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When the musical Bullets over Broadway hit the Great White Way, I asked myself: could people separate the show from the author — the art from the artist, so to speak. From a distance, looking at the reception of the Bullets over Broadway musical (it closed after 156 performance), I concluded they couldn’t. I figured audiences were not ready for Woody Allen, given his personal life problems, on Broadway. The artist would forever be tainted by the man. I’ll note that in 2016, we’re seeing a similar thing for Bill Cosby: the man’s personal life problems doesn’t make the standup and the sitcoms any less funny, but they impinge on our ability to accept the artist without forever seeing the flawed man behind it.

This question went through my head today when I saw the national tour (FB) of Bullets over Broadway at the Pantages (FB). It came to mind when one of the characters: the playwright David Shayne asks the star, Helen Sinclair (with whom he is having a backstage affair) whether she loves the artist or the man. One wonders if Allen had that question in mind with this show, and whether his effort to put it on Broadway was a way of asking audiences that ultimate question.

I can’t answer that. What I can answer is why the show closed after 156 performances. After seeing Bullets over Broadway, my conclusion is that this was a 1920s show on at 2016 stage. I don’t mean that it was a show about the 1920s. Well, it was, but that isn’t my point. Broadway, in the 1920s, was filled with fluff. Brainless shows with silly plots, with songs that represented the pop tunes of the days, filled with leggy dancers, turn turn kick turn, turn turn kick turn, one two three kick turn (whoops, wrong show, same choreographer). Things didn’t start to change until 1927 and Showboat, and they really changed in 1943 with Oklahoma! (which, by the way, premiered at the same theatre as Bullets). Those shows began to interconnect the story with the music; making the music advance the story and the plot.

Bullets over Broadway, on the other hand, is at its heart a jukebox musical with singing and dancing gangsters and chorus girls. The story is silly and has no depth (but this is common for Woody Allen, who can be hit or miss with his movies). It is not the fact that it is singing and dancing gangsters — Guys and Dolls proved that you can do that right if you have the right story and the right musicalization. At its heart, that’s what the flaw in Bullets over Broadway. If you look at the movie, it got pretty good reviews. Someone saw it, and thought: we could bring this to Broadway. So far, so good. Then they thought: Let’s make it a jukebox musical, and interpolate tunes from the 1920s and 1930s into the show. This, in my opinion, is what doomed this show to tours, stock, and amateur productions. There are numerous points in the show that cry out for musicalization of the inner thoughts of the characters — how does David feel about his writing, how does Ellen feel about David, how does Chico feel about the conflict between writing and the mob, how does Olive feel.  These could even have been done as original tunes in the style of 1920s and 1930s. A few original tunes from the era could have been tossed in for color. But they didn’t do that. They took existing tunes, attempted to modify them somewhat for the characters, sliced and diced and put it on-stage.

To whom do we place the blame for this? Look at the credits. This was written by Woody Allen, based on the screenplay by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath. Allen does not have experience with musicals (some of his early stories were presented on stage, such as Play It Again, Sam). McGrath does (he was involved with Beautiful), but only with jukebox musicals. This needed someone with strong musical adaption skills to adapt it. Instead, the decision to go jukebox was made by Allen, and he turned to Glen Kelly to adapt the songs and do additional lyrics. Kelly has mostly done arrangements and dance music. The adapted songs were great, but they didn’t move the show to where it needed to be.

Then, to add to the problems, they brought in the aforementioned turn turn kick turn, turn turn kick turn, one two three kick turn. In other words: Susan Stroman.  Stroman knows dance well, and she loaded this production with lots and lots of great dancing by leggy girls and mobsters. If you look at her resume, she’s an expert at directing broad, overplayed comedy (e.g., The Producers, Young Frankenstein). That’s what she did here. But whereas the music in the Mel Brooks shows balanced out the overplay in the characters, the jukebox nature here served only to amplify the camp. Thus, the actors did the best with the direction they were given, but they were saddled with the weak musicalization and the wrong direction. Stroman’s direction was recreated on tour by Jeff Whiting (FB).

But all is not lost.

Before I tell you why, I guess I should tell you the story. Here’s the Wikipedia summary:

“In 1929, playwright David Shayne is finally getting his first play God of Our Fathers produced on Broadway. The producer, Julian Marx, has enlisted the wealthy gangster Nick Valenti to pay for the show. Valenti wants to have his dim-witted and untalented girlfriend, Olive Neal, star as one of the leads. Valenti has assigned his strong-armed gangster, Cheech, to watch over Olive. Surprisingly, Cheech comes up with great ideas for improving the play. However, aging diva Helen Sinclair, the real star of the show, romances the younger David, who already has a girlfriend, Ellen. Meanwhile, the leading man, Warner Purcell, has his eye on Olive.”

The fact that Wikipedia can summarize the show in 6 sentences, whereas many shows take multiple paragraphs, says a lot. This is a simple, comically drawn in broad strokes, plot. No deep thinking here. Caracatures and tropes, writ large on the stage, forced to interact. One might think it was a farce, if there was precise timing.

So what worked.

The tunes from the 1920s are very enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the interpolation of some of the lesser known tunes, such as “The Hot Dog Song” (which would fit in wonderfully in One Mo’ Time). The dances were quite fun to watch, and well executed. There were a few very humorous lines. The performers were great — well, as great as they could be given the direction to overplay and go broad with the characterizations.

Yes, I said the performers were great. Here’s why that might be a surprise. If you look closely at the end of the credits, you’ll see something is missing: the logo of Actors Equity. This is a non-Equity tour, and Equity is running a campaign of “Ask if it is Equity“, implying that non-Equity tours are of lower quality and therefore you should be paying less. While I do agree that you shouldn’t be paying Broadway — or even Equity tour — prices for a non-Equity tour, you shouldn’t feel that the performances are less. As I watched the show, I tried to gauge the impact of the non-Equity nature. Other than the actors being younger, and based on the credits, having less Broadway experience, it wasn’t noticeable from the seats. In fact, due to excellent casting by Stewart/Whitley (FB), there were a fair number of opera singers mixed with the theatre newbies. Perhaps because I’m used to Los Angeles theatre, and seeing the mix of Equity and non-Equity folks we have in the smaller theatres here, I didn’t see a significant difference. [By the way, that’s not to imply there isn’t a difference — there is, in terms of contract conditions, pay, working conditions, time off, medical and pension benefits — but that’s not something the audience sees. Those are the reason Equity‘s campaign is significant, but tours like this often provide the stepping stone for these actors to move to Equity positions, or to move into the even more lucrative TV and film realm.]

In what one might say was the lead position was Patrick Graver (FB) as David Shayne. Graver was the understudy, going on for Michael Williams (FB). There was no explanation of what happened to Williams, but I’d suggest looking in the LA River. Seriously, I’m pleased to say that Graver did a great job as Shayne: he handled the comedy and the singing quite well, and gave an excellent performance. He had good chemistry with perhaps my favorite performer in the piece, Hannah Rose Deflumeri (FB) as David’s girlfriend, Ellen. For some reason Deflumeri caught my eye, and she was just wonderful in her performance. I especially enjoyed watching her face, and hearing her lovely singing voice. This is someone who I hope goes far in her career.

My wife’s eye, on the other hand, was caught by Jeff Brooks (FB) as Cheech. Why? According to her, “He had a gorgeous voice, and she’s always likes smart guys, plus he had a rough exterior and cleaned up nicely.” Translating this where necessary, this meant that his acting made the underlying smart writer under the mob thug come out, and that was great performing. I would agree — he had a lovely voice, and was fun to watch in his interactions with other characters.

As the leads on the gangster side, so to speak, we had Michael Corvino (FB) as Nick Valenti and Jemma Jane (FB) as Olive, his girlfriend who is cast in the show as a condition of funding it. Corvino was a surprise. What appeared to be a stock gangster boss turned surprising in the Finale, when you suddenly heard this wonderful operatic baritone open up. It would be interesting to listen for that baritone in his earlier number. As for Jemma Jane — on the surface, I would say that her’s was the worst performance of the show. But, surprisingly, that makes it a very strong performance, as she was supposed to be playing a very bad actress — someone with no skill — and as anyone can tell you, that’s a difficult thing for a good actress to do. Given her credits, I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt and calling it a great performance.

On the theatre side, there was Rick Grossman (FB) as Julian Marx as the producer (an interesting name play on Julian Marsh, the producer/director in 42nd Street), Emma Stratton (FB) as Helen Sinclair, Bradley Allan Zarr (FB) as Warner Purcell (and dance captain), and Rachel Bahler (FB) as Eden.  Grossman is interesting; I hadn’t known until I looked him up that his family were pioneers in the Yiddish theatre. Grossman was great as Marx — good singing, and wonderful facial and background expressions. Stratton’s Sinclair initially came on like a Norma Desmond-type, but as the show went on she loosened up and showed some wonderful comic chops. Her duets with both Grossman and Graver were quite good.  As Purcell, the male lead in the show-in-a-show who kept growing larger as time went on, Zarr did great. His interplay with the food — especially with the dog biscuits — was fun to watch. He was also wonderfully comic in his number with Olive, “Let’s Misbehave” (although they really shouldn’t have repurposed that number — it is too associated with Anything Goes). Lastly, there was Bahler’s Eden. I never quite figured out who her character was, other than another actress. But aside from that, she was fun to watch with some great comic moves, and a wonderful singing voice on “There’s a New Day Coming”.

Rounding out the cast were numerous small characters and the ensemble members: Blaire Baker (FB) [Hilda; Josette; Bohemian Friend; Ensemble; u/s Helen; u/s Eden], Mary Callahan (FB) [Atta-Girl, Red Cap; Ensemble]; Jake Corcoran (FB) [Mitchell Sabine; Gangster; Four Frank; Ensemble], Elizabeth Dugas (FB) [Atta-Girl; Flapper; Lorna; Red Cap; Ensemble], Carissa Fiorillo (FB) [Atta-Girl, Flapper; Red Cap; Ensemble]; Andrew Hendrick (FB) [Gangster; Train Conductor; Ensemble; u/s Nick; u/s Julian; u/s Warner]; Lainee Hunter (FB) [Atta-Girl; Violet; Red-Cap; Ensemble], Justin Jutras (FB) [Gangster; Vendor; Victim; Ensemble; u/s Cheech; u/s Nick]; Brian Martin (FB) [Aldo; Gangster; Four Frank; Understudy; Ensemble; u/s Cheech]; Conor McGiffin (FB) [Sheldon Flender; Gangster; Ensemble; u/s Julian; u/s Warner]; Andrew Metzgar (FB) [Swing … and filling in for Patrick Graver at our performance as a Gangster and Ensemble member]; Corinne Munsch (FB) [Atta-Girl; Bohemian Friend; Red Cap; Ensemble; u/s Eden; u/s Helen], Kaylee Olson (FB) [Atta-Girl; Cotton Club Dancer; Flapper; Red-Cap; Ensemble], Joey Ortolani (FB) [Gangster; Four Frank; Ensemble]; Kelly Peterson (FB) [Swing; Asst. Dance Captain]; Lexie Plath (FB) [Atta-Girl; Understudy; Red-Cap; Ensemble; u/s Olive, u/s Ellen]; and Ian Saunders (FB) [Rocco, Gangster, Four Frank; Ensemble, u/s David]. In a crowd like that, it is difficult to single anyone out. Based on the pictures in the program, one who caught my eye was Blaire Baker, who I believe was the woman in the background in the first scene. Baker caught my eye because I noticed her singing along with the dancers, and then I caught her face a few other times and it just drew me too it. The other I believe was the tall and thin one with glasses in the final scene, who also played the stage manager. I’m thinking that might have been Lainee Hunter. In any case, something about her drew my attention to her. In general, the ensemble proved to be very strong dancers and performers.

Speaking of strong dancing. What Stroman lacked in direction, she made up for in dancing. The dances here were very strong and quite enjoyable. Stroman’s original choreography was recreated on tour by Clare Cook (FB). Dance captains were Bradley Allan Zarr (FB) and Kelly Peterson (FB).

As noted earlier, the music adaptation and additional lyrics were by Glen Kelly. Orchestrations were by Doug Besterman (FB). John Mezzio (FB) was the music coordinator. The music director and conductor was Robbie Cowan (FB), who led the quite large touring and local orchestra, who I’m not going to list all here.

Turning last to the remaining production and creative team. The scenic design was by Jason Ardizzone-West (FB), and was probably great on Broadway. On tour, the design was narrowed into a set that would fit all theatres, and this limited some of the elements. What was there looked good. The original lighting design was by Donald Holder, and was adapted for the tour by Carolyn Wong (FB). Again, this forced limitations — there were precious few lights other than spots outside the confines of the traveling set. The lighting worked within those limitations, but I’m sure was more spectacular on Broadway. The sound design was by Shannon Slaton (FB), and it worked reasonably well in the Pantages. Costumes were by the very famous William Ivey Long, and they seemed appropriately period and they were done reasonably well. Jimm Halliday was the costume coordinator. Wig and Hair design was by Bernie Ardia. Remaining production credits: Andy Einhorn [Vocal Arranger]; The Booking Group (FB) [Tour Booking]; Michael Lamasa (FB) [Asst. Director]; Andrew T. Scheer (FB) [Production Stage Manager]; Katie Cortez (FB) [Company Manager]; Hector Guivas [Production Manager]; Bobby T. Maglaughlin [General Manger].

One additional comment regarding Stewart/Whitley (FB) that I realized after the show: this was not a show that necessarily dictated particular races in particular roles. Yet I could detect only one actress of color in the ensemble. I’ve recently been sensitized to diversity on and off the stage, so it raised some hackles. Why wasn’t this cast more diverse? It didn’t need to be as homogeneous as it was.

The national tour (FB) of Bullets over Broadway continues at the Pantages (FB) through January 24, 2016. Tickets are available through the Pantages box office, Ticketmaster, and discount tickets are available through Goldstar. Do I recommend going? It is a mindless afternoon diversion — go for the familiar music and the dancing, but don’t expect depth of story or characterization, or anything resembling a modern musical.

🎭 🎭 🎭

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: Theatre continues next week with “That Lovin’ Feelin’” at The Group Rep (FB) on January 16; “Stomp” at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB)  on January 24; and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on January 30. There is also the open question of whether there will be Repertory East Playhouse (“the REP”) (FB) 2016 season, and when it will start.  However, given there has been no announcement, I feel safe booking all weekends in January  (I’ll note that if there is no REP season, I’ll likely subscribe at Group Rep — call it the Law of Conservation of REP). February starts with a hold date for “An Act of God” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). The rest of the February schedule is empty except for February 28, when we are seeing The Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). March brings “Another Roll of the Dice” at The Colony Theatre (FB), and has two potential dates on hold for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) (pending Hottix). I expect to be filling out February as December goes on.  As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves.

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Yesterday, Playbill published an interesting article on 8 theatre podcasts you should be listening to. Through this article I discovered a new favorite podcast, The Ensemblist (FB), which explores the life and importance of the ensemble. This is one thing I was thinking about last night when I saw the touring production of “Disney’s Newies“ (FB), now at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre (FB). This was because the real star of Newsies was not the lead performers (although they were great) — it was the Newsies themselves and their supporting ensemble. More on that in a moment.

Before I get into the story of Newsies, I must tell you that I suffer from this weird conceit: I believe every story starts on the stage and then moves to the screen. Thus, I believe William Shakespeare wrote Pulp Fiction, and the lost play was discovered and made into the movie. I similarly believe that Newsies started as a successful musical, and then someone time-travelled back and made the poorly received movie musical version. This makes a lot of sense, given that many successful musicals do not translate well to the screen.

Newsies tells the story of the historical newsboys strike of 1899. One might think that a strike over a hundred years ago has no relevance today, but I saw direct parallels between the strike story in Newsies and the current battle between LA actors and Actors Equity. The notion of a mass of people standing up for their rights against an authority who is imposing work rule changes that could destroy what gives them life — that’s a common epic story that resonates with many. The trick is to tell that story in a way that conveys the power of the masses, without becoming sappy or syrupy.

The stage version of Newsies (book by Harvey Fierstein (FB), based on the Disney film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White (FB); music by Alan Menken (FB); lyrics by Jack Feldman [utilizing many of the movies’ songs, but surprisingly not crediting J.A.C. Redford, who was credited with the movie’s music]) does that reasonably well. You can find the full synopsis on Wikipedia, but in short:  Jack Kelly is a “newsie” — a boy who earns a living selling papers in the street for a major New York newspaper at the turn of the 20th century. He longs to escape New York where he is a cog that is ground down, and move to Santa Fe NM where he can be a big man in a small town. But before he can do so, he must sell papes (newspapers) to earn money. We learn how he does so in the opening; we also meet two new “newsies”: Davey and his younger brother Les. They became newsies to support their family, after their father’s leg was mangled in an industrial accident and he was fired. These boys are newsies for Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, which is seeing a drop in circulation. Pulitzer summarily decides to raise the price of the papers he sells to the newsies from 50¢/100 to 60¢/100; he figures the boys will sell more papers to make the same amount of money, thus increasing his circulation.  In response to this, however, the Newsies decide to form a union and go on strike. Their effort is publicized by Katherine Plumber, a reporter Jack meets while hiding out at a theatre owned by his friend, Mella Larkin. When the boys attempt to blockade the newspaper distribution carts and prevent scabs from delivering the papers, a melee ensues between the scabs, the boys, Pulitzer’s goons (Morris and Oscar Delancy), and the police. Many boys are injured, and Jack’s friend, Crutchy, is taken to “The Refugees”, a boys prison from which Jack escaped, run by the evil Snyder. Jack just wants to give up and run away to Santa Fe, but Davey and Les convince him to go back an organize a rally to organize the Newsies in all the boroughs. When Jack goes to invite Pulitzer to present his side at the rally, he discovers (a) that Katherine is Pulitzer’s daughter, and (b) Pulitzer wants to neutralize Jack, either by paying his way to Santa Fe, or putting him in jail in the Refuge. Katherine convinces Jack that the way to win is to get all the children in New York to go on strike. They sneak into the World, print a screen written by Katherine, and do so. This works, Pulizter partially caves (they compromise on the price, and Pulitzer agrees to buy back unsold papers), and Jack ends up winning the girl. Close curtain.

I’ll note that when they traveled back in time to make this into a movie, they made some changes that impacted the story. The reporter was male and unrelated to the publisher, and Kelly’s love interest was Davey’s sister. They changed the race of Medda Larkin, and reworked the timing of the story. It didn’t work. They should have stuck with the original musical .

This is clearly a story designed to tug at the heart: you’ve got a ragtag team of good children fighting the big bad boss. The music is energetic and uplifting — on the verge of marches — that just pulls at you. There is the occasional ballad and “I want” song, but nothing overly sappy. About the biggest problem the story has is its predictability. The biggest problem the music has is that it is stretched — we keep hearing the same themes and melodies over and over. Having heard the movie soundtrack, this was a problem there as well. Reading the history, it is worth noting that this was intended as a limited run and not a Broadway hit (clearly designed as a musical for the school market), and its audience success propelled it to a two-year run on Broadway.  My wife’s comment about the music was that she kept hearing melodies and underscores that were reminiscent of Aladdin, another Disney musical that was written by the same composer and released the same year as Newsies. I didn’t notice those undertones, but they didn’t surprise me as that is common with composers.

What makes Newsies overcome any weaknesses in the book or the score are the Newsies and the rest of the dancing ensemble. As directed by Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli (FB), many of the major rousing numbers are full-on energetic dance numbers, and they just “wow” you out of your seats. This is why I truly believe that the Newsies and ensemble are the true stars of this show — when you walk out of this show, it is their performances you principally remember. This team, some of whom I’ll individually highlight later, consisted of: Dan DeLuca (FB) (Jack Kelly), Stephanie Styles (FB) (Katherine), Jacob Kemp (FB) (Davey), Zachary Sayle (FB) (Crutchie), Anthony Rosenthal (Les at our performance), Evan Autio (FB) (Scab, Ensemble), Josh Assor (FB) (Ensemble), Joshua Burrage (FB) (Darcy, Ensemble), Benjamin Cook (FB) (Race, Ensemble), DeMarius R. Copes (FB) (Henry, Ensemble), Julian DeGuzman (FB) (Finch, Ensemble), Nico DeJesus (FB) (Romeo, Ensemble), Sky Flaherty (FB) (Albert, Scab, Ensemble), Jeff Heimbrock (FB) (Elmer, Spot Conlon, Ensemble), Jordan Samuels (FB) (Specs, Ensemble), Jack Sippel (FB) (Mush, Ensemble), and Chaz Wolcott (FB) (Scab, Ensemble).  Their dancing was just truly spectacular. However, that wasn’t everything. These young performers were just radiating a joy at performing that was contagious — they were having so much fun doing this show that the audience picked it up and a feedback loop occurred, amplifying the effect for all. This is truly a show where the ensemble is the real star.

In the lead individual performance positions are Dan DeLuca (FB) (Jack Kelly) and Stephanie Styles (FB) (Katherine). DeLuca is a wonderful dancer and an engaging performer; he broadcasted a believability that was just great. In addition to the ensemble numbers, he was wonderful in his solo numbers, such as “Santa Fe”. As for Styles, ahhhh … I was smitten. Styles had a beautiful and expressive face, danced wonderfully, and was spectacular in both her solo and duet numbers. This is an actor who I hope I see more of — there’s something about her personality and joy of performing that just comes through. I’ve seen a few actresses like that, and they rapidly become favorites.

In supporting performances on the Newsies side were Jacob Kemp (FB) (Davey), Anthony Rosenthal (Les at our performance; he alternates with Vincent Crocilla (FB)), and Zachary Sayle (FB) (Crutchie). Kemp and Rosenthal gave believable performances, and Rosenthal wowed the crowed with his cuteness. As with the rest of the ensemble, all sang and danced well. Sayles was particularly touching in his solo number.

This show wasn’t all kids. In the lead supporting “adult” performer positions were Kevin Carolan (FB) (Joseph Pulitzer) [at this performance; the role is normally played by Steve Blanchard (FB)] and Angela Grovey (FB) (Medda Larkin). Carolan is in just a few scenes, but he does a great job in all of them conveying the appropriate bluff, bluster, and position of the great Joseph Pulitzer. He does well in his one song, “The Bottom Line”, and its reprise. Grovey really only has one spotlight performance — her song “That’s Rich” is an eleven o’clock number done at nine o’clock — a true showstopper, great performance. She reappears briefly for some scenes in act II, but you remember her for “That’s Rich”. Luckily, she nails it :-).

Rounding out the named performers were the assistants to Joseph Pulitzer [Mark Aldrich (FB) (Seitz, Ensemble), Bill Bateman (Bunsen, Stage Manager, Ensemble), and Melissa Steadman Hart (FB) (Nun, Hannah) [at our performance, normally Meredith Inglesby (FB)†]], Pulitzer’s goons and employees [Michael Ryan (FB) (Morris Delancey), Jon Hacker (FB) (Oscar Delancey), Michael Gorman (FB) (Wiesel, Mr. Jacobi, Mayor)], the bad guy Snyder [James Judy (FB)], and the others [Eric Jon Mahlum (FB) (Governor Roosevelt) [normally Kevin Carolan (FB)], Molly Jobe (FB) (Nun, Citizen of New York)]. Swings not previously mentioned were Stephen Hernandez (FB) and Andrew Wilson (FB). All seemed to be enjoying what they were doing and had great performances.
[†: Inglesby’s Facebook page explains why both she and Steve Blanchard were out and we had the swing shuffle — she’s married to Blanchard, and for some reason were away for that performance]

Rounding out the music and dance credits. Of the aforementioned actors, Andrew Wilson (FB) was the dance captain; Josh Assor (FB) was his assistant, and Kevin Carolan (FB) was the fight captain. Lou Castro was the associate choreographer. On the music side, Michael Kosarin (FB) was the music supervisor and arranger, Danny Troob (FB) did orchestrations, Mark Hummel did the dance music, John Miller was the music coordinator, and James Dodgson was the music director and conductor. The orchestra, as just noted, was conducted by James Dodgson. Faith Seetoo (FB) was the associate conductor, and Chip Prince (FB) was the assistant conductor. Orchestra members consisted of [T = Touring; L = Local]: Paul Baron (FB) [T] (Trumpet/Flugel); Joe Wallace (FB) [T] (Bass); Heinrich Kruse  (FB) [T] (Drums); Faith Seetoo (FB), Chip Prince (FB) [T] (Keyboards); Jeff Marder (FB) [T] (Electronic Music); Kathleen Robertson [L] (Violin); Paula Fehrenbach [L] (Cello); Dick Mitchell [L] (Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Soprano Sax, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax); Wayne Bergeron [L] (Trumpet); Andy Martin [L] (Trombone, Bass Trombone); Paul Viapiano [L] (Guitar); Wade Culbreath [L] (Percussion); David Witham [L] (Keyboard Sub). The orchestra had a truly full sound; something that I miss in these days of small bands masquerading as orchestras.

Turning to the technical side of the story: The scenic design was by Tobin Ost (FB), and was relatively simple in its complexity. There were a large number of projection screens to provide the location (original Broadway projection design by Sven Ortel, adapted by Daniel Brodie); there were a few actual sets for places like Pulitzer’s office. The rest consisted of large metal multilevel structures sized to fit into a touring semi that were turned and rotated to provide all the other locations. Very, very clever. The sound design by Ken Travis and the lighting by Jeff Croiter worked reasonably well. For the most part, the sound was some of the best I’ve heard in the Pantages, and the lighting created the mood. There were a few local problems — the occasional sound drop, the occasional spot operator who couldn’t find the actor. Costume Design was by Jess Goldstein, with hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe. All were affective and appeared reasonably period. Fight direction was by J. Allen Suddeth. Remaining company credits: Telsey+Company (Casting); Ann Quart (Associate Producer); Geoffrey Quart (Technical Supervisor); Christopher A. Recker (General Manager); Jeff Norman (Production Stage Manager); Richard J. Hinds (Associate Director).

Disney’s Newsies continues at the Hollywood Pantages until April 19. Tickets are available through the Pantages Box Office and Ticketmaster. There is a day of show lottery for $20 tickets. There are some tickets available on Goldstar. The show is quite enjoyable and well worth seeing. It’s not a deep thought show, but it is a very fun show.

The Pantages Theatre has announced their next season. In a previous post I discussed my thoughts on the upcoming Pantages season.

I Love 99. Walking out of Newsies, I received an email from the Pantages asking what I thought of the show. I thought of replying that I was impressed that the Pantages put on a show than encapsulated the AEA/pro99 fight so well, and seemed to support the pro99 side. I mean, look at what the Pantages put on: Joseph Pulitzer, in order to bring in more money, arbitrarily attempted to impose a price hike of what he charged the newsies. This is just like AEA attempting to impose minimum wage on the 99 seat theatres in Los Angeles. In both cases, the imposed prices was unsustainable and threatened the livelihood of the Newsies/99 seat theatres. So what did the Newsies/99 Seat Theatre supporters do? They banded together to protest the hike. They demonstrated to the city the value of their work and their product. The Newsies did this by getting the children to strike; pro99 has done that by getting elements of all stakeholders — actors, designers, producers, audiences, stage managers, critics — to band together to let the world know about the vital role of intimate theatre to the overall theatrical ecosystem. Reporters — such as Katherine Plumber/Pulitzer — or our own Colin Mitchell of Bitter Lemons — have done a yeomans job of spreading the word. In the musical Newsies, Pulitzer didn’t win, but the status quo wasn’t retained either — a compromise was reached that benefited all stakeholders. The price went up slightly, but unsold papers could be sold back. In the real world, that’s all we’re asking for. Vote down this arbitrary AEA proposal, and let the stakeholders on all sides work up a compromise that serves all interests — a compromise that lets intimate theatres that can grow; that lets intimate theaters that are lucky enough to have sufficient grants, donations, and ticket income to pay the actors something closer to what they are worth (and they are worth much more than minimum wage); that lets those actors that want to provide pro-bono or below market professional services; that ensures safe working conditions for both union and non-union actors.

So, what should you do. If you are an AEA actor, vote no. If you are a stakeholder in Los Angeles theatre, visit www.ilove99.org to learn more about what is happening. Then go see Newsies at the Pantages — and watch the story and see the parallels to the 99 Seat Theatre fight (and know you are watching a very talented troup of AEA actors, for this is an Equity tour). If you can’t afford that, go to any of the excellent 99 seat theatres throughout Los Angeles and support your local actors. By the way, if you are an audience member, keep an eye on this blog for a special announcement in just a couple of days.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience. I’ve been attending live theatre in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: April starts with a highly recommended show at a local 99 seat theatre: Trevor at the Atwater Village Theatre (FB), starring Laurie Metcalf, on the 2nd night of Passover. The following weekend has a different form of theatre: the Renaissance Faire on April 11 (just wait until AEA tries to unionize that — the Queen will be livid!). The following weekend will see us back at a music store listening to a performance: this time, it is Noel Paul Stookey at McCabes Guitar Shop (FB). After that we’re in Vegas for a week — I haven’t yet determined the shows yet, but Menopause the Musical looks quite likely, possibly Don Rickles at the Orleans, and Penn & Teller are on Goldstar. May begins with “Loopholes: The Musical” at the Hudson Main Stage (FB) on May 2. This is followed by “Words By Ira Gershwin – A Musical Play” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on May 9 (and quite likely a visit to Alice – The Musical at Nobel Middle School).  The weekend of May 16 brings “Dinner with Friends” at REP East (FB). The weekend of May 23 brings Confirmation services at TAS, a visit to the Hollywood Bowl, and also has a hold for “Love Again“, a new musical by Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ, at the Lonny Chapman Group Rep (FB).  The last weekend of May currently has a hold for “Fancy Nancy” at the Chance Theatre (FB), “Waterfall“, the new Maltby/Shire musical at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB), and “Murder for Two” at the Geffen Playhouse (FB).  June is equally crazy, as we’ve got the Hollywood Fringe Festival (which should include a production of “Marry Me a Little” by Good People Theatre (FB)), a matinee of the movie Grease at The Colony Theatre (FB), a trip out to see the Lancaster Jethawks,  our annual drum corps show, and hopefully “Matilda” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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There’s something I’ve never understood about women — namely, their attraction to shoes. To most men, shoes are utilitarian things, bought not for style but for comfort. We have perhaps three or four pair, categories not by style but by function: work, gym, hiking, beach. But women have a very different relationship. Here’s an example: Yesterday afternoon I saw a show at the Pantages. They post tweets about the show on their front page, and here’s one that caught my eye: “What could be better but to see a musical about SHOES?” As a guy, I could think of many things better. So what explains my interest in the musical “Kinky Boots“, which I just saw at the Pantages (FB)? Two things: Cyndi Lauper and the message.

Let’s start with Cyndi Lauper (FB). If you look at the theatre in the 1940s and 1950s and I ask you to name the composers, who likely rolls off the tongue? Rodgers and Hammerstein. Rodgers and Hart. Irving Berlin. Cole Porter. Comden and Green. Go to the 1960s through 1990s and you get new teams: Bock and Harnick. Kander and Ebb. Sondheim. This was an era when Broadway music became the popular music. Nowadays the composers are different: Jeannie Tesori, Andrew Lippa, Michael DeLaChusa, Jason Robert Brown, Ahrens and Flaherty. But what we’re also seeing is movement of major pop musicians into the theatre field. We’ve had major shows with music and lyrics by folks such as Elton John, Sting, U2, Green Day, and others. Kinky Boots represents the first forey by Cyndi Lauper on the stage, and for her effort she added a Tony award to her previous Grammy and Emmy awards. For us to have the next generation — and to have a theatre that speaks to the younger audience — this is a must. Of course, I had previously heard the music to Kinky Boots; however, I just had to see how it worked into the story.

Next, let’s look at the message of Kinky Boots. It is a simple and clear one: accept people for who they are. This is a message increasingly important these days, and it transcends the surface subject matter of drag queens and transvestites. To elaborate: when I came home from Kinky Boots, I was watching the 50th Anniversary special on Peter Paul and Mary. It pointed out their emphasis on human rights, and how our society has moved on from civil rights. It concluded with talking about Peter’s work with Operation Respect — an effort to get rid of bullying. When Kinky Boots hit Broadway, we were in the midst of the gay marriage debate. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was on tour, as was Billy Elliott, and La Cage had recently returned. Drag was in, and we were focusing on acceptance of gays. Look at today, and our focus is back on race — but the issue is again acceptance for who people are, and removing the notion of privilege based on stereotypes. Kinky Boots sends a strong message — do not bully and stereotype people based on their appearance, but see them for who they really are. It is a message that will continue to resonate — and one that must be repeated and heard — until it becomes part of our being.

Kinky Boots, which has a book by Harvey Fierstein (FB) and is based on the motion picture of the same name written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, tells the true story of the WJ Brooks shoe factory (Price and Sons in the movie and on stage) and how the factory was rescued by a forey into drag queen footwear. The true story was abstracted someone (in what some claim is formulaic sitcom fashion) into the movie, and then slightly rearranged and reworked for the stage. The basic story, as presented, is one about two boys. One, Charlie, is on track to inherit his father’s shoe factory in Northhampton UK, even though he doesn’t like shoes and wants to move to London to be with his fiancee. The other, Simon, is a flamboyant boy who loves wearing high heels (note that he is neither gay nor transvestite, as the story makes clear). The two boys grow up as expected, with Simon adopting the stage name of Lola and becoming a drag queen, and Charlie inheriting the shoe factory (after he had moved to London with his finacee, Nicola). Charlie discovers the factory is failing, and through a chance encounter with Lola, identifies that ladies heels and pumps are not suited to the male frame. A co-worker, Lauren, convinces Charlie that a niche market is needed for the factory to survive, and sexy shoes for men becomes that market.  The story, from this point, becomes somewhat predictable and along the lines of Billy Elliot: Lola comes into the factory to design the shoes. Lola is not accepted by the small town. Lola convinces the most bigoted man (Don) the value of acceptance. Don becomes the key factor in saving the factory. Charlie dumps Nikola for Lauren. The shoe factory is saved.

Many reviews I have read have complained about the sitcom and predictable nature of this story. But that didn’t bother me. Many Broadway shows have predictable storylines, going back to Oklahoma (was there any doubt Laurey would end up with Curly) and Sound of Music. That doesn’t make them bad, as long as the journey along the way is entertaining, doesn’t require too much suspension of disbelief, and has music that works. Further, one can’t blame Fierstein for the nature of the story; reading the Wiki summary of the movie, he only did some slight rearrangement. As for the music, Cyndi Lauper did a pretty good job for a first time outing. It wasn’t perfect — there were a few numbers that didn’t quite serve to advance the story or illuminate the characters, or that went on too long. But for the most part, the music was exciting and energetic, advanced the story, and worked well. What is interesting is how the combination ended up stronger than the pieces: this was a musical that was a shot of energy to Broadway and has continued to perform strong. [What is unclear is the long term life of the piece — will this musical pop-up everywhere once it is released for regional productions? That’s happened to Mary Poppins, In The Heights, Avenue Q, Addams Family and Memphis. I haven’t seen it happen to Billy Elliot or Priscilla.]

One other common complaint I have seen in the reviews relates to the heavy accents in the story. This was a major problem in the tour of Billy Elliot, where the accents made the story hard to hear and follow. I don’t think the problem was as bad here, although you did need to take a little effort to listen carefully, and there were a few points where I could not make out the words.

As usual, for the touring production, we didn’t get the names that were on Broadway. Gone are the days of the LA Civic Light Opera, already forgotten by the LA Times, where LA got the Broadway starts. Luckily, the touring cast (under the direction of Jerry Mitchell (FB), with D. B. Bonds as the Associate Director and Tour Direction by The Road Company) does an excellent job. In the lead positions are Steven Booth (FB, TW) as Charlie Price and Kyle Taylor Parker (FB, TW) as Lola. Booth has a nice boyish charm about him, and handles the acting, singing and dancing quite well. Parker is a powerhouse knockout as Lola, taking over the stage with his personality. Both are quite fun to watch.

In the secondary positions (at least in terms of stage time and the story) are Lindsay Nicole Chambers (FB, TW) as Lauren and Joe Coots (FB) as Don. Chambers was a delight as Lauren. I was sitting near the back, and kept bringing out my binoculars to watch her. She had an extremely expressive face, and just seemed to be having a lot of fun with the role and the character — which to me, adds and extra something to the performance. She also sang and danced quite well. Coots was convincing as Don, which made his conversion to a new attitude in the story work well. It was also nice to see a different side of Coots at the end — we always seem to catch the Equity Fights AIDS performances, and Coots did the appeal from the stage. He gave off the vibe that this was a company that had fun working together — and perhaps this is why this production gives off the energy that it does.

Much of the rest of the cast consisted of ensemble, dance, and smaller named roles. This makes it hard for characters to stand out and be noticed, but there are a few I’d like to highlight. First and foremost is Bonnie Milligan (FB). The underlying message in this story — acceptance for who you are and what you are — goes beyond skin color, gender, or how you like to dress. It also goes to size acceptance, one of the few areas where our society today still openly judges. This is where Milligan comes it. It was an absolute delight to see an actress of size (i.e., not the normal twig-sized actress) having fun on stage, moving, playing, singing well, emoting well, and just exuding joy. She was a true, true delight to watch, especially in the “What a Woman Wants” number. Also notable were the kids in the cast — Anthony Picarello as Young Charlie and (at our performance) Troi Gaines as Young Lola. They were cute during their two scenes, but their real personality came out during the closing number, when they were onstage dancing and having fun to “Raise You Up/Just Be”. Just fun to watch. Completing the cast were Grace Stockdale (FB) (Nicola), Craig Waletzko (FB) (George), Damien Brett/FB (Ensemble), Stephen Carrasco (FB) (Dance Captain/Swing), Lauren Nicole Chapman (FB) (Ensemble), Amelia Cormack (FB) (Trish / Ensemble), J. Harrison Ghee (FB) (Swing), Blair Goldberg (FB) (Ensemble), Andrew Theo Johnson (Young Theo Primary) Darius Harper/FB (TW) (Angel / Ensemble), Crystal Kellogg (FB, TW) (Swing), Jeffrey Kishinevskiy (Young Charlie Standby), Jeff Kuhr (FB) (Swing), Ross Lekites (FB) (Richard Bailey / Ensemble), Patty Lohr (FB) (Swing), Mike Longo (FB) (Harry / Ensemble), Tommy Martinez (FB, TW) (Angel / Ensemble), David McDonald (FB) (Mr. Price / Ensemble), Nick McGough (FB) (Angel / Ensemble), Horace V. Rogers (Simon Sr. / Ensemble), Ricky Schroeder (FB, TW) (Angel / Ensemble), Anne Tolpegin (FB) (Milan Stage Manager / Ensemble), Juan Torres-Falcon (FB, TW) (Angel / Ensemble), Hernando Umana (FB, TW) (Angel/ Ensemble), and Sam Zeller (FB) (Ensemble).

Turning to music and movement. The production was choreographed by Jerry Mitchell (FB), assisted by Associate Choreographer Rusty Mowery (FB) and Dance Captain Stephen Carrasco (FB). Overall, the movement worked well — it was energetic and fun to watch. In terms of music, Stephen Oremus (FB) was the Music Supervisor and Arranger and Michael Keller was the Music Coordinator. Adam Souza was Music Direcotr and Conductor, as well as playing Keyboard in the touring orchestra. Additional members of the touring orchestra were Ryan Fielding Garrett (Associate Conductor / Keyboard 2), Josh Weinstein and Oscar Bautista (Guitars), Sherisse Rogers (Bass), Adam Fischel (Drums). They were supplemented locally by Kathleen Robertson (Violin), Paula Fehrenbach (Cello), Dick Mitchell (Flute / Clarinet / Alto Saz / Tenor Sax), John Fumo (Trumpet), Alan Kaplan (Trombone), Paul Viapiano (Guitar 2), David Witham (Keyboard Sub). The sound produced by these musicians was good, clean, and at time, loud.

Lastly, there’s the technical side of things. The scenic design of David Rockwell worked quite well; I particularly liked the roller tables of the “Everybody Say Yeah” number (which was seen on the Tonys). The sound design of John Shivers was reasonably good, although any sound design requires tuning to be heard in the massive and auditorily-bouncy monstrosity that is the Pantages. The lighting design of Kenneth Posner was dark at points, but otherwise worked well. The costumes (Gregg Barnes), hair (Josh Marquette), and make-up (Randy Houston Mercer) were spectacular. Rounding out the technical and other credits: Kathy Fabian (Props), Amy Jo Jackson (Dialect Coach), Telsey + Company (Casting), Smitty/Theatersmith Associates (Technical Supervision), Peter Van Dyke (Production Stage Manager), Jack McLeod (Stage Manager), Kate McDoniel (Assistant Stage Manager), Foresight Theatrical (General Manager), and loads and loads and loads of producers.

Today is the last performance of “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages. I’m sure you can catch it at future tour stops; next up is San Francisco.

[Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience. I’ve been attending live theatre in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.]

Theatre continues Tuesday with the Alumni Performance of “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Nobel Middle School (normal performances are Thursday through Saturday). Following that is the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) in New Orleans. When I return, it will be “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim in the afternoon, followed by an Austin Lounge Lizards concert at Boulevard Music in Culver City on 12/20. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente; additionally we’ll likely have the first show of the REP East (FB) season: “Avenue Q“.  Ticketed productions pick up in February, with “The Threepenny Opera” at A Noise Within (FB) on February 15, “The Road to Appomattox” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on February 28, the MRJ Man of the Year dinner on March 7, “Carrie: The Musical” at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) on March 14, a hold for “Drowsy Chaperone” at CSUN on the weekend of March 21, “Newsies” at the Pantages (FB) on March 28, followed by Pesach. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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“It’s everything that “Ghost” wasn’t”. This is what I turned and whispered to my wife about 15 minutes into “Once“, the musical we saw yesterday afternoon at the Pantages theatre in Hollywood. Perhaps I should elaborate:

• “Ghost” attempted to put a movie on stage; “Once” treated the stage with respect, allowing the audience to create with their imagination, and recognizing it was on stage.
• “Ghost” was electric rock, electric images; “Once” was acoustic simplicity.
• “Ghost” was theatrical complexity; “Once” could be staged in any theatre, including those without fancy electronics or fly space.
• “Ghost” was fancy dancing and ensembles without meaning; “Once” was deep meaning and emotion, without fancy dancing.
• “Ghost” was an example of how not to transfer a movie to the stage–it was forced. “Once“, for lack of a better term, was organic. There was no need for the movie (indeed, one review I saw noted that the stage version was better than the movie).
• “Ghost” was based on fantasy; “Once” was grounded in reality.
• “Ghost” left me blah; I fell in love with “Once“.

One digression before I go on — please note the graphic I used for “Once” (if you are reading this someplace where you don’t see the links and graphics, go to blog.cahighways.org and read the original). I had to create this one — every graphic you typically see shows the New York original cast with Cristin Milioti and Steve Kazee (FB). The touring cast was so good I wanted you to see their faces, so I had to hunt down an image showing Stuart Ward and Dani de Waal. End digression.

I’ll also note going in that I haven’t seen the movie upon which this production was based. I believe that if you have to see the original movie, there’s something wrong with the stage production. Luckily, “Once” stands well on its own (although I”ll note it is about double the length of the movie). The movie was written (and directed) by John Carney; the “stage play” adaptation (e.g., the book for the stage version) was by Enda Walsh. As for the music and lyrics — they are mostly from the movie, and were written by the two leads of the movie: Glen Hansard (FB) and Markéta Irglová (FB).  Both Hansard and Irglová are accomplished musicians and have written for the screen; neither has written for the stage. This, actually, works to their advantage: the music in “Once” doesn’t sound like your typical musical music. If anything, it reminded me a bit of “Robber Bridgegroom” for its feel and integration. It worked well.

“Once” signals that it is different from the moment you walk into the theatre. Most shows — you go in, you sit down, the lights dim, the overture starts (if you’re lucky enough to be at a show with an overture), and the story begins. With “Once“, when you walk in the theatre, the first thing you see is people on stage. “Once” takes place in a bar in Dublin, and the stage has been turned into a working bar. If you’re over 21, you can go on stage (bring cash), buy a drink (must be consumed on stage), and experience the bar. Slowly the majority of the cast comes out with their instruments (most cast members play multiple instruments) and an Irish folk music jam session begins. The house lights are up, audience is on stage, and here is the cast just having fun with Irish songs like “On Raglan Road.” It would be lovely to have had an album of that jam session; the music was as good as any concert I’ve heard at McCabes. Slowly the audience filters off stage, and the musicians entice one of the guitar players to play his song. He does — a touching song called “Love”. By this point, the house lights are down, except for one illuminating a girl walking down the aisle onto the stage, listening to the music. She’s onstage by the time she finishes… and the story begins.

“Once” tells the story of an unnamed man (“Guy”) and an unnamed women (“Girl”). The story begins as the guy finishes his song, intending to leave his guitar and his music behind in the bar. The girl, an Czech immigrant, was touched by the song. She asks a number of questions, learning he wrote the song for a girl who recently left him to move to New York. The music and the memories are too painful, so he is giving them up and going back to work in his father’s vacuum shop. Suddenly, the girl has a vacuum to be repaired, and offers to pay him with music. Thus begins a quest from the girl to get the guy back with the ex-girlfriend (while the guy is slowly falling in love with the girl). This includes her introducing the guy to her “family”: her mother, her daughter, and some other Czech immigrant musicians sharing a Dublin apartment. She also arranges a 24 hour recording session so the guy can record his music, travel to New York, get a music contract, and win back his ex-girlfriend. This includes arranging a bank loan (with a banker who is also a musician), and getting the guy comfortable on-stage by having him sing at an “open mic” night. This is when you see that guy is falling for girl. Subsequent scenes deepen that realization — that guy is falling for girl, and that slowly, girl is falling for guy. The guy asks the girl to go to New York with him when he goes. She demurs, as her husband is attempting to reconcile. As the story ends, the guy is heading off to New York to see his ex-, who is willing to give it another try; the girl remains in Dublin, but has the gift of a piano from the guy, who bought it with the money his father gave him to get settled in New York. (Note: You can read a longer synopsis on the wikipedia page)

What’s interesting here is the staging: although there are a number of different locations, almost everything takes place in the bar. Tables are moved together, chairs come in an out, but everything else is … imagination. Even most of the other cast members remain on stage when not their characters; they are on the side as the musicians. This is theatre as it should be (and what the recent monologue night at REP reminded us); actors creating the magic with their performance, not electronics or stagecraft. Some interstitial music starts to be played by the actors, people are moving around, and boom — suddenly — you’re somewhere else. The transformation is amazing to watch. Kudos to the director, John Tiffany (FB), for staying true to the simplicity of the story; and to the  “movement” director, Steven Hoggett (FB), for not bringing in traditional dance and choreography. What movement there is seems appropriate — no dance numbers, but rhythmic movements of a folk nature that go with the music. The movement and staging are such that they just seem part of the story, as opposed to stopping the action for a superfluous dance number. As I said, the opposite of “Ghost“.

If I had any criticism of the show, it is that it really doesn’t belong where it is. It works OK in large theatre, but this musical is perfectly suited to the mid-size and small theatres. This would be spectacular at the Colony or Rep East.

The performers are spectacular, which is why I endeavored to find an image showing them. In the lead positions, of course, are “guy” and “girl”. The guy is played by Stuart Ward  (FB, TW) (guitar), who plays beautifully, sings beautifully, and conveys a great depth of emotion in his performance. The girl is played by Dani de Waal (FB, TW) (piano). A wonderful musician with a lovely voice, she gives a delightfully quirky performance with her accent and playfulness. The two are believable together, harmonize well together, and just mesh. I’ll note that Ward has an EP out with about 2/3rds of the touring production; it’s quite good.

The remainder of the cast, although they have characters, are more in the background and notable for their wonderful instruments and musicality. The more memorable characters include Billy, the owner of the music store where the girl occasionally plays piano (and who has a crush on the girl); the Bank Manager who doubles as a guitar/cello player; Réza, another Czech immigrant who attempts to seduce Billy, and Ivanka, the girl’s daughter. Before I list the players, I just want to highlight Kolette Tetlow (FB) who played Ivanka: her scenes were few and she played no instrument, but her girlish playfulness still shone through. The cast/musicians were: Raymond Bokhour (FB) (Da, mandolin); Matt DeAngelis (FB) (Švec, guitar, mandolin, banjo, drums, percussion); John Steven Gardner (FB, TW) (Eamon, piano, guitar, percussion, melodica, harmonica, music captain); Donna Garner (FB) (Baruška, accordion, concertina);  Evan Harrington (FB) (Billy, guitar, percussion, ukulele); Matt Wolpe (FB) (Emcee, guitar, banjo); Benjamin Magnuson (bank manager, cello, guitar); Alex Nee (FB, TW) (Andrej, electric bass, ukulele, guitar, percussion); Erica Swindell (FB, TW) (Ex-Girlfriend, violin, percussion, dance captain); and Claire Wellin (FB, TW) (Réza, violin). I’d love to see these folks put out an album of Irish music — they were that good.

Also part of the cast, but not on stage at our performance, were Ryan Link (TW) (Emcee, guitar, banjo — except Jul 18-24); Zander Meisner (FB) (Andrej, electric bass, ukulele, guitar, percussion – August 5-10); Estelle Bajou (FB) (u/s Réza, u/s Ex-girlfriend, violin); Stephen McIntyre (FB) (u/s Da, u/s bank manager, u/s Billy, mandolin, cello, guitar, ukulele, percussion); Tiffany Topol (FB, TW) (u/s Girl, piano); Tina Stafford (FB) (u/s Baruška, accordion, concertina).

As I noted, the technical side was brilliant. The scenic and costume design of Bob Crowley worked well — the bar looked like (and apparently was) a working Dublin bar, and the costumes were appropriately folkish. In many cases, they didn’t appear to be costumes at all — these folks looked like musicians. Lighting was by Natasha Katz (FB) and was suitably non-obtrusive. The sound was by Clive Goodwin (FB) and was generally clear, although the generally horrible acoustics of the Pantages tended to muffle the lyrics. Stephen Gabis was the dialect coach, and Liz Caplan Vocal Studios (FB) provided vocal supervision. Rounding out the technical side: Jim Carnahan (Casting), Shaun Peknic (FB) (Associate Director), Yasmine Lee/FB (Associate Movement Director), Jason DeBord (FB) (Resident Music Supervisor), Frank McCullough (Associate Scenic Designer), Peter Hoerburger (Associate Lighting Designer), Alex Hawthorn (Associate Sound Designer), Aurora Productions (Production Management), Daniel S. Rosokoff (Production Stage Manager), E. Cameron Holsinger (FB) (Stage Manager), Aaron Elgart (FB, TW) (Assistant Stage Manager), Chris Danner (Company Manager), and Candace Hemphill (FB) (Assistant Company Manager).

“Once” continues at the Pantages Theatre through August 10. Tickets are available through the Pantages Box Office online, although you can avoid service fees and go to the box office directly. Some dates are available through Goldstar.

[Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience. I've been attending live theatre in Los Angeles since 1972; I've been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I'm a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.]

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  Next weekend brings two shows: “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, followed by the annual Operaworks improv show on 7/27. August starts with “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2. This is followed by “Buyer and Cellar” at the Mark Taper Forum on 8/9, and “Broadway Bound” at the Odyssey on 8/16 (directed by Jason Alexander). The following weekend we’ll be in Escondido, where there are a number of potential productions… including “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town. What they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads. August will end with the aforementioned “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” at REP East (FB). I’m just starting to fill out September and October — so far, the plans include “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB), “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB), and “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB). November is also shaping up, with dates held for “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB), “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB), the Nottingham Festival, “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB), “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB), and “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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The Pantages (Broadway LA) has announced their 2014-2015 season, and so I thought I would share my thoughts on it:

• Jersey Boys (October 1-19, 2014). I saw it at the Ahmanson. I have no strong desire to see it again. Why do they keep cycling through this stuff that has been through so recently. Pass.
• Pippin (October 21-November 9, 2014). I’ve seen this twice – once at East West, and once (if I recall correctly) at Reprise. I’ve heard the music from this version, and I’m not happy how they changed things. Still, I’m curious how the circus theme has been worked in, so I want to see this. Will Ticket.
• Kinky Boots (November 11-30, 2014). Heard the music. Liked it. This is one I want to see. Will Ticket.
• Wicked (December 10, 2014-February 1, 2015). I’ve seen this, and I have no strong desire to see it again. Pass.
• Disney’s Newsies The Musical (March 24-April 19, 2015). I like the music to this. Will Ticket.
• Motown The Musical (April 28-June 7, 2015). A jukebox tuner, with good music. This is a maybe. May Ticket.
• Phantom of the Opera (June 10-26, 2015). Saw this ages ago, and I have no desire to see it again. Ponderous in my book. Hell no.

As for what is left in the current season:

• The Book of Mormon (January 21-May 11, 2014). Saw it. No strong desire to see it again. Pass.
• American Idiot (May 13-May 18, 2014). Saw it at the Ahmanson. No strong desire to see it again. Pass.
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (June 2-22, 2014). It was the first show I ever saw at the Pantages in the 1980s, and I’ve seen it a few times since. Pass.
• Ghost The Musical (June 27-July 13, 2014). Heard the music. Sound interesting. Will Ticket.
• Once The Musical (July 15-August 10, 2014). This sounds interesting, although I’m afraid that it will get lost in the Pantages. This needs to be in a much smaller theatre. Still… Will Ticket.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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Last weekend, I wrote a rant about an editorial in Footlights denigrating the “blog critic” while promoting the professional critic. No where is that dichotomy more jarring than in the reaction to the show we saw yesterday afternoon, “Catch Me If You Can” at the Pantages.

“Catch Me If You Can” tells the story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a notorious con-man, later turned FBI-consultant. It is based on the film of the same name. The musical simplifies the story somewhat (especially in the latter parts of the story). It also presents it in an odd fashion — as if it was a 1960s variety show (think Dean Martin) with loads of leggy dance girls, combined with a film-noir detective story.

The basic story itself concerns Frank Abagnale, Jr., the son of a con-man married to a French beauty he met during World War II. The families motto is, essentially, survive however you can, and that people look at the package and the impression, not the truth. As his father’s life crumbles around him, Frank learns to use this to his advantage, impersonating teachers and other leaders. When his parents divorce, he runs off to New York City and starts a life forging checks. He morphs from this life to a forged identity as a Pan Am pilot. This brings him to the attention of the FBI, particularly Agent Carl Hanratty, who start to chase him. They come close a few times, but Frank impersonates his way out of the encounters. Frank continues to morph, impersonating a doctor in Atlanta. Here he falls in love with a nurse, and to her family, pretends to be a lawyer. It is here that the FBI catches up to him… but his skills are such that the FBI ends up hiring him to advise on the very crimes he committed.

The reaction of critics to this piece has been mostly negative. The LA Times critic felt that the story was really asking the question, “How awesome would it be if the Rockettes dressed up in stewardess outfits? And, less fetishistically, perhaps, how cool would it be if Don Draper sang and danced?”. They essentially trash the show: “The show is structured so awkwardly — within a wincingly gag-filled book credited, incredibly, to Terrence McNally — that the songwriters can’t catch too much blame: There’s not a tune in the show that advances the story rather than just reiterating what we’ve heard in dialogue moments before.” They deplore its sexism: “We could reasonably say there is real sexism— not just a spoof of period sexism — in the way stewardesses are portrayed as pilot-hungry nymphs, and nurses as doctor devourers. Yet you hesitate to look a gift chorus line in the mouth, when these are the production numbers that jolt the enterprise to the life to which it constantly and frenetically aspires.” It’s not just the Times that is raking the show over the coals. Neon Tommy states: “The show itself is pretty mediocre. The score, by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray,” “Smash”) is mostly uninspired and bland, though there are a fems gems, such as “Live In Living Color,” “Jet Set,” and “Goodbye.” Terrence McNally’s book is full of cringe-inducing bad jokes, and barely propels the story along. Further hampering the show are the distractingly garish projections and the show’s objectionable treatment of every single one of its female characters.” Examiner.com states: “Narratively and construction-wise, “Catch Me” is enough of a wet noodle that a powder keg of a central performance – any powder keg would do – might help distract viewers from realizing that this is 2.5 hours of not much there there. Besides the dancing and the leggy girls, that is.” The Hollywood Reporter states: “This impersonation of a Broadway musical initially convinces but eventually, inevitably, is revealed as ersatz. ”

In the article I mentioned last week, Peter Finlayson stated “But a true critic offers us insights that prompt us to come to a personal reflective choice, which is the fundamental core of theatre.” He stated that a good critic “will create a conversation about the play”, noting that they will “give us insight into whether the creative energies of a show were effective in presenting the final product.”. In many ways, this is like a judge at a Drum Corps competition. They focus on the technical aspects of a show: the construction, the nuances of performance. But this isn’t what the audience cares about: the audience cares about the General Effect caption, with performance and selection of material often taking a second position. They go to the theatre to escape, not to think. This is why many vapid movies succeed at the box office.

Your “peer reviewers” — the blog critics called “hacks” by Mr. Finlayson — provide an assessment of that General Effect caption first and foremost. In terms of General Effect, “Catch Me If You Can” succeeds. It has a strong brassy score that is fun, lots of dancing by performers who are enjoying what they are doing, with an orchestra that it top-notch. The performances of the actors are making the best of the material they are given. You walk out of this show humming the music, having enjoyed the past couple of hours. General Effective-wise, this is a win.

Yet the comments of the critics hold as well. There is a lot of sexism on the stage, but that’s viewing a presentation of an historical period through modern sensibilities. I was born in the 1960s, and the 1960s were sexist. If you watched Dean Martin or similar variety shows, you had equally leggy sexism, although not quite as integrated in the casting. I had no problems with the presentation through the eyes of a variety show. It reflected how the lead character, Frank Abagnale Jr, saw his life: a series of skits, where he assumed a variety of characters while doing a glamorous song and dance. Where the story-telling broke down was in the second half, where there tone abruptly changed to noir, and the focus of the story-telling voice switched from Frank to Agent Hanratty. We went from strong and brassy to ballads. Perhaps this paralleled the breakdown of Frank’s life, but it was jarring. These, in my opinion, are valid criticisms of Terrence McNally‘s book. As for the music (by Marc Shaiman) and lyrics (by Shaiman and Scott Wittman), I found it very enjoyable with a nice variety of styles. But then again, I’m enjoying the music they are writing for Smash as well.

What contributes to the winning general effect — and what elevates this show beyond the simple book — is the cast. Gone are the days when tours contained the same performers as the original production. That happened in the 1960s and 1970s when LA was more of a draw, and theatre performers wanted to come her. Today, it would be a surprise to get Norbert Leo Butz, Aaron Tevit, or Tom Wopat on a tour. We’ve got a lot of younger actors in training; actors who are willing not only to do the show in Los Angeles, but in Peoria and other small cities. Luckily, the folks at Joy Dewing Casting and Troika Entertainment assembled a strong ensemble for “Catch Me If You Can“.

In the lead positions were Stephen Anthony as Frank Abagnale, Jr. and Merritt David Janes as Agent Carl Hanratty. Both initially struck me as the wrong age — they seemed to be too young for the roles they were portraying. However, their performance won me over: they were having fun with their roles, and it showed. They made their roles work and work convincingly — which is the mark of a good actor. Although I would have truly enjoyed the originals, it is performances that make the show, not the original actor. They were also very strong singers and did great with the songs that they had. Most importantly, they played off of each other well. Anthony was particularly surprising — for someone so young, he was just wonderful.

In the second tier positions were Dominic Fortuna as Frank Abagnale, Sr., Caitlin Maloney as Paula (Abagnale), and Aubrey Mae Davis as Brenda. Fortuna did a great job of channeling Tom Wopat — with a similar voice and style, and played off well against Anthony’s Jr. Even more impressive was Aubrey Davis’s performance. She was just having so much fun with the role it was infectuous and made her stand out and catch your eye. Combine that fun with a remarkable singing voice… and you ended up with an actor that I look forward to seeing more of in the future. Maloney’s role was much smaller, but she handled her numbers well.

Rounding out the ensemble and other positions were (additional roles noted in (); understudy positions and swings not noted): Esther M. Antoine, Amanda Braun, Amy Burgmaier (Carol Strong, Principal Owings, Bank Teller, Skyway Man Stewardess), Taylor Collins, Vanessa Dunleavy, Michael Graceffa, Colleen Hayes, Mary Claire King, Ben Laxton (Agent Dollar), Trevor Leaderbrand, Travis Mitchell (Agent Branton), Derrick Parks (Agent Cod), Casey Renee Rogers (Cheryl Ann), Daniel J. Self,  Allyson Tolbert (Doctor’s Orders), Nadia Vynnytsky, and D. Scott Withers (Roger Strong, Pan Am Executive, Dr. Wanamaker). Swings were Ashley Chasteen (Dance Captain) and Bradley Allan Zarr. All actors are members of Actors Equity.

Also onstage with the actors was the Catch Me If You Can orchestra, under the musical direction of Matthew Smedal assisted by Elaine Davidson. In addition to these two, the orchestra consisted of Stephen Boudreau (Keyboard), Dick Mitchell (Reeds), John Yoakum (Reeds), Adam Schroeder (Reeds), John Fumo (Trumpets), Larry Hall (Trumpet), Andy Martin (Trombone), Paul Viapiano (Guitar), Clifton Kellem (Bass), Christian Dionne (Drums), Dave Witham (Keys Sub), Christian Dionne (Band Tech). Talitha Fehr of TL Music International was the Music Coordinator.  Music supervision was by Larry Blank.

“Catch Me If You Can” was originally directed by Jack O’Brien; Matt Lenz was the associate director. Choreography was by Jerry Mitchell; Nick Kenkel was the associate choreographer. Not being a skilled critic, I found it hard to identify what the directors uniquely brought to this, but the overall production seemed to work well – so whatever they did, they must have done right. I did enjoy the choreography — the choreographers and the dance captains did a great job of making the best of the shortened space they had of the tour stage (the orchestra took up much of the depth, standardizing the stage depth and movement for the tour).

The production was very simple — or complex — from the scenic side. Dominating the scenery was a gigantic LCD project wall designed by Bob Bonniol.  This wall offered an ever-changing background that established location and mood. Some reviewers found it distracting — I found it clean and crisp and much better than common projection systems. The physical scenic design was by David Rockwell, which included the orchestra setting, the various flys, and the few set pieces and props. The costumes, by William Ivey Long, were very effective at not only establishing the time and place, but for showing off the physical talents of the dancers (i.e., they highlighted the legs very well). The sound, by Peter McBoyle, was unobtrusive and blended in quite well. The lighting, by Kenneth Posner, consisted primarily of moving lights and worked well to illustrate the movements and set the mood. Geoffrey Quart was the technical supervisor.    Donavan Dolan was the production stage manager.

“Catch Me If You Can” continues at the Pantages through March 24, 2013. Tickets are available through the Pantages website.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:   Next weekend takes us back to Newhall and the REP for “Boeing Boeing” at REP East on March 23. March ends with “End of the Rainbow” at the Ahmanson on March 30. April has less theatre — so far, only one show is scheduled. The first weekend of April is open. The next weekend brings with the Southern California Renaissance Faire.  Following that is “Grease” at Cabrillo Music Theatre, and April concludes with a winetasting at Temple Ahavat Shalom. May is busy in a different sense, with two concerts — Elton John in Las Vegas on May 4, and (tentative) Michael Feinstein at VPAC on May 11. May also brings “Falling for Make Believe” at The Colony Theatre and “To Kill a Mockingbird” at REP East. Lastly, continuing the look ahead, June will bring (tenative) “The Scottsboro Boys” at the Ahmanson Theatre, “Priscilla – Queen of the Desert” at the Pantages, and (tentative) Sweet Charity“ at DOMA. July is currently more open, with “9 to 5 – The Musical” at REP East in the middle of the month, and “Legally Blonde – The Musical” at Cabrillo at the end of the month. August is currently completely open due to vacation planning and the potential Nottingham Faire. I’m also keeping my eyes open as the various theatres start making their 2013 season announcements. Lastly, what few dates we do have open may be filled by productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read (I particularly recommend Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times).

Music: Fairport Chronicles (Fairport Convention): “Tam Lin”

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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