Cats

The Music Circus is closing its 2009 season with Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats,' the show that opened the company's then-brand-new Wells Fargo Pavilion in 2003.

'Cats' isn't my favorite Lloyd Webber show, by a long shot. And, based on comments I heard during intermission - 'I'm just not getting this one!' - and the number of people who didn't return for Act 2, I'm not alone.

But the task at hand is not to review a show that has been around for a couple of decades, but this particular Music Circus production.

'Cats' was inspired by 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,' T.S. Eliot's 1939 collection of children's poems. The play's plot is thin, and used primarily as a vehicle for introducing new cats and new musical numbers. That said, the music is engaging, and the cats are delightful.

The one problem with doing 'Cats' in the round is that a big part of the show's charm - at other venues - is its massive set, which depicts the back alley location of the piece. On a proscenium stage, one can have heaps of garbage and things attached to the walls; at some theaters, audience members are allowed to walk around on stage to examine the scenery.

Music Circus scenic designer Michael Schweikardt does a good job of suggesting a back alley, with a few props lining the edge of the stage, but compromises were necessary to keep the sight lines.

When we lose the impact of the scenery, 'all' that remains is the singing and dancing. Thankfully, this cast makes any yearning for a more massive set transitory. Director/choreography Richard Stafford has assembled an exciting and impressive cast, headed by Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy.

Page created the role on Broadway and reprised it 18 years later in the 2003 production. Much like his character, Page obviously has many lives.

Jacquelyn Piro Donovan is notable as Grizabella, the moth-eaten former glamour cat, who hopes to be chosen for rebirth in the 'Heaviside Layer.' Donovan also played this role in the 2003 Music Circus production. Her delivery of 'Memory' is hauntingly beautiful, and it drew cheers and sustained applause from the audience.

Kevin Lorque (Rum Tum Tugger), Ryan Jackson (Mistoffelees) and Michael Brian Dunnas (Bustopher Jones/Asparagus/Growltiger) also give first-rate performances.

Kurt Domoney's crisp interpretation of Skimbleshanks, the cat on the railway train, is a delight.

Stafford's choreography is perfect, particularly in numbers such as 'The Jellical Ball.' (This production also gives patrons the opportunity to see a chorus of tap-dancing cockroaches!)

The vocals also afford some beautiful moments, such as the chorus for 'Old Deuteronomy.'

Costumes are a huge part of this show's success, and Marcy Froehlich's efforts are outstanding. The solution for the 'larger' cats is ingenious, and Froehlich's costumes for a band of Siamese pirates are quite colorful.

(The cats are so realistic that I felt it necessary to come home and apologize to my dogs, for fraternizing with the opposite species.)

Act 2 is more enjoyable than Act 1, as it gives up all pretense of any plot whatsoever, and simply presents several stand-alone numbers, each introducing a different cat.

All things considered, 'Cats' is a good end to a good season.

Man of La Mancha

The Music Circus production of 'Man of La Mancha,' which continues through Sunday, is proof that you can tell a musical story without glitz or glamor: with nothing more than a solid script, a fantastic cast and a terrific orchestra.

This play-within-a-play - based on the 17th century Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes, with book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion - begins as Cervantes, imprisoned for crimes against the Catholic Church (he attempted to foreclose on a monastery, for nonpayment of taxes), awaits interrogation by the Spanish Inquisition.

The dual roles of Cervantes and Don Quixote are played brilliantly by Walter Charles, a veteran of Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theater. Charles is that rare actor who knows that sometimes less is more; his toned-down handling of the 'story telling' parts of the narrative are balanced nicely by his 'acting' in the role of Don Quixote.

We listen more carefully to someone who quietly tells a story, than to someone who emotes all the time.

Kevin Ligon is a delight as the manservant, Sancho Panza. Ligon has a marvelously acerbic method of delivery, and is especially winsome in his song, 'A Little Gossip.'

Cervantes' fellow prisoners hold their own inquisition - a mock trial - during which they accuse the writer of being, among other things, an idealist and a bad poet. If 'convicted,' Cervantes will lose his belongings, which consist primarily of a trunk of theatrical costumes and props, and an unfinished manuscript.

By way of a defense, the author proposes to act out the story of the manuscript, using other prisoners to fill in the roles.

This, then, is the saga of Alonso Quijana, an idealistic old man who imagines himself to be an errant knight, Don Quixote de La Mancha, who travels around the countryside fighting beasts and rescuing damsels in distress:

'He ponders the problem of how to make better a world where evil brings profit and virtue none at all; where fraud and deceit are mingled with truth and sincerity.'

The delusional Quijana, who promises not to allow wickedness to flourish, is an embarrassment to his respectable family.

Quixote sees things as he wants to see them, not as they really are. A windmill thus becomes a giant beast to be attacked; a country inn becomes a castle; the serving wench and town whore, Aldonza, becomes the lovely 'Dulcinea,' a fair lady whom Quixote insists on treating with dignity, gentleness and respect, as he becomes her protector.

Valerie Perri doesn't have the vocal richness that one would like in a Dulcinea, but she can belt a tune with the best of them. Her raw portrayal of 'Aldonza, the whore' is very affecting. In deference to the PG audience at any Music Circus production, Aldonza's rape scene is toned down to a suggestive dance, choreographed by Bob Richard, rather than a more graphic attack.

P.I. Brown also turns in a powerful performance, as the 'governor' among the prisoners, and the Innkeeper in Cervantes' play. The latter grants Quixote his knighthood, and gives him the title of 'Knight of the Woeful Countenance.' Brown is an overwhelming presence with a deep bass voice.

The play offers wonderful technical moments throughout. Quixote and Sancho set out on their quest in 'chariots,' which are pieces of furniture found in the jail, pulled by a 'horse' and 'donkey' (Alex Robert Holmes and John B. Williford). The scene brings cheers from the audience, as director Guy Stroman has found the perfect way to move his four-legged creatures around the stage.

A later scene, 'We're Only Thinking of Him,' features Quijana's family and advisers: It's an outstanding lighting effect, with each standing in a pool of light as these characters rotate around the stage. Kudos to designer Pamila Z. Gray.

At one point, a group of Moorish gypsies sets upon Quixote and steals all his belongings, including his animals. Manoly Farrell plays a seductive dancer, distracting the hapless knight while her companions rob him blind.

Quixote maintains his idealism even in the face of these many adversities, until he is forced to look in the mirror and see life as it actually is.

The message of this musical is contained within its signature song, 'The Impossible Dream': One must neither give up one's dreams, nor the hopes that nobility always triumphs, and virtue always prevails.

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

They're dancing up a storm at the Wells Fargo Pavilion this week.

A rollicking production of 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,' choreographed by Pepper Clyde and directed by Leland Ball, returns to the Music Circus after a three-year hiatus. Ball now has directed this play three times for Music Circus, and Clyde has choreographed all previous productions for the venue.

Experience shows.

Based on 'The Sobbin' Women,' a 1928 short story by Stephen Vincent Benet, the musical began its life as an MGM musical starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel, with music by Gene dePaul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was hugely popular. A subsequent stage version - directed by Lawrence Kasha, with Powell and Keel reprising their roles - was less successful.

But an improved version - with additional songs (music and lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn) - had a brief run on Broadway in 1982, and has found new life in theaters such as Music Circus, where it is a big favorite.

The story actually had its origins with an eighth century legend of the founding of Rome and the realization by Romulus, its first king, that since his followers were mostly male, they needed some women to ensure the city's survival. As a result, they raided the nearby Sabine tribe and carried off some virgins.

It's a thin plot on which to build an entire musical, but a meaty plot line is irrelevant when gifted with such lively dancing.

The current incarnation of the story is set in the Oregon wilderness. The seven Pontipee brothers realize that if they had a woman around the ranch, she could cook, clean and keep the place tidy. Since they've been unsuccessful at keeping a housekeeper, the brothers decide that one of them should find a woman to marry.

Adam (Joseph Mahowald), the eldest, is elected to go to town and return with a wife, along with various other supplies that are required.

Once in town, Adam finds Milly (Jacquelyn Piro Donovan), a feisty waitress in a local eatery. What Adam lacks in romantic ability he makes up for in persuasion, and Milly agrees to marry him that day, and return to his wilderness cabin.

She is, however, unaware that marriage to Adam also comes with six unruly brothers.

Mahowald and Donovan are a likable couple, with the latter having the raw voice of, say, an Annie Oakley, as she gradually tames the mountain men and insists on their civilized behavior. But she also demonstrates a lyrical tone in songs such as 'Wonderful Day' or 'Goin' Courtin,' ' as she teaches the younger brothers how to woo a woman.

The most famous scene from the film is the 'Social Dance,' where the Pontipee brothers begin to win the women away from other townsmen at the monthly town social. This sequence also is a high point in this Music Circus production, although the incident ends in a fight between the Pontipee brothers and all the other men.

The sad result: The Pontipee brothers are banned from the community.

Lovesick and lonely, and with Adam's urging, they sneak back to town at night and kidnap their would-be brides. An avalanche closes the only road to the Pontipees' spread, preventing the townsfolk from rescuing the kidnapped women, who are forced to wait out the winter with the men.

But there's no hanky-panky going on, as Milly tosses the men out of the house and into the barn. She and the woman live in the house until the spring thaw, when love also begins to blossom among all the couples.

And in the end ... but do I really need to tell you?

Clyde has assembled a core of top-notch dancers in both the Pontipee brothers - Steve Schepis, Nathaniel Shaw, Ryan Jackson, A.J. Hughes, Richard Bulda and Shawn Perucca - and their town rivals: Kurt Domoney, Tyler Russell Warren, Kevin Loreque, Tim Hausmann, Gabriel Williams and Drew Franklin. The dance numbers are vigorously athletic, and they bring cheers from the audience every time.

The women aren't quite as athletic, but that in no way minimizes the contributions of Merrill West, Miki Berg, Elisa Nixon, Robin Masella, Tiffany Sudol and Kristen J. Smith. They're all excellent.

This lively, upbeat production of 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' will set your toes a-tapping.

Into the Woods

“And they lived happily ever after...”

Isn’t that the way fairy tales end?

Not necessarily. “Happily ever after” comes at the end of the first act for Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine’s “Into the Woods,” at Music Circus this week..

What happens to all those folks who live happily ever after? Do they really live happily ever after? That’s the story Sondheim and Lapine set out to explore, which is given an outstanding treatment in this production directed by Glen Casale with musical direction by Craig Barna.

From the moment one enters the Wells Fargo Pavilion, one is in this magical world. Scenic Designer Evan A. Bartoletti has created what may be the most elaborate Music Circus set to date, a forest heavily laden with leafy branches, trees that stand tall, and then disappear out of sight, and a rocky forest floor which lends itself nicely to separating the “families” of this tale into their own space.

Sound Designer Robert Sereno fills the theater with the sounds of birds and other woodland creatures while the audience members are taking their seats so that by the time the lights go down, you are already in the mood and ready to jump into the story.

The story centers around the Baker (Jeffry Denman) and his wife (Vicki Lewis) and the curse put on the Baker’s father and all of his family years ago by the Witch (Yvette Cason), which has left the young couple childless. In order to break the spell, the Baker must gather four things – a cow as white as snow, a red cape, a golden shoe, and a lock of blonde hair.

How convenient, then, that their neighbors include Little Red Riding Hood (Tracy Katz Paladini), Cinderella (Kim Huber), Jack (of beanstalk fame) (Matthew Wolpe) and Rapunzel (Savannah Smith-Thomas).

One would be hard pressed to find a weak performance in this cast. They are each generally outstanding. Denman gives the character of the Baker an endearing quality and his “No More” is filled with pain.

Paladini, who played Little Red Riding Hood in the national tour, is perfect as the know-it-all moppet who is as matter of fact about swiping sweets from the Baker as she is about meeting Grandma (Karen Culliver) in the belly of the wolf (Jason Forbach).

The stage lights up whenever Cason steps on it. As the witch under a spell in the first act, she is menacing, and her on-stage transformation, hidden by pillars of smoke, into the glamorous witch is impressive.

The brother princes, Cinderella’s (Gordon Goodman) and Rapunzel’s (Jason Forbach) are deliciously over the top, self-centered, and very funny in their “Agony” duet.

There are not a lot of familiar tunes in this show, but it is filled with some beautiful moments, such as “No One is Alone,” sung by Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Baker and Jack when it seems that all is lost.

Likewise, the Witch’s “Stay with Me,” a plea to her daughter Rapunzel, is hauntingly lovely.

We sat next to a woman and her small child, who left the show at intermission. This surprised me, since I felt the show was so good, but on reflection I decided that this may be the perfect way to share this production with a small child. At the end of Act 1, it looks like every thing has turned out well for everyone and perhaps it’s best not to disillusion small children by staying for Act 2.

Act 2 is filled with betrayal, the death of beloved characters, sexual indiscretions, and the graphic sounds of the kinds of things that an angry giant on a rampage can do to puny human beings. The survivors do, in fact, ultimately look like they will have a happily ever after but the whole act might be a bit too disturbing for younger children.

This is the best Music Circus production thus far this season and is highly recommended.

Guys and Dolls

Fifteen years have passed since 'Guys and Dolls' appeared on the Music Circus stage.

After seeing director Marcia Milgrom Dodge's sparkling new production, it's hard to understand why the show stayed away so long.

This musical by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows - based on short stories by Damon Runyon, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser - is set on the streets of New York in the 1950s, and the characters are so stereotypically delicious that we can't help falling in love with them.

These are the low-lifes, gamblers, showgirls and gangsters, and the Salvation Army-like missionaries who try to save their souls. And Dodge secured an all star cast to portray them.

Tony Award-winner Gary Beach ('The Producers') is two-bit shyster Nathan Detroit, who runs 'the oldest established floating crap game in New York.' Don't look for the image of a young Sinatra, who played the role in the 1955 film adaptation; Beach's Detroit has been in business a long time, and is a wise-cracking, take-charge guy.

Detroit has been engaged for 14 years (!) to the long-suffering Miss Adelaide (Heather Lee), a singer and dancer at The Hot Box; she's beginning to worry that they'll never get married. Lee, who played this role in the show's Broadway revival, is a gem: a bleached blonde with a Betty Rubble giggle, who dreams of settling down in a real home with Nathan.

Their duet, 'Sue Me,' is a true crowd-pleaser.

Matthew Ashford - known to daytime soap opera fans as Jack Devereaux, from 'Days of our Lives' - is the high-rolling Sky Masterson. He's in town to pick up a few bucks at the crap game, but he picks up more than he bargained for; He falls in love with a straight-laced missionary, Sarah Brown (Montego Glover), when Nathan bets that Sky can't get her to go on an overnight trip to Havana with him.

Sarah, joined by her grandfather and others in their small band of missionaries, attempts (unsuccessfully) to bring God to the people of lower Manhattan. She dreams of romance ('I'll Know') but realizes that Masterson isn't 'it.'

Glover, last seen at the Music Circus in the title role in 'Aida,' made her Broadway debut as Celie in 'The Color Purple.' She has both a beautiful voice and the ability to play physical comedy as well, as evidenced by her antics while 'under the influence' in Havana.

If Sarah's grandfather Arvide Abernathy looks familiar, it's because the role is played by Conrad John Schuck, best known for his long-running role as Sgt. Enright in TV's 'McMillan and Wife.' Schuck, boasting a lengthy Broadway and TV résumé, has a wonderful voice; he also shows Arvide's deep love for his granddaughter.

The cast also includes a wonderful assortment of gangsters who speak in that unique mix of courtly formality and tough-guy vernacular: guys such as Nicely-Nicely Johnson (E.E. Bell), who got his nickname by answering 'nicely, nicely' whenever asked how he was doing. Bell brings down the house with his rousing rendition of 'Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat.'

Will Mann stands out in the small role of Harry the Horse, particularly in the 'Crapshooters Ballet,' danced by the male chorus in the underground location Detroit has found for his game.

P.L. Brown is also notable as Big Jule, who has traveled in from Chicago for the game. Big Jule is appropriately named, as he's large and menacing, and has a voice that could comfortably sing 'Asleep in the Deep.'

Local favorite Rodger Hoopman - founder/producer/artistic director of the 33-year-old Chautauqua Playhouse - has appeared in more than 25 Music Circus productions. He pops up here as Lt. Brannigan, charged with shutting down the crap game.

The right apparel is essential to any production of 'Guys and Dolls,' and Leon Wiebers is particularly successful at creating the male characters by their costumes alone: an assortment of padded shoulders and pin stripes that say 'gangsta' before anybody even opens his mouth.

Add Sky's over-the-top blue number, and the black suit for Big Jule, and it couldn't be more perfect.

'Guys and Dolls' is a delightful show, full of witty dialogue and lots of familiar tunes. This production is certain to satisfy just about everyone.

Erratica: An Academic Farce

Remember the name Reina Hardy; I suspect you'll hear it again.

Hardy's play, 'Erratica: an Academic Farce,' premiered Friday at Old Sacramento's Capital Stage venue and was an unqualified hit.

'Erratica' is Capital Stage's first world premiere to emerge from the company's Playwrights' Revolution project. In 2007, Capital Stage was awarded a $40,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation, to create and develop the Playwrights' Revolution. Its goal: to celebrate new works and encourage the creation of bold new plays for the American theater.

Each year, several new plays are selected to participate in a series of round table and staged readings. 'Erratica' is the first of these plays to have been transformed into a fully mounted professional production.

A mere one to two minutes after the play begins, with hormonally charged Professor Samantha Stafford (Stephanie Gularte) speaking to Gregory, an unseen student admirer, the audience was howling with laughter. The pace continued throughout most of the play.

Samantha is trying to write a book on Shakespeare, but distractions abound: Gregory is madly in love with her; her publicist (Jamie Jones) wants her to do something more commercial, which involves Cosmopolitan magazine; and she's persistently haunted by an entity claiming to be the ghost of Christopher Marlowe (Danny Webber).

Meanwhile, Jack Hooper (Eric Wheeler), a librarian who just might be a match for Samantha, has lost a prized manuscript to a mysterious thief.

And Gregory's roommate, Elspeth (Stephanie Altholz), is pursuing her own agenda.

It's all connected, but how?

The play, directed by Michael Stevenson, is blessed with fast-paced dialogue delivered with enough snap - particularly by Gularte - to make it sizzle. ('If someone had come along and written me Sonnet Number 53, for example, I would have jumped on him and wrapped my thighs around his neck.')

It's a huge role for Gularte, who is present in every scene. We've previously watched her in so many serious, meaty roles, that it's fun to see her in something really funny.

We're never quite sure what Marlowe is doing as Samantha's muse, but Webber is quite funny, particularly during his attempts to distract the professor as she tries to give a lecture.

Jones is perfect as the publicist, Lisa Minkman. She can't imagine what Samantha wishes to accomplish professionally, and instead sees only possibilities for how this Shakespeare tome could reach a broader audience if it's 'sexed up' a little, so it'll appeal to the Cosmo crowd.

'New material is the key,' she says breathlessly. 'New female material. Sexy new female material.'

Wheeler, last seen in 'The Complete History of America (Abridged),' is fine in a role that doesn't require so much frenetic energy. His part is smaller than the rest, but he gives a solid performance as a librarian who has discovered a rare document that might be the very thing that Lisa is seeking, to add a little oomph to Samantha's manuscript.

Altholz brings the rather odd Elspeth to life. On the surface, she's merely a love-stricken student ... but she turns out to possess a skill that becomes crucial to the plot.

Jonathan Williams constructed a good-looking and versatile set. Most of the show takes place in Samantha's office, and the strategic movement of a door changes the look of the room, and allows for a variety of meetings. The office bookshelves also are used well, to create the sense of a university library.

The 27-year-old Hardy reluctantly allowed herself to be called up on stage at the conclusion of the opening night performance; she was, unfortunately, decidedly uncomfortable. I hope she finds a way to become more at ease with well-earned accolades: Based on this play, she has many more such evenings in her future, if she maintains such a high level of work.

Altar Boyz

'Altar Boyz,' this week's Music Circus offering, won't be everyone's cup of tea.

The huge empty sections of the theater on Tuesday evening - something rarely seen at the Wells Fargo Pavilion - may indicate that this show didn't appeal to traditional opening-nighters.

But it's a sweet little show with lots of energy and charm and, at 90 minutes (with no intermission), you'll be home in time to watch 'The Daily Show' or David Letterman.

Described as 'a new musical about a struggling Christian boy band riding the wave of America's latest fascination with religion,' 'Altar Boyz' is a satirical look at both boy bands and God music. The score offers lyrics such as

Jesus called me on my cell phone;
No roaming charges were incurred.
He told me that I should go out in the world
And spread His glorious word.
He beeped me!
He faxed me!
He e-mailed my soul!

The cast of five features Matthew (Devin DeSantis), Mark (Jamison Scott), Luke (Ryan Nearhoff) and Juan (Andres Quintero), along with their lyricist, Abraham (Tim Dolan).

Although the play lacks an actual plot, each character has a back-story. Matthew, the leader, keeps the group in line, although he hides a little secret; Mark is gay and Catholic, and struggling with the turmoil that brings; Luke seems to spend a lot of time in rehab for 'exhaustion'; Juan is an orphan seeking his parents, but finding family within the group.

Abraham is the Jewish altar boy who writes the lyrics for the songs.

After years spent performing in bingo halls and youth group rallies, the Altar Boyz have moved on up to a big-city concert: in this case, in Sacramento. They've grown into pop stars with a mission to save the burdened souls in the theater.

Considerable discussion involves the group's sponsor, the 'Sony Soul-Sensor,' which continually scans the souls in the audience and determines how many still need saving. The hook is that the boys must keep singing until all souls have been saved.

(After about an hour, we begin to get impatient with the hold-outs!)

The music varies from ballads to upbeat pop, and even includes a rap about the miracles of Jesus:

His posse's in the water,
Rowin' all night.
While Jesus prayed to his father,
They were hellah far from shore.
And the sea was wicked rough,
When they saw a ghost just walkin' on the water (scary stuff!).

The play includes a bit of audience participation, and a prayer meeting for all the prayers supposedly submitted by audience members prior to the show ... chosen from a revolving drum, as one would select winning lottery tickets.

As Tuesday's performance concluded, some audience members leaped to their feet with cheers ... while others sat in their seats looking stunned, and asking each other what they'd just seen.

It's a pleasant night of theater, but perhaps not the best show to hit the Music Circus stage.

Picked

First we had the Brothers Grimm, whose fairy tales were certain to give nightmares to young children.

Now we have playwright Timm - Stephanie Timm by name - whose 'Picked' is this year's offering by Barnyard Theater, under the direction of Steven Schmidt.

Timm's story has the atmosphere of a retro fairy tale, but with updated language and situations that may push it into the PG rating. It's both old fashioned and as up to date as the popular 'Twilight' vampire series.

Three sisters - Iris (Maddy Ryen), Lily (Camille Beaumont) and Violet (Lindsay Carpenter) - live in 'a raped and pillaged land where wolves prowl the woods, and an endless war is all that anyone remembers.' Iris is 'the eldest and the prettiest.' Lily is 'the middle and the smartest'; she can figure out how to get pitchers down off high shelves, and she's really good at riddles.

Violet, 'the youngest and sweetest,' always helps spiders across streams, and puts out the flames when beggar women are on fire. She's therefore picked to marry a man who lives across the sea, and is expected to live happily ever after.

Iris and Lily continue to live on imaginary food, and long for the day when they, too, can leave the raped and pillaged land.

We watch Lily's coming of age, when she meets Wolf (Josh van Eyken), who awakens new feelings in her. Lily is intrigued, despite Iris' warning that wolves will drag her into the forest and make her belly swell with snakes. Wolf creates tension between Iris and Lily, but Lily also has a protector, Woodsboy (James Henderson), who brings her books and food.

All too soon, we learn that things are not what they appear, when Lily is told she will join Violet and marry her own man across the sea. The play turns quite dark - and grim - before the survivors ultimately live happily ever after.

This is a strange show, albeit well done by a crew of wonderful actors. I've watched Ryen's growth as an actress with pleasure, and she does not disappoint here. Beaumont brings an innocence and an underlying smoldering sexuality to her performance as Lily. Carpenter glows as Violet, particularly when she appears in apparitions, reading postcards she has sent home to her sisters.

Van Eyken is a wonderful wolf in ... well ... wolf's clothing: suave, smooth and deliciously duplicitous.

Henderson is very earnest as Woodsboy, and he displays a range of emotions despite being unable to speak, due to his wooden lips.

As always, it's an adventure to watch a production in Schmeiser's Barn. The company is ready to spray patrons with mosquito repellent, and the barn goats occasionally add their voice at unexpected moments. And who needs a fog machine, when you can create a dust cloud in the dirt of the stage floor?

(My sympathies to whoever is responsible for keeping Violet's wedding gown looking white!)

All told, though, Barnyard Theater once again provides a delightful evening's entertainment.

The company's summer season will include an evening reading of short plays on Friday, July 24, and a performance of short one-acts on Saturday, July 25. If the quality of work displayed in 'Picked' is any indication, both those single-evening events will be worth investigating.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

'Thoroughly Modern Millie' is silly.

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

This sprightly show, making its Music Circus debut, transports the audience back to flapper-era New York and follows the adventures of Millie Dillmount (Mara Davi). The young woman arrives in the Big Apple fresh from Kansas, eager to shorten her skirts and bob her hair ... and get a job working for a millionaire whom she then car marry.

It's what the thoroughly modern 1920s woman does, she tells herself: marry for money, not love.

This old-fashioned musical has lots of great singing and dancing, terrific costumes and a little bit of plot to support it all. The book is by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, with a new score by Jeanine Tesori. Musically, there's something for everyone, with a bit of Sullivan minus Gilbert, a little Victor Herbert, a touch of Offenbach and some Al Jolson in Cantonese, complete with supertitles.

What more could you ask?

Actually, you'll also spot a subtle nod to W.S. Gilbert, in a scene that could have been inspired by an incident in 'The Mikado.'

That this production reached the stage at all is somewhat of a miracle. It became the obsession of Richard Scanlan, 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, Richard Morris. The rest, as they say, is history.

The show opened at the La Jolla Playhouse in October 2000 and went on to Broadway during the first big season after 9/11. It became 2002's most honored new show, winning six Tony Awards, including best musical, best choreography, best orchestrations and best costume design.

Mara Davi, who stars in this Music Circus production, is a talented actress with a huge smile and a voice to match. She also dances up a storm.

On her first day, Millie meets Jimmy Smith (the delightful Matt Loehr), a ne'er-do-well who wins her heart, much against her plan to marry a rich man. Smith directs her to a hotel for young women, which is run by the irrepressible Mrs. Meers (Ruth Williamson) ... who runs a white slave racket on the side, shipping orphaned young women off to Hong Kong, to be sold into prostitution.

Mrs. Meers is an Oriental Cruella de Vil, and Williamson plays her to the hilt. (Interestingly, though, the directors have this faux-Chinese character speak with a stereotypical Japanese accent.) Mrs. Meers is assisted by Ching Ho (Billy Bustamante) and Bun Foo (Reggie de Leon), two immigrants who are trying to bring their mother over from China.

At the hotel, Millie forms a fast friendship with the lovely 'Miss Dorothy' (Megan McGinnis), an innocent sweet young thing who hides a secret.

Millie gets a job working for the very wealthy Mr. Trevor Graydon (Robert Townsend). 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 Miss Dorothy 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 Karole Foreman), Manhattan's most celebrated chanteuse - to get her back.

The show includes enough narrative twists and identity mix-ups to satisfy a Gilbert & Sullivan audience, but the plot is irrelevant; the show really is about Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan's music, John MacInnis' choreography and the talented cast's energetic performances.

Tuesday's opening night audience received a special treat: an appearance by stage and screen star Carol Channing, present to promote her upcoming 'Carol Channing and Friends' benefit at the Music Circus, which will raise money for the Foundation for the Arts and California Musical Theater.

Channing gave a heartfelt plea to restore funds for arts in the schools, and she sang a sweet little song that charmed the audience. (She then stayed to watch the show as well!)

Channing will be joined by Jo Anne Worley, Carol Cook and Joyce Aimee; the show will be presented one night only, on Aug. 31. Information and tickets are available at the Music Circus box office, (916) 557-1999.

Music Man

Choreographer Ron Cisneros and Costumer Jean Henderson were the clear winners in the new Davis Musical Theater Company production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” under the direction of Steve Isaacson. I am consistently impressed with what Cisneros can do with a mixed group of dancers and non-dancers and make it all look cohesive.

And there are lots of people on stage. Perhaps more than I remember seeing on the DMTC stage before (many of them children of varying sizes from adolescent down to very young). The choreography makes this good show a very good show.

As for Henderson, she must have been seeing stars before she finished the costumes. The 4th of July scene is filled with stars and stripes of all sizes. The whole look of the production is crisp and clean and makes the action on the stage pop.

Add to the excellent choreography and costumes is a solid cast of performers, reuniting many old timers who haven’t worked together in awhile.

Rand Martin may not be the most dynamic Harold Hill you’ll ever see, but he handled the role well, unfortunately flubbing several lines at the performance I saw. But Hill is the traveling salesman you can’t not like and Martin does a good job.

Laura Wardrip is excellent as Marian Paroo, the librarian who is not easily taken in by this stranger who promises to create a boys’ band to prevent the youth of River City, Iowa from being corrupted by the new pool table in town. Wardrip has a lovely voice and she looks beautiful, especially in the gown she dons for the town social.

As Marian’s mother, Lenore Sebastian is first class, with an Irish brogue that sounds authentic to this American ear.

Michael Carey rounds out the Paroo family as Winthrop, the shy young boy with a lisp, still brooding over his father’s death two years before, whose life is changed by Hill and his promises.

Gil Sebastian is a bombastic Mayor Shinn, the master of the malaprop and home grown phrases (“I couldn’t make myself more clear if I were a buttonhook in the well water.”) who only wants his town councilmen to “get that spellbinder’s credentials” and to keep the town hoolligan away from his oldest girl.

As Shinn’s wife, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, Mary Young has a role to sink her teeth in. She’s awful–but she’s supposed to be and she relishes the chance to sing off key and preen over all of the townspeople.

My one disappointment with the direction or choreography (not sure which was responsible) was for the tableau of Grecian urns done by Eulalie and her women friends. There seemed to be no difference between “one Grecian urn” and “two Grecian urns,” nor did they really create anything that came close to resembling “fountain.” It’s supposed to be bad, but it could have been a little better at being bad.

Marcellus Washburn was Hill’s old buddy from years before, who happens to be in the town when Hill decides to set up shop. He’s Hill’s second banana and there is no better than Paul Fearn. Always reminiscent of Buddy Hackett (who played the role in the movie), Fearn was the perfect choice for this role.

Matt Kohrt is Tommy Djilas, the town hooligan and McKinley Carlisle is Zaneeta Shinn, the mayor’s oldest girl. They make a cute couple.

Rich Kulmann in the small roles of the train conductor and later the town constable had serious projection problems and could barely be heard, something unusual for the veteran Kulmann.

Marc Valdez is appropriately smarmy as Charlie Cowell, the anvil salesman determined to warn the town about Hill before it’s too late.

The town councilmen, Rich Price, Rick Wennstrom, Don Stephenson and Andy Hyun make a great barbershop quartet, though their tempos seemed a bit slow from time to time.

The "Pickalittle Ladies," who fill Professor Hill in on all the gossip about Marian, are irresistible.

Isaacson is credited with scenic design and I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, knowing that things often get done at the last minute and the Isaacsons were called out of town for a death in the family. The backdrop seemed to have no correlation to the show itself and added nothing to the look of the stage except a lot of empty sky and buildings out of proportion with what was supposed to have been Main Street.

But even with all of its little flaws, you have to work really hard to do a bad production of “Music Man” and this one is a delight.

Complete History of America (Abridged)

You'll never think of the national anthem the same way again, after seeing Capital Stage's very funny production of 'The Complete History of America (Abridged).'

The play was written by Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company - perhaps better known for 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)' - and is directed by Stephanie Gularte.

This production stars Eric Wheeler, Gary S. Martinez and Jonathan Rhys Williams. The three actors work well together, and their chemistry may be due, in part, to their previous collaboration on 'Every Christmas Story Ever Told,' presented at the Delta King in previous years.

Like Stan Freberg did in his 'Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America' back in the 1960s, Long, Martin and Tichenor adopt a 'take no prisoners' approach while closely examining the country that gave the world 'its first democracy, man on the moon, Mark Twain and 'America's Next Top Model.' '

(The 'first democracy' may not be quite right ... but let it pass.)

Where Freberg chose to start with Columbus and Isabella negotiating the price of sailing ships, Long, Martin and Tichenor begin with Amerigo Vespucci and his wife Sophia, as they debate the value of his world maps.

'I'm trying to make a name for myself,' he tells her.

And then he sets sail to fulfill his dream, 'in a vessel full of dreams, pastrami and cheap wine' ... to the theme from 'Gilligan's Island.'

From there, it's a quick trip - well, two acts - to sorta-kinda the present day, skipping a decade or two because nothing really happened.

You'll hear Betsy Ross (and her sister Diana) explain how the design of the flag happened to be chosen. You'll see witch-hunting Puritans in Massachusetts and the Rev. Feral Orwell, who leads his youthful parishioners in games of Pin the Blame on the Warlocks and (literal) Hangman.

Along the way, the play includes enough to delight (and offend) just about everybody. During the post-production chat with the actors after the show the night we attended, a woman expressed her discomfort with how the script treated Native Americans. Someone else was bothered by the treatment of the assassination of Lincoln. Someone else was offended by the depiction of a female Vietnamese spy (Jo Chi Minh, whose brother's name is Ho).

But it's all in good fun, and nobody is spared the playwrights' barbs, and the end result is hilarious.

Each actor plays many roles and literally wears many hats. Martinez, who did well in the slower, more child-like roles of 'Every Christmas Story,' pulls most of the female roles in this production, and plays them to the hilt.

Paulette Sands-Gilbert (costumes), Michael Coleman (props/set dressing) and the backstage assistants who helped with the quick changes deserve huge credit for this show's success. Without the outlandish costumes and props, it would be a very different experience.

The playwrights premiered 'The Complete History' in 1993, and updated the last half of the second act in 2004, before the Bush-Kerry election.

'Of course, we constantly update the pop culture references,' Tichenor said.

'A number of topical references are in the script. The humor and relevance of these will fade over time, so we encourage each production to change these references, to keep them as up-to-date as possible.'

With that in mind, it's not clear where Long, Martin and Tichenor leave off, and Capital Stage steps in. But the end result is delightful, no matter who wrote it!

The Lion King

There's no doubt about it — "The Lion King" is one impressive spectacle. The opening number alone is worth the price of admission and well deserving of the cheers it elicits from the audience.

The Sacramento Community Theater underwent massive revamping for this touring production of the Tony-award winning version of Walt Disney's popular cartoon. Two new aisles have been created by removing four seats in each row, from the stage to the back of the house, giving room for animals to enter from the back of the theater. Two of the performers also begin the show in the balcony, thus putting the entire audience squarely in the middle of the action.

As the opening number, "Circle of Life," unfolds, sung by the wise old baboon Rafiki (Phindile Mkhize), the stage gradually fills with wildlife. Antelope jump, birds fly, giraffes stroll magnetically, cheetahs walk cautiously, zebras prance, an elephant lumbers onto the stage, followed by her baby, and, as the gigantic sun rises, the audience is transported to some African savannah and the story begins.

The story of "The Lion King," by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, can really be described as "Hamlet on the Savannah": the young prince whose father is murdered by his brother, the son's angst and guilt, the father becoming a larger-than-life figure after death, his ghostly counsel giving the son courage to return to avenge his father, the comic relief characters of Timon and Pumbaa.

But the Shakespeare analogy fades into the background when confronted by such a feast for the senses. "The Lion King" relies more on costume and spectacular lighting design (by Richard Holder) than actual set pieces, and so the show is equally as impressive in a touring company as it was when I saw it in London.

Director Julie Taymor (the first woman in Broadway history to win the Tony award for best director of a musical) also designed the costumes, which are an integral part of this show's appeal. Faced with the task of bringing a cast of animals to life, she chose to make the human actors actually part of the animals themselves, without losing their "humanness." And so it is that animal and human blend together so seamlessly that one is able to believe in the "animalness" of the characters.

This production features an outstanding cast. Dionne Randolph is an imposing Mufasa, the king. He has perfected the slow, rolling moves of a big cat, and his love for his young son is a touching thing to see.

Chaz Marcus Fleming (or Marquis Kofi Rodriguez — which young actor was not specified) was outstanding as young Simba, with lots of high energy, yet convincing in this tender moments with Mufasa.

Andre Jackson, the adult Simba, nicely morphed into a high-energy adolescent, who achieves nobility when he accepts his role and returns to Pride Rock to assume his rightful place as Mufasa's heir.

Timothy Carter as Scar, the lion you love to hate, was appropriately haughty and dislikeable, as were hyenas Andrea Jones, Randy Donaldson and Andrew Frace.

Tony Freeman added comic moments, as Zazu, the king's right hand hornbill. He had some of the funniest lines in the show.

Bob Amaral as Pumbaa the warthog and Mark Shunock as Timon the meerkat were very funny, and were especially valuable in giving some substance to Act 2.

The music by Elton John and Tim Rice has become familiar to anyone with a child of a certain age. The costumes are some of the most ingenious designed for a musical production. And the production values overall are outstanding.

The meat of this show is really in Act 1. It has the best songs and most of the story has been told by the intermission. While Act 2 is necessary to bring things full circle, it has the feel of something that has been padded to the nth degree. It has more of the wonderful choreography of Garth Fagan, and more of those antelope prancing across the stage, but the act seems lackluster in comparison to Act 1. It does, however, have one of the show's most spectacular effects, in the apparition of Mufasa.

"The Lion King" is worth every penny. It's a wonderful night of theater for the entire family.

Rose Colored Glass

The Woodland Opera House's current production of 'Rose Colored Glass' by Janice Goldberg and Woodland-born playwright Susan Bigelow (directed by Jeff Kean) is a show that you want to take to your heart. It's the story of how the plight of an 11-year-old Jewish boy from Austria dissolves the long-time animosity of two women in Chicago in 1938 as they join together to work to find him safe passage from Europe and a home in the United States.

The play has heart, it has pathos, it has three excellent actors. What it lacks is, sadly, a better script. At times it seems overly long. It's not sure whether it's a history lesson or a soap opera. It's not a bad play. It's a play worth seeing. But its problems definitely lie primarily with the script.

Lady O'Riley (Cheri Douglas) runs an Irish pub in Chicago. She's a widow and has run the pub ever since her husband's death. She is also raising her 13-year-old granddaughter Peg (Emily Jo Seminoff), whose ne'er-do-well father abandoned the child on his mother's doorstep after the death of his wife.

Across the alley from the back of O'Riley's pub is the delicatessen of Rose Fleishman (Georgann Wallace). Rose is also a widow, originally from Austria, who left family behind when she and her husband came to the United States.

The two women have never spoken, and their animosity toward each other and their distrust of one another seems strange, but they are both firmly rooted in their own cultures and not willing to interact with someone who seems so 'foreign,' even though their circumstances are so similar.

Young Peg, who acts as the narrator of the piece, is the eternal cock-eyed optimist, determined to get the two women to make friends. She spends a lot of time in Fleishman's delicatessen and obviously has a warm, loving friendship with Rose.

The ultimate breaking down of the barriers between the two women comes, slowly, after Rose receives letters from her sister in Austria, hinting at the problems that Jews are beginning to have. It is a time in this country where there is great apathy on the part of Americans and articles hinting at persecution of Jews are relegated to the back pages of the newspapers.

When Rose receives a disturbing letter from her sister, Peg forces her grandmother to get involved. Slowly the two women strike up a friendship.

The play takes Rose through the maddening world of red tape and closed doors and the world of the bureaucratic 'no.' At one point she gives up completely and has to be convinced by her new friend that miracles still happen. Just when she has all but given up, help comes from a most unlikely source.

Between the brief vignettes over time, Peg steps into the alley to give the audience an explanation or an update. Often these discourses are backed by concentration camp photos or news clips running on the back wall.

I really wanted to like this play, but there were many problems. The parallel story of Lady's son, for example, while perhaps intended as a plot device to bring a degree of commonality to the situation of the two women, was merely distracting, especially since it went nowhere.

Rose's anger as she gives up on this nephew she has tried so hard to save seems unrealistic, when it is her neighbor who is adamant that the woman keep trying to bring the boy to safety.

Lady's refusal to allow Peg to skip school to accompany the women to New York when it seems that all their work is going to come to fruition is completely unbelievable.

There is no difficulty with the three talented actresses. Emily Jo Seminoff has blossomed into an accomplished actress and is enchanting as the ever-positive Peg.

Cheri Douglas is, according to her biography, 'making her debut in professional theater.' If this is her debut, it holds the promise of a wonderful career, as she beautifully walked that tightrope between stubborn Irish woman and warm-hearted friend.

Georgann Wallace, veteran of several Woodland Opera House productions, gives an emotional performance as Rose and makes the audience feel her anguish and her frustration over the plight of her family.

After World War II, the cry became 'never again!' Never again would the world sit back and do nothing while millions of people were being slaughtered. In an age where that is precisely what is happening in places like Darfur and Rwanda, 'Rose Colored Glass' is an important reminder of the human faces behind genocide. I just wish the script had been better crafted.

The Beaux' Stratagem

What can you say about the unlikely trio George Farquhar (1677-1707), Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) and Ken Ludwig (1950- )? They are all responsible, along with director Emily Henderson, for bringing lots of fun and belly laughs to the Art Center stage at the Acme Theatre Company's annual (free) spring show.

Farquhar wrote the classic Restoration comedy, 'The Beaux' Stratagem' in 1707. In 1939, it was partially adapted by Thornton Wilder (an Acme favorite playwright), but abandoned with the outbreak of World War II. In 2000, Wilder's 57-page manuscript was rediscovered and, with the permission of the Wilder estate, Ken Ludwig ('Lend Me a Tenor,' 'Sullivan and Gilbert,' etc.) completed the work.

This very funny comedy tells the story of Jack Archer (Torin Lusebrink) and Tom Aimwell (Andrew Lampinen), two men who, having squandered their respective fortunes, are now out looking for rich women to marry. They move from town to town, playing nobleman and servant (switching roles when they switch towns).

When they reach the town of Lichfield, Tom finds himself falling in love with the lovely Dorinda (Kathleen Johnston), who lives with her brother Squire Sullen (Geoffrey Albrecht), who is always drunk and abusive toward his wife Kate (Vivian Breckenridge).

The three live in the home of Lady Bountiful (Lila Hunt), who fancies herself a healer and who ministers to the sick of the town, but doesn't have a clue what she's doing and so botches 'treatment' that nobody will come to her for treatment again.

Tom and Jack settle in at the inn run by Boniface (Kevin Deacon), whose own daughter Cherry (Hope Raymond) is much attracted to both Tom and Jack, but fears they are highwaymen, come to burglarize Lady Bountiful's house.

They share their fears with Gloss (Sean Olivares), a military captain, who is, in reality, the leader of a gang of highwaymen, who use the inn as a place to stash their goods.

Needless to say, with all these plot elements in play and the deft hand of director Henderson at work, many hijinks ensue in this fast-paced farce.

There are also some outstanding performances. It has been a pleasure watching the development of Lusebrink, who is at home on the stage as an actor and whose rubbery body works well for slapstick humor.

Raymond, likewise, continues to get better and better and she sparkles in this production.

Olivares is always a delight and does particularly well in roles like that of Gloss, where he can chew the scenery and make it work.

Breckenridge grows into her role as the play progresses and her interactions with Lusebrink are wonderful.

Lila Hunt is entertaining as the ditzy would-be doctor, whose solution for most ailments is amputation.

Albrecht does an outstanding job as the perennially drunk Squire Sullen.

In the smaller roles of Hounslow and Bagshot, Delany Pelz and Danielle Wogulis are very funny.

In her program notes, Henderson comments that 'somewhere during our design process, the 1980s crept into the staging of the show.' This would be in the interlude music (e.g., Madonna!) which inspires some marvelously funny dance numbers. I assume they are superfluous to the original script, but are traditionally Acme and work beautifully.

Costumes by Raymond are over the top Restoration Comedy, particularly the ladies' oversized hoop skirts. I don't know if Raymond also was responsible for makeup design or if it was a group decision, but the painted and decorated faces are marvelous.

Hanna May is credited with set design, which consists of three arches that are moved around in different ways to represent the inn or several rooms in Lady Bountiful's house. Though there is a certain sameness to them, the signs carried on by members of the ensemble (themselves short, funny vignettes) let us know immediately - well, almost immediately - where we are.

Ryan Lagerstrom is the sound designer and, with all those dance numbers, sound plays an important part and was executed flawlessly.

Acme has pulled off another delightful evening of entertainment. You'll laugh and you'll thoroughly enjoy yourselves ... and it's all for free, so you can't go wrong no matter what!

Midsummer Night's Dream

On the off chance that you might be tempted to leave the UC Davis Arboretum's Wyatt Deck before the final bow from the cast members of Studio 301's wonderful production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' don't do it ... or you'll miss one of the most delightful parts of the show.

And I won't spoil the surprise by telling you why.

Studio 301 is the only student-run theater group on the UCD campus that is dedicated to producing full-length plays.

This year's production is Shakespeare's charming fantasy, and choosing the Wyatt Deck - across the street from Wyatt Pavilion, smack dab in the middle of the redwood grove - as a venue was inspired. Who needs sets, when your audience already is surrounded by redwood trees?

In fact, the show's sole 'set' is two boxes on which characters sit at various times.

As the play opens, fairies climb onto the stage from the Arboretum below. Peaseblossom (Kellie Peake), Mustardseed (Ashley Bargenquast) and Cobweb (Fumni Alabi) emit somewhat annoying bird-like chirps and cackles as they communicate with each other throughout the show, but their interpretations are captivating.

The play tells several stories, each of which occurs during a single summer night in a magical forest outside Athens, where fairies play pranks on lovesick mortals, earnest youths endure comical romantic confusion, and some 'mechanics' attempt to rehearse a play in secret.

Director Steph Hankinson has updated her play to the forests of Appalachia in the 1910s. David Lutheran and Katie Walton, as Thesius (the Duke of Athens) and Hippolyta (Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Thesius), direct the evening's events, with their request to Philostrate (Chrisy Moore) to arrange entertainment for their upcoming nuptials.

These three actors assume two roles each, with Lutheran and Walton also playing Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, and Moore also appearing as Puck. Moore is a particularly mischievous Puck, and wears an ingenious costume designed by Elizabeth Burciaga - who deserved better credit in the program, which merely lists her bio among those of the performers - which permits her to slip easily from one character to the other.

Plans are interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Egeus (Kris Ide), a nobleman requesting help in forcing his daughter, Hermia (Katelyn Hempstead), to marry Demetrius (Brendan Ward), the husband of his choosing; Hermia, alas, is in love with Lysander (Michael Lutheran).

To further complicate things, Hermia's friend Helena (Cody Messick) is in love with Demetrius. All this sets the stage for twists and turns that develop over the course of the story.

Hermia and Lysander flee Athens and head into the woods, intending to be married at the home of his aunt. They're followed by Demetrius, determined to win Hermia's hand, and Helena, determined to win the hand of Demetrius.

The mechanics are rehearsing in the woods, under the direction of Quince: a delightful interpretation by Alison Stevenson. Her four actors include Nick Bottom (Daniel Guttenberg), the weaver, who plays Pyramus in the troupe's production of 'Pyramus and Thisbe,' and who later is turned into a donkey by Puck.

Guttenberg is outstanding as Bottom, who is full of advice and self- confidence, but makes silly mistakes and misuses language. Instead of the traditional donkey's head, he merely sports donkey ears, which makes him a mere oddity rather than the bizarre half-man/half donkey one expects.

Heidi Kendrick is Flute, a young man who argues against appearing as the very feminine Thisbe. Kevin Ganger is Starveling, a stereotypical backwoodsman who'd rather whittle than perform; Kristina Stasi is Snout, the tinker, who also plays the Wall.

This group of mechanics is right out of 'O Brother, Where Art Thou,' with their stumbling backwoods manners. The scene at the Wall is decidedly unique ... and I'll leave it at that!

This 'Midsummer Night's Dream' is a delicious piece of merriment: a nice diversion on a warm summer's evening. Take the night off and go romping with a bunch of fairies in this actual and magical forest.

Saving One at a Time

(Feature article)

In 1939, Americans were watching "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind." They weren't paying much attention to the little articles at the back of the newspaper about some guy named Adolf Hitler, who was invading Poland.

"We had the Dust Bowl to deal with, and immigrant labor and other American issues, and somehow Europe was far away," explained Woodland playwright Susan Bigelow, as we discussed her play, "Rose Colored Glass," which opens Friday at the Woodland Opera House.

"Even though the newspapers printed bits and pieces about invading Poland, and putting Jews and gypsies in concentration camps, it was small pieces. We didn't notice until we started to win the war, and by that time 6 million were gone."

The play, co-written by Bigelow and Janice Goldberg, looks at the Holocaust from the point of view of two American women of very different backgrounds, who are drawn to the events happening in Europe the way many of us first become involved in a cause: because they care about one person affected by these events.

"We tell the Holocaust from one point of view, from this side of the ocean," Bigelow explained. " 'Rose Colored Glass' is the story of two women who lived on opposite ends of an alley: one Irish, one Jewish, each stereotypes of their individual heritages."

The two widows haven't spoken in years, but their disparate worlds in 1938 Chicago are about to collide. One woman's 13-year-old granddaughter, Peg, is determined that these two mistrustful widows will become friends.

"Suddenly they have something to fight for: to get a young Jewish boy to the United States, safe and sound."

In many ways, the friendship of Lady O'Reily, who runs an Irish pub, and Rose Fleischman, who owns a Jewish delicatessen, mirrors the friendship of Bigelow and Goldberg themselves.

Bigelow moved to Woodland when she was in the second grade, and she lived in Woodland through high school. She went away to college and subsequently ran a little theater in Eureka, which produces original works by American playwrights.

She submitted a play to a women's festival. ("I'd been a playwright for a long time," she said.) As a result of that submission, she met Goldberg, a native New Yorker, who ended up directing Bigelow's play in that city.

"I went to see the play," Bigelow recalled, "and we became pals."

Bigelow invited Goldberg to Eureka, to visit her theater. Goldberg liked what she saw, and expressed interest in directing a play there sometime. "Sometime" turned into a 12-year stint, as she returned to Eureka year after year, as a guest director.

But that came later. Bigelow still remembers her first trip to New York, to meet Goldberg.

"I was visiting New York, and she was taking me around. It was my first time in the city, and I was with a native New Yorker. She kept looking behind to make sure I didn't get lost!"

"Rose Colored Glass" arose out of that meeting, as both wondered if two women of quite different backgrounds could become best friends, if they had enough interests in common.

The play debuted in New York in 2007, where it ran for about six weeks and was picked up by the Samuel French Publishing Company. It then was performed by theater groups all over the country.

Bigelow explained that years of study about the Holocaust have put her on a soapbox, with respect to what happened to 6 million Jews during World War II.

"We don't do that in the play," she assured me.

"But," she added, "people to this day still believe the Holocaust was a hoax. I understand why denial is a great thing, if you don't want to believe it happened. But the sad thing is that we're repeating it. Genocide is genocide, and I can't believe we're ignoring the lessons of the past again and again in places like Rwanda and Darfur."

That said, she again hastened to insist that this play is not a "holocaust piece"; it doesn't try to hit people over the head with a message. Lady and Rose simply try to get a young man across the ocean, so he doesn't wind up in a concentration camp.

"It deals with the early American apathy toward what was happening in Europe. The little articles in the back of the newspaper need to be noticed. They often blossom into something bigger."

In the end, for the women in this play, it's about one boy: their boy.

"To them, probably, the other 6 million are an abstract concept.

"But when you come down to that one boy — a boy for whom you're making a jacket, and finding a job, and getting a visa — it becomes very personal.

"I don't know what 6 million means," Bigelow admitted.

"But people can grasp one person."

Oklahoma!

Saturday evening's Mondavi Center audience had the opportunity to witness a bit of Broadway.

No, it wasn't an actual traveling Broadway show, but a UC Davis production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma!' that easily would have been at home on a New York stage.

The production's professional quality is due not only to a talented cast, but also to a host of behind-the-scenes contributors, starting with director/choreographer Mindy Cooper, a former Broadway dancer, choreographer and director. Cooper keeps the direction lively, entertaining and spirited, with nary a dead or a slow spot from start to finish.

The story is set in the Oklahoma territory - in 1906, the days just before statehood - and touches ever so lightly on the ongoing feud between farmers and cattlemen. This quarrel definitely takes a back seat to the story of cattleman Curly McLain, who is in love with Laurey Williams, who lives on a farm with her Aunt Eller and the hired man, Jud Fry. Jud has his eye on Laurey; she, in turn, is sweet on Curly.

Tristan Rumery is a perfect Curly. He's tall and lanky, and has the look of a young cowman. He's ill at ease around Laurey (Emma Goldin), but their camaraderie is easy and teasing, and their unspoken love is obvious. Rumery, one of the production's few nonstudents, has a beautiful voice; he sets the tone for the entire show with his opening number, 'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.'

Goldin has a strong, melodic soprano, and she fills Laurey with the glow of an adolescent in the flush of her first love. She is flirtatious but vulnerable, and a little afraid of all these new sensations.

Allison Minick isn't afraid at all as the hormone-charged Ado Annie, who falls for anybody who will 'talk pretty' to her ('I Can't Say No!'). Minick is delightful.

Annie sets her sights on a traveling peddler, Ali Hakim (Timothy Orr), who makes the mistake of flirting with her and now is stuck with a girl who mistakes his sweet talk for a desire to marry. Orr is wonderful in this role, and he shines in one of the show's lesser-known songs ('It's a Scandal! It's an Outrage!').

The heart of 'Oklahoma!' is Laurey's Aunt Eller (Hope Mirlis), around whom most of the farm activity centers. Mirlis is a feisty Eller, dancin' up a storm with the farmhands, but also present to deliver wise advice when anybody needs it.

The story's dark side comes from the farmhand Jud (Brett Duggan), a loner who lives in a shack down by the smokehouse, where his unrequited love for Laurey can fester. Duggan, a professional comedian in real life, becomes larger than life here: grim and menacing. In his 'Lonely Room,' we glimpse the depths of his anger at those who have kept him on the outside all his life.

Jon Shaffer is adorable as Will Parker, a wide-eyed kid just returned from Kansas City, where he has seen marvelous things that he's eager to share ('Kansas City'). He's not too bright: a man who rides bucking broncos in order to win $50 so he can marry the girl of his dreams ... and then spends all the money on gifts for her, instead of bringing home the cash.

The dance numbers, choreographed by Cooper and Joe Bowerman, are genuine high points. There's nothing quite like seeing an ensemble of cowboys dancing up a storm, or twirling a pretty gal around the big hole in the stage where the orchestra sits.

It's worth noting that traditional productions of 'Oklahoma!' employ substitute dancers for Laurey and Curley during a dream ballet sequence, but here Goldin and Rumery do their own dancing. This adds a special element to the show.

Special mention must be made of lighting designer Tony Shayne, whose Oklahoma skies are breathtaking in spots, and scenic designer Josh Steadman, who creates a perfect farmhouse, and whose seamless set changes are of professional quality.

Costume designer Nancy Pipkin gives a good sense of the era, and the shocking pink on Ado Annie enhances her character nicely.

This 'Oklahoma!' is an outstanding production, and seeing the year's 'big show' on the Mondavi stage is a particular treat.

O What a Beautiful Morning

Lots of whooping and hollering and energy bounced off the walls of the rehearsal space in UC Davis' Hickey Gym Tuesday evening.

The source was a music/dance rehearsal for the upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma!,' which opens Saturday at the Mondavi Center's Jackson Hall. Boots stomped, cowboy hats flew, petticoats swirled and cowboys performed backflips in the air.

'I'm actually a gymnast, so that's why I'm doing the backflips,' explained Mark Curtis Ferrando, one of the two airborne dancers.

While the men danced, the women, in a sea of white petticoats, sat on the floor with books or laptops, waiting for their turn. Emma Goldin - playing Laurie in this production - limbered up on the practice barre; Brett Duggan, a dark and brooding Jud Fry, sat in a corner and looked dark and brooding.

Earlier in the evening, I had met with director Mindy Cooper. Lots of whooping, hollering and energy bounced off the walls there, as well, as her 5-year-old twins chased each other around the interview room.

'They've grown up backstage,' Cooper explained, saying that their first experience with theater was at 6 months of age, when she choreographed the Broadway production of 'Dracula,' and the babies came to all the rehearsals.

'It's divine to introduce kids to theater.'

In a way, she's following in the footsteps of her own mother, who directed a high school musical while Cooper played in the prop box.

Cooper, the UCD theater and dance department's current Granada artist-in-residence, got involved with musical theater through the back door.

'I came up as a performer through the ballet world, and not through summer stock. I really came up as a dancer, and I got my Equity card to join a Broadway show, which isn't how you usually do things.'

The Baltimore-born Cooper attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, quitting at 18 to join a dance company.

'I joined the Kansas City Ballet and then decided I didn't want to be a big fish in a little pond, and so I moved to New York.'

She danced for some well-known dance companies in the Big Apple, and was dancing with Twyla Tharp when that legend disabled her company.

'I thought, what do I want to do now?' Cooper recalled.

'What bubbled up, from that time in my life, was I remembered that when I was 16, I couldn't wait to get my driver's license. I wanted to get into the car, roll up the windows and sing every show tune that I knew.

'I thought, 'I've done a lot of comedic and dramatic roles in the ballet world, and maybe I need to sort of take it to the next step and use words.' I was really lucky and had a lot of good breaks, and learned a lot in a very short time, about doing more than dancing on stage.'

Her first Broadway show, 'Song and Dance,' was the perfect segue. In the first act, Bernadette Peters sang; in the second act, the dancers danced, and sang one song at the finale.

Cooper discovered that she loved working in musical theater, but she wanted more than the hurried Broadway rehearsal schedule. She began assisting other choreographers, in order to be more involved with the creative process.

'Then, one day, I realized I no longer was a very good assistant, because I was having my own ideas. So I started choreographing, and I still was performing, and then choreographing led to directing.'

Cooper came to Davis to direct 'Urinetown' in 2007, and enjoyed the experience.

'I had an incredible time working a situation that isn't 'time is money.' In New York, everything is 'chop chop,' and there isn't a lot of play time.'

She also enjoyed the collaborative process of the university setting.

'To me, theater is the most wonderful, ultimate collaboration, and I had a really good time here. For 'Urinetown,' a lot of my collaborators were professors, but I also worked with student designers.'

Because the experience was such a success, she was invited back to direct 'Oklahoma!' ... but was it the right show for her?

Thanks to Cooper's unusual background, she never had done a Rodgers & Hammerstein play, but - coincidentally - she had just directed a Bay Area show called 'Musical of Musicals, the Musical,' for which she won several awards.

'I did a lot of research on a lot of Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, and I fell madly in love with them in the process. I sat and read 'Oklahoma!'

'I know that we need more hope in the world, and it really spoke to me on that level.'

*******

The admiration between Cooper and her cast is mutual.

'I love my cast,' she said. 'We decided to open auditions to the community, knowing a lot is asked for this show; the talent pool needed to be wide. I did not want to have singers sing and then dancers dance, which was what you did when the show was created in the 1940s: The singing chorus sang, then they brought in the dancers.

'I also wanted to have our leads do their own dancing in the dream ballet. I knew that I wanted a lot of great performers: triple threats. We shook the trees: I think it's very well cast.

'My husband makes fun of me, saying 'You fell in love with your cast,' but you have to. You fall in love with every cast.'

Goldin, a UCD senior in religious studies, minoring in music, admitted that 'Oklahoma!' has been her favorite since she was a little girl. She was part of the cast of 'Urinetown' and is happy to work with Cooper again.

'The best thing about working with Mindy is that she doesn't treat us like students; she treats us like adults, like any other production, because she wants it to be good.'

The cast all liked their assignment to create back-stories for their characters.

'We sat down early in the process,' Cooper said, 'and I gave them all names. Knowing that there is some shyness at the beginning of a rehearsal, I set up duets and trios, and then they wrote their back-stories. It gives me a grid to build on: There are a lot of incredible, beautiful, intricate stories.

'These are brainy kids, and they did their homework.'

David Green decided that his character is Benjamin Franklin Bartlett Jr.

'I took the name because I had a great, great grandfather who was named Benjamin Franklin Moore, and so I figured it would be a fun way to use his name.'

Green explained his character's back-story: After the man's first wife died, he moved out west and remarried in Oklahoma Territory.

'My name was mentioned in the script: that's how famous I was. Apparently, there was a Bartlett farm that burned down somewhere, and that actually was my uncle. His barn burned down after they discovered oil on the land, suspiciously enough. So I just take care of the farm.

'My parents are both dead, so I take care of the farm, and I'm madly in love with Miss Helen. She doesn't return my affections, but I'm confident that I can win her over with persistence.'

Mark Ferrando's wide-eyed enthusiasm is ideal for his own character's back-story.

'My character's name is Fred Kelly; he's a cowboy from Kansas. He's the youngest cowboy. He's about 17, and so he's exploring Oklahoma because he thinks he can stake land there ... but he didn't pay attention in school, so he didn't know that the land stake happened long before he arrived.

'He's ignorant, but he's young and all ready to go.'

*******

'This play is all about hope,' Cooper said, 'and I'm delighted to have a lot of hope in my life.'

Hope has been very important to her, particularly this year. She was diagnosed with cancer while directing a show at the Lesher Center, in Walnut Creek. She went through surgery, radiation and chemotherapy here in California, while her husband and friends commuted from New York to support her.

Her last radiation treatment took place two weeks before rehearsals for 'Oklahoma!' began. Knowing that the show was coming up helped her get through the difficult parts of her treatment.

'It was great for me to do pre-production when I didn't feel good, to give myself something to focus on,' she said. 'I love my work. I've always been very blessed to do what I love for a living. It was really great to know I had something to get out of bed for. By nature, I'm a hopeful optimist, and I don't necessarily look with rose-colored glasses, but it has been incredibly uplifting to work on this piece in my life.

'And isn't that great how art and nature collide?

'The life lessons in this piece are so beautiful. Aunt Eller has two moments that will knock your socks off. The message of the piece speaks very loudly to me. There are no accidents: Things come into our lives at the right time, and I believe this show came into my life now for this reason.

'And to just work with these incredibly wonderful students ... it's fresh and honest; there's not a lot of game playing. It's been incredibly refreshing, in a lot of ways.

'I'm a lucky girl.'

*******

I left Hickey Gym and stopped for dinner at a nearby restaurant. When I emerged, the sun had turned the sky pink. While walking up A Street to my car, from somewhere in the background I heard a male voice singing, 'Oklahoma ... where wind comes sweeping down the plain...'

Seconds later, I was passed by two guys on bikes - wearing cowboy boots and cowboy hats - singing the song at top volume, as they pedaled up the street.

This, I thought at that moment, will be a great show.

Fits and Parts: My Life in Stages

This is a difficult time for theater across the country. Many previously reliable sources for donations have dried up and with the economy in the shape it’s in, patrons aren’t going out to see live theater as much right now. Most of the local area theater companies are struggling to find inventive ways to stay afloat.

Sacramento Theater Company was scheduled to end its 2008-2009 season with “Noises Off,” a rollicking comedy about what it’s really like to put on a show. It’s a big show that takes a huge set and costs a lot to produce. But the money wasn’t there to produce it. According to Artistic Director Peggy Shannon, in comments made to a pre-show audience, funds scheduled to be available during the summer will allow for the show to open the 2009-2010 season, but cancellation of “Noises Off” left a big hole in the current season.

The ever-inventive Shannon turned to resident actor and long-time STC favorite Matt K. Miller and asked if he would be willing to write and perform a one-man show about the journey of his life as an actor, and the circuitous route he took to Sacramento and to STC. Miller agreed and some 3-4 weeks later, the final draft of “Fits and Parts: My Life in Stages” was approved.

The show opened Saturday night to what had to have been a disappointingly small crowd, but those who were there laughed heartily, clapped loudly, and gave Miller a standing ovation at the conclusion of the 90 minute piece.

One of the most fun things a theater goer can do is to sit and listen to other theater folks reminisce about their experiences. Many of America’s most beloved performers made a good living after their movie careers were behind them by going out and sharing the stories of their careers with fans. Actors like Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, and Cary Grant did it. Elaine Stritch turned her memories into a Broadway show, “Elaine Stritch at Liberty,” which was a smash hit in New York and in London.

Theater folks know how to entertain and how to tell a good story, and Matt K. Miller knows how to tell a good story.

He talks of growing up as the youngest of five in a Catholic family where he quickly learned how to get the attention of adults, and credits his Mom with being his best audience, even when he was misbehaving.

He talks about Catholic school and how much he enjoyed being an altar boy because it was like giving a performance, where the altar served as his stage, he wore a costume, and used the bells rung during the Mass as a prop.

He talks about first paying gig and his years in Chicago doing “Shear Madness,” America’s longest running play. He was able to come and go from the play, depending on when he had other gigs, and over several years played all of the male roles.

He likens his years in Los Angeles to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. While in LA he discovered a talent for doing voice overs and was much in demand for translations of Anime. (The Internet Movie Database lists nearly 50 cartoons for which he has done voice-overs).

Finally, in the fourth of his four stages, he talks about meeting Peggy Shannon and the circumstances that led him to Sacramento, where he has met the love of his life, married, and is now raising an 18 month old son. (When asked at the Q&A following the show what advice he would give his son, should the boy want to go into show business, he quipped “double knot your shoe laces and make sure your fly is zipped.”)

In the traditional pre-show talk, Shannon refuses to talk about what the audience will hear in Miller’s 90 minute monologue and, in truth, to discuss it more than peripherally would ruin the surprise of taking the journey with Miller, but suffice it to say that it is a sparkling, witty delight from start to finish.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Musical theater has a tradition known as the '11th hour number.'

It comes about midway through the second act, when the audience may be getting tired of sitting for so long. It may be bright and funny, or emotionally stirring. It's designed to make you sit up and start tapping your toes, or perhaps whisper 'Wow!' to your companion.

If a show isn't doing well, the 11th hour number can make you forget all the bad stuff that came before.

The 11th hour number in the Davis Musical Theatre Company production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera, 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' is 'Herod's Song.' Paul Fearn's Herod - dressed in an outlandish zoot suit that must be seen to be believed, and backed by a colorful assortment of dancers - easily steals the show.

Following tradition, 'Herod's Song' actually marks a turning point and seems to rouse everybody on stage.

This is one of the things to like in this production, which covers Jesus' life from Palm Sunday to his crucifixion.

Steve Isaacson's direction is satisfactory and appropriate: The action takes place on an essentially bare stage with a platform, all in front of the onstage orchestra, which has been let out of the pit. The production has some beautiful moments, such as the Last Supper and the final tableau, which is breathtaking.

Rand Martin's choreography is delightful; all the ensemble numbers work and are executed quite well. The Palm Sunday number, 'Hosanna,' is a lot of fun.

Jean Henderson's costumes always enchant, and she has outdone herself with Herod and his entourage.

The chorus members are well rehearsed and sound quite good, and we're willing to forgive the fact that most of the Apostles are female.

Some of the minor players are excellent. Eimi Stokes draws great applause as Simon, in 'Simon Zealotes.' Adam Sartain's Annas is noteworthy, and Andy Hyun (Caiaphas) has a marvelous bass voice ... although the music occasionally dips too low even for him.

Tony Osladil is memorable as the anguished Pontius Pilate, who wants to wash his hands of the whole business - 'If this man is harmless, why does he upset you?' - but ultimately is forced to send Jesus to his death.

All that said, this show's success rests on the big three: Jesus of Nazareth, Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene.

Judas is falling apart, because he fears that this man he has followed and loved is becoming a stranger, and is being influenced by the adulation of the crowds. Judas also is concerned about the deepening relationship between Jesus and Mary, a woman of questionable virtue.

Judas comes to believe the only way he can stop what he sees happening, is to collaborate with the enemies of Jesus and assist in his capture.

I've wrestled with how to handle my commentary about Judas. Given that this is community theater, with a volunteer cast of amateurs - people doing this for the love of it - it may be best to give this particular actor the benefit of the doubt, and hope that I caught him at a bad time.

The opening night performance was so bad that I've decided not to embarrass the actor by publishing his name.

I imagine this is what Jesus would have done, under similar circumstances.

I wanted so badly for this actor to be good ... or at least to get better, as the show progressed after its excruciatingly painful opening number. But he didn't, and it hurt to listen to him, although he certainly put heart and soul into the character's anguish.

David Holmes' Jesus is best during his quiet moments. His voice is beautiful and controlled, but during the more intense scenes he tends to shriek, often winding up off-key. Holmes did, however, improve throughout the opening night performance.

One can only hope, as he settles into the role, that he'll control his musical emotional outbursts as well as he handles his tender moments. He obviously has the ability to do so.

Emily Cannon-Brown makes a lovely Mary Magdalene, obviously in love with Jesus, but not certain how to handle a relationship with this man, the likes of whom she never has encountered. Sadly, Cannon-Brown also tends to be shrill, and she occasionally wanders off-key during her songs' most emotional moments.

Actually, even the technical end of things seemed not quite ready on opening night, with a body microphone or two that went off and on with irritating regularity, and some steps that initially weren't anchored; I worried every time someone used them.

All told, this show is uneven. I'm hard-pressed to say whether the good outweighs the bad. If Holmes can better modulate his more intense moments, he and Fearn (Herod) would make this 'Jesus Christ Superstar' worth seeing.

And let's just hope Judas improves as the run continues.