Timeless Measures | "Desperate Measures" @ ICT Long Beach

[cahwyguy]

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I collect music. In the area of cast albums and musicals, that includes all the Tony nominated shows, as well as other off-Broadway or regional cast albums that catch my eye for some reason. That could be reviews, that could be the artists involved, or that could be the description of the show. For whatever reason, I add them to my musical library, and then hope that someday they will show up on the stages of Southern California. When they do, I’ll travel near or far to see them. In the “near” category we have Lonny Chapman’s Group Rep in North Hollywood, which recently did “70 Girls 70” and will be doing “Drat! The Cat!”. Favorite destinations in the “far” category include the Chance Theatre in the Anaheim Hills, and International City Theatre in Long Beach, both of which are very prone to to these rarities. At Chance, I’ve seen shows like “Lizzie“, “James and the Giant Peach“, “Little Women“, “Dogfight“, “Triassic Parq“, “Lysistrata Jones“, “The Brain from Planet X“, and many more. At ICT, I’ve seen such gems as “Loving Repeating“, “The Robber Bridegroom“, and “A Year with Frog and Toad“.  We’re coming up on Tony season — who knows what off-Broadway gems I might mix into the Tony acquisitions.

Back in 2018, one of those gems I acquired was the cast album from an Off-Broadway musical titled “Desparate Measures“.  I didn’t know much about the show other than what I gleaned from the cast album. In the old west, a young man was about to be hung for killing someone. His only chance to survive was clemency from the Governor. The Governor would only grant that if the the young man’s sister, who had entered a convent and was now a novitiate (i.e., a real sister) would sleep with the Governor and give up her chastity for one night. So they figure up a solution. The saloon gal, who is in love with the young man, will be substituted in the dark for the sister. The Governor will be satisfied, and the brother will go free. What could go wrong?

The plot sounded funny. I liked the music. So when ICT Long Beach announced a production as the first show in their 2025 season, I grabbed tickets (surprisingly, a lot didn’t — even after blocking off a good half of the auditorium, the audience was only half full — and this was the 2^nd regular performance). Last night, we explored our way down to the theatre, picking up gluten free goodies in Redondo Beach, and once we reached Long Beaach, finding more Nambe at a thrift shop, discovering a great bookstore, a wonderful antique mall,  and a tasty Peruvian restaurant along the way.

As for the show: I never realized that the show was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. This is one of the plays that I haven’t seen. Desperate Measures was a loose adaptation: keeping some basic plot points and adapting some characters, reducing the number of players, and changing the setting. It did keep the conceit of having all dialogue be in rhyme (I can’t attest that it was iambic pentameter, but it could be). Isabella became Susanna/Sister Mary Jo; Claudio became Johnny Blood; Angelo is sort-of the Governor; the Duke is sort-of the Sheriff; Mariana is sort-of Bella. Other characters are someone discarded, and a number of subplots, such as the prisoner substitution and pregnancies, are discarded. It does end, of course, as all Shakespeare comedies do, with multiple weddings.

Don’t go expecting a deep show. This is a Shakespeare comedy — a sitcom of the Elizabethan era. You want deep, go to the CTG production of Hamlet later this year. This is a silly comedy. It is funny. It is entertaining. It is stupid and telegraphed at points. But it is also well worth seeing, especially in these times where we all need a laugh.

One thing that sets this production apart are the performances. They are extremely strong, with special notes for Gabbie Adner as Susanna/Sister Mary Jo and Daniel A. Stevens as Sheriff Martin Green. Adner has a lovely soprano voice that reminded me at times of Susan Egan; she excelled at comedy and nailed the songs. I really enjoyed her voice and the personality she brought to it. Stevens was her equal as the Sheriff, again with a beautiful and strong voice, and a masterful hand at the comedy.

The remainder of the cast was no slouch either: Madison Miyuki Sprague was strong in voice and performance at Bella Rose; more importantly, she seemed to be having a lot of fun with the role. We’ve seen both Christopher Karbo (Governor) and Jason Whitton (Father Morse) in 5-Star’s The Sound of Music. Karbo seemed to be great as the villain of the piece; he should be careful not to get type-cast. Lastly, Aaron Gibbs was strong as Johnny Blood, although he needs to do a slightly better job covering tattoos — they always seem to take me out of the suspension of disbelief when I see them on an actor, as they change that person from a character on the stage to the real person behind the character. I know they are part of the canvas of the current generation, so I just do my best to ignore them. The good thing is that they do not detract from his great performance.

The set of the show was simple, yet well executed. ICT has more of a thrust stage (although the side wings were closed off), similar to The Colony Theatre, with no fly space. The design used this well, with traditional set pieces suggestive of the old west.

Should you see this show? If you are in the mood for a silly comedy, yes. This is a great antidote for the dark times around us, and even manages to get in a few political jabs along the way. The songs, while not masterpieces, are generally entertaining. We really enjoyed the show.

Desperate Measures continues through March 9, 2025 at ICT Long Beach. Tickets are available through the ICT Box Office. Parking is $15.

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Desperate Measures. Book and Lyrics by Peter Kellogg; Music by David Friedman. Directed and Choreographed by Todd Nielsen.

Cast (^æ indicates Actors Equity): Gabbie Adler Susanna / Sister Mary Jo; Aaron Gibbs Johnny Blood; Christopher Karbo Governor; Madison Miyuki Sprague Bella Rose; Daniel A. Stevens^æ Sheriff Martin Green; Jason Whitton Father Morse.

Music Department: Daniel Gary Busby Music Director, Keyboards; Michael Higgins Guitar / Banjo / Mandolin; Joe Buzzelli Violin / Fiddle; David Hancock Turner Orchestrations; David Friedman Vocal Arrangements.

Production and Creative: Destiny Manewal Resident Scenic Designer; Harold Kast Resident Technical Director; Donna Ruzika Lighting Designer; Kim DeShazo Resident Costume Designer; Anthony Gagliardi Resident Hair and Wig Designer; Dave Mickey Sound Designer; Patty and Gordon Briles Resident Property Designers; Danna R. Parsons^æ Production Stage Manager; Evin Salak Asst. Stage Manager; Linda Miller House Manager; Lucy Pollak Publicist; Michael Donovan Casting Casting; caryn desai Producer.

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Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• March: ♦ Top Dog/Underdog at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Nefesh Mountain at McCabes; ♦ Fake It Until You Make It at CTG/Taper; ✡ MRJ Man of the Year Dinner at Temple Beth Tikvah (Fullerton); ✡ MOTAS Poker Tournament at TAS; ♦ Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 at UCLA TFT; ♦ 44 at CTG/Kirk Douglas; ♣ Musique/Ray Charles at CTG/Taper; ♦ Cabaret at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Drat the Cat at Group Rep; ✡ MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder at TAS
• April:  ◊ Ren Faire (Southern); ✡ First Night of Passover; ⌬ California Science and Engineering Fair; ♦ All The Devils Are Here at the Broad;
• May: ♦ Life of Pi at CTG/Ahmanson; ⊕ ♦ Spitfire Grill at Actors Co-Op; ♦ A Dolls House, Part 2 at Pasadena Playhouse.
• June: ⊕ ♦ Flower Drum Song at East West Players; ♦ Parade at CTG/Ahmanson; and possibly some Hollywood Fringe Festival shows.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Timeless Measures | "Desperate Measures" @ ICT Long Beach by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.