25 Wicked lottery tickets.  A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held. Two and one-half hours prior to each performance, people who present themselves at the Convention Center Box Office, 1301 L Street, will have their names placed in a lottery drum; thirty minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each, cash only. This lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person. Lottery participants must have a valid photo ID when submitting their entry form and, if chosen, when purchasing tickets. For questions about the lottery, call the box office at (916) 557-1999.

Hedda Gabler

I have to confess that despite my 71 years of living and 15 years as a theater critic, I had never seen Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” until we caught a performance at the Art Theater of Davis last weekend. It took a bit of research, both before and after seeing the play, to answer some questions I had.

While I like the new theater built in the Third Space building, there are a few complaints. First, there are approximately 30 folding metal chairs and four chair pads. The lucky first four to arrive spend a more comfortable couple of hours than the unlucky bunch who follow them. Patrons might like to think of bringing their own chair pads.

The second complaint is that on Thursday, the temperatures had gone up to 90 in the afternoon and the theater was beastly hot. This is only going to get worse as summer arrives, so people may want to plan accordingly with fans or whatever they have that will make things more comfortable for them.

This is a new translation of the Ibsen classic, translated by Adam Siegel and adapted by Timothy Nutter (who also plays Eilert Loevborg)

The play first opened in Munich in 1891 and was not well received. Germans liked their heroines to be docile and Hedda is anything but. This bride of only six months is already bored with married life, barely tolerates her bookish husband, and manipulates everything and everyone around her.

Art Theater’s Hedda (Tatiana Ray, an Acme alum) gives a beautiful, subdued performance, shrinking from her husband’s touch, yet sparkling in conversations with Judge Brack (John McLean), a family friend who is not so secretly in love with Hedda. Hedda has some of the most gorgeous costumes of the production, particularly her red velvet Act 3 number (costume design is by Nutter, who also designed the set and directed the show, in addition to adapting the script).

Husband Joergen Tesman (Tyler Shaffo) is a man who is head over heels in love with his wife, and lives in a fantasy world where she loves him, too. He is willing to put himself in debt to provide her with everything she wants. Shaffo’s Tesman is an affable guy. Sometimes you roll your eyes at his inability (or unwillingness) to see situations right under his own nose, but you still root for him.

The Tesman of this production tosses “ya” into his speech at odd times. He’s the only one who does and it makes one wonder why? Is this the nod to the Norwegian origins of the play? It sticks out like a sore thumb every time.

Judge Brack, though revealed to be unscrupulous, is a likeable rapscallion and McClean gives a strong performance as the third party in the marriage of Hedda and Tesman.

Tess Chism plays Hedda’s old school chum, Thea Elvsted, herself also in a loveless marriage, who has been working with Loevborg on his new book. Chism gives a fine performance despite being sabotaged by the most awful looking wig I have ever seen. Apparently someone decided that since the character is Norwegian, she should have a blond wig. This one shimmers unnaturally, comes undone, and shows her real dark hair in many places.
Lisa Halko gives a very strong performance as Aunt Julle, Tesman’s loving aunt, who has raised him from early childhood. Julle is thrilled that Tesman has found a wife, who is both beautiful and high-born, and anxiously awaits the news of an expected baby, though Tesman is too dense to understand her not-so-subtle hints.

Nutter is a powerful Loevborg, who was once Hedda’s lover and Tesman’s former colleague, now in competition with him for a teaching position. Loevborg is a recovering alcoholic and when he falls off the wagon at a party and confesses to Hedda that he has lost his priceless manuscript, instead of letting him know that, in fact, she is the one who lost the manuscript, she gives him a gun and encourages him to commit suicide.

The final character in this play is the butler/family retainer Berte (Dylan Wright). I liked his performance very much but there was just something “wrong” about it. His character seemed out of place in this drama and it was not until I did some research after the play that I realized the role was written to be a housekeeper, Bertha. Everything he did was wrong for a butler, but right for a housekeeper. I’m surprised that the role was given to a man.

This production sometimes lacks energy and on the night I attended it seemed like there were some difficulties remembering lines, though that may have been my imagination, as the cast covered well, if there were. But it is an ambitious project for the fledgling company and on the whole they carried it off well.

The Tempest

Acme Theater Company is doing it again. This weekend the group is presenting its 31st Memorial Day program free to the city of Davis for its support throughout the company’s history.

This year’s gift is Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,”which can be seen at the Davis Arts Center’s outdoor amphitheater and is, as always, completely free. Bringing your own blankets or chairs is recommended.

(Barbeque items are also for sale starting at 6:30 p.m., before the show begins. But you have to pay for those!)

“The Tempest,” performed by Acme for the first time, is described by director Betsy Raymond (who is directing for the first time) as “full of romance, slapstick comedy and magic and is also a play woven with revenge, manipulation, and moral gray areas.” Whew. That’s a lot.

In fact, at the end of the play, I saw some Acme alums standing in a circle trying to explain pieces of the plot to each other, and a young woman was talking with people sitting next to me, saying “Well, I read this in 10th grade, but I got nothing.” A man was telling his wife that he didn’t have time to read the synopsis on his cell phone at intermission, so had missed a lot of the plot.

The company, at least in Act 1, was also battling for audience attention with the cars on Covell Boulevard, and the train whistles; both of which seemed to have died down by Act 2.

However, with all of that, the group put on an excellent performance in which some actors stood head and shoulders — sometimes literally — above the rest, though all did a fine job.

Colin French, is playing Ariel, a puckish spirit who is bound to the magician Prospero (Brian Stewart), who rescued him from a tree, where he was imprisoned by a witch. French, a sophomore (with two more years to mature in Acme) gave the standout performance of the evening. It was a thing of magic, as he runs hither and thither, popping in and out and just enjoying his role to the hilt.

No slouch, either is the Prospero of Brian Stewart. Prospero is the exiled Duke of Milan, secretly enjoying being imprisoned on an island with all his books and not having to run a country, but whose goal is to restore his daughter, Miranda (Danielle Schlenker) to her rightful place on the throne.

To help him achieve that goal, he manipulates a meeting of Miranda with Ferdinand (Matthew Fyhrie), son of Alonso, King of Naples (Andre Martinez), who believes his son perished in the shipwreck. Schlenker and Fyhrie make a beautiful young couple, who fall in love at first sight.

Also bound to Prospero is Caliban (Benton Harshaw) son of the witch who bewitched Ariel. Harshaw gives an intense performance, particularly effective when he uses a gravely voice to express his feelings toward Prospero.
Leo Goldstein gives a performance worthy of Ray Bolger as Trinculo, the king’s jester, with floppy limbs and seemingly very few bones in his body. He is friends with Stephani (Tina Simpson) and the two of them have many drunken revels together and they plot with Caliban to overthrow Prospero, a plan that is easily quashed.

Another excellent performance is turned in by Raphael Gorga, as Gonzalo, a Neopolitan courtier who was helpful to Prospero and Miranda when they were shipped off to sea, and is now an advisor to Alonso.

Set design for this show is by Brian Stewart and Aaron Hirst, who have created a blank canvas on which the action takes place, aided by the lighting design of Arina Ushakova and Wil Forkin. However, the set design takes in the specific qualities of the Arts Center, by using the trees and the many doors into the building as part of the action.

This is a high-energy show, which shows good promise for Betsy Raymond’s future directing career. The price is right and you won’t be disappointed if you stop by the Arts Center to see a performance.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Who knew that Chekhov could be so funny?

Well, not Chekhov, exactly, but playwright Christopher Durang who has penned the Tony award winning “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” now entertaining patrons at the B Street Theater, under the deft directorial hand of Buck Busfield.  Durang does a mashup of those 19th century Russian characters and themes and sets them down in 21st century Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

There is nothing subtle about this Chekhovian knock off, as Durang hits us over the head with blatant references to works such as “Uncle Vanya,” “The Seagull,”  “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard.”  In fact, the small grove of unseen cherry trees in the backyard of the Pennsylvania home is mentioned so often as “the cherry orchard,” I felt like the old Thurber story about the unicorn (“I said there’s a unicorn in the garden...”) We’re gonna mention it until we’re sure you get it!

But the audience did get it and laughed approvingly (and often uproariously) throughout the delightful play.

Vanya (Greg Alexander) and his stepsister Sonia (Stephanie McVay) have lived their entire lives in their family’s farmhouse, caring for their ailing, now deceased, parents, while sister Masha (Jamie Jones) has been traveling around the world as a successful movie star. (“I can’t help it if I’m beautiful and intelligent and successful, can I?”)

Vanya and Sonia, in wonderful deadpan portrayals, remain trapped and regretful at how much of life has eluded them. Their lives are so routinized that Sonia is thrown for a loop when Vanya gets his own coffee one morning.  Together they wait for the birds each morning, wondering if their favorites will show up.

Cassandra, the new age-y clairvoyant cleaning woman (Tara Sissom, in an often over the top performance) warns them about terrible things coming in the immediate future. (“Beware of Hootie Pie!”)

One of those terrible things is an unexpected visit from Masha and her boy toy, the vacuous Spike (the muscular Jason Kuykendall, who removes his shirt a lot and does a wonderful reverse strip tease, putting his clothes on). Masha has come home to announce her decision to sell the family home (which, for some reason, she owns, her siblings being merely occupants).

Jones does a wonderful turn as the queen of the slasher film, who can’t understand when suddenly the world does NOT revolve around her.

Add to the mix the young star-struck, would-be actress next door neighbor, Nina (Mary Katherine Cobb), who idolizes Masha and is obviously very alluring eye candy to Spike.  Cobb, who has been a member of B Street’s internship program, is making her first appearance with the “big people” and turns in memorable performance.  Davis residents may remember seeing her mother, Mary Cobb, in local community theater performances many years ago.

Things get shaken up at a costume party, to which the reluctant Vanya and Sonia have been convinced to attend with Masha, as part of her entourage, elves to Masha's Snow White.  Sonia finds her gumption and creates her own costume, which outshines Masha.

The party turns out to be a life changing shift for all of them and leads to a memorable monologue for Vanya about the days of “Ozzie and Harriet,” and Bishop Sheen, the days when people still wrote letters and licked stamps, his disconnect from today’s world and despair for the future.  It’s a masterful performance by Alexander.

This is a laugh-out-loud funny production performed by a first rate cast which does the comic genius of Christopher Durang proud.

Good People

David Lindsay-Abaire may not be the name of a playwright on everybody’s lips.  Some may know him as the man who wrote the look and lyrics for “Shrek, the Musical,” a lightweight piece not likely to make much of an impression.

So expectations were not high going to Capital Stage to see his “Good People,” directed by Stephanie Gularte.  Just shows you how expectations can deceive.

This is a fabulous play, tightly directed, wickedly funny, painfully seriously, deeply moving, and ultimately decidedly memorable.

The play is set in South Boston, or “Southie,” which many of us probably came to know thanks to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s “Good Will Hunting,” an area known as a working-class, predominately Catholic neighborhood, and home to some of the oldest housing projects in the United States. (In fact, the playwright grew up in South Boston and lived there until he won a scholarship to a private school, which he credits with changing his life.)

The story centers on Margaret (called “Margie,” with a hard “g” sound), a feisty single woman who has lived all of her life in Southie, who struggles every day to keep herself and her handicapped adult daughter going.

Rebecca Dines gives an amazing performance as Margie, with a thick Southie accent, a chip on her shoulder, and a sense that life just keeps beating her down over and over again but she is determined to fight back. Dines’ performance is one of those that, years later, you will remember and say smugly that you were there to watch her.

As the play starts, Margie is being fired from her job by her boss Stevie (Brandon Lancaster), a lifelong friend and now manager of a Dollar Store.  She has been late one too many times, lateness the fault of the late arrival of her quirky landlady Dottie (Linda Montalvo), who takes care of Margie’s daughter while she works. Dottie makes silly rabbits out of flower pots as a way to supplement her income.

Suspecting what is coming in her meeting with Stevie, Margie plays the “I remember your mother” card, to no effect.  Stevie is a good guy, and well meaning, but he has to report to “corporate,” which has ordered him to fire Margie after many write-ups for tardiness.  He offers to help her get a new job at the Gillette factory, where his brother works, but she feels she is too old for the physical demands.

Margie faces the loss of her apartment and having to move to the streets with her daughter since Dottie is threatening to move her son into the apartment if Margie can’t come up with the rent.

Margie, along with Dottie and Jean (Lori Russo) play Bingo as their one night on the town and over the cards, Jean suggests Margie look up her old boyfriend, Mike (James Hiser).  Mike got out of Southie, got a good education and is now a successful fertility doctor, married, and living in the upper class Chestnut Hill. Maybe Mike can give Margie a job in his office.

After unsuccessfully avoiding her, Mike (James Hiser) finds himself confronted face to face, when Margie shows up at his office.  Things are awkward, then sad, then confrontational.  Margie finally wrangles an invitation to his birthday party the next night, where he implies she might meet someone who has a position open in his office.  When Mike later calls to explain the party was called off because his child was sick, Margie smells a rat.

She shows up at his house anyway, where his wife Kate (ZZ Moor), unaware of their past history, treats her with dignity and respect and a big platter of cheese.

The play does a 180 here, and the comedy we had been laughing at so heartily up to now turns serious, things are revealed that are better left unsaid, Hiser does an excellent job of holding in his anger until he must explode–and does.  Moor is wonderful as the clueless wife, just trying to be a good hostess, who gets a big dose of things she had no business knowing.

The play ends up back at the Bingo parlor with a lively discussion taking place and a surprising conclusion.

Capitol Stage’s production of “Good People” is marvelous and shouldn’t be missed.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

'Thoroughly Modern Millie' is silly.

But the play knows this, and doesn't pretend to be anything but silly.

The Woodland Opera House has a talented, energetic actors, dancers, and musicians who bring this silly tale to life, under the direction of Staci Arriaga, with musical direction by James C. Glica-Hernandez.

While there is no doubting the talent on the stage, this production has a couple of problems.  The first is that there is nowhere in the program where you can find out the name of the playwright, only the copyright holder.

In fact, the book is by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, with a new score by Jeanine Tesori. The music is augmented by others like Gilbert & Sullivan, Jacques Offenbach, Walter Donaldson (“Mammy,” with lyrics in Cantonese, complete with supertitles), and Victor Herbert.

That this production reached the stage at all is somewhat of a miracle. It became Scanlon’s obsession.  He was an actor/writer/director recovering from an illness at a friend's summer house, who had only one videotape for entertainment: 1967's somewhat mediocre Julie Andrews/Mary Tyler Moore film musical of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie.'

As Scanlon watched the movie over and over, he began to think he could turn it into a much better stage show. Sticking to his guns during the next several years, he finally got a meeting with the film's screenwriter, Morris. The rest, as they say, is history.

The musical became 2002's most honored new show, winning six Tony Awards, including best musical, best choreography, best orchestrations and best costume design.

The second problem with the Opera House production is the pit band.  It’s wonderful to be able to have 8 musicians to provide an authentic band sound, but in a house like this, without a real orchestra pit, there is always the difficulty of the vocals on stage being heard over the music in the pit.  No matter how good each is, if one drowns out the other, it does not do a service to the performers.

In fact, audibility was a problem throughout the production, a rare problem for Woodland. Though the script seemed to be funny, we rarely heard audience laughter, and then it was for some physical comedy on stage.  Funny lines often went without laughter.  This may be due to the performance we saw being opening night, and perhaps things will even out during the run, but it was sad to miss so much of the show.

But that’s just the bad news.  The good news is that this is a strong, likeable cast, starting with Amy Jacques-Jones in the title role.  Millie has just arrived in New York after escaping from Salina, Kansas.  She’s ready to bob her hair, shorten her skirts, and find a job working for a rich man whom she will ultimately marry.  Jacques-Jones is just great, very charismatic on stage and she dances up a storm as well.

After a mugging, wherein she loses her purse and one shoe, she meets Jimmy Smith (Seth Rogers), an apparent ne’er do well to whom she is instantly attracted, despite her life plan to marry a millionaire.  Jimmy helps her find a home in a hotel for young women, run by Mrs. Meers (Eva Sarry), who has an evil gleam in her eye.  Meers, we discover, runs a white slave operation on the side and, assisted by Ching Ho (Tomas Eredia) and Bun Foo (Hugo Figueroa), who speak no English and whose “Chinese” is translated on supertitles, she kidnaps women and ships them off to Hong Kong where they will be  sold into prostitution.

Sarry is deliciously evil and switches in and out of a faux Chinese accent (really more of a faux Japanese accent, but let it pass...), depending on which face she is presenting at the time.

Eredia and Figueroa are believable Chinese characters, and really are the good guys in the melodrama part of this silly story, as they are only working for Meers in order to bring their mother over from Hong Kong.

Millie gets a job working for the very wealthy Mr. Trevor Graydon (Horacio Gonzales). One of the show's highlights is her job interview ('The Speed Test'), which borrows a patter song from Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Ruddygore,' with new lyrics by Scanlan.

Along the way, Millie falls in love with Jimmy; it's also love at first sight for Millie’s friend, Miss Dorothy Brown (Petra Favorite) and Trevor Graydon, who instantly break into Victor Herbert's 'Falling in Love with Someone' - from 'Naughty Marietta' - as they meet each other.

But all is not about to end happily ever after, because Mrs. Meers decides to kidnap Miss Dorothy. It's up to Millie, Jimmy and Mr. Graydon - with assistance from Muzzy Van Hossmere (the incomparable Deborah Douglas-Hammond), Manhattan's most celebrated chanteuse - to get her back.

The show includes lots of plot twists and identity mix-ups, but the plot is irrelevant; the show really is about Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan's music, Arriaga’s choreography and the talented cast's energetic performances.

A Chorus Line

There is one singular sensation out at the DMTC Performing Arts Center, as the Davis Musical Theater Company presents its latest production of “A Chorus Line,” directed by John Ewing, with choreography by Pamela Lourentzos.

Before the show started, co-producer Steve Isaacson was delighted to announce that as a result of a successful internet fund-raising campaign DMTC was able to afford more realistic mirrors on the stage, and what a difference it made!  When those mirrors rotated around to face the audience, there was a literal gasp at how wonderful it looked.

For those unfamiliar with this show, it is not your run of the mill plot show.  There is no boy-meets-girl story, and while the finale is triumphant for some, not for all.  There is also no “star” of the show.  It is a show which depends on a very strong ensemble, which is precisely what director Ewing has assembled for this production.

The show takes place in one day, at a cattle call for dancers for an upcoming unnamed Broadway show.  Twenty three dancers show up for an audition for eight roles, and they go through not only a 2 hour grueling dance audition, but also must plumb the depths of their psyches to convince director Zach (Dean Shellenberger) that they would work well in this show.  Most will be eliminated.

When Diana (Rachelle Jones) sings the show’s signature song, “What I Did for Love,” near the end, the audience has a very good idea of what exactly singers, dancers, and actors do for love in order to perform.  Jones’ rendition of this song is very moving.

The opening number, “I Hope I Get It” blends brash optimism, fear, and insecurity, as each dancer expresses his or her hopes for finally landing a job.

Part of the audition process involves answering some very pointed questions about the dancers’ past lives, and their responses take us through the songs of this Marvin Hamlish-Edward Kleban musical. 

Mike (Trey Quinn) tells of being dragged to his sisters dance classes as a young boy, falling in love with what the students were doing, and, on a day when his sister couldn’t get to class, stealing her shoes and running to take her place. And there he stayed “for the rest of his life.”

Bebe and Maggie (Rebecca Crebbin-Coates and Cooper Johnson) sing the lyrical “at the ballet,” remembering their days dancing ballet and how it saved them from unhappy home lives.

The cute, but not very talented Kristine (Jessica Arena) and her new husband Al (Scott Scholes) try to explain Kristine’s problems with staying on tune.  (It is worth noting that the role of Al in the 1985 movie was played by the late Tony Fields, a Davis High graduate)

Caitland Martin plays the over exuberant, sensual Val whose career has been plagued not being a beauty, no matter how talented she may be (“Dance: Ten, Looks: Three”)

Cassie (Christina Castro) is Zach’s former mistress, who left the chorus line to have a career as a solo performer.  With the lack of success, she is back trying to get into the chorus.  Zach is particularly harsh with her and Castro emotes effectively in her song “The Music and the Mirror,” as she tries to explain that this is all she has now.

Sheila (Jori Gonzales) has a tough exterior which hides her own insecurities.  When Zach insists she let her hair down (literally), she begins to open up.

Devon Hayakawa plays Connie, a role played in the movie by Davis’ Jan Gan Boyd.  Hayakawa is the youngest in the cast, but you’d never know it.  She is easily on a professional level with the rest of the cast.

But if the evening went to one performer in particular it was to Peter Giovanni, playing Paul, a painfully shy man hiding a secret he dares not to reveal to the cast at large.  Giovanni gives such a poignant performance that it moves the audience to tears.

In truth, it is Paul’s secret (he’s gay) which dates this musical.  In this day and age, nobody would care, and I suspect Paul would not be quite so pitiful, but in 1975, when the play opened on Broadway, we were still three years before Harvey Milk was elected to public office in San Francisco, and several years before anybody ever heard of AIDS.  “Gay Pride” was unheard of.

Given that, it may be surprising that “A Chorus Line” won nine Tony Awards that year and went on to be the longest running musical in Broadway History (15 years), until it was dethroned by “Cats.”

But the show’s appeal cannot be denied.  And when the cast assembles on stage, dressed in gold and white and standing in front of those gorgeous mirrors, it takes your breath away.  Rockette precise they’re not, but oh so all but. 

DMTC knocks it out of the ballpark with this production.!

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

 

A sparkling new production of “A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” directed by Michael Laun, exploded onto the Sacramento Theater Company stage over the weekend and left the audience weak from laughter.

Described by Laun as “perhaps one of the most brilliantly conceived musical comedies ever written,” “Forum” has not been seen on the STC stage since the 1981-82 season. The show almost never saw the Broadway stage, due to a plethora of problems.  Jerome Robbins was hired to direct, but then dropped out of the show.  Phil Silvers was expected to star, but refused (as did Milton Berle who felt the performance schedule was too rigorous).  Finally Zero Mostel was cast and George Abbot hired to direct, but when the show was not working in its out of town performances, Robbins was brought back to fix it.  But there was bad blood between him and Mostel (who never forgave him for “naming names” during the period of the Black List.  In fact Mostel and Jack Gilford, also in the show, had both been blacklisted and Gilford’s wife–“the sweetest lady in the world,” according to Mostel – was also named). 

However, realizing that Robbins would be good for the show, Mostel agreed to work with him as long as he didn’t have to socialize with him.

Stephen Sondheim's most tuneful musical is a madcap musical sex farce set in ancient Rome and based on the comedies of Plautus (254-182 BC).  The book is by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart with musical direction (and recorded music) by Samuel Clein and choreography by Scottie Woodard.  As the lights go up on Scenic Designer Kelly James Tighe’s massive set featuring three buildings, many doors and many exits, one does not have to wonder what kind of show is about to be presented.

The intent of the play is clear from the moment Prologus (the incomparable Michael RJ Campbell), who later plays the slave Pseudolus, introduces the action with the hit song from the show, “Comedy Tonight.” As the song progresses, other characters are introduced and demonstrate their importance to the plot  

Most memorable of these initial characters are the courtesans in the house of Lycus (Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly) – Tintinabula (Lindsay Kristine Anderson), Panacea (Jennifer Martin), The Geminae (Gina Coyle and Kevin Foster), Vibrata (Andrea St. Clair) and the towering Gymnasia (Renee DeGarmo).  The gyrations over, under, and around Pseudolus are memorable.

Campbell dominates as the slave who will do anything to win his freedom.  His wing man is Hysterium (Scottie Woodard, who gives an aptly named performance!)

Pseudolus is slave in the house of Senex, an old man, played by Joe Vincent, returning to the Sacramento stage after an absence of 50 years.  He has obviously aged well. 

His wife, Domina, is the delicious Lenore Sebastian, alternately harpie and seductress and with the help of an incredible wig makes it believable, as the song states, that she will be playing Medea later this week.

Their son Hero (Matt Surges) is feeling the stirrings of puberty and has fallen in love with the beautiful, yet vacuous Philia, a virgin (Megan Odell on the night I saw the show, alternating with Meghan Greene, both of whom are part of the Young People’s program).  Philia has been brought to Rome to be sold to the Miles Gloriosus (Jacob L. Smith) and has been programmed to give her body to her owners, but her heart remains with Hero, an arrangement that doesn’t really sit well with Hero.

When Jacob L. Smith as Miles Gloriosus strides onto the stage to claim his bride, he was making his STC debut and the audience was blown away by his powerful voice. He’s the perfectly cast self-centered “hunk” for this play!

Jim Lane plays Erronius, an old man who is roaming the world looking for his two children, stolen in infancy by pirates.  Lane’s role is a small (though pivotal) one, but each time he comes on stage, he garners gales of laughter.

Matt Dunn, Gina Coyle, and Kevin Foster are “the proteans,” or “everybody else,” playing males and females. soldiers and eunuchs each with a quick change of costume and adjustment of vocal level.

This play has everything needed to make it enjoyable – funny characters, funny situations, mistaken identities, endless chases...and a happy ending, of course.

The Value of One

The Pamela Trokanski Dance Theater, now in its 29th season at its workshop on Del Rio Place, is presenting “The Value of One,” with two remaining performances this weekend.

The piece includes approximately 20 dancers with a mix of ages from 7 to 85. There are members of the Pamela Trokanski Dance Theater (Nicole Bell, Sara Delorena, Evelia Fernandez, Sharon Riddle, Irem Sogutlugil, Michele Tobias and Trokanski herself), the PTDT Apprentice Company (Annie Cui, Maddie English, Alison Luck, Kate Macauley and Lindsey Su) and The Third Stage, Northern California’s only multi-generational contemporary dance company (JoAnne Craig-Ferraz, Mia Mangney, Ece Midillioglu, Denise Odenwalder, Cindy Robinson, Marla Shauer, Allegra Silberstein and Adrienna Turner).

The work explores the ripples people leave behind their lives, often without their knowledge. It shows how individuals are affected by interactions with others.

It asks how people are defined at different stages in life, whether they are 7 or 83 or somewhere in between.
The show begins with a recorded message introducing the theme, and explaining that all actions have repercussions. The African proverb, “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito” was used to remind people that one person using their cell phone could affect the entire audience. (It was one of the best “turn off your cell phone” messages I’ve ever heard.) “The needs of the one do not outweigh the needs of the others,” the audience was reminded.

The entire group assembled for the opening number, “Stand” by R.E.M., segueing into a number about individual uniqueness, with Michele Tobias talking about her grandfather’s comments that any day that he woke up “on the right side of the dirt was a good day.”

The whole piece was shaped by individual dancers who had recorded feelings about their lives. Ece Midillioglu, 7; Adrianna Turner, 10; and Mia Mangney, 12; described interactions with school friends, the problem of moving to a new school and the influence of a special teacher.

Ece and Adrianna danced to a song by Jewel (“All About Me”) which energetically showed the joy of being a young girl. As they danced in mirror image to their story, six dancers performed along the back wall of the stage, bringing smiles to the audience.

“The World,” by Matthew Ryan, danced by Nicole Bell, explored the “Butterfly Effect” postulated by Edward Lorenz, which says that a change as small as the beating of a butterfly’s wing in one part of the world can affect something else in another part of the world.

A group dance to music by Ane Brun showed sheer joy, “Love, Love, Love … Jump for Joy!”

Allegra Silberstein, the oldest dancer at 83, told of growing up on a farm and the life steps that brought her to becoming the poet laureate of Davis. Silberstein’s moving work sets a wonderful example for anyone who thinks that active life ends at any certain age.

“Hands,” with music by Jewel, asks the audience to find meaning in and connection to the world around us. “If the whole 13.8 billion-year history of the universe was laid out and scaled to the length of a football field … our part of that field, the entire history of human beings, takes up the span of one adult human hand.”

So, knowing this, one might question why would people ever even get out of bed? Although I think that the better question might be: What do we do with that hand?”

In a section that Bob Fosse would love, the dancers explore their hands, connection to each other and to the world and, indeed, “what we do with that hand.”

Tobias was back again, exploring her relationship with her twin sister and how that shaped her life. Evelia Fernandez danced about her father and hiding emotions; Sara Delorena danced about leaving her mother and alcoholic stepfather; Denise Odenwalder talked about a ring challenge; and a “Sand” solo, with music by Nathan Lanier, was danced by Irem Sogutlugil.

By the end of the show, the dancers had drawn the audience into their very personal worlds and let them see how their experiences have shaped — and are shaping — their lives.

The show runs a little over an hour and is a good way to spend an afternoon.

Visiting Mr. Green

 

It’s another one of those generational bonding plays that we have seen lately (witness “4000 Miles” at Capital Stage and last at Sacramento Theater Company’s own “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks”). STC is presenting “Visiting Mr. Green,” a two man show starring the always wonderful Gary S. Martinez as 86 year old Jewish widower, Mr. Green, and new-to-STC Ryan Blanning as the rising young executive, Ross Gardiner.

The play is a first by playwright Jeff Baron. It premiered in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1996, had a year-long run off Broadway. It has since had more than 300 productions in 37 countries and has been translated into 22 different languages. It has been nominated for 10 different awards around the world for “Best Play,” and won 7 of those awards.

Director Marie Bain explains that the play deals with “the universal concepts of family, friendship, rejection and forgiveness” and discusses the concept of which is more important, the individual or the community?”

Martinez gives a flawless performance as the elderly curmudgeon, grieving for his recently deceased wife, and too proud to admit that he is helpless without her. His life is spiraling out of control. The 60-something Martinez is perfect as the 86 year old Green. Every time he slowly walked across the stage or tried to get into or out of his recliner I saw many of the 80-somethings I see at the local Senior Living facility.

Blanning is initially not very likeable as the brash, smug, impatient young man, forced by a judge to perform community service for the next six months, visiting Mr. Green once a week, as punishment for driving recklessly and nearly hitting the old man.

Green wants nothing to do with any help from anyone, especially Ross, and Ross doesn’t want to be there, but the judge won’t let him off.

The play is two acts, with four scenes in the first act and five in the second. There are black-outs at the end of each scene, the following scene taking place a week later. In this manner, we see the slow growing of a relationship, if not exactly friendship, between the two men.

After two sparring rounds between the two, in Act 3 Ross has a breakthrough when he brings Green soup from his favorite kosher deli and Green discovers that Ross, too, is Jewish. The wall between them begins to crack a little bit.

Over the rest of the play there is a growing, if wary, friendship between the two men, both of whom are harboring deep hurts. Ross is gay and has been disowned by his family. Green’s daughter married a non-Jew and he has not spoken with her in years. Green insists that Ross just needs a good woman, Ross can’t understand Green’s disowning his daughter because of whom she loves.

With these revelations, the script develops problems. Anybody who has been in any discussion about race, religion, or sexual orientation in the last 20 years will find the dialog uninspired, cliche, and repetitive. Though the play is set in 1996, it is being performed in 2014, when it is no longer shocking in most circles to be gay, so that aspect of the plot seems old and tired, though Bain does what she can to make it seem fresh.

The conclusion is predictable, though there will be a few misty eyes before the finale.

It is difficult to understand the appeal of this play, though the awards it has won have mostly been in countries where to be gay, or orthodox Jewish may be less accepted than here in this country, so it may be an eye opener for audiences there.

Still, “Visiting Mr. Green” is worth seeing, if only for watching Gary Martinez at work, and seeing Ryan Blanning’s transformation from an unlikeable to sympathetic character.

Scenic designers Jarrod Bodensteiner and Renee Degarmo have created a nice apartment so homey you felt like you could sit down and read the newspaper on the couch at intermission.