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It's The Differences That Make Us Standout | "Wicked (Part 1)" - The Movie

Wicked (Part 1) - The Movie When one sees a movie on the musical stage, one has to ask “Why?”. Usually, there’s no good answer, and such properties fade deservedly into posterity. Fifteen years from now, will anyone still be doing The Bodyguard or Pretty Woman?

When one sees a stage musical on the screen, one has to ask: “Why?” Was it just to preserve the story and execution for posterity? That could be done by just a filming of the stage production. There needs to be something more: something added. There needs to be something that the additional focus and time the camera can provide will bring. Something that the cinematographer and special effects can bring, that one doesn’t get from the stage.

Last Saturday, I saw Wicked: The Musical on the stage at the Pantages. Today, I saw just Act I of the stage musical on the big screen as Wicked (Part 1), since retitled Wicked as someone had the bright idea to retitle Wicked (Part 2) to Wicked: For Good. Part 2 comes out next November. I do wonder if people will remember the details from Act I (uh, excuse me, Part 1) when they see Act 2.

So, in elongating Act 1 to become a full 2hr 40min movie, what was added or changed other than significantly more dancers and a significantly larger orchestra:

Musical numbers were stretched and had more dialogue interspersed
Dance numbers were much more elaborate
There was more exposition, and slightly more backstory
There was more scenic locations and more scenery.
There was more closeups of the characters.

That last point is the interesting one. I don’t mean much more backstory on the characters. I mean literal close ups. You were much more up close and personal with both Glinda and Elphaba, and this simple cinematographic trick made you closer to the people. This simple change adjusted the focus, so to speak, of the story. Whereas the stage musical comes across (at least to me) much more about the story of the Animals and the discrimination against them, the movie comes across much more as the story of Elphaba: her relationship with Glinda, their growth as people, their growth as friends. All the foreshadowing of who would become what in The Wizard of Oz is minimal: you see the lion; you see Fiyero portrayed as brainless, you see Boq behaving heartlessly. There’s a reference to Toto being there, but I didn’t see him.

Even more than on stage, this was Elphaba’s story, and her growth from someone who was scared of who she was and tired of being different into someone who was confident in herself and who was proud of her differences. Mind you: This is with essentially the same story, and very little additional dialogue. It was how the camera served to change the focus.

I did love the little hidden things. The use of the 1900 Baum book as a history book. The references of Omaha and the carnival. The cameos during Wizamania, and the rivalry. The expansive use of poppies (and it wasn’t until now that I made the opium connection, especially in the classroom scene). When the Wizard plaster relief at Shiz broke, it revealed the Animal teaching origins (and they did a much better job with the Animals than the stage production ever could).

But they also made some mistakes. They made the same mistake the 1939 movie made, but that the stage musical, the Baum book, the Maguire books and even The Wiz got right: the Emerald City being green was part of the humbug: There were mandatory green glasses required. Nary a green glass anywhere in the EC.

The performances were very strong. At least based on the sample of the two movies I have seen this year, Timothée Chalamet deserves an Oscar for A Complete Unknown, and Cynthia Erivo deserves one for Wicked. The supporting cast was strong as well. Michelle Yeoh does evil so well, and was one of the best and most menacing Madame Morrible’s I’ve seen. Jonathan Bailey was a strong Fiyero, and Ethan Slater (who I’ll always think of as Spongebob Squarepants) brought the right childish quality to Boq. I applaud the producers for casting Marissa Bode as Nessarose, as she is actually in a chair. How they are going to handle that in Act 2, excuse me, Part 2, excuse me, Wicked: For Good, I don’t know (for those unfamiliar with the musical (c’mon, you don’t need spoiler alerts), Elphaba at one point enchants Nessarose’s silver slippers so she can walk). I also applaud the producers and the Telsey office for the diverse casting of the dance ensemble.

That last point brings up something which, regrettably, must be mentioned. As I noted in my writeup of the musical, “there are those on the right who are claiming that the movie is “woke” and propaganda. A petition from Million Moms states: ““Of course, the musical contains a tremendous amount of witchcraft and sorcery, and that content prompts most parents to avoid taking their children to see Wicked. But the film also shows not-so-discrete crossdressing and men crushing on men, which parents may not expect. Instead of an uplifting Broadway musical about friendship and family, talents and resources were used to create a dark movie that also pushes wokeness.” Kristen Chenowith, the original Glinda, has spoken out against this statement. But even more: Wicked has always been political. It has always been “woke”. It was never a musical primarily about friendship and family: it was a musical about the importance of speaking out for those with no voice. It is a musical that makes the point that those whom our leaders purport to be “wicked” may really just be those who are speaking out to power, who are speaking up for truth and justice. Wicked has always been this way, from the original book, to the original musical.”

So, was Wicked “woke”. If it was in the sense that the Hundred Moms speak of, it was subtle. Sure, there was magic in the movie—but there was magic in the original 1900 book, and magic in the 1939 movie, and the latter was definitely not a children’s movie (they didn’t have such movies in 1939). Was there cross dressing? This is a fantasy land: there is absolutely no reason that dressing conventions from the 2000s should show up in a movie in an undated fantasy land. Were there possibly some same sex relationships in the background? Probably, but they weren’t the main story. In short, Hundred Moms: Get a life. If you don’t like movies like this, don’t go to them. Go see Paddington in Peru.

Next: We have the people that have only seen the movie, and although they may have heard of the stage musical, they’ve never seen it. They write reviews about how this is a bloated movie. Duh. You have a 2hr 45min musical, with a 15 minute intermission, expanded so that Act 1 is now longer than the original whole two-act stage production. What did you expect? You want snappy, go see the Wicked Musical. It is on tour. Here are the dates for the North American Tour; it as at the Pantages until Feb 3.

Was this worth seeing? Yes, as it gives a different take and understanding on the stage show.

What’s next? Well, while you’re waiting for Part 2, excluse me, “For Good”, go and read the Greg Maguire books and learn the real political commentary in the story. Go read the original Baum books. Go see the musical on tour.

Will this be a classic, like the 1939 movie? Time will tell. There have been lots of productions of this story, and that’s because there’s a timeless meaning in a good fable. As long as that heart it there, the story of Oz will live forever.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as It's The Differences That Make Us Standout | "Wicked (Part 1)" - The Movie 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.

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Because I Have Known You, ... | "A Complete Unknown"

A Complete Unknown (Movie) What, you were expecting Wicked?

Nah, Bob Dylan has been a much more pervasive influence in my life, from my brother playing Peter, Paul, and Mary on his guitar, to my uncle playing folk music. In fact, if you look at my music collection, you’ll two primary genres: folk music, of all varieties, and cast albums.

True, we were deeply disappointed in the Bob Dylan musical, Girl From The North Country, but we shall not speak of that anymore. This was not Girl From The North Country. That was a depressing mess. This was a wonderful motion picture.

And because it was a motion picture, I don’t have the burden of detailing everything about the story or the cast. I can just point you to IMDB, and give you my impressions.

First: The story. This is the period of Dylan with which I am most familiar. Not only from the Dylan-lore, but from the stories told by his contemporaries whom I still listen to and see: Noel Paul Stookey, Tom Paxton, and others. The movie captures the Greenwich Village folk scene, and most of the people I expected to see, and name drops most of them. I knew who Albert Grossman was before he even showed up. I knew the names and the music: Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Odetta, and others. The movie had that authentic feel, and the characterizations seemed spot on. Of PP&M, they really only emphasized Peter Yarrow’s role (and, alas, Yarrow is on his last days right now, dealing with bladder cancer); you had two glimpses of Mary and I think only one of Noel Paul.

I knew some of Dylan’s story from that time, but not all of it. I know that the Suzie character is a composite, but I didn’t know about his relationship with Joan Baez. I was disappointed that some of the folks I expected to see weren’t mentioned (or at least name-dropped), but perhaps they were coming in as he was moving out of the folk world (I’m thinking in particular of folks like Tom Paxton or Mississippi John Hurt). Other folks we might have heard from were more on the traditional folk side or slightly before Dylan’s time (the Weavers and the Limeliters would be good examples there). I originally had Dave Von Ronk on the list, but it turns out the character was in the movie. I didn’t recognize Norbert Leo Butz as Alan Lomax (and both Noel Paul and Mary’s performers were uncredited, and only Noel Paul’s made it to IMDB).

But the story held my attention and was interesting.

The performances were spot on. Timothée Chalamet was remarkable. I saw him on Colbert, and he mentioned he had been working on this role for five years, and all the music was live-sung. I’m super impressed with him, first with his great job on Wonka, and now this. He is an extremely talented young man, a very strong musician, and he captured Dylan’s voice and mannerisms well. Ed Norton was also extremely strong as Pete Seeger, and he captured the character as I knew him well. Nick Pupo looked like the young Peter Yarrow, but didn’t quite have the same voice. Monica Barbaro was a strong Joan Baez; again, she nailed the voice. Boyd Holbrook was a bit of a caricature of Johnny Cash: he had the voice, but not the depth. But that wasn’t critical to the movie.

Should you go see this: If you like folk music, yes. I was thinking about this in relationship to other early folk stories: 2003’s A Mighty Wind and 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis. The latter two are fictionalized, but do a good job of presenting the folk scene. This comes closer to presenting it as it was. I think, of the three, this might be the best.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Because I Have Known You, ... | "A Complete Unknown" 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.

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Green Girls and Politics | "Wicked" @ BIH/Pantages

Wicked (Pantages/BIH 2024) It’s sad, somewhat, that I must start out with clarifying that I’m writing about the original live musical on stage, not the movie. We haven’t seen the movie yet. Perhaps Christmas Day. But I’m leaning towards the Bob Dylan movie. I do wonder what those who have only seen the movie—never read the book, never seen the musical—would make of the stage musical. How would they feel with the direction into which the second act descends? For Wicked, my friends, is not a light and fluffy musical. Like other musicals with staying power, it has much deeper messages. You want light and fluffy. Go see Legally Blonde-The Musical. You can find your pink girl power there.

As you might have guessed, last night we saw Wicked at the Pantages. We rarely see the same production multiple times (and I consider a tour instances to be the same production as other tour instances, as they are the same producing and designing team). We’ve seen Hamilton three times. But normally, there needs to be something novel to make a show worth seeing again. A regional or small theatre mounting (such as 5-Star doing Frozen). An interesting twist in the execution (such as the Deaf West American Idiot). But, for example, Annie (which is also coming to the Pantages)—I have no urge to see it again.

This brings us to Wicked. We saw the tour when it first came to the Pantages in 2005. I think 20 years is a sufficient waiting period, and yes, the show has been on tour that long. No regional productions. No local productions. So it was time. My green friend, you’ve held up well.

Back when I first saw it, I didn’t write a detailed review. I was just getting started with my writeups. Since then, I’ve been doing more analysis. I’ve also read the books — multiple times. But I had forgotten the depth of the show. It’s popularity, of course, comes from the music and the implied girl power and friendship between the two principals: Elphaba and Galinda. There are those who see themselves as the outcast, never accepted, Elphaba. There are those who see themselves in the princess, Galinda. There are those who ache for those two sides to come together.

But watching the show last night, what struck me more was how political the show was, and how increasingly relevant the political heart of Greg Maguire’s book that remained in the show is. For Wicked, at its heart, is an intensely political show. It was written in the heart of the Bush administration, with commentaries on Bush’s treatment of political prisoners and the views against minorities. But in our new political era, it is even more timely. Here we have a story about a talented flim-flam man, who knows how to manipulate public opinion and spread falsehoods for his own power and gain. Here we have a society that has made a literal scapegoat of the Animals (following the book’s convention, Animals are the creatures that have the power of speech, whereas animals do not). They blame the Animals for their economic problems (remember the reference to the Great Drought), and then serve to exclude them and push them from society. Deport them, as you might characterize it. We see those who look different and act different being ostracized, and accepted only for what they can give to those in power. We have celebrities harnessed to spread the message of the flim-flam man, spreading lies and stories they know not to be true. But this has no resemblance to what we have seen in 2024-2025, does it.

And our heroine? She is someone who is rejected who uses her power to speak out for those that literally have lost the voice they used to have. She is able to sway others to her position and eventually sweeps the administration of the political flim-flam man away. He leaves the country, with the people unaware of the extent of his crimes, and his cronies end up in prison.

We need an Elphaba today to start the fight. We need a Glinda, post-Elphaba, to arise and push out the flim-flam man. Perhaps in 2026.

The best musicals reflect their times, and are often not well received when they first come out, although sometimes they are popular. Chicago was a failure when it first came out. But after OJ and the rise of the celebrity trial where we realized it was all showbiz, it was a hit. It has been going strong since then, with a steady stream of Roxies keeping the show going. Wicked was poorly received the season it debuts. Avenue Q was the big hit of that season. But although Avenue Q is still being produced regionally, Wicked remains open on Broadway and on tour. It resonated with audiences. They saw the girl power and the humor, and perhaps they absorbed the political message.

In response to the movie, there are those on the right who are claiming that the movie is “woke” and propaganda. A petition from Million Moms states: ““Of course, the musical contains a tremendous amount of witchcraft and sorcery, and that content prompts most parents to avoid taking their children to see Wicked. But the film also shows not-so-discrete crossdressing and men crushing on men, which parents may not expect. Instead of an uplifting Broadway musical about friendship and family, talents and resources were used to create a dark movie that also pushes wokeness.” Kristen Chenowith, the original Glinda, has spoken out against this statement. But even more: Wicked has always been political. It has always been “woke”. It was never a musical primarily about friendship and family: it was a musical about the importance of speaking out for those with no voice. It is a musical that makes the point that those whom our leaders purport to be “wicked” may really just be those who are speaking out to power, who are speaking up for truth and justice. Wicked has always been this way, from the original book, to the original musical.

[And, I guess I should note: Those on the other side of the political spectrum may also see their views in this. Sigh. But they are wrong.]

A musical that has been running this long has created a large family of Ephabas and Glindas. One might think a 20 year old tour might be tired, and the performances would be weaker. That clearly seemed to be the position of Charles McNulty of the LA Times, who bemoaned the fact that the tour cast wasn’t near Chenowith and Menzel. I disagree. I don’t think there was a weak performer in the entire tour cast. At worst, some were merely very good.

At our performance, we had some substitutions. The primary tour Ephaba, Lauren Samuels, was out for some reason. We didn’t have one of the other understudies or standbys; instead, the producers brought in a former Elphaba for the role: Olivia Valli. She was out when we saw the Pretty Woman tour, alas. She was outstanding, bringing a wonderful personality to the role. I was just fixated in watching her face. During the curtain call, she broadcast such happiness with being able to perform the role again. It was clear she was broadcasting that happiness during her performance. Had McNulty seen her, perhaps his opinion would have been different.

Our Glinda, Austen Danielle Bohmer, fell into the very good category. She was good in the role, but was more a Laura Bell Bundy as Elle than Kristen Chenowith. She lacked the little extra spark that the role needs. But it wasn’t a bad performance, but when up against Valli’s Ephie, she just couldn’t hold her own.

The other substitution we had was David Kaverman as the Wizard. He was good, but came off as a little too young, with not quite the paternalistic charm required. Was he even old enough to be Elphaba’s father?

Other cast members were very strong, including Kingsley Legg’s Dr. Dillamond, Erica Ito’s Nessarose, and Xavier McKinnon’s Fiyero. The production quality was very high; something my daughter commented upon. The orchestra was also very strong. One might think, after 20 years, the production values would get tired and worn, but the company seems to be doing an excellent job of keeping the quality and production high. This wasn’t a schlocky tour that was dependent on projection.

That leads to another side note: Some shows you know will fade into the history books because of their production demands. Few regional theatres will be able to do Back to the Future: The Musical because they can’t handle the productions and the Delorian. Similarly, could a regional theatre or an intimate theatre or school do Mrs Doubtfire because the the needs of the latex mask? Looking at Wicked from that point of view: It’s doable. Sure you need a flying rig, but that’s known technology from Peter Pan. You don’t need the dragon at the top of the stage, and pretty much everything else is achievable. I think there is the potential, when the tour eventually ends as it must, for Wicked to be a hit on the regional and smaller circuits. I’ll note that will be harder for Hamilton, as some creative thought will be required to rework the staging for venues without double turntables.

Attempting to wrap this up: With the movie now in theatres, should you shell out the bucks to see Wicked on stage. I think so. First, folks rarely sing back at a stage musical (and the ushers will slap them down if they do). At the movie, folks sing back to the screen (one reason I’m hesitant to see the movie). Second, you get to see the whole story. You don’t have to see Act I, and then wait a year for Act II. The musical condenses the story, and in doing so provides a tighter focus on the story. The performances on the tour are strong, and unless you have seen it on stage recently (I think it was out in LA just pre-pandemic), it is worth seeing again. Of course, if you have never seen it, you must see the stage version BEFORE the movie, so you get the whole story. I also strongly recommended reading the Greg Maguire books (and there are four, now five, in the series: Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. The latest in the series, Elphie, just came out. I haven’t read it yet.

Wicked continues at the Pantages through February 3. You can buy tickets through the Pantages web page.

———

Wicked. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Winnie Holzman. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. Directed by Joe Mantello. Musical Staging by Wayne Cilento.

Cast. ~~Lauren Samuels~~ Olivia Valli Elphaba; Austen Danielle Bohmer Galinda/Glinda; Aymee Garcia Madame Morrible; ~~Blake Hammond~~ David Kaverman The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Erica Ito Nessarose; Kingsley Leggs Doctor Dillamond; Xavier McKinnon Fiyero; Alex Vinh Boq; Jennifer Mariela Bermeo Ensemble; Anthony Lee Bryant Ensemble; Sean Burns Ensemble; Matt Densky Ensemble; Kelley Dorney Midwife, Ensemble; Kayla Goldsberry Witch’s Mother, Ensemble; Rose Iannaccone Ensemble; Mattie Tucker Joyner Ensemble; Lauren Leach Ensemble; Colin LeMoine Ensemble; Tiffany Rae Mallari Ensemble; Adelina Mitchell Ensemble; Brayden Newby Ensemble; Allsun O’Malley Ensemble; Madison Clair Parks Ensemble; Kat Rodriguez Ensemble; Derek Schiesel Ensemble; Wayne Schroder Witch’s Father, Ozian Official; DJ Smart Chistery; Brett Stoelker Ensemble; Ben Susak Ensemble; Justin Wirick Ensemble. Swings (⇑ indicates swung in): ⇑ Anthony Lee Bryant; ⇑ Mattie Tucker Joyner; ⇑ David Kaverman; Kelly LaFarga Dance Captain; Marina Lazzaretto; ⇑ Ben Susak Dance Captain. Understudies: Anthony Lee Bryant u/s Chistery; Sean Burns u/s Boq; Matt Densky u/s Boq; Kelley Dorney u/s Madame Morrible; Mattie Tucker Joyner u/s Nessarose; ⇑ David Kaverman u/s Witch’s Father, Ozian Official, The Wizard, Dr. Dillamond; Colin LeMoine u/s Fiyero; Adelina Mitchell u/s Elphaba; Allsun O’Malley u/s Glinda, Nessarose; Madison Claire Parks u/s Glinda; Kat Rodriguez u/s Madame Morrible; Wayne Schroder u/s The Wizard, Dr. Dillamond; Brett Stoelker u/s Fiyero; Ben Susak u/s Chistery. Standbys: Carly Augenstein Elphaba Standby.

Music Department (^Ł indicates local): William David Brohn Orchestrations Stephen Oremus Music Supervisor; Alex Lacamoire & Stephen Oremus Music Arrangements; Michael Keller Music Coordinator; Faith Seetoo Music Director, Conductor; Derek Shorter Associate Conductor, Keyboard 2; Luke Flood Keyboard 1; Amy Tatum^Ł Piccolo / Flute / Alto Flute / Recorder / Penny Whistle; Michelle Forrest^Ł Oboe / English Horn; Katie Faraudo^Ł French Horn; Jeff Driskill^Ł Soprano Sax/E♭ Clarinet/B♭ Clarinet / Bass Clarinet; Aaron Smith^Ł Trumpet / Flugelhorn; Nick Daley^Ł Tenor/Bass Trombone; Michael Valerio^Ł Bass (Acoustic / 5-String Electric / Fretless); Michael Abraham^Ł Guitar (Electric / Nylon String / Steel String / 12-String / Banjo / Mandolin); Chris Jago^Ł Drums; Bruce Carver^Ł Percussion; Alby Potts^Ł Keyboard 3; Adam McDonald^Ł Keyboard 4; Mary Ekler^Ł Keyboard Sub; Eric Heinley^Ł Orchestra Contractor.

Production and Creatives: Eugene Lee Set Design; Susan Hilferty Costume Designer; Kenneth Posner Lighting Design; Tony Meola Sound Design; Elaine J. McCarthy Projection Design; Tom Watson Hair and Wig Design; Joe Dulude II Makeup Designer; Jake Bell Technical Supervisor; James Lynn Abbott Dance Arrangements; The Telsey Office Casting; Lisa Leguillou Assoc. Director; Corinne McFadden Herrera Associate Choreographer; Edward Pierce Assoc. Scenic Designer; Chic Silber Special Effects; Dawn Fenton Production Stage Manager; Michelle Dunn Stage Manager; Colleen Danaher Asst. Stage Manager; Joseph Heaton Asst. Stage Manager; 321 Theatrical Management General Management.

Favorite minor credits: Sascha Kaminski Spellbooks; Bob Flanagan Puppets; Michael Durry Design Inc Flatheads and Monkey Wings; although a close second was Bra* Tenders Undergarments and hosiery.

♦ ♦ ♦

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). We’re a bit light on theatre while my wife is recuperating from her knee replacement.

December: ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;
January: ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);
February: ♦ Sondheim’s Old Friends at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Desperate Measures at ICT Long Beach
March: ♦ Top Dog/Underdog at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Nefesh Mountain at McCabes; ♦ Fake It Until You Make It at CTG/Taper; ♦Drat the Cat at Group Rep; MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder @ TAS

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Green Girls and Politics | "Wicked" @ BIH/Pantages 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.

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This Seems Vaguely Familiar | "Groundhog Day: The Musical" @ LB Landmark

Groundhog Day: The Musical (LB Landmark) When you go to the theatre these days, there’s this sense of déjà vu: that you’ve seen what is up on stage before. Now, I don’t get that, because I always consider the stage show to have come first (and thus, Shakespeare begat Pulp Fiction). But for many, seeing a musical adaption of a film is déjà vu: it is comfort food for the brain; it is a known quantity that folks think will be successful. Sometimes it works, and the stage production has a long life, sometimes even moreso than the original. Productions like Shrek, Legally Blonde, The Producers, and Hairspray come to mind. Sometimes, they fail miserably, leaving not that much memorable. American Psycho or the more recent Almost Famous. Sometimes, these failed shows have some wonderful songs: One of my favorite songs is The Last Real Record Store on Earth from High Fidelity. But most shows that attempt screen-to-stage end up in this middle ground—entertaining in the moment, one, perhaps two, memorable songs, but ultimately they are “Donuts for Dinner”. If you’re not familiar with that phrase, it comes from [title of show], and refers to an idea that seems satisfying at the time, but an hour later you’re hungry again. We’ve had a lot of donuts up on stage of late: Pretty Woman, Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire. Entertaining, but other than prolonging the life of a property, you wonder why they made the stage production. We saw one such show last week: Back to the Future: The Musical. Technically astounding, with great performances and humor, but if you were to ask me any of the songs a week later, I could only name one. Ask me in a month, and …

I’ll note that, for me, there’s another category of musicals: Shows for which I have heard the music, but have never seen the show. Some I may never see. I doubt anyone will mount American Psycho or Sweet Smell of Success in Los Angeles. Not even MTG. Occasionally, I luck out, such as Charles Steward Howard Playhouse’s production of Hands on a Hardbody this year, or MTW’s Big Fish in 2014. But there are so many I would like to see for completeness: High Fidelity, Tuck Everlasting, How to Dance in Ohio, Cry Baby. Universe, if you’re listening, put a bug in an artistic director’s ear about this.

These two groups (screen-to-stage musicals and musicals I’ve heard but never seen) led to the show I saw last night. A small theatre company I’d never heard of, Long Beach Landmark, which is a theatre-ministry offshoot of a local long-established church (similar to Actors Co-Op or Troll Players or CSH Playhouse) publicized their current show on some group I’m a member of on Facebook. I thought I wouldn’t be able to squeeze it in, but I ended up booking the penultimate performance. The show? Groundhog Day: The Musical.

Going in, I’ll note that I’ve actually never seen the movie upon which this was based (Groundhog Day, 1993). That said…

To summarize up front: I went in thinking this would be another Back to the Future: cute, but utterly non-memorable. In many ways, it was. But I was ultimately taken by the lead character’s redemption arc (which is what made the original film so significant). I was also taken by the performances, aspects of the staging, and in general how this little company did such a good job with the property.

Let’s start with the story. As I said: I hadn’t seen the movie. Perhaps it is me, but many of the jokes in the story that had the audience roaring had little impact on me. But by the second act, I was taken by how this time loop had changed Phil. I felt there was a wonderful lesson in that: To be successful and move on, we need to be doing good for others, and not be so self-centered. Perhaps this is why this church theatre ministry chose the property: this message of DOING good, not just speaking good or subscribing to the Gospel of Prosperity, is fundamental to the UCC denomination with which they are associated. It was a risky choice for a church group, given the language and sex in the show. But it worked. As always: a good book is a good book, and the folks familiar with THE good book probably recognized that.

Musically, however, there’s not much to write home about. The music and lyrics are by Tim Minchin, who did Matilda (a fun show, but only a few memorable songs). In this show, most of the songs were unmemorable. There were a few standouts, however. “If I Had My Time Again” is a lovely looking forward song; and the final song, “Seeing You” had a catchy melody and some really nice words.

But what set this performance above the typical was the performances and the production. Performances first. Groundhog Day requires a strong Phil, and Jay Dysart was up to the task. He had a very strong voice, and some great comic timing. In short, he was fun to watch. But the performer who was astounding was Lauren McGunigale as Rita. She had an astounding voice, and a playful personality that shone through her characterization. She also had great chemistry with Dysart’s Phil. Some other notable performances were Emily “E.C.” Cipriani, who just shone joy and fun; Amanda Webb, who I was initially unsure about but who shone in the second act; and Joel Steven, who was just having fun with Buster.

The production was great, especially considering what this theatre had to work with. Landmark does its shows in the First Congregational Church of Northridge. They don’t do them in a gussied up social hall (like Troll Payers or CSH Playhouse or Actors Co-Op). They do it in the historic main sanctuary. This means no fly space, the wings are just spaces curtained off, the orchestra is downstage in the choir pit. Lighting likely needs to be removed after each Saturday show for the Sunday morning services and put back. As a result, their scenery was mostly flats and construction pieces that can be moved off to the side. Yet they still made turntables on the side, human powers. But most impressive was a scene in Act 1 that was clearly a projection in the original show, where Phil and two guys from the bar take off on a dangerous road trip. Lacking a projection, instead actors carried stick figures of the cars and the landscape, and moved all around the stage. It worked: yeah, it wasn’t realistic, but this is theatre. It told the story, and was a clever invention to do so. BTTF should pay attention, as this is a way to get around that shows heavy use of projections.

A few nits: The first had a bunch of microphone static, and I think the sound balance was a bit off, with the speakers for the music overshadowing the performers.

So in the pantheon of middle-ground screen-to-stage musicals, where does this fit? Hard to say. It won a lot of awards when it was first produced in 2016, especially in the UK. But there’s no accounting for taste in the UK, as they liked Girl from the North Country. In the US, it won some awards primarily for the lead actor: As I said, the performance of Phil Connors is what makes or breaks this show. I think you’ll see regional or community theatres occasionally do this show, drawn by the creating team (Matilda), the familiarity of the movie, or a desire to do something that isn’t that frequently done but is still familiar. If there’s a local production in your area, certainly go an see it. But I wouldn’t go to the level of getting caught in a time loop to see it again and again.

The last performance of Groundhog Day: The Musical by Long Beach Landmark, in the historical First Congregational Church of Long Beach, is tonight at 7pm. Limited tickets are available through their website. This is a company that is worth following, but that entails going into Long Beach.

And speaking of going into Long Beach, a bit of a rant. The intersection of I-405 and I-710 is really poorly designed. The signage from 405 SB to 710 SB is almost non-existent. I ended up on the ramp for 710 NB by mistake, diverted back to 405, and then had to work surface streets to the 710. Coming home was little better: I almost missed the 405 transition because it is a single lane for both NB and SB 405, with poor signage. That interchange really needs a rebuild. Alas, I know of no plans to do so. The City of LB is no better. You get off the 710 on a city-built freeway along Shoreline Drive. There are signs that Broadway is a left exit, but the actual exit is NOT signed as Broadway. Going home, I ended up going around the block to Ocean, thinking it would take me to the 710. But no — it feeds directly to Route 47 and the Vincent Thomas Bridge, with no signage to 710. I ended up getting off on Pico Ave, and working my way to a 270° loop ramp to the 710. Really, really, poor wayfinding.

———

Groundhog Day: The Musical. Book by Danny Rubin. Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin. Based on the Columbia Pictures Motion Picture and the story by Danny Rubin. Directed and Choreography by Megan O’Toole. Produced by Jay Dysart.

Cast: Jay Dysart Phil Collins; Lauren McGunigale Rita Hanson; Pluto Dysart Larry; Mark Waters Ned Ryerson; Amanda Webb Nancy Taylor; Martha Duncan Mrs. Lancaster; Richie Muhammad Freddie / Healer 2 / Puppeteer; Emily “E.C.” Cipriani Debbie / Puppeteer; Charlie Carlos Ralph / Healer 1 / Bartender Billy / Elder; Joey Krumbein Gus / Groundhog Guy / Elder; Taylor Mobely Doris / Scientologist; Lisa Bode Heard Mrs. Cleveland / Piano Teacher; Mark Bruce-Casares Mr. Cleveland / Ensemble / Townsperson; Doug Emslie Old Jensen / Elder / Radio DJ; Joel-Steven Buster / Radio DJ; Corey Shaw Sheriff; Catherine Ram Deputy / Psychiatric Phamacologist; Jennifer Walquist Naturopath / Storm Chaser / Townsperson; Emily Morgan Joelle / Nurse / AA Person / Director; Jack Millis Storm Chaser / Elder; Tiger Chen Jeff / Ensemble / Puppeteer; Matthew Kopp Jonathan / Priest; Alison Mitchell Ensemble / Townsperson / Puppeteer; Marisa Krumbein Ensemble / Townsperson / Puppeteer.

Music Department: Curtis Heard Musical Director / Conductor / Keyboard; Ed Peffer Reed 1; Jeff Sisil Reed 2; Eric Messerschmidt Bass; Amanda Duncan Drums; Greg Adamson Cello; Matt Brislawn Violin; Landon Grigsby Trumpet; Nicholas Washburn Trumpet; Paul De La Rosa Trombone; John Ballinger Guitar.

Production and Creatives: Jay Dysart, Nathan Amondson, Megan O’Toole Production Concept; Jay Dysart Producer / Marketing Director; Lily Penner Asst. Director / Producer, Prod. Coordinator, Stage Manager; Nathan Amondson Scenic Designer; Pluto Dysart Asst. Choreographer; Ken Beaupre Sound Designer; Harold Kast Technical Director; James Carhart Costume Designer; Maddie Levy, Jay Dysart Social Media; LJ Curiel Lighting Designer. Megan O’Toole Landmark Artistic Director.

♦ ♦ ♦

November: La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse;
December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;
January: ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);
February: ♦ Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at CTG/Taper; ♦ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ⊕♦ Desperate Measures at ICT Long Beach;
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; ⊕♦ Drat the Cat at Group Rep; MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder at TAS.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as This Seems Vaguely Familiar | "Groundhog Day: The Musical" @ LB Landmark 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.

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Time Games | "Back to the Future: The Musical" @ BIH/Pantages

Back to the Future (BIH/Pantages) As I mentioned in my writeup of American Idiot at CTG, yesterday was a two-show day. After leaving the Music Center, we had a wonderful dinner at the all-gluten-free Lebanese restaurant Levant, shopped briefly at Gelsons on Franklin, and then dropped down to the Pantages to see Back to the Future: The Musical.

By now, everyone should know Back to the Future. It is repeated endlessly on TV, and if you don’t know the story, I’m sure you can turn on your TV and find it somewhere, together with Casino, the Men in Black series, and The Godfather. TV is endless rotation hell; when was the last time you saw The Sterile Cuckoo or Murder by Death?

So before we go into the production itself, lets talk about the connective tissue of the day: The perspective of Time. I noted that, for American Idiot, the recent campaign and the election of Donald Trump gave a different perspective to the lyrics of Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day. The anger and the pain take on new meaning in the Trump era of hate, and the anger against the media and their bias rings ever more true.

But what about Back to the Future: The Musical. There is also perspective there: Marty gains a new perspective on his parents. He learns to see them as people. His mom was a normal horny teenager. His dad was a typical teenage boy, peeping at girls, trying to be popular (and failing). This is a useful perspective to have. Again, I’ll tie it to this weeks election. As I look at people, I try to see them with that perspective. We were all little kids once. Imagine people as those little kids, working their way through elementary school, middle school, and high school. They weren’t always the haters and grumpy cats they are today. Alas, some of the them never grew out of being the hurt bullies seeking attention. But for many, the perspective of seeing them in the past may at least help us in these trying times.

The perspective of time. The notion that ties together these shows.

But beyond that, what about the musical itself? Truthfully, there isn’t much to say. It is a trifle. A light dessert that really doesn’t fill you up. It’s not bad, but it isn’t memorable. There are no songs (save those from the movie) that are earworms or significant. There are some changes from the movie due to the changes in the perspective of time (Libyan terrorists become stolen Plutonium; the carload of manure becomes a laundry basket). Actors are limited by the movie and the expectations of the audience to caricature the performances of the movie actors. They come close.

The musical also does not have legs nor will it likely have a long production life after the tour. It is very dependent on the magic of production, especially the magic of projections and the Delorian. It is unlikely you’ll see this at the regional or community theatre level. Put it in the same class with Pretty Woman, Tootsie, and Mrs. Doubtfire (and possibly even Beetlejuice). The only reasons these were made into musicals was the chasing of profit. The stories themselves didn’t cry out for musicalization. Note to the studios: Not every property belongs on stage.

This is not to say that Back to the Future was bad. It wasn’t. It was entertaining, and very funny at points. It just wasn’t memorable. Contrast this with Hamilton or Wicked or Come From Away or even American Idiot. There are things in those show that make them worth a return visit. BTTF? Once is plenty. About the only thing original and memorable is the song “Something About That Boy“.

The recent Kimberly Akimbo had similar problems, but was redeemed by the fact that (a) it actually had a point to make; (b) was more of a unique story, being based on a play vs. a movie. But the bulk of the songs weren’t all that memorable.

One additional note: This time dealing with BIH Subscriber Services (although it is out of their control): Parking lots in the area (especially when you pre-book with Parkwhiz) have reduced their time blocks to start at 7:00pm, making it hard to get dinner before the show. The El Centro garage has changed their system to use QRs codes and stored license plates. I’m going to guess that Eastown garage did the same, as they have the same time limitations. Parking is also overpriced in the area (contrast $25-$40 to the $10 at the Ahmanson). I’m looking forward to the day that my wife’s leg is well enough that we can take Metro again and not have to worry about parking. On the plus side, the Pantages was easily able to change our seat to one with the necessary legroom (platform on the right), although it did limit our view of the stage slightly.

Back to the Future: The Musical continues through December 1 at the Pantages. Is it worth seeing? Did you like the movie? If so, you’ll probably enjoy this. It’s not a stinker like Girl from the North Country or The Bodyguard, but it is also not particularly memorable. Things should be better with Shucked or Some Like It Hot. Tickets are available through the Pantages.

———

Back to the Future: The Musical. Book by Bob Gale. Music & Lyrics by Alan Silvestri & Glen Ballard. Based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment fil, written by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale. Directed by John Rando. Choreography by Chris Bailey.

Cast (All performers are ӕ Actors Equity; underscored performers indicate performers at our performance): Don Stephenson Doc Brown; Caden Brauch / Fisher Lane Stewart Marty McFly; Burke Swanson George McFly; Zan Berube Lorraine Baines; Cartreze Tucker / Joshua Blackswan Abbott Goldie WIlson / Marvin Berry; Ethan Rogers Biff; Luke Anthony Neville Strickland / Lou Carruthers / Mayor Red Thomas / Sam Baines; Kiara Lee Jennifer Parker, Ensemble; Joshua Blackswan Abbott / Luther Brooks IV Reginald (Starlighter #1), Ensemble; Tade Biesinger Ensemble; Ina Black Ensemble; Luther Brooks IV / Lucas Hallauer Ensemble; Alyssa Carol Babs, Ensemble; Jenny Dalrymple Clocktower Woman, Ensemble; Laura Sky Herman Linda McFly, Stella Baines, Ensemble; Dan Horn Ensemble, Swing; Will Jewett 3D, Ensemble; Dwayne P. Mitchell Starlighter #2, Fight Captain, Asst. Dance Captain, Swing; Zoe Brooke Reed Betty, Ensemble; Fisher Lane Stewart / Ross Thompson Dave McFly / Slick; Emily Applebaum Swing; Brittany Bohn Swing, Dance Captain; Lucas Hallauer Swing; Ross Thompson Swing.

Music Department (Ł indicates local): Nick Finlow Music Supervision, Vocal and Additional Arrangements; Ethan Popp Orchestrations; Bryan Crook Orchestrations; David Chase Dance Arrangements; Matt Doebler Music Director, Keys 1; Ted Arthur Assoc. Music Supervisor; Kristy Norter Music Coordinator; Emily Orr Assoc. Music Director / Keys 2; Jaren Angud Drums; William Leary Reed 1; Sean Franz [Ł] Reed 2 (Flute / Clarinet / Tenor Sax / Bari Sax); Aaron Smith [Ł] Trumpet/Flugelhorn; Nick Daley [Ł]Tenor / Bass Trombone; Brian LaFontaine [Ł] Guitar (Electric / Acoustic Steel String); Dan Lutz [Ł] Bass (Acoustic / 5-String Electric); Eric Heinly [Ł] Orchestra Contractor.

Creatives and Production: Tim Hatley Scenic and Costume Design; Tim Lutkin Lighting Design; Hugh Vanstone Lighting Design; Finn Ross Video Design; Gareth Owen Sound Design; Chris Fisher Illusions; Tara Rubin Casting; Maurice Chan Fight Director; Campbell Young Associates Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Taylor Haven Holt Assoc Director; Beth Crandall Assoc Choreographer; Aurora Productions Production Management; Eric Sprosty Production Stage Manager; Caitlin Kellermeyer Stage Manager; Malashia Carter Asst. Stage Manager; Domingo Mancuello Asst Stage Manager; Jack Stephens Company Manager; Bespoke Theatricals General Manager.

Favorite Minor Credit; Gabriel Reis Hoverboard Coach.

♦ ♦ ♦

November: La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre
December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;
January: ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Time Games | "Back to the Future: The Musical" @ BIH/Pantages 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.

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Give Me Novacaine | "American Idiot" @ CTG/Mark Taper Forum

American Idiot (CTG/Taper/Deaf West) Time, and the perspective that it gives.

On two-show days, I like to think if there is any theme connecting the shows. For yesterday, the theme turned out to be the perspective of time. As I said: We had two shows yesterday (something I like to avoid), due to the poor subscriber service at CTG, which didn’t tell us the Taper dates until 3 weeks before the show. As a result, we had a 2:30pm Matinee of American Idiot at the Mark Taper Forum (on the same day the Wicked movie was having its 7:00pm premiere at the Dorothy Chandler), and an 8:00pm performance of Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood (Pantages).

What connect American Idiot and BTTF? The answer is time.

We’ll delve into the perspective of time for BTTF in the next writeup. But for American Idiot the perspective of time really leads to a different interpretation of the piece. The original album was written in 2004, at the height of the Iraq war, with the Bush administration in office. As Wikipedia notes: “The album expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by tumultuous events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War.”. It was turned into a musical that hit Broadway during the Obama administration. We saw it in a traditional tour presentation at the Ahmanson in 2012. It was hard to fathom the plot from that presentation, other than “Alienation. Anti-war. Love. Perils of war. Perils of drugs. Perils of relationships.”

But time changes perspective. Seeing American Idiot just a few days after the election of Donald Trump to a second, discontinguous term, brings new meaning to the piece. Suddenly the words about a hateful America, an America where the media is lying to us, an America that creates disillusionist view hits home. The nihilism. The rage. It captured the anger from both sides.

The new presentation aided this view distinctly. The Deaf West approach had the lead performers signing, with “voice of” performers parallel to them singing the words, and (most importantly) all lyrics projected. You could actually understand the words, and see the poetry of Billy Joel Armstrong shine through.

You want a clear example. Just look at the opening number, and think about it in the context of Trump, how the media seemed so numb to Trump’s lies and incoherence:

Don’t wanna be an American idiot
Don’t want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America

Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
In television dreams of tomorrow

We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue
Well, maybe I’m the faggot, America
I’m not a part of a redneck agenda
Now everybody, do the propaganda
And sing along to the age of paranoia

Although this was written in the era Bush, anti-Al Quaida sentiment, It truly takes on a different perspective in this era of Trump, this era of hatred, this era of paranoia about immigrants. Time changes our perspective of musical theatre pieces. Some become less relevant and dated. Some find new meaning. There was a reason that Chicago failed when it first opened, and then hit it big in the era of OJ and the celebrity killer. American Idiot is written for the anger and the era of Donald Trump

(Oh, and Back to the Future? Think about how the time change impacts Marty’s perception of his parents. More on that in the next writeup)

It is clear that the impact of Green Day’s album has grown, and is more relevant now than in 2004 when it was first released. I also tend to love the music from it. Instead of being the angry dissonance I expect from punk rock, Green Day brings wonderful melodies beneath the loud; melodies that stick in your head and drive you.

The staging here is also unique. As I noted above, this is a co-production between Deaf-West and CTG. Deaf/signing actors are the leads, with “voice of” actors trailing behind them. Words are projected on stage, making it easy to understand what is being said. There is poetry of movement, poetry of hands, that go together with the poetry of the words.

Is American Idiot perfect? No. As is pretty much true for any rock album turned into a stage show, there is little connective tissue. There is little expository dialogue. As such, the characters never quite jell as distinct people. They never acquire personalities. You lose the story in the music; the music evokes feelings much more than the performances. As a result, you sit back and let the music wash over you; you read the lyrics, and let the performance supplement all that is evoked by the music and lyrics. This isn’t traditional theatre.

There are remarkable performances from the leads (and we had a number of folks swinging in at our performance). There are remarkable performances from the band, and not just musical ones (watch the folks on the violins).

One other discordant note — not performance related. CTG has gone to a new ticketing system, and it is problematic. The old system allowed you to download your tickets to Apple Wallet, or text them to your phone. The new system supposedly allows download to Apple Wallet (although it never gave me the option on an Android phone). But there is no text option anymore, nor the ability to use Google Wallet. Ticketmaster (which BIH uses) has its flaws, but it at least understands that folks use both Android and Apple. If you are an Android user, you’re stuck using data to go to the CTG website. Poor form. On the plus side, CTG excelled where it always excels: accessibility and parking. The new subscriber parking vouchers worked great, and the Taper was able to accommodate a last-minute need for a seat with legroom so my wife could stretch her leg.

The CTG/Deaf West production of American Idiot is well worth seeing. Alas, by the time you read this it may be too late: the last performances were to be today, but it has been extended one week, now closing on November 16. You can get tickets here. More information on the show here.

Finally: Nobody Likes You / Everyone Left You / They’re All Out Without You / Having Fun

———

Green Day’s American Idiot. Music by Green Day. Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong. Book by Billie Joe Amstrong and Michael Mayer. Directed by Snehal Desai. Choreography by Jennifer Weber.

Cast (All performers are ӕ Actors Equity; underscored performers indicate performers at our performance): Daniel Durant / Giovanni Maucere Johnny; Milo Manheim Voice of Johnny; Otis Jones IV Will; James Olivas Voice of Will; Landen Gonzales Tunny; Brady Fritz / Patrick Ortiz Voice of Tunny; Ali Fumiko Whitney Heather; Mars Storm Ruckner Whatsername; Ty Taylor St Jimmy; Kaia T. Fitzgerald Extraordinary Girl; Jerusha Cavazos / Monika Peña Voice of Extraordinary Girl; Will Branner Favorite Son; Monika Peña / Mia Sempertegui Alysha; Steven-Adam Agdeppa Ensemble, Lark Detweiler Ensemble, Josué Martinez Ensemble, Angel Theory Ensemble; Patrick Ortiz Ensemble/Swing, Mia Sempertegui Ensemble/Swing; Giovanni Maucere Swing.

Music Departments: Tom Kitt Music Arrangements and Orchestrations; David O Music Supervisor, Conductor, Keyboard, Accordion; Justin Smith Guitar 1; Ben Covello Guitar 2, Assoc. Conductor; Carlos Rivera Bass; Alex Bailey Drums; Nicole Garcia Violin; Nikki Shorts Viola; Michelle Rearick Cello; Robert Payne Music Contractor.

Production and Creatives: Takeshi Kata Scenic Design; Lena Sands Costume Design; Karyn D. Lawrence Lighting Design; David Murakami Projection Design; Sheila Dorn Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Beth Lipari Casting Director; DJ Kurs Deaf West Theatre Artistic Director; Jeff Perri Deaf West Theatre Managing Director; Colin Analco ASL Choreographer; Amelia Hensley Assoc ASL Choreographer; David S. Franklin Production Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Stage Manager; Sue Karutz Stage Manager; Coproduction of Deaf West Theatre and Center Theatre Group.

Favorite Minor Credit: TBD Loctition. Loctition is the maintenance of dreadlocks. Learn something new every day.

♦ ♦ ♦

November: ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre
December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;
January: ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Give Me Novacaine | "American Idiot" @ CTG/Mark Taper Forum 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.

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Taking a Chance | "Kimberly Akimbo" @ Broadway in Hollywood

KImberly Akimbo (Broadway in Hollywood) Well, that was different.

I went into Kimberly Akimbo not quite knowing what to expect. I knew that I absolutely loved the final song in the show. I knew the show was about a girl with progeria. I had listened to the cast album, and I knew it had won the Tony award. I had read the LA Times review of the show. I was hoping for good things.

Kimberly Akimbo was … different, but then again, Kimberly Levaco was different. It wasn’t bad; and it certainly wasn’t a Girl from the North Country, but it was (in many way) unlike a typical Broadway musical. It was less of a Shrek, and more of a Caroline or Change. As an example: At intermission we overheard the folks behind us discussing the show, and noting there wasn’t a single song that stuck in their head. Indeed, the only real memorable song in the show is the last one, “Great Adventure”, which reminds me of “Travel Song” from Shrek. The plot and the story build slowly, and it isn’t until you’re nearly at the end that the point of the show makes itself clear.

I’ll note that I ended up liking the show (although I won’t say it was a favorite); my wife was more “meh” on it. So this really is a show where your mileage may vary. It could also be a show like Soft Power, where your initial impression is one thing, but as you think about the show more (and perhaps see it a second time), that the message becomes clear.

I’m not going to do a full synopsis—you can find that on the Wikipedia page. Succinctly, the story centers on Kimberly, who has just moved to a new city in New Jersey after some incidents in Lodi NJ (not California). She’s attempting to make new friends in school, but she’s facing two problems: one, she looks like a senior citizen, and two, her disease has a live expectancy of 16 and it is her 16^th birthday. Her parents are more focused on themselves than her, and her aunt (who shows up) has similar issues, on top of being a criminal. The show basically shows how Kimberly navigates this point in her life, making friends and finding her path forward.

What’s not to like, right?

FIrst, depending on the relationship with your parents, the show could bring up feelings and be triggery. I think the ultimate message of the show offsets that, but that message may come too late for the overall show’s impression. Second, much of the music is very scene specific, and doesn’t always have a hummable theme line.

What’s there to like, then?

First, the show has some very funny moments. In particular, the aunt, Debra, is a hoot. Second, the performances are top notch, especially from Carolee Carmello as Kim, Miguel Gil as Seth, Dana Steingold as Pattie, and Emily Koch as Debra. Carmello, in particular, was just outstanding with her facial expressions. I also note that most of the cast members were in the Broadway production (although the lead roles are different actors). Third, unlike many of the shows today, the show does not depend heavily on technology or projections; this increases the odds that the show will have a life at the regional and below levels. Lastly, I really liked the ultimate message of the show: You only have one chance at your life, so grab it, take that chance, and embrace the day.

At the end, the message of the show is what saves the show and elevates it. Kimberly realizes that she can either wallow in the sadness of her disease and her horrible parents, or she can move past it and take control over what is left of the rest of her life. Our past and our situation doesn’t define who we are: we define who we are. Kimberly goes out getting the wish she didn’t know she wanted: a roadtrip (and we can all use a good roadtrip).

This was a strange show to win the Tony for Best Musical, especially given the competition (all of whom are coming to Los Angeles in the future: New York New York, Some Like it Hot, and Shucked to the Pantages, and & Juliet to the Ahmanson). But the Tony awards have (of late) been awarding shows that are pushing or experimenting with the art form: the previous year’s winner, A Strange Loop, is an example of that.

So, now the real question: Should you see it? That’s hard to answer. As I noted before, this isn’t a bad show or a depressing show. It’s not Girl from the North Country. But I think if you go in expecting a traditionally structured upbeat musical, with big song and dance numbers, you’ll be disappointed. If you had a problematic relationship with your parents, you might have trouble. If you go in with an open mind, and just get into the story, you’ll be just fine. You just have to be willing to go on a great adventure.

Watch on YouTube

Kimberly Akimbo continues at Broadway in Hollywood/Hollywood Pantages through November 3. Tickets are available through the BIH Box Office online.

———

Kimberly Akimbo. Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Music by Jeanine Tesori. Based on the play by David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Jessica Stone. Choreography by Danny Mefford.

Cast: Carolee Carmello Kimberly; Miguel Gil Seth; Jim Hogan Buddy; Emily Koch Debra; Dana Steingold Pattie; Grace Capeless Delia; Darron Hayes Martin; Pierce Wheeler Aaron. Understudies: Sarah Lynn Marion u/s Pattie, Debra; Regene Seven Odon u/s Seth, Aaron, Martin; Marcus Phillips u/s Seth, Aaron, Martin; Bailey Ryon u/s Delia, Teresa; Brandon Springman u/s Buddy; Valerie Wright Kimberly Standby. All cast members are members of Actors Equity.

Music Department (^* indicates local): Chris Fenwick Music Supervisor; John Clancy Orchestrations; Macy Schmidt Additional Orchestrations; Strange Cranium/Billy Jay Stein and Hiro Iida Electronic Music Design; Leigh Delano Music Director, Conductor, Keyboard 1; Ryan Edward Wise Assoc Music Director, Keyboard 2; Aveion Walker Reed 1; Alex Lemma Reed 2; Frank Zambrano Drums; Dominic Lamorte Bass; Azana Hightower Guitar; Kevin Irving Cello; Sean Franz^* Reed 1 (Clarinet / Flute / Oboe / Alto Sax); Ken Fisher^* Reed 2 (Bassoon / Clarinet / Bass Clarinet / Tenor Sax / Bari Sax); Ira Glansbeck^* Cello; Eric Heinly^* Orchestra Contractor; Brian Ge Assoc Music Supervisor; Antoine Silverman Orchestra Contractor; JoAnn Kane Music (Kyle Brenn, Russell Bartmus, Jessie Rosso) Music Preparation.

Production and Creative: David Zinn Scenic Design; Sarah Laux Costume Design; Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew Lighting Design; Kai Harada Sound Design; J. Jared Janas Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Lucy Mackinnon Video Design; The Telsey Office Casting; Ryan Emmons Assoc. Director; Brittney Griffin Assoc. Choreographer; Baily Ryon Dance Captain; Arabella Powell Production Supervisor; Shawn Pennington Production Stage Manager; Geoff Maus Stage Manager; Maya Bhatnagar Asst Stage Manager; Candace Hemphill Company Manager; Juniper Street Productions Production Manager; 321 Theatrical Management General Management.

Favorite Minor Credit: Ken Benson Skate Sharpening.

♦ ♦ ♦

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

November: ♦ American Idiot at CTG/Taper; ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; possibly ♦ Fiddler on the Roof ⊕ at La Mirada PAC; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre
December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;
January: ♦ Anything Goes (Concert) at Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena Civic);

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Bruce Kimmel will be bringing the rarely done Drat! The Cat! to Lonny Chapman’s Group Rep in March 2025.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Taking a Chance | "Kimberly Akimbo" @ Broadway in Hollywood 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.

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Its Reputation Proceeds Me | "Cyrano de Bergerac" @ Pasadena Playhouse

Cyrano de Bergerac (Pasadena Playhouse) I’d wager a guess that almost everyone is familiar with some aspects of the Cyrano de Bergerac story. Perhaps you know it is is story about a man with a really big nose. Perhaps you know instead the story of someone who was incapable of speaking to the opposite sex, so they get a friend to ghost-write their words for them (without secretly knowing that friend had longing for the same person). Perhaps you recall it turns out badly when the truth is found out. Perhaps you recall a moral from the story: Seeing beyond a person’s appearance to true beauty within. These elements have been excerpted for many stories throughout the years.

Perhaps you’ve seen the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin. That’s based on this story. Perhaps you’ve seen or heard of the musical Calvin Berger. Again, same story. Perhaps you’ve seen The Truth about Cats and Dogs. Again, same story.

Suffice it to say that we’re all familiar with the outlines and basic tropes of the Cyrano story. But most of us probably haven’t seen the original, or something that hews closely to the original. So I was intrigued when the Pasadena Playhouse announced Cyrano de Bergerac as the first show of their 2024-2025 season. By this point, you should be able to guess where we were last night.

First, a slight digression to a different play, about a slightly more modern historical figure: Alexander Hamilton. I must note that last weekend was our first outing to the theatre since my wife’s knee replacement surgery in August. We went to see Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages. It was my third time seeing the show; my wife’s fourth. I didn’t have the strong urge to do a full write up, as my notes would align with my first viewing thoughts from 2017. I did have four observations on the show that I posted on FB:

Burr seems almost Trump-like, with his never taking a stand on something. This parallel comes out really strong in the Election of 1800, where Hamilton, like traditional Republicans today, endorses his long-time opponent Jefferson because it was better to support someone with positions than someone who was just in it for himself.
I wonder how this show will be done in regional theatres, especially when there is no turntable. The turntable is the key to the choreography that moves the show forward.
Kudos to the Pantages for being able to change where we were sitting at intermission so my wife could be in her wheelchair, as her new knee was still giving her a lot of pain.
Is it time to have a revival of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, if only to highlight the dangers of populism. Do our Presidential shows highlight how we view the presidency and the nation, running from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to Ben Franklin in Paris to 1776 to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson to Hamilton to Soft Power?

In any case, let’s return to Cyrano.

As I noted above, we’re all familiar with the story tropes of Cyrano de Bergerac. Guy with big nose, who can write really well. Guy who can’t write gets Cyrano to write love letters for him. Girl falls in love with both guys: the outside of one, the inside (not “insides”, which would be yuk) of the other. But I’ll also willing to bet that most of us aren’t familiar with the original play from 1897 by Edmond Rostand, nor the life of the real Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, upon whom Rostand based his story. I certainly wasn’t. I didn’t know the original was written in lyric poetry; I didn’t know about the military aspects of Cyrano’s story, nor did I recall how it ended. I certainly didn’t know about the real Cyrano and the fact that he was one of the first science fiction authors, having written L’Autre Monde: ou les États et Empires de la Lune (“Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon“, published posthumously, 1657) and Les États et Empires du Soleil (The States and Empires of the Sun, 1662), which are purportedly classics of early modern science fiction.

To be clear, what we saw last night was not Rostand’s original play. Rostand’s story was freely adapted by Martin Crimp in 2019 for the Playhouse Theatre in London; it is that version that was produced by the Pasadena Playhouse. Crimp’s version keeps almost all of the story elements of the original: the setting in France in the 1600s; the original characters; the lyric poetry; the relationships between the characters. It updates the language; it updates some of the mores to reflect the increasing gender fluidity of the times (although not with the primary characters). One might argue that it updates the style of the lyricism: the rhyming sounds less like pre-French-revolution, and more like today’s hip-hop rhythms. It also moves the action of the play from the traditional proscenium setting and historical dress to one that interacts with the audience more, and the characters in modern style and dress (while still supposedly in France in the 1600s). It updates references: the play Clorise in Act I becomes Hamlet; the proprietor of the Cafe Ragueneau changes from a man to a woman. There is also plenty of commentary added on gender roles, and the datedness of those roles in early France.

The juxtaposition of the 1600s and the early 2000s is jarring, but suspension of belief quickly kicks in and your brain adapts to the dissonance. At least it does for most people; there were some audience members (such as the older folks sitting in front of us) that didn’t return from intermission.

The Pasadena Playhouse version also dispenses with a lot of props and accoutrements of a traditional Cyrano. I’ve already noted that the costuming is mostly modern, with characters in street clothes, and even the military uniforms being more suggestions of uniforms than anything else. They also dispense with the usual prosthetics; indeed, there is no visible evidence that Cyrano is actually disfigured in any way at all (other than being portrayed by a black actor, but I think that is more color-blind casting than intentional for the story). Could Cyrano’s disfigurement be entirely in his mind? That’s never made clear. The play also starts with the actors out in the audience, seemingly sharing space with the playgoers (which does fit better with the first act, which takes place in a theatre).

When the play started — and especially as I’ve never seen the original Cyrano — I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The poetry was coming fast and furious, and it was hard at times to keep up. But the story and characters quickly drew me in. The dissonance, while initially annoying, disappeared into the background and just became another novel aspect of the story. It was helped by the staging of the story by the Pasadena Playhouse, which was very abstract (which emphasized the timelessness of the story and the disconnect from realism of the presentation).

Now that I’ve seen a near-Cyrano, I understand the tropes a lot better. One can also see why the story became a timeless one, constantly being excepted for new adaptions. The divide between the handsome non-talents and the plain talented will always exist. We always wish that those we are attracted to could see the beauty and talent within us, and not fall for the handsome tasteless Wonder Bread™ standing next to us. But they almost always do, and they are the worse for it. The point of Cyrano is the importance of seeing through the bullshit and finding the truth and the talent.

#insert your election observation here. I know who the handsome tasteless Wonder Bread™ is in this election, and I’m sure you know where I stand.

The leads of the show were strong: Chukwudi Iwuji was a believable poet/soldier as Cyrano, and Rosa Salazar was a beautiful Roxanne. Will Hochman was an appropriately handsome non-poet Christian. I also enjoyed the casting of some of the smaller roles: Kimerly Scott’s Madame Rageuneu was delightful, and I grew to like Aaron Costa Ganis’ Le Bret. But the Baby Boomer in me loved seeing Barry Livingston on stage in the small role of Theatre Owner/Priest. Why? C’mon: Barry was Ernie in the classic My Three Sons, with his brother Stanley playing his older brother Chip. It’s the little things, folks.

By the time this gets posted, the last (or next to last) performance of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Pasadena Playhouse will have started, as this is the closing weekend. You might still be able to get tickets. There are shows today at 2pm and 7pm. It is well worth seeing.

———

Cyrando de Bergerac. Written by Edmond Rostand; freely adapted by Martin Crimp. Directed by Mike Donahue. Cyrano de Bergerac in this adaptation was first performed at the Playhouse Theatre, London, on 27 November 2019.

Cast: Chukwudi Iwuji Cyrano; Rosa Salazar Roxane; Will Hochman Christian; Kimberly Scott Madame Ragueneau; Larry Powell Lignière; Jens Austin Astrup Alastair / Act 3 Soldier; Aaron Costa Ganis Le Bret; E. M. Davis Usher / Denise / Medic; Christine Lin Woman Sent by Roxane / Marie-Louise; Barry Livingston Theatre Owner / Priest; Michael Nathanson De Guiche; Kila Packett Fencing Referee / Sentry; Sawyer Patterson Valvert; Jonathan Slavin Montfleury / Armande; John Garet Stoker Annoying Person.

Creative and Production: Afsoon Pajoufar Scenic Design; Carolyn Mazuca Costume Design; Josh Epstein Lighting Design; Edward Hansen Lighting Design; Veronika Vorel Sound Design; Rachel Lee Flesher Fight Director / Intimacy Coordinator; Christine Adaire Voice / Text Coach; Ryan Bernard Tymensky, CSA Casting; Colleen Danaher Stage Manager; Jessica Keasberry-Vnuk Asst. Stage Manager; Kimberly Sanchez Garrido Asst. Stage Manager.

Favorite Credit: John Garet Stoker Annoying Person. Can you imagine putting that on your resume?

♦ ♦ ♦

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

October: ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.
November: ♦ American Idiot at CTG/Taper; ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; possibly ♦ Fiddler on the Roof ⊕ at La Mirada PAC; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre
December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Bruce Kimmel will be bringing the rarely done Drat! The Cat! to Lonny Chapman’s Group Rep in March 2025.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Its Reputation Proceeds Me | "Cyrano de Bergerac" @ Pasadena Playhouse 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.

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Finding Answers | "Company" @ Hollywood Pantages / BIH

Company (Broadway in Hollywood / Pantages) Saturday was one of those rare beasts: A two-show day. We started the day with Clue at the Ahmanson. We ended it with Company at the Pantages. Company is one of those increasingly rare Stephen Sondheim musicals that I’ve never seen, although I’m familiar with the music (c’mon someone, mount Road Show or The Frogs in Los Angeles).

I first became familiar with Company through the 1970 original cast album with Dean Jones and Elaine Stritch. It’s a hard show to understand through the cast album, although I did enjoy the music. I also have the 2006 revival with Raul Esparza and Barbara Walsh. What I remember from that show was the “Making of…” PBS special. But again: Connecting with the plot line was difficult.

Last night we saw the latest revival at the Pantages. This was the “gender-swapped” version, where bachelor Bobby was swapped to become bachlorette Bobbie. It was updated in other ways: some couples were gay (especially for “Getting Married Today”); others were interracial, and of course, the original ladies Bobby was interested became guys. It was also updated for the times: landlines became cell phones; there were loads of selfies. The casting was color-blind. Having not seen the original version, I can’t address how the gender swap affected the storyline—but I will say the new storyline worked well and held my interest. More on that in a minute.

What didn’t work well was the staging. The artistic conception for much of the show was to have the action take place in enclosed boxes or rectangles with only the fronts open. For those sitting in the pricey orchestra seats clearly in the center, that was great. For those that were on the side, the side walls of the “room” tended to block action and make things hard to see. Please, scenic designers and directors, consider all of the site lines when you block your show, and ensure things are reasonably well visible from all seats in the theatre. The sound also had a problem similar to the Ahmanson: it was muddy and hard to hear. We were in row Q, so that shouldn’t have been the case. Sound designer representatives, when you load in, remember to listen from all points in the theatre and tune the speaker angles to have clear sound as much as possible.

Returning to the story: Now that I’ve actually seen the show, what did I think of the story. Let’s summarize first: The story concerns Bobbie, who is turning 35. She’s unmarried, and her friends are pressuring her to get married. Correction: her coupled friends are pressuring her. She doesn’t seem to have happily uncoupled friends. Through a series of vignettes, we see her spending time with those friends, and observing that their marriages aren’t quite what they seem to be. Some pretend to be happy, but fall back on their vices. Some are scared to get married, even though they love their partners. Some are happier divorced from their partners than married. Some find their happiness in the bottle. This just adds to Bobbie’s confusion: she wants to be married, but is getting mixed signals. Her relationships are helping: potential spouses decide they’ve had enough of her non-commitment and go to someone else. The one that might stay is, to use a metaphor from the earlier show, about as smart as Col. Mustard.

Figuring out her conclusion is hard. It appears to be that she decides the best thing is to be happy with herself as she is: to be alive. She doesn’t need to depend upon others for her happiness. This is her epiphany.

The performances during the show were outstanding. I particularly enjoyed Britney Coleman’s Bobbie. She brought a joy and happiness to the role that was infectious. She was a lot of fun to watch. She also had a great singing voice. Judy McLane’s Joanne was good, but it is hard to imagine she matched up to Stritch. Still, she handled the “Ladies Who Lunch” quite well, as well as “Little Things You Do Together” Also fun to watch was Marina Kondo’s Susan. Most of the other cast members were good, but particularly didn’t stand out too strong. The reworking of “Little Things” didn’t quite have the sonic zing of the original; and the fellow that did “Getting Married Today” didn’t quite have the breath control necessary.

So, should you go see this? I think so: I think it is a very strong version of Company, and the gender switch works. Of course, if you’re a purist, and can’t stand color-blind casting, then you might want to stay away. Go see one of the innumerable productions of Into The Woods or Sweeney Todd instead. Company continues at Broadway In Hollywood/Hollywood Pantages through August 18. Tickets are available through the BIH Website.

———

Company. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by George Furth. Originally produced and directed by Harold Prince. Directed by Marianne Elliott. Choreographed by Liam Steel.

Cast and Crew: Britney Coleman Bobbie; Judy McLane Joanne; Matt Bittner David; Derrick Davis Larry; Jessie Hooker-Bailey Sarah; Javier Ignacio Peter; James Earl Jones II Harry; Marina Kondo Susan / Priest; Jhardon DiShon Milton Paul; Matt Rodin Jamie; Emma Stratton Jenny; Jacob Dickey Andy; Tyler Hardwick PJ; David Socolar Theo. Understudies: Matthew Christian; Christopher DeAngelis Dance Captain; Kenneth Quinney Francoeur; CJ Greer; Elysia Jordan; Beth Stafford Laird; Emilie Renier; Christopher Henry Young Dance Captain, Fight Captain.

Music Department: (♯ indicates local): David Cullen Orchestrator; Joel Fram Music Supervision and Additional Vocal Arrangements; Sam Davis Dance Arrangements; Charlie Alterman Music Director, Keys 1; Michael Aarons Music Coordinator; Adrian Ries Asst. Music Director, Keys 2; Catherine Michetti Bass; Anthony Scandora Drums; ♯ Jen Choi Fischer Violin; ♯ Ira Glansbeek Cello; ♯ Jeff Driskill Reed 1 (Alto Sax, Flute, Piccolo); ♯ Brett McDonald Reed 2 (Tenor Sax, Clarinet); ♯ Damon Zick Reed 3 (Baritone Sax, Bass Clarinet, E♭ Clarinet); ♯ Charlie Morillas Trombone; ♯ Patrick Tice-Carroll Keyboard Sub; ♯ Eric Heinly Orchestra Contractor; Kaye-Houston Music / Anne Kaye, Doug Houston Music Preparation; Phij Adams Music Technology; Lucy Baker-Swinburn Music Technology Assoc.; Randy Cohen, Randy Cohen Keyboards Synthesizer Technician; Martin Lowe and Phij Adams “Company” Dance Remix.

Production and Creative: Bunny Christie Scenic & Costume Design; Neil Austen Lighting Design; Ian Dickinson Original Sound Design; Keith Caggiano Tour Sound Design; Chris Fisher Illusions; Campbell Young Associates Wig & Hair Design; Tara Rubin Casting Casting; Thomas Schall Fight Director; Claire Warden Intimacy Director; Emilie Renier Asst. Choreographer; Steve Bebout▾ Assoc. Director; Simone Sault Assoc. Choreographer; Tanisha Fordham Consulting Assoc. Director; Port City Technical▾ Production Management; Bond Theatrical▾ Tour Booking, Marketing & Publicity; Work Light Productions General Management & Producer; Jay Carey Production Stage Manager; Matthew Brooks Stage Manager; Megan Ciszek Asst. Stage Manager; Timothy R. Semon Production Supervisor; Michael Coglan Company Manager. ▾ indicates same role on Clue.

Favorite Minor Credit: Law Offices of Dora M. Komura, PC/Stephanie Friedberg Immigration Counsel. This is likely due to the UK staff and production folks.

♦ ♦ ♦

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

August: ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Randy Newman’s Faust ⊕ at The Soraya
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.
November: ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; possibly ♦ Fiddler on the Roof ⊕ at La Mirada PAC; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Patrick Page will be bringing All the Devils Are Here to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica in April 2025. Looks interesting.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Finding Answers | "Company" @ Hollywood Pantages / BIH 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.

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A Tasty Chestnut | "The Sound of Music" @ 5-Star

The Sound of Music (5-Star) When 5-Star announced their 2024 season, I wasn’t super excited. I knew I would subscribe and support them, because they are very important for the entertainment ecosystem of Ventura County, and have proven to be a wonderful starting ground for actors. But really? Million Dollar Quartet, The Sound of Music, and Little Shop of Horrors. All are shows that have been around a while; perhaps they create excitement in Ventura County, but I’m from Los Angeles County. But 5-Star is well known for nailing the execution, going back to their days as Cabrillo Music Theatre.

But really? The Sound of Music. What could I find of interest in this old chestnut? This is one of those shows where the movie musical that came afterwards has served to define (and in some senses straightjacket) the show. People expect a Julie Andrews performance; they expect the songs in the movie order. But I wanted more. As I went into the show, I was thinking: Could someone to a revisical: a reimagined production, along the lines of the recent Oklahoma (which we saw at the Ahmanson in 2022)? Could someone find a way to make people see this story in a new light; to find that inner bite that Rodgers and Hammerstein tend to have beneath the surface of their musicals? More on that in a few paragraphs; first, I want to talk about what made this production stand out.

The answer is: The performances. I was blown away by Shannon O’Boyle as Maria. Throughout the first act, I was blown away by her voice, her characterizations, her facial expressions, and how she interacted with and responded to the other cast members, especially the children. But what sold me on her was her performance of “Something Good”. She did something I love in a musical theatre performer: She brought to a song more than just a vocal performance. You could hear the happiness in her voice; you could hear the playfulness of her character. She reminded me, in many ways, of a young Sutton Foster: One of those unique performers that can bring personality to a song. O’Boyle does that, especially on songs like “The Lonely Goatherd”, the aforementioned “Something Good”, and even “Edelweiss”.

Also strong was Jon Root as Captain von Trapp. Although a bit young for the character (think: If the Captain has a 16 year old daughter and a strong Naval career, he’s got to be at least in his early 40s), his performance was spot on. A beautiful singing voice, but even more so for Root, watch his facial expressions and reactions. You can see them in “Something Good”, but equally well in “No Way to Stop It” and, notably, in his interactions with the children. 5-Star gets three AEA contracts per show, and they chose well for their two leads from the AEA pool.

Also notable, performance-wise, were the children. Hannah Sedlacek (Leisl) and Ivy Kaplowitz (Lousia) had lovely singing voices, and watching the interaction between Mikki Schwartz (Marta) and Ginny Cary (Gretl) was a delight. It was clear that this was all overwhelming for Cary—at times you could see her checking her dress, her hair, her shoes. She’s done things before, but not in such a large venue. But Schwartz was clearly there helping her through, guiding and providing reassurance. Now, this could all be an act from Cary (after all, she is an actress), but the relationship between the two youngest girls in the cast… indeed, the way all the children interacted with each other… cement the fact that this was a family on stage. This is best seen in “The Lonely Goatherd” as they pile on the bed, or “So Long Farewell”

As the show was starting and I was reading the program, II was wondering the logic about bringing this out again. But one answer is that The Sound of Music is a great stepping stone for actors. The characters are known, people know the story, and because of this the performance can shite. Cabrillo/5-Star is well known for its ability to find and promote talent (I think that’s why it is so heavily supported by donors). I still remember seeing a young Katherine McPhee in a 2005 CMT production of Annie Get Your Gun; many other actors have gotten their start in Cabillo/5-Star productions. So, even though this is such a well-known show, I urge you to go see it. The performances are what make this production special.

But now let’s turn our attention to the story. Although immensely popular, this clearly isn’t Rodgers & Hammerstein’s best work. It was the last show they did, and it is clear they were tired. There are far too many reprises of songs; a demonstration that they were stretching the music. The bite of the show is tempered by the main love story. Love stories are great, but they tend to be predictable and not have much depth. In particular, the antagonists in this love story really don’t pose much of a threat.

This begs the question: Is The Sound of Music relevant today? Listening closely, it is. The situation presented in the show of the rise of Hitler and Germany in the backdrop of people that want to ignore it—of people who think they can just go with the flow and ride it out—has an eerie echo to the rise of Trumpian politics today. At one point in the second act, as the song “No Way to Stop It” is starting, the Captain questions whether there is any way to stop the Germans, whom he hate, from taking over his country? Austria may not have had that ability, but here in America we do have the one tool they didn’t have: The Ballot Box. This show is a reminder of what might happen if we don’t use the tools we have. We will have brainwashed legions enforcing their view of what we can think, of what we can say. It is clear from the messages in their shows—a hatred of racism, a hatred of indoctrination, a hatred of violence against women—that Rodgers and Hammerstein would have stood against Trump and his Project 2025 agenda. Could a timely revival of Sound of Music reinforce that message? It is an interesting thought.

WIth artists such as Stephen Sondheim, we see regular revivals of their works. Indeed, yet another revival of Gypsy hits the boards in 2024/2025 with Audra McDonald. The performances will surely be spectacular and Tonys will be won, but did we need another revival so soon? We need someone to do something similar with the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalog: Bring these shows back with a new vision and approach (as was done with Oklahoma): not changing the words or the songs, but present them in a way that brings out the bite and commentary that was already there, and enables audiences to see how subversive and forward thinking Rodgers and Hammerstein were. The last Broadway revival of Sound of Music was back in 1998. It is well overdue.

Mentioning the audience does highlight a continual problem 5-Star is having: Audience. We were there for the first Saturday night performance, and the Orchestra was half-full. We remember the days when Cabrillo/5-Star filled the Orchestra, Founders Circle, and Mezzanine, and about a quarter of the top balcony. Today, the balcony is closed, and Mezz. subscribers get Orchestra seats. Supposedly, the afternoon matinee had better attendance: old folks and children will do that, and afternoon shows draws those demographics. But this company will die if people don’t buy tickets. So tell your friends: They need to support regional professional theatres. They are a key training ground for our future acting stars, and production stars.

A few nits on the show. My wife noted that the nuns dress was done by someone who was clearly not Catholic, and who clearly didn’t know the standards nuns had in the 1940s. Wrinkled wimples, indeed. I was also less impressed by Christopher Karbo (Max) and Eleen Hsu-Wentlandt (Elsa). Their two duo songs just didn’t hit right, and they failed to bring their characters to life in the songs. They were fine in the non-musical areas, but their execution of those songs had some problems.

To summarize: The 5-Star production of The Sound of Music has one more performance this weekend, and 5 performances next week. For the performances alone, you should see this production. Beyond the performances, you should go in with an eye of finding something new in the story: in particular, see how the underlying political story echoes today’s time. Ask yourself what Rodgers and Hammerstein are saying and whether there is really “No Way To Stop It”. The Sound Of Music continues through July 28. Tickets are available through the Kavli Box Office website.

One additional complaint about the Kavli itself, not 5-Star: Their security is overly draconian, and actively deters me from attending events at their venues. They enforce policies more restrictive than TSA: no water bottles, no wooden knitting needles, and they make you go back to your car if they find as much as a protein bar in your bag. Emptying your pockets and searching your bags. Perhaps security needs to be wearing the costumes of the people in the Austrian Concert hall. You know: the ones with the armbands. This is made worse when I compare it to other venues: The Ahmanson (another city-owned facility) does no bag searches. The Pantages has a simple metal detector, but you don’t need to empty pockets (but you still can’t bring in water bottles, although knitting is OK). I’ve been doing cybersecurity for 35+ years. The threat response needs to be appropriate for the threat. Thousand Oaks: You are not that level of threat target. Sure, check for guns and real weapons. But making someone (who is clearly mobility limited) walk back to their car for a protein bar? Not allowing knitting (what are they going to do? Stab you with a 2″ needle?)? That is overboard, and Thousand Oaks clearly needs to get over itself. We need to make it clear that their overly restrictive policies will deter people from attending shows at their venues.

———

The Sound of Music. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Howard Linsay & Russel Crouse, suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. Directed by Richard Israel. Choreography by Christopher Albrecht.

Cast: Shannon O’Boyle ^AEA Maria Rainer; Jon Root ^AEA Captain Georg von Trapp; Cathy Newman ^AEA Mother Abbess; Brody Tarrant Sitton Rolf Gruber; Christopher Karbo Max Detweiler; Dana Shaw Frau Schmidt; Daniel Stromfeld Ensemble; Dia Day Brigitta von Trapp; Eleen Hsu-Wentlandt Elsa Schraeder; Elias De Paula Kurt von Trapp; Jack Cleary Herr Zeller; Georgia Besnillian Ensemble; Ginny Cary Gretl von Trapp; Hannah Sedlacek Liesl von Trapp; Ivy Kaplowitz Louisa von Trapp; Jackson Murrieta Ensemble; Jason Whitton Baron Elberfeld, Ensemble; Jennifer Teague Baroness Elberfeld, Ensemble; Jonah Meyer Ensemble; Lauren Han Ensemble; Martha Thatcher Sister Margaretta; Melissa Musial Ursula, Ensemble; Mikki Schultz Marta von Trapp; Mollie Navarro Sister Sophia; Paul McCrillis Admiral von Schreiber; Sadé Ayodele Sister Berthe; Tudor Munteanu Franz; Zander Chin Friederich von Trapp.

Music Department: Anthony Lucca Music Director & Conductor; Darry Tanikawa Orchestra Contractor. Orchestra: Rhondda Dayton Flute, Piccolo; Ian Dahlberg Oboe, English Horn; Darryl Tanikawa Clarinet 1; Gary Rautenberg Clarinet 2; Melissa Hendrickson Horn 1; Jennifer Bliman Horn 2; Bill Barrett Trumpet 1; Chris Maurer Trumpet 2; June Satton Trombone 1; Matt Evans Trombone 2, Tuba; Sharon Cooper Violin 1 (concertmaster); Laurel Diskin Violin 2; Eugene Mechtovich Viola; Bang-Eunn Lee Cello; Charlie Ferguson String Synthesizer; Chris Kimbler Keyboard Synthesizer; Shane Harry Acoustic Double String Bass; Alan Peck Set Drums. The program had no credit for orchestrations.

Production and Creatives: Brandon Baruch Lighting Design; Jonathan A. Burke Sound Design; Kenneth Foy Scenery Design; Pittsburgh CLO Scenery and Props; Tuacahn Costume Rentals Costumes; Luis Martinez Wig, Hair and Makeup Design; Alex Choate Prop Design, Crew Chief; Chris Steele & Gail Garon Costume Coordination; Cameron J. Turner ^AEAProduction Stage Manager; Talya Camras Asst. Stage Manager; E. K. Dagenfield Production Manager; Jack Allaway Technical Director; David Elzer/Demand PR Press Representative; Fresh Interactive Marketing; Michael Donovan Casting – Michael Donovan ^CSA and Richie Ferris ^CSA Casting; Julia Pinhey Assoc. Sound Design; Gavin Higa Sound Mixer.

♦ ♦ ♦

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

July: ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Randy Newman’s Faust ⊕ at The Soraya
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.
November: ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; possibly ♦ Fiddler on the Roof ⊕ at La Mirada PAC; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Patrick Page will be bringing All the Devils Are Here to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica in April 2025. Looks interesting.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as A Tasty Chestnut | "The Sound of Music" @ 5-Star 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.

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A Glowing Review | "Radium Girls" @ Stage Left Productions

Radium Girls (Stage Left Productions) What do you do when you’re on vacation. Ussens? We don’t stop seeing live theatre; we go out and see what the locals have to offer. And so, today, out in the 109°+ heat, we decided that the best place to be was in the cool of the theatre, out in Surprise AZ, seeing Radium Girls at Stage Left Productions.

Radium Girls, by D. W. Gregory, tells the story of the girls that painted faces on watches and dials in the 1910s and 1920s, before the full dangers of working with radium were fully known by industry. It tells the stories of 3-4 such girls, and how they started to get sick. It tells of their fight to get compensation from the US Radium Company, which fought them to the end. Dramatic Publishing summarizes the play as follows:

In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire. Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece for 9 to 10 actors, who play more than 30 parts—friends, co-workers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates, and myriad interested bystanders. Called a “powerful” and “engrossing” drama by critics, Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.

Wikipedia has a nice summary of the true story; there’s even a great book out about these girls.

Focusing on the substance of the play, this was a very interesting story. My wife has a chemistry background, so it was of particular interest to her. What happened to these young women was tragic, and it was essentially in the name of greed. My wife thought the show didn’t stray far from the actual truth of the story, although the pacing was a bit slow. I would think that, especially if you have a science background, you would find this play interesting if it comes around your area (alas, we saw the last performance out in Surprise. Surprise!)

But what I found more interesting, watching this show, was the geographical juxtaposition. Driving down Bell to get to the show, we’re seeing all these street signs from Republican candidates trying to out Trump Trump. Arizona is a divided state, with lots of Trump support. It was interesting watching this play with that in mind. Here you have a business man that wanted the media to spread disinformation for his own use. You have a company that wanted to intentionally delay trials to benefit the company, not caring about the people that it hurt. You had people that wanted to spread disinformation about cures to protect their mishandling of the situation. Sound familiar?

So what does this play speak to, being presented in Trump country? Is it a backhanded way for artists to highlight the hypocrisy of those who seek to exploit others for their own gain? A fair question, and a great reminded of theatre doing what is it supposed to do: Be a mirror to people without making them realize it beforehand. This show had a great message in that respect.

Further, it is timely with respect to the news, as the Navajo Nation is facing continued problems from Uranium mining. According to ABC News in December 2023, “Just miles from the site of the 1979 Church Rock Mill spill, the largest nuclear disaster in American history, uranium extraction operations could resume near the Navajo Nation. Now, Navajo leaders say the health and prosperity of their community could be in even further jeopardy. A Canadian company is working to move forward with uranium extraction, an industry that has a lengthy history around the Navajo Nation.”

We’ve repeatedly seen the interests of business being placed above people. Further the second, we saw this play a day after the Supreme Court dismissed the Chevron doctrine, allowing judges to decide whether regulations are valid, not the scientists and experts. So could the courts do away with protection against radiation in the workplace, and again put the needs of business first? With this court? ’tis possible.

So this was a very, very timely play.

It was also pretty well done. My wife commented on the pacing; I thought it was fine (I’m guessing the pacing was in the script). Performances were pretty strong. I especially liked Anora Biggs as Grace, Scott Sims as Roeder, and Jayda Valentine as Kathryn. Also strong was Charlie Gray as Tom and Ashley Diane as Miss Wiley. My only complaint was with Tracy Burns as the female reporter. At times, she came across as overplaying it a bit, which took away from the illusion being created.

This was the last performance of Radium Girls. Next up at Stage Left is Silent Sky, another Laura Gunderson play. This is another play about women and scientific discoveries. Given the quality of the production we saw, it should be well worth seeing. I also encourage people, when they are travelling, to search out and see local theatre. At least for those outside the major areas, these are folks for whom performing is a local, not their profession. They need encouragement, and these local companies need your support.

———

Radium Girls. Written by D. W. Gregory. Directed by Christian Graca.

Cast: Anora Biggs Grace Fryer; Jayda Valentine Katheryn / Society Woman / Ensemble; Ashley Diane Irene / Miss Wiley / Ensemble; Tracy Burns Sob Sister / Mrs. Fryer / Ensemble ; Cara Friday Mrs. Roeder / Mme. Curie; Thomas F. Graca Lee / Bailey / Ensemble; Ryan Dammeyer Berry / Martland / Ensemble; Charlie Gray Tom / Reporter / Ensemble; Will Friday Markley / Van Sochocky / Ensemble; Scott Sims Roeder.

Creative and Production: Christian Graca Director; Thomas F. Graca Stage Manager; Thomas Graca Sound Design; Cody Dull Lighting Design; Christi Gray Costume Design; Christian Gray Hair and Make Up Design; Christian Gray Set and Prop Design; Jeff Jones Set Building; Rodney Rickard, Cody Dull Set Painting; Savoy Graca Casting Consultant; Cody Dull, Rodney Rickard Box Office; Rodney Ricard House Manager.

♦ ♦ ♦

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

July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Season renewals time: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; and Pasadena Playhouse are all renewed. We’re looking to see what Chromolume Theatre (which is returning) and Canyon Theatre Guild are planning. Other than that, Jason Alexander will be doing Fiddler on the Roof , directed by Lonny Price, at La Mirada in November. Morgan-Wixson will be doing Bat Boy: The Musical in September, but I don’t think we’ll be able to fit it in.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as A Glowing Review | "Radium Girls" @ Stage Left Productions 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.

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Slapstick on Stage | "Mrs. Doubtfire" @ BIH/Pantages

Mrs. Doubtfire (BIH/Pantages) What a contrast. The last show we saw at the Pantages, Girl From The North Country, was dark and depressing. The show we saw last night, Mrs. Doubtfire, was hilariously funny. This is a show you should see while you can on tour, for a number of reasons: First, this is the rare tour that has the Broadway lead, and it is well well worth it. Second, this is one of those shows you won’t be seeing at the community or regional level, simply because they will not have the resources for the facial prosthetics.

So let’s start at the beginning.

Back in 1993, we were members at the newly merged synagogue Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills (formed from the merger of our congregation at the time, Temple Emet, and another local congreagtion, Shir Chadash, helmed by Rabbi Steve Jacobs. One of the fundraising events they did was a “sneak peak” of a new movie, which turned out to be—you probably guessed it—Mrs. Doubtfire. Robin Williams, Sally Field, and so many others. It was a hilariously funny film. I haven’t see it all that much since then, but the humor of the film really rested on the singular talent that was Robin Williams.

A few years ago, amid a rash of Screen-to-Stage productions such as Pretty Woman, and Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire was musicalized. I listened to the album. Some good music, but nothing long lasting. It was the movie on stage.

We saw it last night at the Pantages. It was hilarious.

So what worked and what didn’t.

The first thing this show has going for it is the writing team: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick for music and lyrics; Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell for the book. This is the team that was behind Something Rotten. The show does bring the humor, and it brings the slapstick. There are lots of topical jokes. Where is falls down is the music. The music isn’t bad; it just isn’t memorable. Something Rotten had lots of songs that had legs: you remembered them after the show, and they could easily be staged elsewhere. Here, the songs (while very entertaining) are very tied to context, and only one (“As Long as There is Love”) can really stand on its own.

The second thing this show has going for it is the husband and wife team of Rob McClure and Maggie Lakis in the lead roles. McClure (Daniel Hillard) is a comic powerhouse, great at voices and physical comedy. He isn’t afraid to ham it up and play it for laughs, and it works in this show. His resume shows his comic chops, for in addition to this there is Beetlejuice, Something Rotten!, Noises Off, Honeymoon in Vegas. He’s a real talent, and must be seen. His real life wife, Maggie Lakis, plays his on-stage ex-wife Miranda, and you can see the chemistry between them. You can believe there is and was love there, and can see the fights. You can see him watching her, and her watching him, and their chemistry amplifies things. Lakis is also a strong singer and dancer; she was also in Something Rotten!, so they’ve done this before. You can also tell that McClure really enjoys this role and the freedom he has to play. It is a comic actors dream, especially when he can play it in Los Angeles, home to casting directors galore.

Also notable is Giselle Gutierrez (Lydia Hillard). For such a youngling, she has a remarkable singing voice and a great stage presence.

Also to be commended is the special effects team: Catherine Zuber on Costumes, David Brian Brown on Hair and Wig, and Port City Technical on Technical Supervision.

One additional comment: Normally, I’m down on men in drag for humor shows. That’s a major problem I had with Tootsie. This show doesn’t come across this way, because the humor rarely comes from “this is a man in a dress”, but from the humorous character of Doubtfire. I think that’s a big difference. Still, the man in a dress trope really doesn’t work these days.

So, what are the problems with this show. The major one is that it doesn’t have legs. This could be a great community or regional theatre show, except there is no way they can do the facial prosthetics required (which have to come on and off in less that one minute). If it makes it to the level of a 5-Star (Regional) or Canyon Theatre Guild (Community), I’ll be very surprised. That’s why you should see this NOW. It likely won’t make it on the non-tour circuit. Alas, there are many shows like that.

I’ll keep this short, as the Tony Award start in a few. Go see this show; you’ll enjoy it.

Mrs. Doubtfire continues at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages through June 30. Tickets are available through the BIH webiste.

———

Mrs. Doubtfire. Music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick & Karey Kirkpatrick. Book by Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’Farrell. Based on the Twentieth Century Studios Motion Picture. Direction by Jerry Zaks. Choreography by Lorin Latarro.

Cast; (underline indicates performing at our show; ~~strikeout~~ was not at our performance): Rob McClure Daniel Hillard; Maggie Lakis Miranda Hillard; Giselle Gutierrez Lydia Hillard; ~~Nik Alexander~~ Marquez Linder Andre Mayem; Leo Roberts Stuart Dunmire; Romelda Teron Benjamin Wanda Sellner; Sam Bird / Axel Bernard Rimmele Christopher Hillard; Emerson Mae Chan / Charlotte Sydney Harrington Natalie Hillard; David Hibbard Mr. Jolly / Judge / Doctor / Ensemble; Jodi Kimura Janet Lundy / Ensemble; Alex Banton Ensemble; Jonathan Hoover Ensemble; Sheila Jones Ensemble; Julie Kavanagh Ensemble, Dance Captain; ~~Marquez Linder~~ Ensemble; Alex Ringler Ensemble; Lannie Rubio Ensemble; Neil Starkenberg Ensemble, Asst. Dance Captain; Joey Stone Loopy Lenny, Ensemble; Lauryn Withnell Ensemble; Julia Yameen Ensemble. Swings were: Ian Liberto, Naderah Munajj; JP Qualters; Bianca Rivera-Irions; ~~Joey Stone~~, Gina Ward.

Music Department: (L) indicates local. Mark Binns Conductor / Keys 1; Nicholas Johnson Asst. Conductor / Keys 2; Peter Serravalle Guitar 1; Pili Ka’upu-Fronda Drums / Percussion; Jim Abbott Keyboard and Guitar Programming; John Miller Music Coordinator; Jeff Driskilll (L) Flute / Clarinet / Soprano Sax / Alto Sax; Javier Gonzalez (L) Trumpet / Flugelhorn; Nick Daley (L) Trombone; Ira Glansbeek (L) Cello; Brian LaFontaine (L) Guitars (Electric / Steel String & Nylon String Acoustic); Kavah Rastegar (L) Electric Bass; Benet Braun (L) Keyboard Sub; Eric Heinly (L) Orchestra Contractor. Ethan Popp Music Supervisor, Arranger, Orchestrator. Zane Mark Dance Music Arrangements. Matthew Smedal Assoc. Music Supervisor.

Production and Creative: David Korins Set Designer; Catherine Zuber Costume Designer; Philip Rosenberg Lighting Designer; Brian Ronan Co-Sound Design; Craig Cassidy Co-Sound Designer; David Brian Brown Hair and Wig Designer; Stephen Edlund Assoc. Director; Michaeljon Slinger Assoc. Choreographer; Port City Technical Technical Supervision; Kelsey Tippins Production Stage Manager; Kyle Dannahey 1st Asst. Stage Manager; Madison Tarchala 2nd Asst. Stage Manager; Patrick Wetzel Sub Asst. Stage Manager; Stacy Myers Company Manager; The Telsey Office Casting.

Notable Other Credits: Emily Hermey Nanny; RPM Social Media.

♦ ♦ ♦

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

June: ♦ Come Blow Your Horn at Canyon Theatre Guild; ♦ Radium Girls at Stage Left Productions (Surprise AZ).
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Slapstick on Stage | "Mrs. Doubtfire" @ BIH/Pantages 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.

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A Strange (but Good) Show | "A Strange Loop" @ CTG/Ahmanson

A Strange Loop (Ahmanson) Back when I was in college, an interesting tome was circulating in the UCLA Computer Club: Gödel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstader. In this book, through these three individuals, Hofstadter explored self-reference, mathematics, music, and what would be come to be known as Artificial Intelligence. The book won the Pulitzer, but most folks (including me) read it once or twice, and put it up on the shelf. I mention this book because evidently one of the notions in the book was something called “A Strange Loop”. Hofstader, in a preface to an anniversary edition, stated that one of the questions GEB attempted to answer was “What is a self, and how can a self come out of stuff that is as selfless as a stone or a puddle?” Hofstader expounded on this in a later book, noting “In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference.” This self-reference was the “Strange Loop”: How our individual concept of self is build from the self-reference of our parents and our environment. Amazon summarized it as follows: “I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the “strange loop”-a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called “I.” The “I” is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. How can a mysterious abstraction be real-or is our “I” merely a convenient fiction? ”

I mention this all because today we saw the musical A Strange Loop at the Ahmanson: a musical about a man writing a musical about a man writing a musical called A Strange Loop; said musical being a self introspective musical about the big, black, queer, gay man writing a musical about a big, black, queer, gay man and the self-reference that shaped his life. I’ll note from the outset that this is not a musical for everyone, and we did have some audience members leave during the show not to return. That’s not because this musical is bad. But rather, this musical is in your face about being fat, about being queer, about being black, about being black and queer, about big black queer folks have sex in their buttholes, about racism in the gay community. It is a perfect musical for Pride Month. However, it is not a good musical if you are a white straight musical theatre person expecting Hello Dolly or their last musical Funny Girl. Oh, and it is inappropriate for children and early teens.

But my wife and I are weird. Yes, we’re white and straight, and we’re old, but we’re also accepting. As they put it in the musical Bare: God don’t make no trash. We’ll love you and accept you however, whatever, whoever you are, and whoever you love. [Well, we’re not quite sure if you’re a Trump supporter—you need other strong redeeming qualities. There are some lines, after all.]

Back to A Strange Loop. What is this show about? That’s a good question. On the surface, it is as I said: A story about a big black queer man (Usher) writing a musical about a big black queer man writing a musical. But more so, the show is about how that man’s thoughts (which are portrayed by a group of six actors) shape the man and the show he is writing. This includes his self-loathing; his relationship with his parents and their very “Christian” and anti-Gay attitudes; his views on the shape of the black gay community and white gays vs black gays; about the issues with his inner white girl. It is a story about his screwed up sex drive, and how leads to mental self harm. It is about how his segment of the black community views Tyler Perry, and how Perry targets a particular segment of the black community (“chitlin’ circuit”). It is how Usher deals with viewing himself as a race traitor, and deals with his blackness. Essentially, it is a lot of self-introspection. I saw one critique of this show referring to it as a “woke identity” musical (and hating it). I guess it is “woke identity” and that is why Conservatives would walk out. But to me, the issue is less “woke” and more “identity”. This is a very explicit self-introspective musical of what it is like to be a big black queer man, who doesn’t particularly like himself, what he has become, or his skin.

So where does this all go? By the end of the musical, I won’t say that Usher is happy. But at least he has come to understand himself, and more importantly, to accept himself and to know where he came from. He’s able to finish his musical.

The music in the show is compelling and driven. It is explicit. At times it is strong and driving. But it has a good message. However, none of the songs will really have a life outside the context of this musical. This is likely to become a specialty piece (alas, probably dragged out during Pride Month by gay theatre groups), not a piece that will be regularly revived by community and regional theatres. In the gay theatre pantheon of shows, you’ll be more likely to get La Cage Aux Folles or Fun Home than this show.

The performances were very strong. We had the alternative for Usher (Alvas Green Jr), and he did wonderfully (although he had some mic problems that made him hard to hear). The thoughts behind him were astounding—watch how they are playful and amplify what they are saying through movement and expression. This isn’t a strong dance musical; it is more movement that amplifies expression.

On the scenic side, this was simple. Usher up front; nooks for the thoughts, and occasional different scenes. Not a lot of projections.

So, let’s address the big question: Should you see this? First and foremost, this isn’t a bad show. It certainly isn’t Girl From the North Country. But this is not a musical for everyone. If you are not comfortable with in-your-face queerness, in-your-face sex, in-your-face blackness, or explicit language, then stay home. If you aren’t willing to explore an honest look at segments of the black community, I’d stay home. If you’re looking for a more traditional black musical, go up the street and see Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse. Yet even that musical explores issues of self-doubt and bias in the black community (although in that case, it is Creoles looking down on Plantation Blacks, and Be-Bop Jazz looking down on N’Oleans Jazz).

If you’ve gotten through the above: Congratulations. You should go see A Strange Loop. It is a wonderful exploration of blackness and queerness. I think our dear friend Karen P. would have loved this musical. The music is fun, and I think it has a thought provoking message. Further, if you understand the Hosftader reference, you’ll see how the self-reference here can apply to anyone, seeing how the biases and doubts from our parents and society shape us, and how we need to move past them to break the strange loop.

———

A Strange Loop. Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Directed by Stephen Brackett. Choreography by Raja Feather Kelly

Cast: Malachi McCaskill alternating with Alvis Green Jr. Usher; Tarra Conner Jones Thought 1; J. Cameron Barnett Thought 2; Avionce Hoyles Thought 3; John-Andrew Morrison Thought 4; Jordan Barbour Thought 5; Carlis Shane Clark Thought 6. Understudies: Dave J. Abrams u/s Thoughts 2/3; Angela Alise u/s Thought 1; Albert Hodge u/s Thought 4; Tristan J. Shuler u/s Thoughts 5/6.

Music Department: Sean Kana Conductor / Keys 1; David Moschler Keys 2 / Guitar / AMD; Willy Yanez Guitar; Alex Bailey Drums; Jennifer Leitham Bass; Sal Lozano Reeds; Tory Dexter and Chris Horvath Keys 2/ Guitar Sub; Robert Payne Contractor; David Moschler Assoc Music Director.

Production and Creative: Arnulfo Maldonado Scenic Designer; Montana Levi Blanco Costume Designer; Jen Schriever Lighting Design; Drew Levy Sound Design; Cookie Jordan Wigs, Hair, and Makeup Design; Chelsea Pace Intimacy Coordinator; The Tesley Company / Destinly Lilly CSA Casting; Katie Craddock Casting; Hailah Harper-Malevaux Assoc. Director; Candace Taylor Assoc. Choreographer; Dave J. Abrams Dance Captain; Aaron Tacy Assoc Lighting Designer; Edmond O’Neal Production Stage Manager; Camella Coopilton Asst. Stage Manager; Julia Formanek Asst. Stage Manager. No tour managers are listed, so this does not appear to be a touring production. Favorite staff credits: Kyla Eveillard Lactation; Dr. Cathia Walters Psychologist.

♦ ♦ ♦

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

June: ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Come Blow Your Horn at Canyon Theatre Guild; ♦ Radium Girls at Stage Left Productions (Surprise AZ).
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as A Strange (but Good) Show | "A Strange Loop" @ CTG/Ahmanson 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.

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Racial Music | "Jelly's Last Jam" @ Pasadena Playhouse

Jelly's Last Jam (Pasadena Playhouse) Some will argue that the true first Broadway “jukebox” musical was Ain’t Misbahavin’ back in 1978. It was certainly the first one I saw, back when I was 19 in Los Angeles (at the Aquarius Theatre, later Nick on Sunset). It celebrated the music of Fats Waller, and brought syncopated jazz to a new audience. This was followed by other jukebox musical celebrating seminal black artists, such as the music of Duke Ellington in 1981’s Sophisticated Ladies; and the music of Louis Jordan in FIve Guys Named Moe in 1992 (and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention The Louis Armstrong Musical which begins previews on Broadway in October 2024). 1991 was a particularly interesting year, as it saw the premiers of Five Guys Named Moe in London’s West End, and a musical celebrating the music of Jelly Roll Morton at the CTG’s Mark Taper Forum, Jelly’s Last Jam. I mention this all because although I’ve long had the cast album to Jelly’s Last Jam in my collection, I had never seen the show—that is, until last night, when I saw the show at the Pasadena Playhouse as part of their ongoing Great American Musicals series.

Jelly’s Last Jam purports to tell the story of Jelly Roll Morton; it does this through the device of opening the show with Jelly’s death, and having to retell history to “The Chimney Man” in order to justify where he will end up. Throughout the show, the Chimney Man attempts to get Morton to admit the truth, but Morton prefers his story … until the end. Morton’s story emphasizes his origin from a Creole family (which is true), how his origin led him to look down on what he viewed as dark music, and how he viewed himself as the inventor of Jazz. The latter is really a claim made by Morton, and many believe that it posthumously damaged his reputation. It roughly covers his history, starting with his living with mother’s parents and later being kicked out for playing piano in a bordello; his time in New Orleans; his time in Chicago and environs, where he meets Anita; his time in New York, and his ending in Los Angeles.

The musical book does correctly capture the attitudes of the times, where lighter-skin blacks with less African backgrounds (such as the French Creoles) viewed themselves as above those taken from Africa. Those attitudes (and the accompanying language) feel off today. This book has also problems when viewed in the light of misogyny and the treatment of women: what was acceptable in the 1910s and 1920s is much less acceptable 100 years later. This, and the darker nature of the story, make the book a bit more problematic today. It won some performance-based Tonys back in the 1990s, but would it be received the same today. It is important when watching this show to remember that Morton was the product of his times, even as uncomfortable as they are today. We can’t chance the past.

Then again, perhaps we can change the past. As with many musicals, Jelly’s Last Jam conflates many facts and rearranges things. In getting ready to write this up, I did some internet research on Morton, and although the general timeline matches up with the musical, the people often do not. The musical implies he met Anita outside of Chicago and later started a club. Rather, he was with her in Los Angeles, and wasn’t later involved with her. There wasn’t a Jack the Bear who was mentioned at the biographical level, although he did mention Jack the Bear in the Alan Lomax interviews (which also weren’t mention). They fudged with how he died (he was actually knifed in a club in Washington DC, giving him lung problems. Those later took him down in Los Angeles. There are more discrepancies. The bottom line is that this musical shouldn’t be taken as authoritative history. What it does capture accurately is the character of Jelly Roll Morton: his outsize ego, his talent, his pride, his racism towards other blacks, and the chips on his shoulders.

Unlike the horrid Girl From The North Country a few weeks ago, the book problems don’t bring down this show. They just weaken it a bit; they are offset by the tremendous performances in the show. The singing and dancing here are remarkable, especially the tap work of John Clarence Stewart (Jelly Roll Morton) and Doran Butler (Young Jelly/Ensemble). There was also a trio ensemble (the Hunnies) that was remarkable; in fact, the ensemble was quite strong in terms of overall song and dance. The talent of Jasmine Amy Rogers (Anita) should not be overlooked—I particularly enjoyed her humor and attitude in the bedroom scenes with Jelly Roll. Cress Williams made a strong Chimney Sweep.

The staging and set clearly showed the time and funds that the Pasadena Playhouse put into this. Danny Feldman emphasized, in his opening statement, how much the Playhouse puts into locally mounting and casting these musicals (and how tickets don’t come near to covering the cost). It shows here. This was a spectacular staging, especially in how it was used to establish locale. The only real problems were the downlights into the audience: the moving light made it really hard to read the programs.

We left the show with conflicting views about Jelly Roll Morton the person, and a new appreciation for the music of Jelly Roll Morton. This show is well worth seeing, especially as it is not frequently mounted. Tickets are available through the Pasadena Playhouse, discount tickets may be available through TodayTix. The show runs through June 23, 2024.

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Jelly’s Last Jam. Book by George C. Wolfe. Music by Jelly Roll Morton. Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. Musical adaptation and additional music composed by Luther Henderson. Directed by Kent Gash. Choreography by Dell Howlett. Produced on Broadway by Margo Lion and Pamela Koslow. Jelly’s Last Jam premiered at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, California, in March 1991. Directed by Wolfe, Obba Babatunde played Jelly Roll.

Cast: John Clarence Stewart Jelly Roll Morton; Cress Williams Chimney Man; Jasmine Amy Rogers Anita; Wilkie Ferguson III Jack the Bear; Karole Foreman Gran Mimi / Ensemble; Eric B. Anthony Three Finger Jake / Ensemble; Doran Butler Young Jelly / Ensemble; Chante Carmel Ensemble; Cyd Charisse Glover-Hill Hunnie; Summer Nicole Greer Miss Mamie; Janaya Mahealani Jones Hunnie; Grasan Kingsberry Buddy Bolden / Ensemble; Amber Liekhus Ensemble; Davon Rashawn Ensemble; Joe Aaron Reid Foot-In-Yo-Ass Sam / Ensemble; Naomi C. Walley Hunnie; Hannah Yosef Too Tight Nora / Ensemble.

Music Department: Darryl Archibald Music Director / Conductor; Abdul Hamid Royal Assoc. Music Director / Piano; Rickey Woodard Reed 1 (Alto Sax / Tenor Sax / Flute); Louis Taylor Reed 2 (Tenor Sax / Clarinet / Bass Clarinet); Frank Fontaine Reed 3 (Clarinet); Aaron Smith and Fernando Pullum Trumpet / Flugelhorn; Bobby Murray Trombone / Tuba; Peter Cho Banjo; Jonathan Richards Bass; Dominic Anzalone Drums / Percussion; Eric Heinly Music Contractor; Tan Onwimon Music Assistant; Brent Crayon Rehearsal Pianist.

Production and Creative: Edward E. Haynes Jr. Scenic Design; Samantha C. Jones Costume Design; Rui Rita Lighting Design; Danny Erdberg Sound Design; Ursula Kwong Brown Sound Design; Shelia Down Wig Design; Joy DeMichelle Intimacy Coordinator; Cyd Charisse Glover-Hill Asst. Choreographer / Dance Captain; lark hackshaw Stage Manager; David S. Franklin Asst. Stage Manager; Miriam E. Mendoza Asst. Stage Manager; Jessica Keasberry-Vnuk Asst. Stage Manager; Ryan Bernard Tymensky CSA RBT Casting;

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

June: ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Come Blow Your Horn at Canyon Theatre Guild; ♦ Radium Girls at Stage Left Productions (Surprise AZ).
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Season renewals are in process: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; and Pasadena Playhouse are all renewed. We’re looking to see what Chromolume Theatre (which is returning) and Canyon Theatre Guild are planning. Other than that, Jason Alexander will be doing Fiddler on the Roof , directed by Lonny Price, at La Mirada in November.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Racial Music | "Jelly's Last Jam" @ Pasadena Playhouse 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.

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Controlled Chaos | "The Play That Goes Wrong" @ Canyon Theatre Guild

The Play That Goes Wrong (Canyon Theatre Guild) From one CTG to another, so to speak.

Perhaps I should explain. One of the joys of going to a lot of theatre is the ability to compare and contrast productions of the same show. Seeing how a tiny theatre uses its creativity and limited budget to execute the same show as a major presenting house. Sometimes they can pull it off. Sometimes they can’t. Twenty years from now, could someone figure out how to present Hamilton or Wicked in a regional or intimate theatre production without projections and all the fancy stagecraft? It will be interesting to see.

Just under 5 years ago, we saw the touring production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the BIG CTG: Center Theatre Group. Center Theatre Group is a major theatre in Los Angeles, with a major budget. Last night, we saw “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the little CTG: Canyon Theatre Guild. Canyon Theatre Guild is a a small community theatre up in Santa Clarita. They’ve been in Santa Clarita (Saugus) for 50 years; they use a mix of community member and folks from the acting community of Los Angeles, and they construct their own sets (unlike organizations like 5-Star, which mount their own productions but rent sets and costumes). The big question was: How would this little theatre do with this show?

For those unfamiliar with the show, the conceit is that a tiny theatre company from the outskirts in England is getting a chance to present a big production of their show “The Murder at Haversham Mansion”. But in the production, everything goes wrong. As I described it back in 2019:

The premise of The Play That Goes Wrong is a simple one: an amateur British theatre company, the Cornley University Drama Society, has been afforded the honour through a British-American Cultural Exchange Program of presenting a play on tour in America: The Murder at Haversham Manor, written by Susie H.K. Brideswell. Unfortunately, during the production, everything that can go wrong during the production does. Miscues. Misplaced props. Non-cooperating sets. Bad actors. Technology issues. Trying to summarize the story is pointless — the story exists only to provide a framework for the mayhem, and the mayhem is so rapid-fire that trying to describe it is (a) impossible, and (b) would destroy the humor.

The show is incredibly funny, especially if you are seeing it for the first time and are unfamiliar with the mayhem. If you’ve seen it before, the mayhem isn’t quite as side-splitting, although there are moments, and individual actors bring unique moments and playfulness to the stage.

What makes the show work is precision. The screw-ups have to be precisely choreographed, the sets have to fail on queue. If this were a real failing production, it wouldn’t be funny. It is the precision of everything here that makes it work. So the big question was: Could little CTG pull it off?

I’m pleased to say that they could, and did.

The mayhem starts pre-show, where the stage crew is wandering around looking for a lost dog, and the program is filled with fake ads from the cast and crew (including one from Cornley’s Premiere Yarn Shop, Act 1 Knit Too, for a scarf pattern (you can get yours too)). It continues on stage where they are attempting to repair the stage before the show. The execution of the show was spot on, with precisely timed humor, great characterizations, and much more.

Special acknowledgement (beyond just the listing in the credits) should go to the set design team: Douglas Holiday and John Alexopoulos (Set Design), Claudia Alexopoulos (Properties and Set Decoration). Special acknowledgement also goes to the stage crew: Chloe Brown and Emily Romero, and the stage managers: Sam Kort and Douglas Holiday. WIthout all those folks this production in particular would fall on its face in an uncontrolled bad way, instead of the precisely executed fall on its face that we got.

The acting team was particularly strong. A few that stand out in my mind are Casey Kassal (Max Bennett), for how he played to the crowd; Ashley Taylor (Annie Twilloil), for her ability to protray a stage crew member forced on-stage; Kayleigh Long (Sandra Wilkinson), for her interplay with the other characters, and Tristan-Teja McDaniel, for his adept physical comedy skills. But all of the actors were really strong.

Special credit also goes to Eduardo Arteaga, who together with co-director Linda Thompson pulled together this mayhem, executed it with the requisite precision, and demonstrated that a community theatre can do just as good of a job of screwing up a play as the big boys.

The Play That Goes Wrong continues at Canyon Theatre Guild through June 29, 2024. Tickets are available through the CTG website. It is running in tandem with Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn; it will be interesting to see how they pull that off. But The Play That Goes Wrong is great, and everyone should go see it (even if you’ve seen it before, just to see how creativity and hard work can achieve the same thing as big budgets).

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The Play That Goes Wrong. Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields. Presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service under license from Mischief Worldwide Ltd. Directed by Eduardo Arteaga.

Cast: Casey Kassal Max Bennett (Cecil Haversham); Kayleigh Long Sandra Wilkinson (Florence Colleymoore); Spencer Magon Trevor Watson (Lighting & Sound Operator); Brock Markham Jonathan Harris (Charles Haversham); Tristan-Teja McDaniel Robert Grove (Thomas Colleymoore); Tyler Rainer Dennis Tyde (Perkins the Butler); Aaron Ratnayeke Chris Bean (Inspector Carter, Director); Ashley Taylor Annie Twilloil (Stage Manager); Mary Ann Van Sickle Mrs. Belinda Bennett, Producer.

Production and Creative: Linda Thompson Co-Director; Douglas Holiday Co-Set Designer, Asst. Stage Manager; John Alexopoulos Co-Set Designer; Nicole Arteaga Costume Design; Claudia Alexopoulos Properties & Set Decoration; Sam Kort Stage Manager: Brock Markham Fight Choreography / Stunt Coordinator; Chloe Brown & Emily Romero Stage Crew.

Special Notes: Directions © 2013 Mark Bell & Mischief Theatre Ltd; Set Design © 2013 Nigel Hook; Lighting Design © 2013 Ric Mountjoy; Costume Design © 2013 Roberto Surace; Sound Design © 2013 Andy Johnson; Original Compositions © 2013 Rob Falconer.

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

June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Come Blow Your Horn at Canyon Theatre Guild; ♦ Radium Girls at Stage Left Productions (Surprise AZ).
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Controlled Chaos | "The Play That Goes Wrong" @ Canyon Theatre Guild 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.

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🎭 A Depressing Mess | "Girl from the North Country" @ Pantages/BIH

Girl from the North Country (Pantages/BIH) Last night, we saw Girl from the North Country at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages. When I got home from the show, I wrote on Facebook: “Geeze, if I wanted something depressing where everyone dies in the end, I’d see Shakespeare… and Shakespeare has the advantage of having a discernable plot. ” A friend commented back that we did better than they did: They left at intermission. Which, I’ll note, was the same thing that the folks sitting in front of us did, as did a quarter of the audience. Yeah, that good.

Don’t let the ads fool you. You’ll see ads touting multiple Tony nominations (including Best Musical) and that the show is Tony-winning. That win was for orchestrations, folks. Although, to be honest, I don’t see the Pantages pushing this much — certainly now as much as they are pushing later shows, such as Doubtfire, Wicked, or even Peter Pan. One wonders if they realize this one is more of a clunker than The Bodyguard.

But what did you think of the show, Mrs. Lincoln?

Girl from the North Country is an attempt by Conor McPherson to craft a musical from Bob Dylan’s music catalog. Choosing a number of Dylan’s more depressing and slow songs, he created a depression-era musical. That’s certainly how this was staged. The lighting was dark. The tone was dark. The subject (as I could discern it) was dark. It was hard to see and hear. And, in the end, no one ended up happy. Theatre should be joyful. It should lift you up, or at least make you think. This didn’t.

What’s funny here is that—if you read the reviews—critics seems to like it. At least I think that’s what McNulty at the Times was saying. His review was as convoluted as the plot of this show. Perhaps this speaks to those looking for indecipherable art at the theatre. But then again, McNulty liked Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse, which we didn’t.

You may ask: So what’s the plot of Girl from the North Country? Beats me. It’s set in the depression, in a boarding house, in Duluth MN. We meet the cast of characters in the house: the owner, his catatonic wife, son and adopted daughter. The owner has a balloon payment due, and is about to lose the house. His adopted daughter (who is black) is pregnant, but no one knows by wom. We meet a bunch of the folks living there. A doctor. Some black woman, who is having an affair with the owner and might get an inheritance. A family. A shoe shop owner, who wants to do something creepy with the adopted daughter. Things happen. A boxer and a preacher arrive. People interact. But nothing ever causes the audience to invest, or even like, these people. By the end of the show, I don’t think any of the characters have really changed or learned anything. They just moved on.

The show wasn’t helped by the production and staging. The sound design was horrible. There was narration, and people talking on stage, but sitting in row Q (which isn’t that far back), I was really hard to make out what people were saying. I’m not sure if the problem was amplification, people talking too fast, or people trying to affect accents that impacted enunciation. But the words weren’t clear. The stage was dankly lit, making it hard to see people. Combine that with very similar costuming, and a dark costume design, and clearly distinguishing many of the characters was difficult. The stage requires broad differentiations so that you can tell people apart from the back of the balcony. With this show, your best approach was to sit back and listen to the music. Lastly, the staging never made sense. Actors would go up and sing into big standing microphones. Why? This wasn’t a radio show. There was no explanation for the microphones. They made no sense at all. It was just, depressing and confusing. The choreography was also off. It was more choral movement, but it was understated and depressing dance.

Here’s a good marker: After the show, usually there is a long line at the merch booth. Last night? About 5 people, no line at all.

This show was a failure with the audience. There wasn’t a strong curtain call, no “standing O”.

So, you may ask again: Was there anything good about the show? Well, a few of the performers had lovely singing voices, notably Sharae Moultrie and Matt Manuel. That’s about it.

The show also raises another, equally good, question: What makes a good jukebox musical. I’m not necessarily saying successful, but entertaining. I think the answer is that (a) the songs need to be predominately ones that are well known from the catalog, and (b) they need to serve the story. Item (a) is easy to understand: If the songs aren’t known, they won’t draw people in. Item (b) is a bit harder. Serving the story can mean many things. If you’re trying to build a plot, the songs need to advance the story in some way, even if not a perfect match. If you’re telling the artist’s story, the songs need to represent major milestones or pivot points. Revues can be just a collection of greatest hits, but not a show. Here, the jukebox provided neither. Here, perhaps about 5-6 of the songs were well-known: “Hurricane”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Jokerman”, “Forever Young”. The rest aren’t ones I remember from the charts. The songs also didn’t advance the story, but that’s probably more due to a lack of a coherent story to move forward.

So this show just failed on just so many levels. What I don’t get is the praise the show has gotten. All I can think is that the tour staging has destroyed any magic the show had; however, that doesn’t jibe with the poor choice of catalog selection from Dylan. So I just don’t get it. It’s all Kate Berlant to me. But there are times that critics and the audience disconnect (although often it is the other way around). This did have an incredibly low number of performances on Broadway: 117, although that does include a shutdown for COVID. It had high attendance opening week, but never sold out, and it looks like attendance dropped from there to a low of 19% two weeks before closing. To me, this says that word of mouth in New York was horrid: Successful shows should grow, run near capacity for a while, and then peter out as they get tired. I think the critics were seeing the artistic ambition, and not the entertainment. This is a common failure.

Girl From The North Country continues at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages through June 2, 2024. Tickets are available through the Pantages/Ticketmaster; discount tickets do not appear to be on TodayTix, but it looks like some resellers have them. I can’t recommend this one, but if you’re a Dylan fan, you might think different.

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Girl From the North Country. Written and directed by Conor McPherson. Music and lyrics by Bob Dylan.

Cast (⇓ see “At This Performance”): Alan Ariano Dr. Walker; David Benoit Mr. Burke; Ben Biggers Gene Laine; Jennifer Blood Elizabeth Laine; Matt Manuel Joe Scott; Sharaé Moultrie Marianne Laine; Jay Russell Mr. Perry; John Schiappa Nick Laine; Chiara Trentalange Kate Draper; Jill Van Velzer Mrs. Burke; Jeremy Webb Reverend Marlowe; Aidan Wharton Elias Burke; ⇓ Carla Woods Mrs. Neilsen; D’Marreon Alexander Soloist / Ensemble; ⇓ Ashley D. Brooks Soloist / Ensemble; Kelly McCormick Soloist / Ensemble; Kyle Sherman Soloist / Ensemble. Swings: Rayla Garske, Warren Nolan Jr. , ⇓ Ali Regan, Danny Vaccaro.
At this performance: Ashley D. Brooks Mrs. Neilsen; Ali Regan Soloist / Ensemble.

Musicians (🎭 indicates actor): Timothy Splain Conductor / Piano / Harmonium; Edward Hamilton Associate Conductor / Guitars; Camille Vogley-Howes Violin / Mandolin; Adam Overacker Bass; 🎭 David Benoit / 🎭 Jill Van Velzer Drums; Dean Sharenow Music Coordinator; Randy Cohen Keyboards Keyboard Programmer; Emily Grishman Music Preparation / Adriana Grace / Alden Terry Music Copying.

Production and Creative: Rae Smith Scenic & Costume Design; Simon Hale Orchestrator, Arranger, Music Supervisor; Mark Henderson Lighting Design; Simon Baker Sound Design; Lucy Hind Movement Director; Arc, Inc. Casting; Campbell Young Associates Wig & Hair Design; Justin Myhre Production Stage Manager; Rachel Heine Stage Manager; Katie Girardot Asst. Stage Manager; Barbara Rubin Assoc. Director; Jeff Brancato Production Supervisor; Hudson Theatrical Associates Technical Supervisor; Bond Theatrical Tour Booking; Foresight Theatrical General Manager.

Favorite Credit: For Runaway Entertainment Producer: Miss Maple Syrup Office Dog.

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

May: ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at Canyon Theatre Guild
June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ You Can’t Take It With You (⊕) at Group Rep; and potentially some ♦ Hollywood Fringe Festival shows, although June is pretty well booked already.
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 A Depressing Mess | "Girl from the North Country" @ Pantages/BIH 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.

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🎭 Survivor and Trucks | "Hands on a Hardbody" @ Charles Stewart Howard PH

Hands on a Hardbody (Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse) I must confess: I have some guilty pleasures. I’m sure everyone does: little quirks and things you do to have fun. One is my junk TV: I’ve been watching Survivor since it started. Some watch Ancient Aliens, some AGT, some The Amazing Race, but for me it has been Survivor. I like the human drama, I like the stories of the people and watching how they change through endurance, and I like the Diplomacy aspect of it. Another guilty pleasure is getting cast albums of lesser known or failed musicals, hoping that one day I might be able to see them on stage. One of my favorite songs is from such a musical: The Last Real Record Store on Earth from the musical High Fidelity. It flopped on Broadway, and I’ve never seen anyone mount it in Los Angeles. There are a lot of musicals like that on my list, from Big Fish to Tuck Everlasting to Bonnie & Clyde to Groundhog Day to the latest How To Dance in Ohio. C’mon small and regional theatres, do these shows before they are forgotten! I mean, I’m not asking for King Kong or Spiderman: Turn off the Dark (although those would be cool)

But I digress. These guilty pleasures intersected in the musical Hands on a Hardbody, which was based on a 1997 documentary about a real contest in Longview TX, where contestants had to keep their hand flat on a Nissan Truck: Last one standing wins the truck (in fact, when the musical opened on Broadway, they flew out some of the contestants). In 2013, shortly after the cast album was released, I picked up a copy. The music was interesting, but I always wondered about the show. Fast forward to early 2020. I learn that one of our neighborhood community theatres was actually going to be mounting a production (they’ve done lesser known shows in the past—I loved their production of The Theory of Relativity). In fact, if you were reading my writeups of the time, you would have seen in the “look ahead”:

March starts with Passion at Boston Court (FB) the first weekend. The 2nd weekend brings the MRJ Man of the Year dinner (and possibly The Wild Party at Morgan Wixson). The 3rd brings Marvin’s Room at Actors Co-op (FB) ; and the last weekend brings Spongebob Squarepants at the Dolby Theatre/Broadway in LA (FB) and the MoTAS/TBH Seder. April is similarly busy: the 1st weekend is Mamma Mia at 5 Star Theatricals (FB); the 2nd is during Pesach and is open (but has Count Basie at the Soraya/VPAC (FB) the Thursday before); the 3rd is Once on This Island at the Ahmanson Theatre; the last is Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) (and possibly Hands on a Hardbody at the Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse (FB)), and the first weekend of May is Mean Girls at the Dolby Theatre/Broadway in LA (FB)

Then COVID happened. The last of those shows we saw was Passion. Some were subsequently remounted: Marvin’s Room, The Wild Party. Some were postponed: Mamma Mia, Hamilton, Mean Girls. Some had their tours cancelled: Once on This island, Spongebob (but we were able to see local productions of that). Last night we saw the last of the COVID-time productions to resurface: Hands on a Hardbody at Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse (CSHP). I’ve been waiting a while for this.

As you may have figured out by now, Hardbody has a relatively simple plot and staging: Put a car on stage. Have the endurance contest, introducing the audience to the contestants and their motivations until there is a winner (hmmm, now that I think about it, it is a lot like Putnam County Spelling Bee). Have subplots involving the people running and reporting on the contest. The story comes (as it does in Survivor) from the mix of people that are in this contest. For Hardbody, this mix includes: an unlikeable prior winner, who is a bit racist; the son of an immigrant who wants to be a vet; a USMC vet, an older woman (and her husband as support) who really need the money; a Texas evangelical; a beauty queen; an older man (and his wife as support) who is recovering from a fall from a big rig; and a few other folks. The back story involves the faltering dealership and lack of sales, and some unethical behavior on behalf of some of the staff. Now you might think that the characters created here were fictional, and the story was a “based on”; it turns out reading about the documentary that the character types were the actual folks in the filmed contest.

The story itself works well, and based on the music, was one of the reasons I was drawn to the piece. But how you can stage this at a mid-size professional theatre (La Jolla Playhouse, where it started) or a Broadway theatre is very different than how you stage it in a community theatre, performed in a church social hall. For example, you can’t have a real car; you have to suggest a car with what you can build in the social hall. CSHP did that well. However, it wasn’t perfect. There were aspects of the backstories and character relationships that were described in the synopsis that just didn’t come through in the staging. For example, the scene where Heather (the Beauty Queen) and Mike Farris (the car salesman) makes it seem like the “perk” provided was the Executive Washroom or some implied liaison, when in reality it was time in the air conditioned space. I never picked up on the fact there was an air conditioner in the space. But overall, CSHP did remarkably well within the limitations of their space.

I’ll note that the story here has some surprisingly deep moments, touching on life at the lower end of the economic spectrum, racism, small-town America, PTSD and Veterans, and the importance of holding on to that which you love.

With the simple staging, what makes a show like this succeed or fail are the performances. As with the staging, there were some extremely strong performances, some very good performances, and some that (shall we say) reflected the community theatre level. Again, that’s not a surprise: this is a community theatre, drawing from a mix of LA’s intimate theatre talent as well as CSHP regulars and community members. The balance here was heavily weighted on the strong side, which was good. I’d like to highlight a few songs and performers:

I’ll start with Allison Sundman (Heather), who caught my eye from the start with her smile, her characterization, and her voice. She was just a load of fun to watch. Viktor Pacheco-Espinoza (Jesus) gave a strong performance in “Born in Laredo”, where he told the story of how as a Hispanic, folks always thought he was an immigrant, even though he was born in America. I was also moved by the performance of Larry Toffler (JD) and Aris Kakkis (Benny) is “Used to Be”, a lament about how the local businesses that made each small town unique have been replaced by the homogenized chain stores and franchises. Both songs were very touching.

Ana Luiza Bourroul (Norma) showed a powerhouse voice in “Joy of the Lord” and its reprise (in fact, the song and its message made me think of the other church-based theatre company we know, Actors Co-Op, and how CSHP is a lot less preachy in its show choices—a plus in my book). Also possessed of a strong voice were Lara Blanco (Cindy) and Keeley Bell (Kelli), which the latter used wonderfully in “I’m Gone”. Georgan George (Virginia) did a lovely job with “Alone With Me”, but where I noticed her more was in the closing number and the characterization of the relationship and affection with JD.

As I write this, it strikes me that all of the cast is worth highlighting for one thing or another, for example, Bryan Windom (Ronald)’s lovely voice on his songs or Carlos Gomez (Chris) song about what he got from the military. But what I listed above are the major things that stick in my mind… well, that, and the closing song “Keep Your Hands on It“. That song really embodies the message of the show: “If you love something, keep your hands on it, don’t let it go.”

P.S.: Floyd King Nissan didn’t become Floyd King Toyota. In reality, Jack Long Nissan became Patterson Nissan, still in Longview.

Hands on a Hardbody has 5 performances left as I write this: May 5, 11, 12, 18, all in Harter Hall on the grounds of the Woodland Hills Community Church. Tickets are available through the CSHP website. The show is beautiful and well worth seeing. I do wish they had a full printed program: I don’t like the trend of a single page or a QR code and an online program. Websites go away and can’t be navigated easily before or during a show; printed programs can, plus they provide memories that can be revisited.

———

Hands on a Hardbody: A Musical. Book by Doug Wright. Lyrics by Amanda Green. Music by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green. HANDS ON A HARDBODY had its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla California on May 12, 2012. The Artistic Director was Christopher Ashley. The Managing Director was Michael S. Rosenberg. HANDS ON A HARDBODY is based on the Documentary Film by S. R. Bindler and Kevin Morris, HOHB Production, LLC.

Cast (contestants unless otherwise noted): Allison Sundman Heather Stovall (May 4 and12); Ana Luiza Bourroul Norma Valverde; Andrew Nava Mike Ferris (dealership) ; Aris Kakkis Benny Perkins; Bryan Windom Ronald McCowan; Carlos Gomez Greg Wilhote; Danica Waitley Heather Stovall (May 5, 11, 18); Georgan George Virginia Drew (wife of JD); Isaiah Gundermann Graham Chris Alvaro; Keeley Bell Kelli Mangrum; Lara Blanco Cindy Barnes (dealership); Larry Toffler JD Drew; Matt Worland Dr. Stokes; Pat Nye Don Curtis (husband of Janis); Sean Dela Pena Frank Nugent (radio announcer); Tamarah Ashton Janis Curtis; and Viktor Pacheco-Espinoza Jesus Peña.

Production and Creatives: Marshelle Giggles-Mills Director; Larry Collica Musical Direction; Keeley Bell and Danica Waitley Choreography; Suzanne Ryan Producer; Jessica Worland Production Management and Design; Brittany Joy Sundman Stage Management; Matt Worland Technical Direction and Lighting Design; Aris Kakkis Graphic Design; Doug Mills Transportation Direction.

♦ ♦ ♦

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; Geffen Playhouse (Mini-Subscription); 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):

May: ♦ Girl from the North Country at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at Canyon Theatre Guild (⊕)
June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ You Can’t Take It With You (⊕) at Group Rep; and potentially some ♦ Hollywood Fringe Festival shows, although June is pretty well booked already.
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages;

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica has announced their Mainstage 2024 Season, and it includes Bat Boy the Musical running Sept 28 through October 18. We saw Bat Boy back when CSUN did it in 2014; it is a wonderful musical about how a society treats outsiders. I also just learned about a theatre company in Fullerton, Maverick Theater. They are doing Evil Dead: The Musical , which is a hoot if you’ve never seen it (we’ve seen it twice). They also have some interesting other stuff on their season, and we might drive down for Santa Claus Vs The Martians in November. I also just learned that Jason Alexander will be doing Fiddler on the Roof , directed by Lonny Price, at La Mirada in November. Lastly, I saw on FB that Chromolume Theatre may be returning in late 2024 or early 2025. They always did some interesting musicals that were rarely staged. Interesting….

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Survivor and Trucks | "Hands on a Hardbody" @ Charles Stewart Howard PH 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.

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🎭 Absorbant Subversion | "The Spongebob Musical" @ CSUN / Woodland

The Spongebob Musical (CSUN) In my last theatre writeup before the pandemic hit (Passion, at Boston Court, on 3/8/2020), I wrote “Next weekend brings the MRJ Man of the Year dinner (and The Wild Party at Morgan Wixson). The 3rd weekend of March brings Marvin’ Room at Actors Co-op (FB) ; and the last weekend brings Spongebob Squarepants at the Dolby Theatre/Broadway in LA (FB) and the MoTAS/TBH Seder. ”

Well, The Wild Party was finally mounted by the Morgan Wixson in September 2022, and Marvin’s Room was finally remounted by Actors Co-Op in Februrary 2022. The MoTAS seder that year was cancelled. And as for our little Sponge? Well, COVID killed the tour and the engagement was cancelled. I was disappointed, as this is a show with great music (each song has a different rock artist) and a wonderful theme. Yeah, it was broadcast on Nickelodeon, but it wasn’t quite the same.

So when I learned an internet friend would be performing in a production of Spongebob up in Woodland CA, we decided to be spontaneous. We planned a weekend vacation to visit friends in Davis, and drove up to see the show and visit friends. However, I hadn’t restarted the writeups yet, so it never got written up.

Fast forward a few months. I discovered that the Theatre department of CSUN (Cal State Northridge) was planning to do Spongebob. If you aren’t familiar with CSUN Theatre, they are one of those unsung gems. I’m not talking about ~~VPAC~~ The Soraya. I’m talking about the theatre department: the academic training ground for actors. Just as CSUN has one of the top-notch jazz and music training programs (in fact, we’re seeing one of the products of that program tonight: Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band), it also has an excellent theatre training program, training actors for both TV and stage. We’ve seen some remarkable CSUN Theatre over the years, including Bat Boy, Hair, and Edges. So I set a reminder, and then booked our tickets to see Spongebob again. This would be a compare and contrast: How does a small regional theatre’s production of Spongebob compare with one from a strong theatre department. So this writeup covers both productions.

Now, if you aren’t familiar with The Spongebob Musical, it is very subversive. On the surface, you’re probably going: “Spongebob? Singing and dancing? Why? Isn’t this just for kids?”. The reality is that the show features original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A., Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At The Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., as well as songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny, and Andy Paley. If you haven’t heard the cast album, you should give it a listen. The plot touches on xenophobia (fear of the outsider), distrust of science, the ultimate value of science, women in science, climate change, and the power of friendship and positive thinking. The show works on multiple levels: The kids see a silly sponge and a starfish; the adults enjoy the music and the deeper story. So are you ready, kids?

The Spongebob Musical (Woodland Opera House) The plot of The Spongebob Musical is summarized as “When the citizens of Bikini Bottom discover that a volcano will soon erupt and destroy their humble home, SpongeBob and his friends must come together to save the fate of their undersea world!” The show opens with an introduction to the denizens of Bikini Bottom. Tremors indicate the undersea volcano will erupt. The town leadership just wants to hold meetings. The evil Plankton sees this as an opportunity for an evil plot. Spongebob and Sandy the Squirrel think it can be solved with science. Patrick wants to help, but soon becomes the object of worship for a school of sardines. Squidward just wants to be on stage, and Mr. Krabs just wants to make money. But after some adventures, science and friendship triumphs.

As I said, silly, but with a good message.

So how did the two companies do?

We saw the show first at the Woodland Opera House in August. This was a regional production, with community actors. My memory of the show is less fresh, but a friend was in the show as Patchy the Pirate (and he did a great job). What I do remember from the show was that their Spongebob, Erik Catalan, was excellent. I remember they did a great robotic Gary. I remember that, for their limited resources, they did a very creative staging. I also recall liking their Sandy and Patrick. Although there is a credit for a musical director and conductor in the program, there are no credits for members of the band.

CSUN’s production was very strong. I really liked their Patchy the Pirate (Joshua Sandoval), who did double duty as Mr. Krabs. He was out in the audience about 1/2 hour before, warming them up, joking around, playing with the kids. He set the tone exceptionally well. Performances were very strong, especially Casey Davis (Spongebob), Mo Tandrow (Patrick), and Arely Vianet (Sandy). I didn’t like their Plankton (Jack Shepherd) as much, as he was very hard to hear with his overplay of the access. Scenic and props were good, although I preferred the robotic Gary to the simple puppet that CSUN used. The Mt. Humungous in their set more closely resembled the Broadway production. CSUN had a real band, and live music is always special.

The Spongebob Musical seems to have exploded in popularly: It is fun to do, and allows the production to be creative. There’s not a lot of technology required other than a strong Foley board, and the language doesn’t require cleaning up. So although the Woodland production is long closed (their current production is Damn Yankees, though May 5), and the CSUN production is practically sold out (there are some seats for this afternoon; the final performance this evening is sold out), I’m sure there will be a production near you at some point. It is worth seeing.

You can find more information on the Woodland Opera House at their webpage. Their 2025 season has some interesting shows: Amalie is a good show and not often done; Something Rotten is loads of fun; and The Prom is a great show with a great message.

You may be able to purchase tickets to CSUN’s production at their Spongebob Page. The upcoming Fall season doesn’t have much of interest to me: Argonautika, Guarded, Wit, and Dialogues of the Carmelites. Most of the shows I don’t know; I saw Wit way back in 2008 at REP East. We’ll see what the Spring Semester brings when it is announced.

———

The Spongebob Musical. Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg. Book by Kyle Jarrow. Original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A., Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! AT the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I. and songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny, and Andy Paley. Musical Production conceived by Tina Landau. Additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton. Additional music by Tom Kitt.

CSUN Cast: Casey Davis SpongeBob Squarepants; Mo Tandrow Patrick Star; Ashton Bianchi Squidward; Arely Vianet Sandy Cheeks; Joshua Sandoval Eugene Krabs / Patchy the Pirate; Cayla Rose Guili Pearl; Jack Shepherd Plankton; Emily Gomez Karen / Ensemble; Duncan Allan Perch Perkins / Ensemble; Jeremy Thompson Foley Artist / French Narrator; Georgia Ryan Bikini Bottom Mayor / Ensemble; Haley Josten Mrs. Puff / Ensemble; Gisele Lajevardi Old Man Jenkins / Ensemble; Jules Thompson Larry the Lobster / Ensemble; Jaycee Luther Security Guard / Ensemble; Arabella Roman Electric Skate / Ensemble; Alexandra Carreron Sardine / Ensemble; Angel Cole Sardine / Ensemble; Danny Magana Sardine / Ensemble.

CSUN Orchestra: Greg Nabours Conductor / Lead Pianist; Andrew Hudson Keyboard 2; Nicholas Ferrante Lead Guitar; Leola Gravley Percussion; Daniel Neufeld Percussion / Drumset; Alizah Chao Violin; Andrew Krenzinger Violin; Zachary Pickens Bass.

CSUN Production and Creative: Directed by Garry Lennon. Musical direction by Greg Nabours. Choreographny by Luke Arthur Smith. Completing the team: Mark Mendelsohn Scenic Design; Elizabeth A. Cox Costume Design; Hope Kozielski Lighting Design; Julia Pinhey Sound Designer; Joshua Payuan Cruz Asst Director; Whitney Kim Stage Manager; Vincent Shnaider Prop Lead Designer; Veronica Guiterrez Prop Asst Designer; Sam Sintef Production Lead Coordinator; Michael Roman Technical Director; Branden Sandoval Asst Tech. Director; Dan Weingarten Department Chair.

Woodland Cast: Erik Catalan SpongeBob Squarepants; Shane Burrows Patrick Star; Ernestine Balisi Sandy Cheeks; Alexander Quiñonez Squidward; Eddie Voyce Mr. Krabs; Marie Campbell Pearl Krabs; Ahlani Santos Plankton; Karen Fox Karen; Scott Griffith Larry the Lobster; Travis Lindquist Patchy the Pirate; Omar Huerta Perch Perkins; Marie Nearing Bikini Bottom Mayor; Jeff Nauer Old Man Jenkins; Ruby Schwerin Buster Bluetang; Danny Beldi, Naomi Catalan, and Honey Creer The Electric Skates / Ensemble; Vinn Christianson, Sheccid Donatt, Erin Doolittle, Lynsey Goldberg, Trey Reeves Ensemble; Trey Reeves Narrator.

Woodland Production and Creative: Directed and Choreographed by Staci Arriaga. Musical direction and conductor: Kay Hight. Rounding out the team: Josh Hilliard Production Manager; Lou Anderson, Kelly Lynn Jordan Stage Managers; Anna Walton Asst Stage Manager; Paul ZIndel Lighting Designer; Gabby Garcia Sound Designer; Marcia Gollober Asst Sound Designer; Mark Deamer Scenic Designer; Denise Miles Costume Design; Diane Haas Prop Master; Cameron Fuller Technical Advisor.

♦ ♦ ♦

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; Geffen Playhouse (Mini-Subscription); 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):

April: ♣ Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band at BofA/Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks.
May: ♦ Hands on a Hardbody at Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse; ♦ Girl from the North Country at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at Canyon Theatre Guild (⊕)
June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ You Can’t Take It With You (⊕) at Group Rep; and potentially some ♦ Hollywood Fringe Festival shows, although June is pretty well booked already.
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages;

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Absorbant Subversion | "The Spongebob Musical" @ CSUN / Woodland 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.

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🎭 Leg Warmers and Roller Skates, Again | "Xanadu" @ Canyon Theatre Guild

Xanadu (Canyon Theatre Guild) It is very interesting to compare and contrast different productions of shows. How does a director take a show that was designed for the large Broadway stage, and adapt it for a regional theatre production, or an intimate theatre production, or a community theatre production. Each has different resources, different fly spaces, different actor quality, and certainly, different budgets. When I saw earlier this year that Canyon Theatre Guild was doing Xanadu: The Musical, I was intrigued. I had last seen it in 2012 at a tiny black box theatre in Hollywood, back when Doma was a theatre company (it is currently an “Arts Complex“, with theatre “coming soon”). I had been coming off a series of camp musicals, having just seen Silence: The Musical the week before. So I was curious: How would a community theatre company tackle this admittedly camp piece. Train wreck or a success? So I placed a hold on my calendar waiting for tickets to go on sale. Then I learned that an actor-friend from REP days was cast in the show (George Chavez). George is great in anything he does, so this was a two-fer: I’d get to see a different adaptation of a show, and I’d get to see a show with George in it. Win-win.

As I noted last week, seeing a show for a second time awards me the luxury of not having to write the synopsis, or my thoughts on the book, unless they are different. The following is cribbed from the 2012 review; only the links and a couple of minor things have been changed to reflect changes in the times:

The 1980s were an interesting time. I know — I was there, in college, at UCLA. Olivia Newton John was at the top of the pop charts, and was coming off her success in the film version of the musical “Grease“. Her next film, however, was a box office disaster (although the album went double platinum): “Xanadu“. Xanadu, which also starred Gene Kelly in his last non-documentary performance, told the improbable story of Sonny, a record jacket artist. Sonny thinks his art is going nowhere and is about to give up when he is to paint an album cover for a group called The Nine Sisters. The cover features a beautiful woman passing in front of an art deco auditorium; this same woman collided with him earlier that day, kissed him, then roller-skated away, and Malone becomes obsessed with finding her. He finds her at the same (but now abandoned) auditorium. The woman is Kira, and she inspires him to revive the theatre and turn it into a roller disco. Kira is, in reality, Terpsichore, a greek muse, come to Earth disguised with roller skates and an Australian accent. She also inspired Danny Maguire, who originally built the threatre. The story goes on from there — you can read the full synopsis on Wikipedia — but it gets sillier. The only redeeming aspect of the movie was the music — all Olivia Newton John and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). For the stage production, the music is credited to Jeff Lynne (who wrote the ELO songs) and John Farrar (who wrote the Newton-John songs). There were a few additional songs interpolated into the stage production.

In the mid-2000s, original producer Rob Ahrens came to book-writer Douglas Carter Beane with an idea.. an idea to take the film Xanadu and put it on stage. After a number of drafts and rewritings (all detailed in the liner notes to the CD) they came up with a book that kept the basic plot of the movie, but added elements of Clash of the Titans and more Greek mythology. The end result was a story whose goal was just to have fun: it could be self-referential and break the fourth wall; it could be a commentary on the state of the arts in the 1980s (a year that saw Barnum and Evita nominated as the best musicals), as well as a commentary on the state of society. In other words, it was fluff that knew it was fluff, and decided that since it was fluff, it was going to have fun.

The end story was as follows (edited down from Wikipedia): Chalk artist Sonny Malone is dissatisfied with his sidewalk mural of the Greek Muses and determines to kill himself. On Mount Olympus, Clio (the muse of history) convinces her eight sisters to travel to Venice Beach (rising out of the sidewalk mural) to inspire Sonny. Zeus’s rules require that Muses must always be disguised from mortals, so Clio wears roller skates and leg warmers, sports an Australian accent, and changes her name to Kira. Kira inspires Sonny to combine all the arts and “something athletic” all into one spectacular entertainment: a roller disco. Two of Clio’s sisters, Melpomene (the oldest sister, and the muse of tragedy) and Calliope (the muse of epics), are jealous that Clio is the leader of the Muses and that Zeus had promised “Xanadu” to her. . So they plot to discredit Clio and cause her banishment by tricking her into breaking one of Zeus’s rules: a Muse must not fall in love with a mortal, so they will curse “Kira” and Sonny to fall in love. Sonny finds a good location for the roller disco–a long-abandoned theater in Los Angeles called “Xanadu.” Inspired to locate the owner, he sets up a meeting with real estate mogul Danny Maguire. At the meeting, Sonny tries to convince Danny to donate the theater for the roller disco, because it would bring the arts to the district and drive up real estate values (yeah, like theatre does good things for a neighborhood :-)). But Danny scoffs, even though he had plans to open the theater himself, once upon a time, when he was inspired by an old love and dance partner of his, who looked suspiciously like “Kira,” named Kitty. But a flashback convinces him to redeem himself now by opening the roller disco with Sonny. Danny finds Sonny and tells him that if he can get the disco up and running in one day, he’ll give him 25% of the take from the Disco. Sonny finds “Kira” and tells her the good news. She is not impressed with the deal that he has cut. The evil sisters work their curse, and the winged Eros, along with “Mama Cupid”, shoots “Kira” and Sonny with the arrows of love. “Kira” is soon overwhelmed with guilt over her loving feelings and of having created her own art (a hand-drawn picture) alongside Sonny – both violations of Zeus’s restrictions on the Muses. With the help of some of the muses, “Kira” and Sonny fix up the old theater, and Danny agrees to go ahead with the opening. Clio realizes that she is falling in love with Sonny and tells him that she must leave. To make it worse for Clio, the evil sisters offer Danny piles of money if he will tear down the theater and build condos. Danny can’t resist and tells Sonny that the deal is off. “Kira” comes back to tell Sonny that she loves him, but the evil sisters tell her that she has broken Zeus’s rules, and that she must tell Sonny the truth. So “Kira” reveals all to Sonny, including that her name is Clio, but he does not believe her and is upset. He suggests that she is a crackpot. He also doubts that she really loves him, and she is angry and hurt. The evil sisters have triumphed, and Kira sets off for Mount Olympus to receive her punishment from Zeus. Meanwhile, Sonny and Danny discuss “Kira” and after seeing her in the sky, it all makes sense. Danny tells Sonny not to let go of his muse because of foolish pride as he once did back in the 1940s. Sonny, realizing that he really loves “Kira,” decides to find her – even if it means climbing Mount Olympus. I’ll leave the actual end open.

A silly story. As you can see, there were a number of changes from the movie. The mural aspect was brought back and the record album cover stuff was dropped (along with some stupid subplots). The Greek mythology aspects were strengthened, and the notion of evil sisters wanting to get even (common in Greek stories) was brought in. [The book allowed the director to expand] on this a bit more, adding in references to current Los Angeles and the current weather, as well as amping up the commentary on the state of the theatre. It worked, and worked well. The story itself ended up being a fun-filled romp.

At the opening of the Canyon Theatre Guide production, the director noted that attendees tended to fall into 3, perhaps 4 camps: (1) those who loved the movie and Olivia Newton John (and yes, there were a number of those there); (2) those that hated the movie and wanted to make fun of it (she called those “Xanadon’t”, but I must note that Zanna Don’t is a completely different, and excellent, musical); (3) those who are saying “Xanawhat?”; and (4) those who are there because of their subscription or they know someone in the cast. We fell into that latter category (although we are thinking about becoming subscribers; this would replace our “small theatre” subscription, as the little theatres tend not to do that model anymore, with some exceptions (GRT, Odyssey, Anteaus).

This raises the next question: How did CTG execute the show? Well, this is community theatre. There were some strong performances (the leads). There were some outstanding performances. There were some where you could see the counting in the head. There were a few where the casting was focused more on getting the right talent than 100% the right look. There were sound problems. Bra straps were visible, distracting from the costumes. But on the whole, it was an enjoyable production. Yeah, the story was camp (and knew it). Yeah, I still don’t like ELO ballads. But the cast brought a great energy and joy to the production, and that can help overcome the weaknesses of the underlying book. Plus, this is a show that is rarely done—this puts it in the category of “see if you are a show collector”. I also enjoy the camp and self-referential aspects of the show.

There were some outstanding performances. George Chavez, who played Sonny at our performance (he alternates with another actor) was great. George gets his energy from the audience, and enjoys roles where he can amp up the silliness, and this role played to those strengths. Jaran Real, as Little Sammy/Street Dancer, was just spectacular with his dance moves and tapping; this is a kid with talent that will go far some day. I’m not sure which lead we had as Kira, but whomever it was, she had a very strong voice. Overall, the singing was very strong, the dancing was a bit more mixed. Characterization was good.

So, should you see this show? I could echo the director, but I won’t. If you look fondly on the 1980s, see this. If you liked the movie Xanadu , then see this (I’m looking at both of you that liked it). If you like to see rarely produced musicals, see this. If you like camp and self-referential musical, see this. If you want to see something silly, see this.

On the other hand, if you want a book that makes sense, say home. If you don’t like (or can’t at least tolerate) ELO, you should probably stay home.

We enjoyed it. But if a production of Xanadu: The Musical came around again, we’d probably pass. Twice is enough. Then again, if George is in that show… we might change our minds.

Xanadu: The Musical runs at Canyon Theatre Guide through April 28. Tickets are available at the Canyon Theatre Box Office. Next up at CTG: The Play That Goes Wrong. Again, it will be interesting to see how a regional theatre company (the level of company that is actually spoofed in the production) does with the show, compared to the Broadway tour we saw at the Ahmanson.

———

Xanadu: The Musical. Book by Douglas Carter Beane; Music and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne & John Farrar. Based on the Universal Pictures film. Screenplay by Richard Danus & Marc Rubel.

Cast: Erica Brauer / Tasha Taylor Kira (Clio); George Chavez / Zachary Santolaya Sonny Malone; Ted Tobin Danny Maguire; Jaran Real Young Danny, Street Dancer; Abi Bowling Melpomene; Jenise Spiteri Calliope; Rachel Logan Erato; Sophia Bellefeuille Euterpe, Andrew Sister; KiSea Katikka Terpsichore; Miranda Grace Massey Thalia; Lewis E. Powell III Hermes, Greek Chorus; Anna Dawahare Cupid, Greek Chorus; Matthew Gatewood Zeus; Michael Davies Zeus (Alternate); Sandra Salvatori Hera, Greek Chorus; Donna Marie Sergi Thetis, Greek Chorus; Faith Violet Aphrodite, Andrew Sister, Greek Chorus; Jack Matson Centaur, Greek Chorus; Brian Mann Centaur, Greek Chorus; Felicia Grady Medusa, Greek Chorus; Jacqueline (Jack) Rich Aglaope, Andrew Sister, Greek Chorus; Kelly Tomlin Molpe, Urania, Greek Chorus; Patty Assiante Polyhymnia, Peisone, Greek Chorus.

Production and Creative: Ingrid Boydston Director; Claudia Alexopoulos Asst. Director, Properties; John Alexopoulos Co-Set Designer; Carla Bellefeuille Vocal Director; Candra Bond Co-Costumer; Kasmira Buchanan Choreographer; Doug Holiday Co-Set Designer; Sam Kort Asst Choreographer; Michael T. Smith Co-Lighting Designer; Joe Swartz Stage Manager, Co-Lighting Designer; Clinton Kyles Guest Tap Choreographer; Patti Assaiante Roller Skate Consultant.

♦ ♦ ♦

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; Geffen Playhouse (Mini-Subscription); 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):

April: ♦ Spongebob Squarepants – The Musical at CSUN Theatre; ♣ Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band at BofA/Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks.
May: ♦ Hands on a Hardbody at Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse; ♦ Girl from the North Country at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at Canyon Theatre Guild (⊕)
June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ You Can’t Take It With You (⊕) at Group Rep; and potentially some ♦ Hollywood Fringe Festival shows, although June is pretty well booked already.
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages;

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Leg Warmers and Roller Skates, Again | "Xanadu" @ Canyon Theatre Guild 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.

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🎭 Mack and Mabel, by a Nose | "Funny Girl" @ Ahmanson

Funny Girl @ Ahmanson Some musicals get revived again and again and again. Certainly this is true of classics from Sondheim (cough, Gypsy, cough Sweeney Todd) and of course, Rogers and Hammerstein (cough, Sound of Music). But some shows are so tied to a particular artist that they are very hard to revive. You’re unlikely to see a revival of the Tony-award winning The Magic Show for that very reason—no one can duplicate Doug Henning. For the longest time, Funny Girl was in that category. Funny Girl put Barbra Streisand on the map. The songs “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade” create her voice in your head. They thought Funny Girl couldn’t be done without Streisand.

I certainly thought so back in 2016, when we saw a very rare production of Funny Girl at the Colony Theatre (the inaugural production, in fact, of Conundrum Theatre Company). Back then, I wrote: “There was talk of a Broadway revival starting at the Ahmanson a few years ago, but that petered out. There was a [2016] West End revisical that was well received; it is unknown if it is coming across the pond.” It never did.

Finally, in 2022, a revival opened with Beanie Feldstein in the lead. It did so so, and there was loads of backstage issues. Many wanted Lea Michele (of Glee fame) for the lead, but she was unavailable. She had done a number of songs during Glee. Evenually, Michele replaced Feldstein, and the show went on to success, and then went on tour. The tour has hit Los Angeles, and we saw it today.

One advantage of having seen a show somewhat recently is that I don’t need to rewrite the synopsis: I can past what I wrote before (presses Control-V):

As the show itself hasn’t been around much since the 1960s, you likely are unaware of its plot other than it starred Barbra Streisand. Funny Girl tells a highly fictionalized version of comedienne Fanny Brice’s romance and marriage to gambler Nicky Arnstein. It does this by presenting Brice on a stage awaiting Arnstein’s release from prison. The bulk of the show is a flashback telling of the story, returning to the present at the end. It begins with Brice’s first appears at the Keeney Theatre. It shows her first meeting with Arnstein, her transfer to the Ziegfield Follies, her subsequent marriage, and then the failure thereof. In some ways, this foreshadows the story Streisand would play again in her movie A Star is Born. She rises in fame, eclipses him, and his ego and traditional male roles doom everything. You can read a much more detailed synopsis on the Wikipedia page.

However, this is a very fictionalized version of Brice’s story. She wasn’t the innocent when she married him (he was her second marriage); they actually lived together for six years before getting married. He had been to jail before the marriage, and actually sponged off of her for the entire thing. His jail stints were longer, and her performance history was quite differently. But in the theatre, the story becomes the reality; the truth of the story be damned.

In any case, the book is what it is (although Harvey Fierstein — who loves to doctor shows — doctored the West End version). It has its structural problems — the first act is far too long; the second doesn’t have the energy of the first. It was troubled in development, and like Mack and Mabel, does not end happily ever after. It is also a star vehicle, and requires a fairly unique mix of talent to be successful. Most actresses cannot carry it off. It requires a mix of physical comedy, comedic presence, dance, a belting voice, and the correct ethnicity. This is not a Kelli O’Hara show. It was ultimately built for Streisand, and there are few like her.

You’ll note I made a comparison to Mack and Mabel there. Mack and Mabel, which came after Funny Girl, has similar problems but with the genders reversed. You have a very funny very ethnic girl who builds a career off of comedy, and a love relationship is formed with a significant man (in this case, Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett). The relationship is doomed, and the second act gets bogged down in that doom and gloom. However, the score is glorious (it is viewed as one of Jerry Herman’s best); the book doomed the show. Funny Girl has similar structural problems: It is built around a famous ethnic comedian, who gets involved with a man that is no good for her. The second act gets bogged down in doom and gloom when he embezzles and loses his money and is exposed for the fraud he is. Like Mack Sennett, she never stops loving him, but the show ends on a down note. Subsequent productions have tried to fix the book, but it has never quite worked.

So, setting the problematic book aside, the performances are what make or break the show. In the original productions, these shows made Barbra Streisand and Bernadette Peters into stars. They elevated their leading men, Omar Sharif and Robert Preston. Once things settled down, the 2022 revival had similar stars: Lea Michele as Fanny Brice, Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein, and Tovah Feldshuh as Mrs. Brice. But tours seldom get the stars. In Los Angeles, we have Katerina McCrimmon as Finny Brice, Melissa Manchester as Mrs. Brice, Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein, and Izaiah Montaque Harris as Eddie Ryan. If you’re going “Who?”, you’re probably not alone.

Luckily, they cast well. McCrimmon knocked it out of the park: She had the voice, she has the comic timing, she could play up the pathos—she was the entire package. Manchester, whom you may know more as a singer/songwriter, brought the right ethnic and comedy to the part. Lukas had the required suaveness and a lovely voice. And boy, could Harris tap up a storm. About the only “alas” is that the actors behind the Brices weren’t Jewish. So rest assured you’ll be entertained by the performances, and McCrimmon was spectacular on “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”.

A few additional notes. This production, more than most, shows the old stage technique of scenes that are there to allow the scenery to be changed behind a curtain. I can’t remember how Conundrum handled those scenes, but they stood out in this production. I also think the lighting design was a bit weak: in particular, they overused the proscenium arch lighting in such a way that it became distracting.

So, should you see this production? I think so. You’re not going to see a lot of regional revivals of this show (although I may be proven wrong). If you want to see what made Streisand a star, this is your chance.

Funny Girl runs at the Ahmanson Theatre through April 28, 2024. Tickets are available through the Ahmanson Box office; discount tickets may be available through TodayTix.

P.S.: We know we’re back to regular theatregoing. For the first time since COVID, we were at a Red Bucket performance for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. We gave. You can give too.

———

Funny Girl. Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Bob Merrill; Book by Isobel Lennart from an original story by Miss Lennart. Revised book by Harvey Fierstein. Special Material by Margaret Styne. Originally produced for the Broadway Stage by Ray Stark. Original NY production supervised by Jerome Robbins. Original production directed by Garson Kanin. Original production orchestrated by Ralph Burns.

Cast (strikethrough indicates folks not in our performance): Katerina McCrimmon Fanny Brice; Melissa Manchester Mrs. Brice; Stephen Mark Lukas Nick Arnstein; Izaiah Montaque Harris Eddie Ryan; Walter Coppage Florenz Ziegfeld; Leah Platt Emma, Mrs. Nadler; Cindy Chang Mrs Meeker; Eileen T’Kaye Mrs. Strakosh; David Foley Jr Tom Keeney, Actor; Lamont Brown Ensemble, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat Man; Kate E. Cook Ensemble, Virginia; Julia Grondin Ensemble, Bubbles; Jackson Grove Ensemble, Piano Player, Tenor, Porter, Cornet Man; Alex Hartman Ensemble, Vera; ~~Dot Kelly~~ Ensemble, Maude; Ryan Lambert Ensemble, John, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat Man; Kathy Liu Ensemble; Meghan Manning Ensemble; Sami Murphy Ensemble, Mimsey; Jordon Taylor Ensemble, Polly; ~~Rodney Thompson~~ Ensemble, Cornet Man; ~~Sean Thompson~~ Ensemble, Paul, Porter, Bartender, Mr. Renaldi; Swings: Vinny Andaloro; Brian Charles Moore Dance Captain; Emily Anne Nester; Annaliese Wilbur Asst Dance Captain. Understudies and alternates: Hannah Shankman u/s Fanny Brice. At our performance: Vinny Andaloro Ensemble, Cornet Man; Brian Charles Moore Ensemble, Paul, Mr. Renaldi; Emily Anne Nester Ensemble, Maude.

Orchestra (◊ indicates local): Elaine Davidson Music Director / Conductor / Keyboards; Christian Regul Assoc Conductor / Keyboards; Mark E. Oates Trumpet/Flugel; Tansie Mayer Reeds; Sam Kurzontkowski Bass; Paul Hannah Drums / Percussion; ◊ Jen Choi Fischer Violin; ◊ Grace Oh Violin / Viola; ◊ David Mergen Cello; ◊ Dan Fornero Trumpet 2; ◊ Wendell Kelly Trombone; ◊ Laura Brenes French Horn 1; ◊ Sal Lozano Reeds 2; ◊ Glen Berger Reeds 3; ◊ William Johnson Bass; ◊ Robert Payne Contractor; ◊ Brad Gardner Keyboard Sub 2; Kimberlee Wertz Music Coordinator; Emily Grishman, Adriana Grace, and Alden Terry Music Copying; Phij Adams Music Technology; Randy Cohen Synthesizer Technician; Abel Garrida Music Dept. Assistant.

Production and Creative: Directed by Michael Mayer; Choreography by Ellenore Scott. Other production and creative: Ayodele Casel Tap Choreography; David Zinn Scenic Design; Susan Hilferty Costume Design; Kevin Adams Lighting Design; Brian Ronan Co-Sound Design; Cody Spencer Co-Sound Design; Chris Walker Orchestrations; Alan Williams Dance, Vocal, and Incidental Music Arrangements; David Dabbon Additional Arrangements; Carme Dean Additional Arrangements; Luc Verschuren for Campbell Young Associates Wig and Hair Designer; Jim Carnahan CSA Casting; Jason Thinger CSA Casting; Ray Wetmore & JR Goodman Production Props; Johanna McKeon Assoc Director; Jeffrey Gugliotti Assoc Choreographer; Torya Beard Asst. Director; Dre Torres Asst. Tap Choreographer; Jovon E. Shuck Production Stage Manager; Mariah Young Stage Manager; Rachael Wilkin Asst. Stage Manager; Justin A. Sweeney Company Manager; Ryan Mayfield Assoc Company Manager; Gentry & Associates General Management.

♦ ♦ ♦

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; Geffen Playhouse (Mini-Subscription); 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):

April: ◊ Renaissance Pleasure Faire; Xanadu at Canyon Theatre Guild; ♦ Spongebob Squarepants – The Musical at CSUN Theatre; ♣ Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band at BofA/Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks. Possible: ♦ Head over Heels – The Musical at Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center – COC.
May: ♦ Hands on a Hardbody at Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse; ♦ Girl from the North Country at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at Canyon Theatre Guild (⊕)
June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ You Can’t Take It With You (⊕) at Group Rep; and potentially some ♦ Hollywood Fringe Festival shows, although June is pretty well booked already.
July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages;

On the Theatrical Horizon:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Mack and Mabel, by a Nose | "Funny Girl" @ Ahmanson 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.