cahwyguy | Entries tagged with colony-theatre

Merrily We Roll Along (4Leaf/Golden Performing) When one thinks about the Second Broadway Golden Era — roughly the post-Fiddler era to the British Invasion of the 1990s, there are a few major composing teams that come to mind — teams that characterize that era. Once of these folks was Stephen Sondheim. His successes from those days are well known — shows like Sweeny Todd or Into the Woods. Other shows were only moderate successes when first performed, but have grown into legends subsequently, such as Company or Follies. Still other shows have remained problematic and are rarely produced, such as Passions, Anyone Can Whistle, or Merrily We Roll Along. I’ve had concert or revival versions of the latter two on my iPod of late, and I’ve been growing to appreciate the music, recognizing how many of the songs from these shows have gone on to a longer life, even if the show was recognized as problematic.

Enter the Colony Theatre (FB). We are former Colony subscribers. After they had a second run of financial trouble, the producing side of the company went dormant, and they focused on leasing out the space and offering classes to make the rent and to presumably keep the City of Burbank happy. The shows they have brought in have been hit or miss over the years, and we’ve skipped most of the offerings (although their guest production of Funny Girl a couple of years ago was good). But one of their guest productions this summer piqued my interest: 4Leaf Music (FB), a new producing company, together with Golden Performing Arts Center (FB), a Canoga Park-based non-profit that trains young actors, had teamed up to present Merrily We Roll Along at the Colony. As this was a Sondheim show — in particular, a Sondheim show I had only heard but never seen — plus it was one of those legendary Sondheim flops (it ran for only 52 previews and 16 performances) — I had to figure out a way to see it. Luckily, the timing worked out, and so we were back at the Colony last night for Merrily.

I must note that every time we visit the Colony venue these days I’m filled with a sense of melancholy. What was once a great company is gone. The walls once filled to the brim with years of photos of productions are now empty. The furniture pieces in the lobby, which were leftover props from past productions, are gone. A few towers with set designs from productions are all that remains. Even the artistic director, Barbara Beckley, has gone Emerita and her spirit doesn’t permeate the halls or the stage. What went wrong? Where did this company veer off course and flounder? When was the seed of destruction sown; when did the artistic notion that propelled them go by the wayside? As I said melancholy — and looking back now, an interesting echo of the story to be told on stage. It was like, say, presenting a production of Follies in a theatre that had been long closed and was reopening just for that show before being torn down.

Which brings us to the story of Merrily We Roll Along, which featured a book by George Furth, based on the original play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Merrily tells the story of Franklin Shepard, a producer of Hollywood movies, chasing after fame and money. As with the original play, it starts with him at the top of his fame, after multiple divorces, with his current wife learning of his affair with the leading lady in his movie, which was to have starred her, with an estrangement from his best friends, Charlie Kringas (his lyricist) and Mary Flynn (a writer and theatre critic) who helped him get started. This is in 1976. As with the original play, it then moves backward in times, showing key moments about of where it went wrong, of where he snatched seeming victory (but really defeat) from the arms of time. 1973. 1968. 1966. 1964. 1962. 1960. Finally, 1957, where we see him move in with Charlie and meet Mary for the first time. You can find a more detailed synopsis on the Wikipedia page; the 1994 synopsis presented there reflects the show at the Colony.

Whereas the original play was a somewhat success for its time (151 performances in 1934); the first version of the musical was a failure. The staging had lots of problems. The themes — about abandoning ones dreams for commercial success — were not well received at the time, and the reverse chronological approach made the show difficult to understand. There were also some problems with the structure of the score, which were remedied to an extent in subsequent revisions and revisals, leading to the 1994 version that was performed at the Colony.

Did they succeed in fixing the problems of the show? My wife found the show ponderous. I thought it was interesting, but that the backward time structure hindered the storytelling. It forces you to start out with people who you don’t like, and over emit (time, backwards), learn what they did to make themselves unlikable, instead of learning why you like them. The backwards structure provides the 20/20 hindsight that allows the audience to think they know better by providing “aha, that’s why” moments and “oh, no, don’t do that moment”. Using conventional time would have worked better: you would see the character arcs of how the person changed with the foreshadowing. Further, the reverse nature of the story necessitated musical transitions to take the back in time with the people on stage — and these transitions slowed the narrative without adding to the story.

In short, the book remains problematic — and problematic in a way that may never be easily resolvable. This show may be the Mack and Mabel of Sondheim’s catalog: the show that got away. The show with great music that had an incurable book. As such, it will remain a piece of fascination — a piece that will be reexamined to see what went wrong, and where were the signals that were ignored.

That brings us to the 4 Leaf/GPAC production. An LA Times piece on this production makes clear why the producers chose this show, and chose to do it now:

The impetus to stage this production started about 12 years ago, when Trevor Berger [the actor playing Franklin Shepard] was in a “Merrily” production with L.A.-based Musical Theatre Guild, playing Frank’s son, Frank Jr. “I fell in love with the show,” Trevor Berger said. His father decided to mount a production, which will have a full orchestra, as the younger Berger gets ready to move to New York City. “It’s a big send-off party for him,” Rick Berger said.

Nice father.

While the performances in this show were mostly very strong, the first production nature of the show did show through at points on the production side. More on those production problems in a bit. Under the direction of Sonny James Lira (FB), who also did the choreography, the cast brought a lot of energy onto the stage. Theatrically, they did a great job of inhabiting their characters and bringing them to life. The movement was satisfactory, but at times the dance side was a bit baffling, as I couldn’t see what story or message the movement was bringing. Movement shouldn’t just be there for movement sake, it should enhance the story.

However, the performances were, for the most part, quite strong. In the lead position, as Franklin Shepard, was Trevor James Berger (★FB, FB). I was unsure about Berger at first — he didn’t have the right look of the character for me. But his performance grew on me, and by the end I quite enjoyed his performance, He had a very pleasant singing voice, and he embodied the character quite well.

I had no such questions about the other leads: Jeremy Ethan Harris (FB) as Charlie Kringas and Tori Gresham (FB) as Mary Flynn. Harris had a lovely and strong singing voice, and a strong personality that he brought to the character making him warm and likable. Later in the show, a comparison struck me between Harris and a young Richard Kind, who worked with Sondheim on Bounce, later retitled Side Show. Greshman’s Flynn was a delight. She had a wonderfully unique and strong singing voice, and her performance had elements of both Stritch and Merman. She’s an actress I hope to see on the stage again. Her performance was that strong.

In the second tier of characters, a particularly notable performance was Sarah Ryan (FB) as Beth Spencer, Frankin’s first wife. Strong performance, strong singing, good movement, good personality — and did I mention that she had a great voice. I was less taken with Renee Cohen (FB)’s Gussie Carnegie (Franklin’s second wife). There was just something off in her characterization and performance that I couldn’t put my finger upon. Technically adept, but there was a sense of “trying too hard” in either the look or the acting that missed the mark slightly. I don’t mean to imply the performance was bad — it wasn’t. But it needed something different in the characterization that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Rounding out the second tier of characters was Brian Felker (FB) as Joe Josephson, as Franklin’s producers and Gussie’s Ex, and Vince Venia as Franklin Shepard Jr. Felker gave a strong performance within the confines of his character; I particularly liked him in “Opening Doors”. Venia did what any child actor must do: look cute while believably being a character’s kid. Both worked.

This brings us to the ensemble. There are a few performances of members of the ensemble worth particularly noting: Taylor Bass (FB) [Meg, Ensemble] was a particular standout: there was something about her look, her voice, and her performance that just drew my eye to her. Also strong was Shaunte Nickels (FB) [Scotty, Evelyn, Ensemble] — she had a very strong voice and brought a nice character to her track. I also liked the look of Ashley Knaak (FB) [TV Newswoman, Mrs. Spencer, Ensemble] and her voice, although the wardrobe her track had problems. Rounding out the ensemble (named roles indicated) was: Logan Allison (FB) [Terry, TV Newsman, Mr. Spencer], Riley Boronkey (FB) [Dory, Jerome], Aaron Camitses (FB) [Make Up Artist, Photographer], Donna Kim (FB) [KT], Josiah Lucas (FB) [Tyler, Judge], and Christopher J. Thume (FB) [Ru, Minister].

[A side note to the young actors in this production: If you notice, I attempt to link to your actor page — this is to help people find you if they like your performance. Most of you didn’t have such pages. Get them. Create yourself a web page, and remember to keep your domain registration paid. Create a resume on Backstage or an equivalent site. Enter your credits at abouttheartists.com. Link your page to your Facebook. Make sure the pages you want come up if someone searches your name + “actor”. This is to help people who like your performance find you for future performances.]

Music was provided by a live orchestra, under the musical direction of Jan Roper (FB) [Conductor, Keyboards]. In addition to Roper, the orchestra consisted of Ann Kerr [Woodwinds], Peter Miller [Woodwinds], Anne King (FB) [Trumpet], Andrew Lippman (FB) [Trombone], Christian Klikovits (FB) [Synthesizer], Steve Billman (FB) [Bass], and Alan Peck [Drums / Percussion].

This brings us to the remaining production aspects of the show, which is where most of the problems revealed themselves. Effy Yang (FB)’s set design was simple — perhaps too simple — consisting of a number of movable platformy-stagey things and simple projections that were drowned out by the lighting. Two problems here. First, the stage pieces didn’t convey that much of a sense of place, so it was difficult to distinguish where something was happening. The projections didn’t help all that much in that regard; they also had some jerky motions that served to distract. The sense of place — and more importantly, time — can also be conveyed through the costume design, and the hair and makeup design. This was the second place that was problematic. Michael Mullen (FB)’s Costume Design was sometimes period-right and sometimes period-wrong, and it was often paired with the wrong hairstyle for the period, providing chronic-dissonance. There were also distracting costume failures (my wife noted a seam on a suit), odd gaps, and outfits that appeared to be too tight or misfitted. Some of this might come with the financial constraints of a production such as this for a new company, but they remained distractions from the show. Even if you must compromise, you must do so in a way that doesn’t unduly distract the audience. Slightly less problematic was the Zachary Titterington (FB)’s lighting design. Here, the problem was that the occasional actor on the side of the stage was not lit, so they were performing in darkness. Not in darkness, however, were the upper wings. The orchestra, of course, can’t be dark, but the curtain can be adjusted to minimize their operating lights. On the stage left upper wing, there was no reason for the work light to be on when the actors weren’t up there. Again — distractions. Rounding out the production team was Riley Boronkey (FB) [Asst. Choreographer], Manichanh Kham (FB) [Stage Manager]. Rounding out the creative credits: Jonathan Tunick [Original Orchestrations]; Harold Prince [Original Direction].

There is one more weekend of performance of 4 Leaf/GPAC’s Merrily We Roll Along. Tickets are available through Brown Paper TIckets. Although there are some flaws on the production side, and the book of the show remains problematic, the energy and enthusiasm of these performers does elevate the production and makes this rarer show worth seeing.

***

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts 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 currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), and the Ahmanson 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:

The last weekend of August will bring more Shakespeare — this time Macbeth at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival (FB).

Looking forward to September: The first weekend of September is currently open, but I’m looking for shows in the Sacramento area. The second has a hold date for I Dig Rock and Roll Music at the Rubicon in Ventura — whether we go depends on ticket prices. The third weekend has Ain’t Too Proud at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on Friday, followed by Paradise – A Divine Bluegrass Musical Comedy at the Ruskin Theatre (FB) on Saturday. The fourth weekend has Rope at Actors Co-op (FB), and the fifth brings Bark: The Musical at Theatre Palisades (FB). October is also getting quite full. It starts with Oppenheimer at Rogue Machine Theatre (FB). The following weekend has a HOLD for Moon River -The Music of Henry Mancini at the Saroya [the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB) — I’m just waiting for tickets to come up on Goldstar. The third weekend of October brings Shrek at 5 Star Theatricals (FB). October will close with the Contemporary Crafts Show in Pasadena.

Continuing the lookahead: November starts with She Loves Me at Actors Co-op (FB) and Stitches So Cal. The second weekend of November is very busy: Dear Even Hansen at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and A Bronx Tail at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), as well as A Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (OERM) (FB). The third weekend of November brings Finks at Rogue Machine Theatre (FB). Thanksgiving weekend has a hold for Steambath at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (FB). December starts with the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), followed by a hold for the Canadian Brass at the Saroya [the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB). Then we may travel up to the Bay Area for Tuck Everlasting at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (FB). Lastly, January will start with Bat Out of Hell at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB).

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Watching a Friendship Ravel | "Merrily We Roll Along" @ 4Leaf • GPAC • Colony 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.

userpic=colony So shows are very frequently revived — both on Broadway, and in Regional and amateur productions. Hairspray, Caberet, Sound of Music, and similar chart toppers — you’ll find them everywhere. Other shows — although hits in their day — are almost never remounted. I’m still waiting for a local remount of my favorite musical — Two Gentlemen of Verona — and The Rothschilds only had its first revisical since the original. The reason for this differs. For some, the material seems dated — TGOV is one of those, yet Hair gets revived. Some had troubled books. For some, it is the difficulty of finding the right lead to fit the shoes of the original. You’ll likely never see Schwartz’s The Magic Show again for that reason — Doug Henning was unique.

A show in this latter category is the Tony award winning Funny Girl , with book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. It was produced on Broadway in 1963 by Ray Stark, directed by Garson Kanin, and starred Barbra Streisand (FB) in her second (and last) major Broadway role. Streisand went on to show in the 1967 film version, and was the personification of the lead character, Fanny Brice. After that…. the show disappeared. No revivals, few remounts. There was talk of a Broadway revival starting at the Ahmanson a few years ago, but that petered out. There was a recent West End revisical that was well received; it is unknown if it is coming across the pond.

So when I saw that a local company (Conundrum Theatre Co (FB)) was producing a revival of Funny Girl, I started to want to get tickets to go. I thought it would be multiple dates in October, which was already getting pretty full. It ended up being just one weekend, and I was unable to go. But that wasn’t the end of the show. Arrangements were made, and the show moved to The Colony Theatre (FB) in Burbank. The Colony, where we subscribed, had gone dark earlier in the year, and was looking for visiting productions to fill its space. Barbara Beckley of the Colony sent out email to the subscribers about the show, and this was the impetus for us to redeem our last Colony subscription ticket and squeeze in the show, the last Friday of its new performance run that ends November 20.

Returning to the Colony itself was sad. I’m referring to the physical facility. Gone was the celebration of the long producing history of the company. Gone were the various props and awards that filled the facility. Gone were the awards. Gone were the construction pictures. Gone were the familiar company faces, such as Barbara at the welcome desk. It was clear that the Colony, as it was, will not be back. The curtain has come down. Sad, so sad. This has been a very bad year for theatre companies in Southern California.

Luckily, this has been a good year for productions; and this production more than made up for the sadness at seeing the once great Colony down. The mix of up-and-coming theatre folks and seasoned local professionals (there were no AEA credits in the program) worked well. Conundrum Theatre Co (FB), for whom this was their inaugural fully-staged musical, did a very good job with the show with only a few technical problems, especially given their limited rehearsal time. I’m glad that this show ended up at The Colony; perhaps it is a signal that 2017 may see a return to theatre to the stage of the Colony. I certainly hope to see more Conundrum there.

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.

Luckily, it was in the leads that this show excelled. Moreover, I’m saying that in clear knowledge that we had the understudy as our lead. Victoria Strafuss (FB)’s portrayal of Fanny Brice was spot on. She brought good comedic timing, a talent for voices, faces, and physical comedy, and an excellent and strong singing voice to the stage. One of the hardest things for an actress and trained dancer to do is be bad; yet Strafuss was able to do this in the scenes with the rest of the ensemble, cleverly being just a little off to show how Brice wasn’t the typical chorine. She was able to bring back her grace when it was needed, showing that it was indeed an act. She also had a very strong voice and was more than capable with her numbers in the show. Given that she has some major numbers — “People”, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” — combined with some numbers that required extensive comedy timing — “You Are Woman, I Am Man”, “Sadie, Sadie”, “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” — that’s a high compliment. Coming into the show, I ran into another audience member who was disappointed that we had the “understudy”. I hope he was as impressed by her performance as I was. Ms. Strafuss is someone I hope to see more of on the Southern California stages. (The role is normally portrayed by Jackie Brenneman (FB))

Her object d’amour, Nick Arnstein, was portrayed by Michael Cortez (FB). Although he wasn’t Omar Sharif, he had the requisite style, flair, and voice to pull off the role, and had a good chemistry with Ms. Strafuss. The two worked well together. My wife, when asked about Michael, thought his portrayal was “suitably sleezy”. Given the character, that’s high praise :-).

The main supporting roles — Eddie Ryan and Mrs. (Rose) Brice — were also portrayed quite well. Steven Duncan Sass (FB)’s Eddie Ryan was a very strong dancer and gave off a very affable chemistry, together with a very nice singing voice. Alison Korman (FB)’s Rose Brice had the right air of a mother, and had a good singing voice and stage presence. The two worked well together in their join number “Find Yourself a Man”. In smaller supporting roles were Mark Melo (FB) [Tom Keeney/Renaldi], John Hamilton Scott [Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr], Tina Oakland Scott [Mrs. O’Malley], Meggan Taylor (FB) [Mrs. Strakosh], and Anne Wendell/FB [Mrs. Meeker]. All brought appropriate characterizations to their roles.

Rounding out the ensemble were Ashley Byrd [Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble], Bernie Escarga/FB [John / Featured Ensemble]; Catriona Fray (FB) [Dance Swing / Ensemble Dancer]; Alexandria Gates (FB) [Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; Dahyla Glick (FB) [Emma / Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; Kathleen MacCutcheon (FB) [Mimsy / Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; Amy Mendonca (FB) [Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; Nick Mestakides (FB) [Tenor / Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; Melissa Padilla/FB [Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; Amanda Jane Salmon (FB) [Jenny / Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; April Sheets/FB [Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble]; and Jenny Torgerson (FB) [Ziegfeld Dancer / Ensemble / Swing]. It is difficult to identify exactly who is who in the ensemble, but I do want to make a few comments. When I see an ensemble, not only do I want to see steps executed right, but I want to see the joy the actors have on stage being radiated out into the audience. I want to see them becoming who they think their character is, as opposed to an anonymous dancer. With that in mind, I’d like to call out a few ensemble members for particular note. There was a short dark-haired member who I believe was Amy Mendonca (FB) who particularly caught my eye for the joyful smile she had during her numbers; this was more than the painted on smile you sometimes see — this young lady was particularly having the time of her life there on stage, and it was just a joy to see and share. There was also a tall blond member, who I believe was Kathleen MacCutcheon (FB), who did very well with the rifles in the Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat number. Nick Mestakides (FB) was great as the tenor in the “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” number.

Stamford Hill was the understudy for Florenz Ziegfeld.

The production was directed by Bryan Snodgrass (FB), and as usual I have difficulty determining what was the actor, and what was the director. Still, the director did have the notion of simplifying the production to emphasize the flashback aspects of it; he also handled overall movement well and did a good job of ensuring the proper characterizations resulted. This was augmented by Toni Fuller (FB)’s choreography, which was simplified a bit due to the nature of the Colony stage, the number of actors, and the varying skill level. I found the dance numbers enjoyable, particularly “Coronet Man” and “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat”. Jenny Torgerson (FB) was the dance captain; Mindy Copeland (FB) was the Tap Coordinator, and Angela Tousley (FB) was the Color Guard Consultant.

Music was under the direction of Ryan Luévano (FB), assisted by Michael Griffin (FB). The orchestra was situated on the side balconies of the Colony, which I had never seen in use before. In general, the orchestra could use a little more energy (especially in the overture), and I heard perhaps one or two off notes. No biggie on that, but there was a greater problem with the lights from the Orchestra shining into the eyes of the audience members. Shade the lights on those music stands, folks, so they shine down, not out. The orchestra consisted of: Sage Barton (FB), Sara Jones (FB), Beth Reno, and Yu Ting Wu (FB) on Violins; Thom Fountain, Ki Yeon Kim/FB, and Marylin Winkle on Cello; Michael Griffin (FB) on Piano; Cody Samuel Vaughn/FB and Felipe Guzman Martinez/FB on Drums; Jeff Markgraf on Bass; Katherine Hildebrant/FB on Reed I; Dan Gonda (FB) on Reed II; Carlos Herrera/FB on Reed III; and Harold York on Reed IV.

Turning to the remainder of the production and creative team. The scenic design was by Emily Mae Heller (FB), who also was the Producer. The nature of the Colony stage (slightly thrust, no curtain) combined with what I am sure was a limited production budget meant that the scenic aspect was simple: a dressing table to the side, some tables and such that could be brought on as necessary, and a wooden structure along the back that held all the props, much as a bookshelf would hold the props backstage (and hence, suggested the backstage and flashback nature of the show). Not realistic as one might see on a big-budget Broadway show, but it worked. What had more problems was the execution of Jay Lee‘s Sound Design, and Kevin Vasquez (FB)’s Lighting Design. With respect to the sound, at the beginning the microphones were very muffled, and only sounded right when the additional reverb was added for the “Nicky Armstein”. As for the lighting, there were two factors that tended to distract: first, there was a collection of Lekos above the main stage that were programmed to be flashing on and off in various dance numbers — this served to distract vs. augment. Additionally, there were problems with the follow spot not always following well. The costume design was by Sasha Markgraf/FB, and mostly worked. Most of the issues were with ensemble costumes. There was an early number with the ensemble in black leotards where white undergarments were visible around the legs; there was a later Ziegfeld Follies number where there was an odd camisole that just wouldn’t have worked on a real stage. There were also some chronological inconsistencies, such as camouflage leggings that would not have been used in that time period. However, I’m willing to suspend disbelief, as I understand production budgets. There is no credit for makeup; Ariana Castiglia/FB was the wig designer. Mandee Mitchell was the stage manger, assisted by Owen Panno (FB).

Given how long it has taken me to write this, there are three more performances of Funny Girl: today at 8pm, and tomorrow at 3pm and 8pm. Tickets are available through Ovation Tix, and discount tickets may be available through Goldstar. I found it enjoyable.

* * *

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts 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 currently subscribe at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Chromolume Theatre (FB) in the West Adams district, and a mini-subscription at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). The Chromolume 2017 season looks particularly good: Zanna Don’t (Tim Acito, January 13 – February 5), Hello Again (Michael John LaChiusa, May 5- May 28), and Pacific Overtures (Stephen Sondheim, September 15 – October 8) — all for only $60). Past subscriptions have included The Colony Theatre (FB) (which went dormant in 2016), and Repertory East Playhouse (“REP”) (FB) in Newhall (which entered radio silence in 2016). 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: November concludes with Little Women at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. December starts with Into the Woods at Nobel Middle School, and staged concert of Wonderful Town being performed by the LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. The next week brings the CSUN Jazz Band at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), and Amalie at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). The third week of December brings The King and I at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). December concludes with an unspecified movie on Christmas day; and a return to our New Years Eve Gaming Party.

Turning to 2017, January currently is quiet, with just a single hold date for Zanna Don’t at the Chromolume Theatre (FB). February 2017 gets back to being busy: with Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum (FB) the first weekend. The second weekend brings 33 Variations at Actors Co-op (FB). The third weekend has a hold for the WGI Winter Regionals. The last weekend in February brings Finding Neverland at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). March quiets down a bit — at least as currently scheduled — with the MRJ Man of the Year dinner, Fun Home at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) at the beginning of the month, and An American in Paris at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) at the end of the month.

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Although we can’t make it, I also recommend the 10th Anniversary Production of The Brain from Planet X at LACC. Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

Share/Bookmark

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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1874066.html

Observation Stew Now that the highway pages are done, and the water heater is repaired, I can start some stew cooking on the stove. Loads of interesting articles in here. I’ll group them the best I can.

Things Dying and Dead, But Then Again….

The iPod Classic. Nine years ago, Apple introduced the iPod Classic. Last week, they introduced the iPhone 7. The iPod Classic had 160GB in a spinning hard disk, for $349. The iPhone 7 can have 256GB for almost $850. Is this the replacement for the Classic, finally? Or, is it still better to get a 7th Gen iPod Classic off eBay, or from that drawer you’ve been hiding it in, and replace the hard disk with a Tarkan board, some solid state memory (I put in 512GB), and keep the classic. Going the Tarkan route is less than $400, and gives you more memory for about the same cost. Oh, and it gives you a 3.5mm headphone jack as well, so you needn’t pay for adapters or lost AirPods. Then again, the headphone companies don’t care. They’ve got product to sell you.
The Colony Theatre. Oh, the poor Colony. We thought you would survive. Now you’re having to rent out your space just to stay alive. And your poor subscribers: We’re left holding the tickets for shows that we will never see (literally — there’s no way I’m gonna see Patty Duke in Mrs. Lincoln — both are dead). Will the Colony come back? At this point, I’m highly skeptical. What they need is new artistic direction, a new board, and a new way of thinking about things. Their collapse shows the perils of keeping the same leadership for far too long.
The Advertising Jingle. Perhaps you hadn’t noticed, but the advertising jingle is dead. Who killed it? Cover artists and the licensing of modified lyrics, that’s what. Those are more easily recognizable. So, our hats are off to you, “I’d like to teach the world to sing”, “Like a good neighbor”, and “Plop Plop Fizz Fizz”. We’re just left with the Empire Carpeting jingle.

Los Angeles Development

Earl Carroll Theatre. It looks like a massive development next to the Earl Carroll Theatre (→ Aquarius Theatre → Nickelodeon Studios) is going to occur. We may get a preserved outside, but offices it will remain. Live theatre will not grace the space again.
Baja Fresh and Pinkberry. The owner of Baja Fresh has been sold, and they are now owned by the same folks that own Pinkberry. Is this a good thing? I don’t know. Now that Sharkey’s has moved nearby, we go there instead of Baja Fresh.
Paper Airplanes and Grand Park. Giant paper airplanes are soon coming to Grand Park. The shade structure appropriately titled “Paper Airplane” will be unveiled Tuesday near the oft-photographed Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain (they’re actually made by “made of a mesh-like material”). Created by artists Elenita Torres and Dean Sherriff, it will look like a squadron of 11 giant paper planes floating across Olive Court. That’s the totally exposed area between Grand and Hill where food trucks line up during the weekday lunch hours.

Sensitivity and Culture

Tiki Bars. Here’s an interesting question: If you were going to add a third arm to your body, where would you add it? Whoops, wrong question. Try this: Are Tiki Bars offensive to Polynesians? NPR endeavored to figure that out. It is hard to know: Tiki bars are about as close to something really Polynesian as the Chinese Food you got downtown in the 1950s and 1960s was to real Chinese food.
Napalm Girl. The furor yesterday was over Facebook and “Napalm Girl” — the famous photo of the napalmed Vietnamese girl. First it was taken down. Facebook banned it. Then they reversed themselves. It makes me think about a debate that occurred many many years ago when that photo was first published: Should photos like this be published? When does news value override sensitivity? These questions are still relevant today.

And the Rest…

A Ren Faire Musical. A Renaissance Faire themed musical is being penned by the creators of Legally Blonde – The Musical. This isn’t going to end well, is it. The musical, titled Huzzah!, is supposedly is about a family-owned mom-and-pop-type operation that is threatened mostly by its own family dysfunction.
Munchkin Arguments. No, not about the movie and whether they did Dorothy. (ducks and runs). Rather, about the Steve Jackson game and its endless, and I do mean endless, variants. Here’s the article to link to when arguments about Munchkin occur. You’ve been warned.
Language Arguments. Here’s an interesting opinion: Speak to your kids in a foreign language. They suggest Yiddish.
Going with Grace. The US Navy is naming their cyber center after Adm Grace Murry Hopper. This deserves a huzzah!
Dim Sum. LA Eaters essential Dim Sum restaurants. Do you agree?

Share/Bookmark

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1857741.html

userpic=ahmanson If you attend musicals, there are classic composers and lyricists that you should see. Similarly, if you attend plays, there are seminal playwrights (in addition to Shakespeare). One of these is Samuel Beckett, a 20th century author of a number of absurdist comedies. Currently, the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) is doing one of these plays (Endgame, 1957); it has the added benefit of being directed by one of the few actor/directors left that actually worked with Beckett when he was alive, Alan Mandell (FB). When we discovered that Endgame was on the Kirk Douglas schedule while seeing a show at the Ahmanson, we decided we should take advantage of Hottix and catch it. We were able to get seats, and so after a lovely dinner at Picnic LA (FB), we entered the absurd world of Samuel Becket.

Endgame is hard to describe. It is a four character play. The lead is Hamm (Alan Mandell (FB)), an old man confined to a wheelchair, who is unable to walk and unable to see. Taking care of him is Clov (Barry McGovern), who may be his son (it is unclear). Clov is unable to sit down. Near him, in two ashbins, are Hamm’s elderly parents, Nagg (James Greene) and Nell (Charlotte Rae, at our performance, alternating with Anne Gee Byrd (FB)). They do not have legs. The setting, which Beckett is very particular about (i.e., no interpretations allows) is a small empty space. Left and right back, high up, are two small windows, curtains drawn. At the front right is a door. Hanging near door, its face to wall, a picture. There are the two ashbins, front left, touching each other. Hamm is in the center, in an armchair on castors, initially covered with an old sheet.

The play consists of Clov taking care of Hamm, and Hamm directing Clov to do various things. At points Clov tries to go away, but he rarely succeeds for long, being constantly called back to take care of Hamm. Nagg and Nell interact with each other for a bit, but Nell passes away at some point. Nagg also interacts with Hamm, being requested to listen to a story the Hamm wants to tell after Clov refuses to listen to it. At the end of the play, Clov finally indicates that his leaving. He then stands there, dressed to go, while Hamm continues on believing he has been abandoned.

You can find a more detailed plot summary at SparkNotes. You can actually find the text of the play at the Samuel Beckett website.

One of the questions I had watching this play is: What led Beckett to write this? After all, it is such a strange play, it is difficult to see how the situation and dialog could come to a playwright. But I guess that’s why I’m not a playwright. Beckett wrote this play during an era when Theatre of the Absurd was popular. It was a post WWII-style. According to Wikipedia, Theatre of the Absurd focused largely on the idea of existentialism and expressed what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down, in fact alerting their audiences to pursue the opposite. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence. It is up to the audience to decide the meaning of the piece.

Endgame Publicity Photos As I’m a Professional Audience™ ^PEND , here are my thoughts on meaning.

The primary thought that kept going through my head while watching the performance was the relationship of my wife to her mother. Her mother is in assisted living right now, dealing with mental deterioration. The resulting relationships of parent to child, caregiver to caregivee, is a lot like the relationship between Clov and Hamm. Hamm is elderly and utterly dependent on Clov to feed him, clothe him, give him medicine, and fulfill his every need. Hamm is also non-sensical, often living in the past, at times petulant and vindictive, not caring about those around him, gruff and bitter, and at other times resigned. If you have ever seen a parent dealing with cognitive impairment or Alzheimers, that is exactly the behavior. Clov, on the other hand, is like any adult child taking care of such a parent. He keeps wanting to leave, wanting to have his own life, but is trapped in the endgame of taking care of his parent because he’s the only one who is able to do so. This game has worn him down so that any love that has been there has been replaced by forced duty, forced obligation. Whatever relationship there once was has been eroded away. At the end of the play, Clov finally decides to be his own man and walk away and take care of himself for one — but never quite makes it out.

So what about Nagg and Nell. I think they were the memories of the parents in the mind of Hamm. Often, for such patients, they are living in a quasi-world where both the past and the present exist in their mind. Clov was required to play along with the artiface, as caregivers often do.

There are some wonderful lines in the production that seem to support my interepretation:

Sometimes I wonder if I’m in my right mind. Then it passes over and I’m as lucid as before.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m in my right senses. Then it passes off and I’m as intelligent as ever.

I’ve certainly felt that way.

That’s the primary interpretation that was in my head. The secondary interpretation was more of a joke, but as I thought about it… it made quite a bit of sense: Endgame is a political argument on Facebook. Hamm represents the person posting the initial article and defending it with all sorts of convoluted argument. The argument draws people into a discussion they can never quite leave, and into which they get trapped — until they just decide to walk away. Nell and Nogg, in this case, are side digressions that support the story but go in unexpected directions. The fact that everyone in the discussion is crippled in one way or another is a representation of the fact that nobody on Facebook is playing with a full deck.

But Beckett couldn’t have been talking about Facebook. After all, it didn’t exist in era when the play was written.

In general, the story focuses on the larger issue of dependency, and the dispair that dependency can bring to us. Hamm is dependent on Clov. Clov on Hamm (he has the keys to the larder). Nagg on Hamm. And so far. As we are dependent for longer, we become handicapped by our dependency, and it traps us. The term “Endgame” refers to the chess position where the final set of moves are dictated and cannot be changed. Our dependency traps us into an endgame. How do we escape? Nell makes that clear: she escapes by dying, after she refuses to be dependent on Nagg. At the end, has Clov refused enough to escape? We never find out.

The discussion above is the demonstration of one important take-away about this performance: it was good enough to make people think about a variety of subjects. It provided the ability for the elderly cast (I don’t think there has been a cast this elderly on stage since the last production of 70 Girls 70) to demonstrate their expertise with Beckett — this was a rare chance to see some of the foremost Beckett performers on one stage. It was at points humorous, sad, befuddling, touching, relevant and irreverent. It was outstanding.

Normally, at this point, I would turn to a discussion about the performances. All were spectacular, and it was difficult to single anyone out. Central to the story were the spot on performances of Alan Mandell (FB) and Barry McGovern. These are foremost interpreters of Beckett; they know how to convey every nuance of the story. Our Nagg (James Greene) and Nell (Charlotte Rae, at our performance, alternating with Anne Gee Byrd (FB)) worked well together; I hesitate to say chemistry, for that implies there is a reaction between the two. I think the overall ensemble was just interesting to watch. Note that Ned Schmidtke was the understudy for the male roles.

Turning to the production and creative side: The overall production was directed by Alan Mandell (FB), whose experience with Beckett was demonstrated in the overall ensemble and portrayal. John Iacovelli (FB)’s scenic design captured well the bleakness that Beckett intended from the text: a cold-grey stone castle, with two inset grey windows, grey dustbins, dirty dropcloths, grey clothing. A world of despair, with nothing to live for except the life from the characters. Maggie Morgan (FB)’s costume designs were equally bleak: grey, black, and dark-brown bed clothes and suits, adding to the atmosphere. Jared A. Sayeg (FB)’s lighting design was strong, as usual: mostly white lights, often kept dimmer, adding to bleakness. A lack of color. Cricket S. Myers (FB)’s sound design was what a good sound design should be: unnoticeable. The few sound effects that were present worked well. Rounding out the production credits: Susie Walsh (FB) [Production Stage Manager]; John Sloan (FB) (Assistant Director); Brooke Baldwin (FB) [Stage Manager]. Michael Ritchie is the Artistic Director for Center Theatre Group.

One last note: After the performance, there was an audience discussion on the meaning of Endgame. This discussion was led by Isabella Petrini (FB), and was excellent. Isabella also curated the Endgame game in the foyer, and we had the pleasure of talking to her before the show. Isabella’s company, Bae Theatre (FB), has a show at the upcoming Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB): Matt and Ben. It sounds interesting, and is written by Mindy Kaling. Alas, I have already booked my schedule, and do not have room to fit it in, but figured I would mention it.

Endgame continues through May 22 at the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB). Tickets are available through the Center Theatre Group online. Hottix may be available. All offers for Endgame on Goldstar have expired, but tickets are available to the next show at the Kirk Douglas.

* 🎭 🎭 🎭 *

userpic=colony At the last minute, an opportunity arose for live performance today as well. As you recall, The Colony Theatre (FB) had gone dark due to financial problems, although there was the option for subscribers to potentially attend lease events. One such event was this weekend: Carney Magic, an encore performance of a previous successful lease. Carney Magic is what is purports to be: 90 minutes of sleight of hand magic by magician John Carney (FB).

So, how was the magic? Entertaining. I couldn’t see how it was done, but it was also a relatively straightforward slight of hand show. There was audience participation. There was humor.

I think the larger question for me was: This fellow is entertaining and does corporate shows. Is this a possibility for ACSAC in December? That I haven’t decided yet. I want to see Einstein at the Fringe Festival first.

I will note there was one thing that was sad about the show: seeing the lobby and waiting area at the Colony. Evidently, it is a full-on lease house now, and all the photos of past productions are down. All of the furniture and old props are out, replaced by simple uncomfortable seats. The art gallery is empty of art. The character is gone. I felt like I was identifying a corpse in a hospital, and that was sad. The patient may not be dead yet, but she’s definitely moved out to either Board and Care or Assisted Living, and it was sad. We may, alas, be in the Endgame period for the Colony. And that’s sad.

Production credits for Carney Magic: Written and manipulated by John Carney (FB). Produced by John Carney (FB) and PFC Entertainment. Additional material by Jim Steinmeyer. Technical coordination by Genetra Tull.

We saw the last performance of this incarnation of Carney Magic.

* 🎭 🎭 🎭 *

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts 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 currently subscribe at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) and the Hollywood Pantages (FB); my subscription at The Colony Theatre (FB) has gone dormant, and REP East (FB) has seemingly gone dark for 2016. 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: Next week sees us in the Bay Area for our daughter’s graduation from Berkeley. While there, we are seeing the Landmark Musical Theatre (FB)’s West Coast Regional Premiere of The Boy from Oz (but pay no attention to that production behind the curtain at the Celebration Theatre (FB) — if they start the same day, they are simultaneous premieres and both have equal bragging rights). We will also be seeing The Last 5 Years at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.) (FB). May 21 brings Los Angeles: Now and Then (FB), a new musical at LA City College (FB) from Bruce Kimmel. The last weekend of May has HOLDs for the MoTAS Outing to the Jethawks, and for I Only Have Eyes for You at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre (FB).

That brings us to June. June is the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB), and I’ve already written about the shows I plan to see, as well as suggestions to the Fringe regarding viewing the audience as a customer. Our Fringe schedule is as follows:

Sat, 6/4: Alien vs. Musical (230p) ✨Code 197 DWB (Driving While Blewish) (400p) ✨ Toxic Avenger: The Musical (600p)
Sun, 6/5: Tell Me On A Sunday (600p) ✨ All The Best Killers are Librarians (800p)
Sat, 6/11: Pali Hi All Year Picnic, Einstein (400p)
Sun, 6/12: Titus Andronicus Jr. (700p); and then the Tony Awards when I get home.
Sat, 6/18: 30JJ or Bust: The World is My Underwire (1130a) ✨ Lamprey: Weekend of Vengeance (200p) ✨ Mark Twain Answers All Your Questions (600p) ✨ The Old Woman (800p)
Sun, 6/19: Sweet Love Adieu (100p) ✨ All Aboard the Marriage Hearse (400p)
Sat, 6/27: Squeeze My Cans (400p) ✨ My Big Fat Blond Musical (830p)
Sun, 6/28: Temple Israel Reunion; Hamlet (Las Vegas Style) (630p)

Whew. July brings us back to conventional theatre, with Beautiful at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) and the Western Corps Connection (FB) the first weekend, a HOLD for Grey Gardens at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB); the second weekend, The Little Mermaid at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB); the third weekend, Weird Al Yankovic at the Hollywood Bowl (FB) and Operaworks (FB) Opera Re-Constructed at CSUN; the fourth weekend, a mid-week Hollywood Bowl (FB) concert of Wynton Marsalis and Aaron Copeland, and a HOLD for Armadillo Necktie at The Group Rep (FB) the last weekend. 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.

Share/Bookmark

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1834486.html

Cabrillo Userpic userpic=colony userpic=repeast I’m three for three.

All three of the theaters at which I subscribed at the end of 2015 have gone dark or belly up.

REP just went silent; there have been no newsletters or messages to subscribers since December. A 2016 season was never announced. An old message on the grapevine said they might be back in August. We’ll see.
The Colony Theatre announced they were cancelling the last two shows of their seasons, and there was no prognosis for the future. One could “donate” the remainder of the tickets for a tax write-off, or wait to see if something emerges. No offers of refunds. At least the Colony had the decency to tell subscribers before the media.
Cabrillo Music Theatre announced today that they were closing up shop at the Civic Arts Plaza at the end of this season. The next season was cancelled, and the future is unknown. The TO Civic Arts Plaza will be refunding subscriptions and donations. They informed the media and Facebook before they sent the mail to subscribers.

First, someone better warn the Pantages — we just subscribed there. It also makes me think twice about subscribing at the Pasadena Playhouse: it looks like companies that have come out of financial problems remain shaky and unsteady. and Pasadena is only a few years out.

So here’s my question: We traditionally have had three subscriptions: one intimate, one mid-size, and one large. Arguably, the large is now the Pantages. So where should we consider for the intimate and the mid-size? I’ve got my ideas, but I’d like to hear your suggestions.

Share/Bookmark

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1824458.html

userpic=colony Circuses are inherently theatrical. Performers adopt larger than life persona in order to entertain. They clown. They make you laugh. They make you cry. They are theatrical, yes. But are they theatre?

That, perhaps, is the question you find you asking yourself after you see the current production, El Grande Circus de Coca Cola at The Colony Theatre (FB) in Burbank. To me, well, I haven’t seen such inspired lunacy in Burbank since, well, January 2014 when Moonie and Broon were at the Colony. But for others…

El Grande Circus de Coca Cola is, in a sense, a continuation of the story started in El Grande de Coca Cola (which I mean to see when it was at the Ruskin Group Theatre (FB), but (alas) didn’t). The original tells the story of Senor Don Pepe Hernandez, has announced in the local newspaper in that he is going to bring international cabaret to Trujillo. Eventually he succeeds, and we see the cabaret within the cabaret as it unfolds, with all of mistakes — the conjuring tricks that don’t work, the people that trip up, a blind American folk singer who falls off the stage, colliding chorus girls, etc.

El Grande Circus continues the adventures as this troupe sneaks across the border, first to Hollywood, and thence to the Hollywood-adjacent Burbank. The 85-minute, one-act show is a circus performance by Don Pepe (Marcelo Tubert (FB)) and his family: Miguel (Paul Baird (FB)), Maria (Olivia Cristina Delgado (FB)), Consuelo (Lila Dupree (FB)), and Juan (Jesse D. Myers (FB), who replaced Aaron Miller). The picture to the right shows the original cast (all but the Juan we saw, but he’s the Juan that I want (sorry, couldn’t resist)) at the Skylight (FB), but the production was essentially the same at the Colony).

The show itself consists of circus acts and performances. I was going to say “improvised circus acts”, but this is really more choreographed inspiration, for it takes quite a bit of rehearsal and choreography to make what these folks do on stage come across as improvised. But there is clearly an element of improvisation underlying all of this, for some percentage of the act is playing off the audience, and I get a sense that it changes at every performance. But to give you a sense of what happens in this show, here are some of the scenes we saw:

Impersonations
Telenovelas
Bolshoi Ballet Radioactivo
An insanely choreography family picture.
A flea circus
Ariel Acrobat mishaps
A palm-reader act

The entire show is narrated by Tubert’s Pepe Hernandez in a mixture of Spanish and Spanglish. It is understandable to those who do not understand Spanish, but it does takes some work. The show does operate at two levels, which jokes that children will get, and many that have double implications of a more adult nature. The performances are uniformly strong, with Delgado and Dupree out in the audience before the show, playing their characters and flirting with the audience members (especially those producers from over the hill in Hollywood).

The show is inspired; it is indeed a three-ring circus in a low-budget single ring. It is theatrical. But is it theatre?

This, ultimately, is the problem with the show. Artistic director Barbara Beckley works to manage expectations before the show, noting how the originally-scheduled production, Humble Boy, had been in the planning stages for over a year, starting when the theatre was in a strong financial condition. That condition weakened over the year and the costs for Humble Boy proved too high, and so the show needed to be replaced. Barbara found El Grande Circus at the Skylight (FB) in Los Feliz (Hollywood), where it had been getting rave reviews. Moving the show provided the ability to bring an established “hit” to a larger theatre without a lot of expense for dramaturgy, set design, rehearsal, etc. This aspect of the story has been downplayed a bit: the #pro99 community likes to point to El Grande Circus as a shining example of 99-seat moving to paid contracts, but that’s not the reason the show is there. In any case, Barbara lets the regulars know this is a show that was brought in to serve a purpose, and that some subscribers love it, and some hate it.

We enjoyed the show, but we’re odd ducklings of the old theatre audience. The show certainly does not fit the notion of conventional theatre. There really is no character growth. There is no storyline. There is no protagonist or antagonist. There is inspired humor, choreographed improvisation. It is unconventional theatre. We saw audience members around us cracking up in laughter. We saw others totally confused as to what we saw. We also saw loads of younger people in the audience.

The show was enjoyable and fun, and we had a blast seeing it. But was the Colony right in bringing it to their stage? For that question, I’m not sure the answer is “yes”. I think that many of their older subscribers (for, alas, Colony does have an older subscription base) will walk away confused, disappointed that this wasn’t the theatre they were expecting. The younger families and their kids have the other problem — they may love this, and it may make them want to come back to the Colony to see more shows — where they will be disappointed as the Colony returns to its traditional shows, such as the Frank Loesser tuner that is up next. A small percentage of their audience will appreciate why Barbara brought this in, and will be open to the wide variety that theatre can encompass — and will enjoy this for what it is.

Luckily, we’re in that small percentage. We enjoyed Tubert’s Pepe, with his mangled English and Spanish, with his air of sanity in a sane world. We enjoyed the sexy Delgado’s Maria and Dupress’s Consuela: from their flirting with the audience to their performances onstage. We enjoyed Baird’s Miguel and Myers’ Juan (especially in the Ballet scene).

Alan Shearman‘s direction keeps the show moving along, although there were a few points where I wondered how close we were to the end. He did a good job of creating the El Grande characters and personas, and helping the actors inhabit those personas. In a show such as this, that’s really critical, for there is no story to provide the motivation or direction.

On the production side, this was a combination of the normal Colony quality and the elements that made it a success in the much smaller and lower-budget Skylight. The scenic design by John Iacovelli (FB) was simple but effective: big top draping and art that created the image of a worn circus facility. This combined with the properties by Jeff Faeth (FB) to establish the lunacy (such as in the magic act scene, or the aforementioned flea circus). Adding to this were the costumes by Sarah Figoten (FB), which were just… inspired. I particularly enjoyed the adapability of the ladies costumes, as well as the male costumes during the ballet scene. The sound design by Jeff Gardner (FB) worked well, although there were points where there was significant background noise — I don’t know if that was intentional, or someone backstage forgot to turn off their microphone. Jennifer Edwards (FB)’s lighting was effective — particularly the use of the LED lights — in establishing the mood of the situation. Although the show appears improvised, what holds it together is the choreography of Tor Campbell (FB) — nowhere is this more apparent than in the slow-motion replay of the family picture, the Bolshoi Ballet number, or in the voodoo scene. The remaining main production credits are: Christopher Hoffman (FB) [Production Coordinator], Garrett Longley (FB) [Production Stage Manager], Paul Ruddy (FB) [Casting Director]; Rachel Berney Needleman (FB) [Associate Producer]; Gary Grossman (FB) [Producer]. These are all Skylight folks — making clear how this was a production of the Skylight Theatre Company (FB) and Flying Cucumber Productions.

El Grande Circus de Coca Cola continues at The Colony Theatre (FB) through December 13. Tickets are available through the Colony website; discount tickets are available through Goldstar. I found the show very funny, but if you’re looking for a traditional theatrical book-based show, this might not be to your taste.

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: This week I become a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). The weekend after the conference sees us at the NoHo Arts Center (FB) for Theatre 68 (FB)’s production of Who Killed Santa?, which sounded so warped as to be either extremely funny or extremely stupid– should be fun to watch! The third weekend of December brings the touring company of “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). The last weekend of December has “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), and Nunsense at Crown City Theatre (FB). I’m just starting to plan 2016 — I’ve been waiting on the Repertory East Playhouse (“the REP”) (FB) schedule. So far, January shows “Bullets Over Broadway” at the Pantages (FB) on January 9; “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 a “hold” (i.e., dates blocked, but awaiting ticketing) for “Louis and Keeley – Live at the Sahara” at The Geffen Playhouse (FB) for either January 2 or 16 (pending tickets on Goldstar), and for “That Lovin’ Feelin’” at The Group Rep (FB) for January 17 (in case the REP’s delay pushes their first show back to February). There is currently nothing on the schedule for February, 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). 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1806833.html

userpic=colony Many people go to the theatre simply to be entertained. They want some brainless musical, lots of leggy girls and guys kicking and dancing. The same phenomenon occurs at the movies — the popcorn flick, the meaningless comedy or action adventure film. These are, to use the expression from [title of show], donuts for breakfast. They are filling at the time, but leave you hungry an hour later.

But at other times … at other times … theatre soars. It takes you to some other place, some other time, and leaves you talking and questioning. You leave not only entertained, but educated. You’ve thought critically. You’ve learned about an issue. You engaged your brain. Shows such as these are memorable, from 1955’s Inherit the Wind to 2004’s Doubt to the recent Gospel according to Jefferson, Dickens, and Tolstoy: all demonstrate the power of theatre to engage and make you think.

Last night at the The Colony Theatre (FB), we saw another play to add to that list: The Best of Enemies by Mark St. Germain. The Best of Enemies tells the true story of C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater. C.P. Ellis, at the time of the start of the play, was the Exaulted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Durham NC. Atwater was a prominent black civil rights leader in the same community. As 1971 started, Bill Riddick was sent by the Federal Government* to handle the long-delayed desegregation of Durham schools. To do this, he organized a series of charettes to bring the entire community together to solve the problem.
(* The play said “Department of Education”, but ED didn’t start until 1979; it had to have been Health, Education, and Welfare)

Riddick realized that the charettes could not succeed if the entire community was not behind them — meaning not only the black community or those in favor of civil rights, but those — such as the KKK and its factions — that opposed segregation. He therefore worked to get Ellis and Atwater to chair the Durham Charette — called Save Our Schools. He had no idea of whether it would succeed or fail.

This play is the story of that effort. In the opening scenes we get to know both Ellis and Atwater, and see Riddick wooing them to get them to co-chair the group. Eventually they agree, and the middle of the play is that effort: the early days of the charette, the fights, and how they slowly learned to work together. The end of the play is perhaps the most unlikely: it shows how Atwater and Ellis became strong friends, there for each other.

Yes, this is a true story.

There were a number of points made in the play — all of which are quite important. First, there is the personal transformation of Ellis and Atwater. Let me give an analogue. On the way to the theatre, we were listening to a recent Gastropod on Cilantro Hatred. As you know, some people love cilatro. Others hate it. There is a theory that with enough exposure, you can learn to tolerate it. One thing this played showed is how — with exposure to each other from the committee — Ellis and Atwater got to know each other as people, to see their circumstances and their family, so see how they had quite a bit in common. I believe it was this unconscious effort of moving past the hate — eating the Cilantro Pesto, so to speak — that enabled them to become friends.

The second point in the play — which is relevant today — was the revelation that the problem in the schools really wasn’t black vs. white. The problem was that the poorer kids — black or white — got a significantly worse education than the wealthy kids — black or white. Both Ellis and Atwater came from poor upbringings, and this revelation showed how the wealthy were exploiting the race hatred to distract from the class distinction. This was 1971 folks. It could never happen today. People exploiting race hatred to distract from class abuse. C’mon.

I think this is why the play resonated in the way that it did: this historical true story of people coming together demonstrated that the problems are still there to be fought, and we have learn how to do with Ellis and Atwater did: move past the hatred (which is now based on political divisions) and work together to address problems.

In short, this is a play that everyone should see. But be quick. It only has a few performances left.

And speaking of performances (how’s that for a segue): the performances at this show were uniformly excellent. Under the direction of David Rose (FB), the performances were sharp and believable. In fact, they were so good I found myself being absorbed into the characters, and not mentally taking notes about what I particularly liked about the performance.

In the lead positions were Larry Cedar (FB) as C.P. Ellis and Tiffany Rebecca Royale (FB) as Ann Atwater. As I said, both were uniformly excellent and believable in their characters. In fact, my only quibble is a very small one: in Cedar’s bio, he lists “Discord: The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy” (FB) and talks about it’s world premiere at the Geffen. However, we saw him in it in the production before the Geffen: back in 2014 when it was at the NoHo Arts Center — which was the real world premiere. LA’s intimate theatre strikes again! But performance-wise, there are none. From the first time you see Cedar in his red KKK robes to the first time you see Royale taking off her shoes, to the last time at the funeral — these actors embody these characters with a strong spark and life.

Rounding out the leads was Shon Fuller (FB) as Bill Riddick. This was a different level of lead. He was the catalyst of the story, although it is unclear to what extent he was a true catalyst (which are unchanged by the reactions). His was the voice of reason that introduced, tampered the reaction when necessary, managed the distance, and enabled the result to come across. We had the chance to talk to Mr. Fuller after the show, and you could just get the sense that this was a role he loved — that the message and story that came across in this play was one he wanted to get out there.

In a smaller, but still critical, role was Holly Hawkins (FB) as Mary Ellis. Hawkin’s performance as C.P.’s wife humanized him — it got to show the family side and the family problems, and it also demonstrated how there could often be caring from that community as well. A small performance, but a critical one.

At times, there were voices in crowd scenes and voice-overs. Crowd and choir sounds were from: Ben Hawkins, John Favreau, Taylor M. Hartsfield, Elyssa Alexander, Madeline Ellingson, Matthew G Wicks, Dylan David Farrs, Katie Lee, Connie J Kim, Jesus Manuael R., Lacey Beegun, and Joshua Johnson. Voice-overs were by Wyn Mareno and Sarah Ripper. I’m not going to link them as I usually do.

The technical side of the staging was simple. The scenic design by David Potts was simple: an area for projects against a wooden structure providing a central area and two side entrances, with simple tables and chairs that could be moved around. These were augmented by properties by Colony regular John McElveney (FB) which established the sense of place and time. Sense of place was also established by the excellent projection designs of Dave Mickey (FB) and the scenic art of Colony regular Orlando de la Paz. The sound, also by Dave Mickey (FB), provided the necessary effects (including the necessary reverb from the podium microphones, when they were used). The lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) conveyed the mood well. Much of the lighting was stark, but I did notice the mood lighting behind the projection, and the heavy use of red lighting in some of the KKK scenes to create the appropriate sense of horror and foreboding. The costume design by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) combined with the wigs and hair of Rhonda O’Neal to support the place and time well. Remaining technical credits: Leesa Freed (FB) was the production stage manager. Casting by Patricia Cullen. David Elzer/Demand PR (Public Relations). The Colony is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

The Best of Enemies continues at The Colony Theatre (FB) through October 18. Tickets are available through the Colony website. It does not appear that the Colony has listed discount tickets through Goldstar for this show. Similarly, although they are listed on LAStageTix, discount tickets are not available.

Upcoming Shows: October was being held for the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB); they’ve finally announced some shows but nothing yet is of interest. Given their delays, I started booking weekends with non-fringe shows. Next weekend takes us to Thousand Oaks for “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The fourth weekend of October brings “Uncle Vanya” at Antaeus Theatre Company (FB) in North Hollywood. Halloween weekend sees me at CSUN for Urinetown, and then both of us out in Simi Valley for “The Addams Family” at the Simi Cultural Arts Center (Simi Actors Rep Theatre (FB)). The following weekend sees us back in Simi for the Nottingham Festival (FB) on November 7. We then go out to Perris for “A Day Out with Thomas” at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) on November 11 (I can’t skip seeing my buddy Thomas and his friend Percy). The bookings for November conclude with Deathtrap at REP East (FB) on November 14; the rest of the month is currently open. December brings “Humble Boy” at The Colony Theatre (FB) the first weekend, followed by a mid-week stint as a producer, when we present The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam as the dinner entertainment at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). December also has dates held for “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) and “If/Then” at the Pantages (FB). There are also a few other interesting productions I’m keeping my eyes open for. The first is the Fall show at The Blank Theatre (FB), “Something Truly Monstrous”, sounds wonderful — however, it runs through November 8, so squeezing it in would mean a double weekend. The show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (FB) also sounds like an interesting exploration of clutter — but “The Object Lesson” only runs through October 4, and I’m not sure we can squeeze it in. 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1795366.html

userpic=colony When you are talking about situational humor, you can never go wrong with a situation that involves an odd man out, or as they taught on Sesame Street: “Which one of these things is not like the other?” This is the premise of the current show, The Fabulous Lipitones, at The Colony Theatre (FB), which we saw last night on a rescheduled ticket.

The Fabulous Lipitones (written by John Markus and Mark St. Germain) tells the story of a barbershop quartet in small town Ohio (London, Ohio). They had just finished qualifying for the nationals in Reno when their lead singer dropped dead of a heart attack (leading to the first joke of the show). The remaining members: Howard Dumphy (a home caretaker for his wife), Wally Smith (a pharmacist), and Phil Rizzardi (owner of an exercise and tanning studio) have to decide what to do: break up the group, or find a new lead. After some internal bickering about what direction they want to take the group now that their lead is gone, a fortunate call on speakerphone leads them to an employee of a nearby auto shop: Bob, who has a wonderful singing voice. When they ask him over to audition, they discover the truth: His full name is Baba Mati Singh, and he is a Sikh. As they say on the elevator, hilarity then ensues.

At this point, many stereotypes kick in. Bob has to explain the difference between Sikhism and Islam, while dealing with a group member who is a closet racist. The group is also dealing with the cultural differences between grey-haired pasty white men and a sikh from India. So insert all your “your a terrorist”, “it’s a ceremonial knife”, and such here.

But the thing about situation comedy — and the reason it has been so successful all these years — is that it is funny. It isn’t deep; it isn’t necessarily thought provoking. It is a pleasant way of passing a few hours with your fellow humans, laughing away at the funny situation. Don’t go looking for a classic farce; don’t go looking for a deep and sophisticated comedy. This is broad situation comedy, and it works. Who knows — as this is the California premier, maybe a TV executive will see this and decide to make a TV series out of it. It could be an improvement over many shows currently out there.

As usual with the Colony, the performances are top notch. John Racca (FB) plays Howard Dunphy. The interest aspect here is that Racca actually injured his leg after the first performance, and is walking with a cane. Although not part of the character conception, it fits the character well (even if it does mean he must exit stage left to go upstairs). Racca gives a very personable characterization of the character, including the wishy-washy nature of his decisions, and has a lovely voice. Steve Gunderson (FB) plays Wally Smith, a 60-something virginal druggist who really wants to keep the group together — giving the impression that this is his only outlet. Again, wonderful comic timing and singing voice. Dennis Holland plays Phil Rizzardi, the fitness buff of the group who really wants to walk away from Barbershop because it is so out of date. He’s also the racist of the group. Again, he has a great voice.

This brings us to the odd man out: Baba Mati Singh (Bob), played by Asante Gunewardena (FB). Asante plays the fish out of water well, and had the comic timing to hold his own against the old men. Again, a lovely singing voice — and more importantly, a singing voice that blended well with all the others to form a great Barbershop Quartet.

Additional voices credited in the program were provided by Larry Cedar (FB) and Kevin Symons (FB).

The production was directed by John Markus (FB) (one of the authors). The direction worked well — the director not only knows the story well but how to direct sitcoms — and was designed to bring out the humor in the situations. What was interesting was how the direction had to adapt to the aforementioned actors’ injury.

In addition to a number of traditional barbershop numbers, there was original music by Randy Courts, with lyrics by Mark St. Germain. Musical direction was by Sam Kriger, with Choreography by Murphy Cross (FB).

The scenic design by David Potts was different than I’ve seen before for the Colony — a curtain in front of the main scenic area, with a few scenes played out before the curtain. It was clear that this production was written with a proscenium stage in mind and was adapted for thrust. Still, the scenic design itself worked well to establish place, especially when combined with the properties design and set dressing of Colony regular John McElveney (FB), and the scenic art of newly-engaged Colony regular Orlando de la Paz. The lighting design by Bill E. Kickbush worked well to establish the place and scene, and the sound design by Drew Dalzell (FB) was what a good sound design should be: unnoticable. The costumes by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) fit the characters well, although my wife had some potential considers about the Sikh costumes. Remaining production credits: Art Brickman (Production Stage Manager); Patricia Cullen (Casting Director); David Elzer/Demand PR (Public Relations). The Colony is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

The Fabulous Lipitones continues at The Colony Theatre (FB) through August 23. Tickets are available through the Colony website. Discount tickets are available through Goldstar. Although it is isn’t anything deep, the show is an enjoyable way to spend a night out together with someone you love, laughing away.

Upcoming Shows: The rest of this weekend is concerts: our summer Mus-ique show on Saturday, and Concerts on the Green in Warner Park (with a Neil Diamond cover band) on Sunday. The third weekend of August is calmer, but only because we moved theatre off the weekend because my wife is driving my daughter’s car back to the bay area. As for me, I might very well go back to see the revised “Jesus Christ Superstar” at REP East (FB) — they are returning to have live music and I expect that will make a significant difference. The third week of August may see us back at REP East (FB) for their “secret seventh show”, which has been revealed to be “A Company of Wayward Saints“. After that we’ll need a vacation … but then again we might squeeze in Evita at the Maui Cultural Center (FB) the last weekend of August. September starts with Tom Paxton’s last concert at McCabes (FB) on September 12, followed by right now is mostly open, with the only ticketed show being “The Diviners” at REP East (FB) and a hold-the-date for “First Date” at The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB). October will bring another Fringe Festival: the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB). October also has the following as ticketed or hold-the-dates: CSUN’s Urinetown (end of October – 10/30 or 11/1); “The Best of Enemies” at The Colony Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/10); and “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/17). 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1783472.html

userpic=fringe This week marks the start of the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB), an ambitious effort where approximately 274 shows are mounted over 19 different venues during the month of June. For the last two Fringes, we’ve only made it to one show (the musical from Good People Theatre (FB)). This year, we’ve tried to hit more Fringe shows. We’ve typically got 3 shows each Fringe weekend, and that only hits a small percentage of the shows. Our first Fringe show was to be Clybourne Park (Lounge Theatre), but alas they cancelled on Thursday. Perusing the other shows available on Saturday night, we selected Camenot: The Broadway Style Medieval Musical (Acme Theatre @ The Complex) (FB) as its replacement. The published description intrigued us: “Kings, Queens, knights, maidens, magic and music! Is it Camelot? No… it’s the nearby but far less perfect kingdom of CAMENOT, where everyone grows up on the wrong side of the trail. Join the cast of this broadway-style medieval musical on their hilarious, improvised quest for that coveted fairy tale ending!” So, after seeing Grease (The Movie) in a singalong showing as a subscriber reward at The Colony Theatre (FB), we toddled over to Hollywood to wait at Fringe Central (which wasn’t open yet), hung around at the Hudson Cafe, had dinner, and toddled down the street to The Acme Theatre at the Complex Theatres (FB) for Camenot.

Unlike a lot of shows we see, Camenot is not a scripted show. It is improvisation. At the beginning of the show, the men in the cast come out and asked for a medieval noun. In our case, someone shouted out “Chalace”. The ladies in the cast then come out and ask for an “adjective”; our’s was “lumpy”. As a result, our show was about “The Quest for the Lumpy Chalace”.

Now, I sincerely doubt that this is 100% improvisation. That would be difficult when you have musical accompaniment. My guess is that the improvisation team works the selected item into a rough framework of a story, with pre-defined musical pieces that are engineered to support some level of improvisation.

[Edited Interruption: Turns out, I was wrong on my doubt. The director commented (see the comments section) the following: “The show is pure improvisation. There is no preset plot structure, there are no preset characters and there is no preset music that our cast plugs lyrics into. Jonathan Green is making up the music on the spot right along with us! Like a pure free jazz ensemble, we rehearse improvising together, but don’t have any framework, other than it will be medieval in nature. ” This makes what this company does even more impressive. Coming up with music and lyrics on the fly is exceedingly difficult, especially when there is no preset arrangement between the fingers on the keyboard and the brain making the words. Now we resume….]

The fact that this was improvisation was clear; cast members standing to the side often were visibly stifling laughter at what other cast members were doing. I had no problem with that — the audience has fun when the cast has fun, and this cast was clearly enjoying what they were doing.

I’ll describe, roughly, the story we had. As just noted, I guess other stories will be similar but not the same — I could imagine a very different story if the improvised item was a “Filthy Bath”. In our story, there was a serf family — a husband (Garrett, if I recall correctly), wife, and three children — dealing with a bad drought. The husband collects some good and goes off to the man in the castle to give him anything to fix the drought. He asks the man (whose name was Cunningham) to collect the tears of the Druidia the woodland nymph and bring them back to him. Druidia, however, is pissed at Cunningham in the castle for breaking promises, and lying about the death of her true love (Thomas, the grandfather of the husband on the quest, who made the lumpy chalice). She relates the story, gets sad, cries, and the tears are collected. When the man returns to the castle, the ghost of his grandfather appears and explains the true story. The principals are brought together, and Druidia throws away the tears, which ends the drought (oh, were it that easy). The family is restored to happiness, Cunningham loses, and Druidia is happier again. Onto the basic scaffolding were overlain about 4-5 songs, all of which were enjoyable in the moment but ultimately not memorable.

All of the story above is conveyed through acting and improvisation, for the set was a basic black box with an upper level, and perhaps one or two smaller boxes on stage that provided seating. There were no props; the only other thing on the stage was the music director (Jonathan Green (FB)) at his keyboard, with a visible clock to ensure the production fit within the 45 minute allotted timeslot. As such, imagination and the art of the theatre came to the fore, and worked quite well. This is a great reminder that it is not fancy production values and perfect set realism that makes a show — it is the talent of the actor to create the set in the mind.

The cast of the show (a significant subset of the normal show cast) — Brian Giovanni (FB), Brian Breiter (FB), Joseph Limbaugh (FB), Beth Leckbee (FB), Kimberly Lewis (FB) [who we’ve seen before in Moon Over Buffalo], & Amanda Troop (FB), under the direction of Brian Lohmann (FB) — were very talented (in the picture to the right, the men (in the order listed, L to R) are in the back row, the women (in the order listed, L to R) in the front). I was particularly impressed with the singing voices of both Leckbee and Troop — they had lovely strong and pure voices that were a delight to the ears. As I started with the ladies, I’ll note that they were also strong with the comedy. I recall the woodland scenes with Leckbee as Druidia, with the other ladies acting as animals — with Troop as a trilly-lizard. The men also were strong on the comedy side, particularly Limbaugh as the husband on the quest, and Breiter as Cunningham. It was hilarious to watch the actors trying to catch up and react as new directions were suddenly improvised (particularly when they were standing on the side — I recall quite a few scenes where you could see the actors on the side on the edge of laughter from their colleague’s improvisations). It takes a quick mind and a quick wit to pull that off; this team did it well. My guess is that this comes from the fact they regularly improv together on this show throughout the year.

One failing of the show, alas, is that they do not provide a program. I was able to piece together the cast above from the list on the HFF website and the cast page for the show. However, they do not list any technical credit. Clearly there was no set design, no sound design, no stage manager, and such. There was however a lighting design, which was simplistic but worked reasonably well to convey mood. There was also likely a costume designer, but as the actors arrived in costume (I was talking to both Kimberly Lewis and Joseph Limbaugh outside before the show), it could have just been from the actor’s closet. I’ll note they were not the realistic costumes one sees at RenFaire; rather, they were more the velour/velvety costumes that musicals such as Camelot have led us to believe were the height of fashion in medieval times. In spite of that, I did find the costumes cute; I particularly enjoyed the little touches that Beth Leckbee put on her costume.

This production would be quite at home on the RenFaire stage; I’m surprised they haven’t done it before. But I guess a RenFaire-ish improve on an intimate theatre stage but not the Faire itself balances Moonie and Broon (FB), who are regularly at Faire, but doing a single show at the Colony on June 20 (see how cleverly I worked that in :-)). We went last year and it was quite fun; this year, the Fringe Festival was booked first.

Camenot has three more shows as part of the Fringe: 6/13 at 10pm; 6/19 at 7:30 pm, and 6/27 at 4:15 pm. They also evidently do the show monthly the first Saturday of the month at Acme. Fringe tickets may be purchased from the Fringe website and are only $10; tickets during the year may be purchased through the show website (although there are no tickets listed there). Check here for Goldstar discount tickets, but be forewarned they haven’t listed any since 2014. C’mon, the show is only $10 — you can afford to pay full price! I do recommend the show — the production values may not be the greatest, but it is a fun short evening and clever improv…. plus every show is different.

One last note on this show: The tickets they used were actually advertisements for the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB), which will be October 1-25, 2015. Alas, we already have a fair number of weekends booked (yes, I do plan that far in advance), but given this is NoHo, we’ll try to squeeze in as much as we can. Thanks to Acme for bringing this to our attention.

Other Fringe Show Notes. Before the show, we had dinner over at EatThis Cafe. While there, we had a lovely discussion with Ann Starbuck (FB), the author and star of Tiananmen Annie. The show sounds interesting; we may try to fit it into our schedule; most likely it will be my wife who will succeed in doing so. Based on our discussion, I recommend you consider her show. It has gotten good writeups in the past.

Grease Sing-a-Long at the Colony. As noted above, before the Fringe show, we went to Grease (The Movie) in a singalong showing as a subscriber reward at The Colony Theatre (FB). This is a movie that has been out for a while and there’s no real point in reviewing it. I do, however, have a few comments:

It was interesting to contrast seeing the movie on a big screen vs. at home on TV. I was able to note the background performers much more, and to see who was singing and who wasn’t, and how the background would suddenly break out in dance.
We guessed, while watching the show, that it was filmed at either Van Nuys HS or Venice HS. We were right about Venice. The location used for the carnival scene at the end (which turned out to be Huntington Park HS) was clearly a different school from the fictional Rydell.
The actors look much less like believable teenagers on the big screen.
Turnout for the performance was poor — perhaps 20 people. Surprisingly, a number had never seen the movie (such as the older couple behind us …. that kept talking)

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 am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. 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: Today brings a Men of TAS outing to see the Lancaster Jethawks, so alas there is no more theatre today. The bounty that is the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB) continues throughout June. Next weekend brings Max and Elsa. No Music. No Children. (HFF) at Theatre Asylum (FB) and Wombat Man (HFF) at Underground Theatre (FB) on Saturday, and Marry Me a Little (HFF) by Good People Theatre (FB) at the Lillian Theatre (FB) on Sunday. The craziness continues into the third weekend of June, with the Nigerian Spam Scam Scam (HFF) at Theatre Asylum (FB) and Merely Players (HFF) at the Lounge Theatre (FB) on Saturday, and Uncle Impossible’s Funtime Variety & Ice Cream Social, (HFF) at the Complex Theatres (FB) on Sunday (and possibly “Matilda” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) in the afternoon, depending on Hottix availability, although July 4th weekend is more likely). The Fringe craziness ends with Medium Size Me, (HFF) at the Complex Theatres (FB) on Thursday 6/25 and Might As Well Live: Stories By Dorothy Parker (HFF) at the Complex Theatres (FB) on Saturday. June ends with our annual drum corps show in Riverside on Sunday. July begins with “Murder for Two” at the Geffen Playhouse (FB) on July 3rd, and possibly Matilda. July 11th brings “Jesus Christ Superstar” at REP East (FB). The following weekend brings “The History Boys” at the Stella Adler Theatre (FB) on Saturday (Goldstar), and “Green Grow The Lilacs” at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) on Sunday. July 25th brings “Lombardi” at the Lonny Chapman Group Rep (FB), with the annual Operaworks show the next day. August starts with “As You Like It” at Theatricum Botanicum (FB), and is followed by the summer Mus-ique show, and “The Fabulous Lipitones” at The Colony Theatre (FB). After that we’ll need a vacation! 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1772164.html

userpic=colony Whenever I enter a song into iTunes, it asks me for the composer. The software designer cared more about who wrote the music than who wrote the lyrics. Yet it is often the lyrics that stay with us; the lyrics that tell the story and convey the meaning. The issue isn’t just with iTunes. Often when we think of musical teams, we think about the music and the composition, and not the lyrics and the poetry. The musical we saw last night at The Colony Theatre (FB) — correction, musical play — highlighted that missing half. The production, “Words by Ira Gershwin“, focused on the lesser known half of the Gershwins: Ira Gershwin. It was a wonderful production that not only had great music, but taught me a lot about someone I had only viewed in juxtaposition to his brother. It is well worth seeing.

The structure of Words by Ira Gershwin is very simple. The author, Joseph Vass, uses the simple approach of having Ira Gershwin (Jake Broder (FB)) tell his story, with the songs being illustrated by a talented crooner (Elijah Rock (FB)) and chanteuse (Angela Teek (FB)). This structure (at least in my memory) reminded me a lot of the wonderful Ain’t Misbehavin’ — a simple structure that illustrated the songs and told the story, without trying to construct an artificial scaffold or being a random jukebox.

The order of presentation was sometimes chronological, and sometimes not. This was perhaps my only quibble with the show. At the end, when Ira related the death of his brother, I was left waiting for the rest of the story. It wasn’t made clear that many of the collaborations discussed in the show — such as those with Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, and Harold Arlin, occured after George‘s death. The brief mention (in passing) of other contributors to the Great American Songbook — in particular, Irving Berlin, George Cohan, and Cole Porter — made me wonder whether there was any interaction between them. It is hard to believe their circles never crossed.

Still, the information presented about Gershwin was often new to me. I enjoyed the observations about lyrics and poetry, and the difficulty of fitting lyrics to established music. I found the observation about how music conveys mood and lyrics convey meaning, and the importance of the two together, to be quite astute. I had never really looked at Ira Gershwin in isolation from his brother, and this production prompted me to go out and pick up some of Gershwin’s collaborations with other composers.

This is one of those productions that I believe could have life beyond the mid-size Los Angeles stage. Given the similar structure to Ain’t Misbehavin’, the past success of musicals exploring other popular composer and lyricist catalogs, and the familiarity of Gershwin’s music… this one might be doable on a larger (read “Broadway”) stage.

The performances in this show were spectacular — both the actors and the musicians. Acting first :-). Broder’s portrayal of Gershwin created the character. He had the look of Ira Gershwin down perfectly. His singing voice was not perfection, but the imperfections made his portrayal of the lyricist even more realistic (you know this to be true if you’ve ever listened to performances of Cy Coleman, Sheldon Harnick, Fred Ebb, and even Irving Berlin. With the exception of Adolph Green, there’s a reason they weren’t on the stage.) You quickly accepted that this bespecticled accented man was a simple lyricist, content to write poetry, fit words to music, and be in the shadow of his more famous younger brother.

Supporting Broder’s Gershwin were Rock and Teek as the crooner and chanteuse, respectively. Neither were particular characters with backstories and such. They were there to sing. But they brought something extra through little interactions with Broder’s Gershwin, each other, and the members of the band that gave them appealing personalities. It was these little touches — which I’ll credit to the director, David Ellenstein, who originated the show at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach — that brought needed warmth to the production. Both Rock and Teek had wonderful voices; Rock’s was recently spotlighted in a concert performance at the Colony (and we saw Teek when she was in Ray Charles Live at the Pasadena Playhouse).

Another “performer” was the onstage band, consisting of Kevin Toney (FB) (Piano/Conductor), Terry Wollman (FB) (Electric and Acoustic Guitar); John B. Williams (Bass), and Greg Webster (Drums). They were spectacular music-wise, and the production provided each of them with a chance for a short solo spot. They also had interactions with the performers, and you clearly got the sense that there was fun on this stage — they liked each other, and they loved the music and the songs. This joyfulness came across to the audience and served to amplify the entire production. Well done.

Rounding out the performance and performance support side: Kevin Toney (FB) also served as music director; with the author, Joseph Vass, as musical arranger (and source for recorded piano performances). There was no specific credit for choreography, so presumably the movement was designed by the director, David Ellenstein. Whoever designed it, it worked well — in particular, Rock’s wonderful and unexpected tap number. Rebecca Eisenberg was the Production Stage Manager.

Turning to technical side: The scenic design by David Potts was very simple: a comfy chair, a light and table, a step-up area for the band, and a backdrop for projections. Simple, but it worked. The sound design by Drew Dalzell (FB) did what it was supposed to do: convey the sound well, although the directionality of the recorded piano had you turning your head to figure out why it was behind you. Similarly, the lighting by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) conveyed the mood well, although the color transitions of the scrollers were clearly noticeable and slightly distracting. The costume design by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) worked reasonably well, although my wife found some of Teek’s costumes to be overly clingy when they would have looked better looser. Properties and set dressing were by John McElveney (FB). Scenic art was by Orlando de la Paz. Amy Lieberman was the casting director. The Colony is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

“Words by Ira Gershwin” has been extended for one week; it now ends on May 24. You can purchase tickets through the Colony Website, or by calling the theatre at (818) 558-7000. Discount tickets through Goldstar are currently sold out; only full price tickets are available through LA Stage Tix. The show is well worth seeing.

I Love 99 Notes. The Colony Theatre is one of those success stories: A 99 seat theatre that was able to grow into a contract house that pays AEA rates to AEA actors. It took a strong subscriber base and support from the City of Burbank to do this. Before the show, I spoke to Barbara Beckley about the current battle. We both agreed that Los Angeles audiences, trained by discounters such as Goldstar, will not pay for intimate theatre at rates that would permit the wages AEA wants. We also discussed the importance of bringing in all stakeholders (including audiences) and how do we draw younger audiences to the theatre and turn them into subscribers. Los Angeles needs a solution that works for Los Angeles. Los Angeles needs a solution that actually builds an audience that will financially support AEA contracts, and a solution that builds shows that are able to move on from the intimate theatre incubators to contract shows. We need to work together to find the solution, not impose one from above that doesn’t fit.

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: Later today, we’re off to see a movie: It’s Mother’s Day, and my wife wants to see the Jim Parson’s animated movie “Home”. Next weekend brings “Dinner with Friends” at REP East (FB), and may also bring “Violet: The Musical” at the Monroe Forum Theatre (FB) (I’m just waiting for them to show up on Goldstar). The weekend of May 23 brings Confirmation services at TAS, a visit to the Hollywood Bowl, and “Love Again“, a new musical by Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ, at the Lonny Chapman Group Rep (FB). The last weekend of May brings “Entropy” at Theatre of Note (FB) on Saturday, and “Waterfall“, the new Maltby/Shire musical at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on Sunday. June looks to be exhausting with the bounty that the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB) brings (ticketing is now open). June starts with a matinee of the movie Grease at The Colony Theatre (FB), followed by Clybourne Park (HFF) at the Lounge Theatre (FB) on Saturday, and a trip out to see the Lancaster Jethawks on Sunday. The second weekend of June brings Max and Elsa. No Music. No Children. (HFF) at Theatre Asylum (FB) and Wombat Man (HFF) at Underground Theatre (FB) on Saturday, and Marry Me a Little (HFF) by Good People Theatre (FB) at the Lillian Theatre (FB) on Sunday. The craziness continues into the third weekend of June, with Nigerian Spam Scam Scam (HFF) at Theatre Asylum (FB) and Merely Players (HFF) at the Lounge Theatre (FB) on Saturday, and Uncle Impossible’s Funtime Variety & Ice Cream Social, (HFF) at the Complex Theatres (FB) on Sunday (and possibly “Matilda” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) in the afternoon, depending on Hottix availability, although July 4th weekend is more likely). The Fringe craziness ends with Medium Size Me, (HFF) at the Complex Theatres (FB) on Thursday 6/25 and Might As Well Live: Stories By Dorothy Parker (HFF) at the Complex Theatres (FB) on Saturday. June ends with our annual drum corps show in Riverside on Sunday. July begins with “Murder for Two” at the Geffen Playhouse (FB) on July 3rd, and possibly Matilda. July 11th brings “Jesus Christ Superstar” at REP East (FB). The following weekend is open, although it might bring “As You Like It” at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) (depending on their schedule and Goldstar). July 25th brings “Lombardi” at the Lonny Chapman Group Rep (FB), with the annual Operaworks show the next day. August may bring “Green Grow The Lilacs” at Theatricum Botanicum (FB), the summer Mus-ique show, and “The Fabulous Lipitones” at The Colony Theatre (FB). After that we’ll need a vacation! 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1767120.html

userpic=colony The last two weekends have been busy with theatre in Beautiful Downtown Burbank: starting with “Inside Out” at the GTC last weekend, the beautiful “Closer Than Ever” at Hollywood Piano yesterday afternoon, and concluding with “The Road to Appomattox” at The Colony Theatre (FB) last night. The contrast between these three productions is interesting, and shows the value of subscribing to a venue in addition to buying tickets. Closer Than Ever was a revival; something I’d see before in 1992 — I knew the company producing it, and wanted to see it again. Inside Out came from producers I know and from writers I know — both known quantities, reducing my risk of a bad show. The Road to Appomattox, however, wasn’t my choice. I chose to subscribe to the Colony, and trust their artistic director to bring me shows I might not have seen. Colony does this well — almost every show is a premier in some way — LA, West Coast, or National. That means there is the risk I might not like it. Usually, I do.

Alas, last night I ended up a bit more on the lukewarm side. Let me describe the show first, and then I’ll tell you why I had that feeling.

The Road to Appomattox (written by Catherine Bush) is a time jumping show. There are two story threads. The first concerns General Robert E. Lee in the week before his surrender to U.S. Grant in April 1865. He is on the trail with his aide-de-camp, Col. Walter Taylor moving from Richmond to Appomattox. During this trip he is increasingly faced with defeat of the troops around him, until he must come to an ultimate decision: surrender, or move to unethical guerrilla fighting. He repeatedly gets and sends dispatches to President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, and to other officers, through Captain Russell. The parallel story takes place in the present day. Steve “Beau” Weeks and his wife, Dr. Jenny Weeks, are on a historical tour of the Appomattox trail. “Beau” has recently discovered his great great grandfather’s civil war cap and haversack, and a note in code. He is trying to find more about his heroic relative (in his eyes), and has numerous interactions with Chip, an expert in Civil War history who can decode the note. When the note is decoded it pushes Beau over the edge, and it (combined with events in his life) push him to a similar decision as Lee had to face, at the very same place.

As you can see, time is a central concern of this show. Time is also a central problem of the show. Walking out of the show, my wife and I felt that the show was both too slow and too fast. It was too slow in that at points the story seemed to take forever to get out and move forward. It was too fast in the scene changes, where the people from one time were bumping into the other characters in their rush to get on and off. On the drive home, we discussed the show some more and realized that the problems wasn’t too fast or two slow, the problem was whether it was white with gold stripes, or blue with black stripes. Wait, that’s not right. Oh, the problem was whether there was too little story and if they timed it right there would be nothing there, or whether there was too much story.

What we concluded was that the answer was — just like the dress — that both were correct. The story and drama of Lee’s retreat from Richmond to Appomattox would make a great play — there’s loads of character growth, drama, and bathos. Similar, the story of the Weeks and the dilemma they face in their marriage, and how they sort through it and move beyond it, would make a great play — again, there’s loads of character growth, drama, and bathos. The problem is that — in the urge to take the parallel nature of these stories and beat us over the head with it by combining them — they made an final version of the story that looks tasty but is ultimately a little less nutritious and filling than desired. That doesn’t mean the story is bad or badly performed — you just end up wishing there was more substance and that the chef hadn’t attempted just quite that fusion.

I’ll note that some of this might be the problem of the director, Brian Shnipper (FB). The director is in charge of the timing of the play, and so had the responsibility to catch and work on these problems. I noted before the problems created during the scene changes where the people from the present day would almost bump into the people from 1865 and vice verse. This should have been fixed during rehearsal; similarly, he should have caught where the story advancement was dragging and worked to correct it.

Luckily for the Colony, the weak story is offset, as usual, by strong performances. In the 1865 tier we had Bjørn Johnson (FB) as General Robert E. Lee, Shaun Anthony (FB) as Colonel Water Taylor, and Tyler Pierce (FB) as Captain Russell. Johnson gave a very strong performance as Lee — you could see him wrestling with the problems that command brings, and being weighted down by it. You could also see his divided loyalties — Lee was a US Army officer before he joined the CSA — and he joined not because he believed in secession, but because he would not take up arms against Virginia. Anthony provided a good counterbalance to Johnson’s Lee, illustrating how the war affected those around the upper officer echelon. More on Pierce in a minute…

In the 2015 tier we had Brian Ibsen (FB) as Steve “Beau” Weeks, Bridget Flanery (FB) as Dr. Jenny Weeks, and Tyler Pierce (FB) as Dr. Chip Eberhardt, a motorcycle riding civil war historical expert. Ibsen did an excellent job of protraying a ~~foamer~~ buffy — which was Eberhardt’s term for a Civil War Buff. [I can hear Lincoln saying to US Grant, “You’re quite a civil war buff, aren’t you?”] He clearly portrayed a man obsessed with a subject clearly to distract him from issues he didn’t want to face. Pierce made a good foil: initially as a professor seemingly hitting on his wife and later as a hostage. I’ll note its odd looking back and seeing that Pierce was the male lead — the Reform Jew — in the Colony’s last show, Handle With Care. It shows the quality of that actor. Flanery was caught in the middle, stuck in a role whose primary characteristic was to be exasperated and to silently scream.

Even with a weak story, Colony normally excels with the technical. Alas, here too there were slight problems. The sound design by Dave Mickey (FB) was good and provided wonderful battle effects. Similarly, the lighting by Dave Mickey (FB) conveyed the mood well and made the battle effects pop. However… the scenic design of David Potts was not up to his usual standards. Colony sets are usually sturdy and realistic. This set flexed and creaked, and made you wonder about its safety. My guess is that they were a bit ambituous on the set, and in an attempt to create a single set that was civil war focused, they lost something. The costumes by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) mostly worked — the dual casting of Pierce as a character that wore blue jeans led to the odd juxtaposition of his playing a confederate officer in a dark blue outfit. Ummm, that’s the other side, last I looked. John McElveney (FB) did the props, including an excellent drop desk. Scenic art was by Orlando de la Paz, who has been a busy busy person, having also done the scenic arts for Threepenny Opera . Leesa Freed (FB) was the production stage manager. The Colony is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

“The Road to Appomattox” continues at The Colony Theatre (FB) through March 15. Tickets are available through the Colony website; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar and LA Stage Tix. This show is worth seeing if you’re into Civil War history. For me, although I don’t think this was a waste of time, I enjoyed Closer Than Ever down the street much much more.

In her artistic director’s note, Barbara Beckley talks about the history of the Colony Theatre and where it is today. She noted how Colony started in 1975 an under 99 seat theatre near Silver Lake, and remained that way for 20 years, growing the subscriber base to over 3,000. She noted that there are so many 99-seat theatres in Los Angeles because “professional theatre actors are members of Actors’ Equity Association, and are not permitted to work in theatre without an Equity contract that establishes wages and benefits. Except where the theatre seats fewer than 100 people, in which case Equity waives the requirement for a contract. There is no pay for rehearsals, a small stipend for performances, and no benefits. Producing theatre is never easy, but those economics make it a lot less hard.”. She went on to note that her dream was for The Colony to be in a theatre large enough to pay its actors actual wages and meaningful benefits. The size of their loyal audience, and the generosity of the City of Burbank in providing them with a 270-seat home, made it possible.

This shows what the current 99 seat theatre approach can bring to Los Angeles County. It can provide the opportunity for small theatres to grow into big theatres. The Colony isn’t the only example; there are other ensembles that have similarly grown in size. The Colony is also an example of the downside: they cannot take real chances on their shows — with the budgets of Colony shows, they cannot afford to have a failure and must go with the safe and comfortable. They must also severely limit the size of the show — only rarely do they produce a show with more than 4-5 players. It is just out of their budget.

99 seat theatre is vital to provide the environment to experiment, the freedom to attempt to grow a subscriber base (something a commercial venue rarely has). It provides the avenue for actors to train and stretch their theatrical muscles. The current AEA proposal, if approved as is, may destroy that by severely restricting the ability of our best non-profit 99 seat houses to use Equity actors. What can you do to stop it? If you are an Equity member, I urge you to study the issue at the iLove 99 website (FB) and hopefully vote “no”. If you are a non-Equity actor, producer, or other creative, I urge you to let your Equity friends know about this, and to educate your professional groups about the issue — and to take a stand. For us audience members, you need to be aware that the 99-seat theatre you love (and can afford) is threatened. Spread the words, and let the actors know you support their working in 99 seat theatre. Let them know you will follow good acting and good performance at whatever venue it is made. As this show points out: sitting on the edge is going nowhere. Read and make a decision, and let your decision be known. #Pro99 #LAThtr #ILove99

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: Next weekend has no theatre, due to other commitments (the MRJ Man of the Year dinner on March 7, and a Purim Carnival at TAS the next day). Theatre in March starts the next weekend with “Carrie: The Musical” at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) on March 14, a “Drowsy Chaperone” at CSUN on Friday March 20, “Doubt” at REP East (FB) on Saturday March 21, “Newsies” at the Pantages (FB) on March 28, followed by Pesach and the Renaissance Faire on April 11. 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. We may also work in “After the Revolution” at the Chance Theatre (FB). 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 “Beer for Breakfast” at REP East (FB). The weekend of May 23 brings Confirmation services at TAS, 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) and “Waterfall“, the new Maltby/Shire musical at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB). June is equally crazy, as we’ve got the Hollywood Fringe Festival amongst other things. 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1756715.html

userpic=colony In the last two weeks, announcements have come out regarding the upcoming seasons at two theatres I frequent. I thought I would share them with you:

** The Colony Theatre, Burbank **

The Colony Theatre (FB) (where we subscribe) is a mid-size house that prides itself on using only Equity actors and paying Equity wages. Colony just sent me their season announcement for 2015-2016:

The Fabulous Lipitones by John Markus and Mark St. Germain. Germain is a favorite playwright at the Colony; I’ve seen a number of his shows there. This one sounds interesting: A barbershop quartet who’s been belting out close harmonies for twenty years suddenly loses its lead singer. The three surviving members must cease their bickering and race to find a replacement. They hear a tenor with a gorgeous voice, but when he shows up he’s a dark-skinned Indian in a turban who is also an illegal immigrant… and one of the quartet is Archie Bunker. West Coast Premiere. July 25 – August 23, 2015.
Mrs. A. Lincoln by John Dayton. Toward the end of her life, Mary Todd Lincoln (Patty Duke) shares her stories and memories with (unseen) reporters. World Premiere. September 19 – October 18, 2015.
Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones. 35-year-old Felix Humble is a bumbling Cambridge astrophysicist who cannot stumble across a garden hose without using it to illustrate the finer points of string theory before twisting it into a noose. He returns home to his bee keeping father’s funeral, only to discover his difficult and domineering mother in the arms of another man. West Coast Premiere. November 7 – December 13, 2015.
The Best of Enemies by Mark St. Germain. Ann, an African-American civil rights activist, and C.P., the Exalted Cyclops of the KKK are forced to work together by the federal government to achieve integration in their small North Carolina town fifteen years after Brown v. Board of Education. West Coast Premiere. February 13 – March 13, 2016.
Another Roll of the Dice. Book by Mark Saltzman, Music by Frank Loesser. Based on the stories by Damon Runyon. A new musical, seemingly in the world of Guys and Dolls. World Premiere. April 16 – May 15, 2016.

All in all, a pretty exciting season. I’m looking forward to it.

** The Pantages Theatre, Hollywood **

userpic=broadwayla On Monday, the Pantages Theatre also announced its upcoming 2015-2016 season. I don’t subscribe to the Pantages (FB), but go when there are particular shows of interest. There wasn’t much in the 2014-2015 season. This one is better:

Annie. This is the new US National Tour of the show. There was some controversy about this production — note that this is not the slightly revised version that was recently on Broadway, but a remounting of the original version with a non-Equity tour cast directed by Charnin. Although I enjoy the show I’ve seen it a number of times, and unless there’s something new and novel, there are better choices for my ticket dollar. October 13 – November 1, 2015.
If/Then. This is the new Idena Menzel musical that just closed on Broadway. I doubt we’ll get Idina, but I go to a show for the story, not the performer. The music is good and the story is an interesting one about the paths one choses in life (it is not, as its title might imply, a musical about a programmer who falls in love). This is one that I want to see. Written by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. December 8, 2015 – January 3, 2016.
Bullets Over Broadway. This is the musicalization of the Woody Allen film, written by Allen. The score consists of jazz and popular standards of the years between World War I and about 1930 by various songwriters. I’ve heard the music, and I really like it. It didn’t do well on Broadway, possibly because of the association with Allen. January 5 – January 24, 2016.
Dirty Dancing — The Classic Story on Stage. This is the North American Tour of this never-on-Broadway show. It appears to use movie songs and movie choreography. It may be classic, but I have no desire to see it. Footloose: The Musical would have been better. February 2 – February 21, 2016.
The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible. This is billed as “a mind-blowing spectacular that showcases seven of the most incredible illusionists on earth”. It had a short Broadway run. Doesn’t really excite me. Now, if they were to bring back Stephen Schwartz’ The Magic Show, that would be something different. But then again, who is today’s equivalent of Doug Henning? . February 23 – March 13, 2016.
42nd Street. The old chestnut. Saw a great production of this at Cabrillo; no need to see again. This is obviously (because the Pantages only books Tours and Special Events) a non-equity tour. Leave it for the tourists. May 31 – June 19, 2016.
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. This was a big Tony winner. I’ve heard the music on this one and I really like it. It also got great reviews and a thumbs up from Carole King. I’ll see this. June 22 – July 17, 2016.
Cabaret. The Pantages is the wrong venue if they are trying the new revival; most likely, this is a non-equity tour [Correction: This is the new Roundabout Theatre version. Given that version was designed for a much smaller and intimate venue, it is just going to have difficulty connecting in the cavernous Pantages.] What’s the point. Want to see Cabaret? Go to Crown City and see the endless run there. July 19-Aug. 7, 2016.

Note: The Center Theatre Group has not announced its season, but the rumors look promising. I’ve already heard that Little Dancer (Ahrens, Flaherty) is coming to LA. Other rumored shows might be A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Bridges of Madison County, or Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

** Other Upcoming Shows of Interest **

userpic=theatre_tickets Ellen Dostal’s Musicals in LA highlighted one additional upcoming musical of interest:

The critically acclaimed Off-Broadway musical Inside Out will celebrate its 20-year anniversary at the Grove Theatre Center (FB) in Burbank, Feb. 12 – March 22 (opening night Feb. 14). Bruce Kimmel will direct the musical written by Doug Haverty (book & lyrics) and Adryan Russ (lyrics & music). A women’s therapy group, headed by group leader, Grace (Cynthia Ferrer), is transformed forever when former singing star Dena (Leslie Stevens) joins the group and winds up being a catalyst for change in the lives of Sage (Adrienne Visnic), a flower child; Liz (Sandy Bainum), a powerful businesswoman who has problems balancing work and home; Chlo (Stephanie Fredricks), a gay bank employee and single mom; and Molly (Dana Mellor), a mother of two young children who is dealing with weight and work issues. A portion of proceeds from the production will go to the 1983-founded Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation; an “army of women” dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer and how to stop it before it starts. www.dslrf.org. Tickets: (323) 960-1055 or www.plays411.com/insideout. This was partially funded by an Indiegogo campaign.

This one I may look into, especially as Chavez Ravine at the Kirk Douglas seems to be sold out on Goldstar and Hottix, and I’m looking for something for Saturday, February 21. Additionally, this page makes it appear as if discount tickets will be available from the usual sources.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1751116.html

userpic=colony Normally, when I write up shows I’ve seen at the The Colony Theatre (FB), you’re getting the write-up just before the last show. That’s just because that’s when our season tickets happen to be. However, for the Colony’s current show, our season tickets are just before the start of the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference in New Orleans (you are going, aren’t you — advance registration closes November 14), so I had to change the date. Due to a busy theatre calendar, this means we saw the new Colony show “Handle With Care“‘s second performance. So, for a change, you can act upon my recommendation to go.

I should warn you that the advertising for “Handle With Care” (written by Jason Odell Williams (FB), directed by Karen Carpenter (FB)) is misleading. The elevator pitch advertising calls it a “Jewish Christmas Play”. Sorry, but the only real connection to Christmas is that it occurs on Christmas Eve, which really isn’t that major of a plot contrivance. The short description on the Colony website is just a little better:

Magic can happen in the unlikeliest places ─ like Christmas Eve in a seedy motel, where fate and bizarre circumstances bring together a young Israeli woman who has little command of English, and a young American man with little command of romance. Is their love an accident? Pure coincidence? Or is it destiny that’s been generations in the making? It’s a wonderful new play about love, communication, fate, and the importance of GPS-enabled tracking devices.

GPS-enabled tracking devices? C’mon, again, not a major plot point at all.

Let me give you a better description of the setup. Ayelet, a young Israeli woman with little English ability, has been convinced to visit America with her safta (grandmother in Hebrew), Edna. Edna wants Ayelet to visit America to get her over the depression from the loss of a long-term boyfriend (along with some other reasons, which reveal themselves during the story). After visiting a number of towns in Virginia, they end up in a seedy motel in Goodview, VA. Shortly after arriving, Edna dies, and Ayelet makes arrangement to ship her body back to Israel. She contacts DHQ, a shipping service, and they send Terrence, one of their drivers, to pick up Ayelet and take her and the body to the airport to fly back to Israel. While waiting for Ayelet to pack, Terrence goes out to fuel the truck… and loses the box containing the body. All of the above you learn during flashbacks during the story. When the story opens, however, you just have Ayelet distraught and upset in rapid-fire Hebrew, and Terrence, who knows no Hebrew at all, trying to explain what happens. To help him, he calls in his Jewish-but-Secular friend Josh, because (of course) all Jews know Israeli Hebrew fluently. Josh himself is coming off a bad loss — again, we learn the details during the play — and he thinks Terrence is trying to set him up.

OK. Now. You have the setup. You have the short description. Ready. Set. Go.

Now that you know the story but not all the twists, let’s assess the story. There are two ways to look at it. For audience members that know not of Jews (yes, they do exist in LA) or Israelis (yes, they too do exist in LA), a lot of this play will go over their heads. They’ll be confused by the Hebrew, they won’t get some of the Jewish jokes or the jokes about Israel. Still, they’ll be amused by how the story plays out.

For folks like me in the audience, who know Judaism well, know a smattering of Hebrew, and know Israelis well — they’ll like the show ever more. From my little knowledge, the director (who also directed the show off Broadway) captures the Israeli mannerisms well. This may be because the lead actress, Charlotte Cohn (FB), not only played the role off-Broadway and is married to the playwright, but is also Israeli (and Danish).

Now, for folks that speak Hebrew fluently… I have no idea. My Hebrew isn’t that good; I’m at the level of Josh in the play (or worse). I’d be curious how well the Hebrew Ayelet speaks fits the story — the few words I could hear seemed to work.

In the end, what “Handle With Care” turns out to be is a very cute story about people finding love, perhaps where they didn’t expect it. However, what it isn’t is a Christmas story. Sure, it happens just before Christmas, serving to limit the availability of DHQ drivers. Sure, It’s a Wonderful Life is on the TV, but that’s just so people can impersonate Jimmy Stewart. There’s no real connection to the holiday; and certainly no clash of the holiday titans. Go to this show because you want to see a cute, Jewish/Israeli themed love story. Go to this play because you want to see a story that paints Israelis as real people — just like you and me.

As I’ve noted before, in the lead position was Charlotte Cohn (FB). Cohn knows this story well — she’s a Danish-Israeli Jew married to a “lapsed” Catholic-Protestant (the playwright). She brings a lot of fun and passion to the part — you can see she enjoys playing this character and bringing this young woman to life. She’s just fun to watch. Playing off her, as Josh, is Tyler Pierce (FB). Pierce gives off a very affable air that works well for the character; he’s believable as a relatively non-practicing Jew.

Rounding out the cast are Jeff Marlow (FB) as Terrence and Marcia Rodd (FB) as Edna. Marlow is fun to watch as Terrence — he radiates a youthful joy and innocence (or perhaps it is stupidity) that is both infectuous… and annoying to the other characters. He screwed up, is confronted by something and someone he doesn’t understand, and is grabbing for something to hold on to. Rodd’s Edna is the opposite: centered, strange, and clearly driven by some purpose that neither the audience (nor Ayelet) comprehends (until it is made clear in the second act :-)).

In short: this piece is well performed and directed.

Turning to the technical side: The scenic design by David Potts was very nice — we were sitting on the right side (as opposed to our usual center), and I appreciated that he had the attention to detail that was only visible to those on the side (i.e., real fixtures in the bathroom). Potts created an excellent run down motel set (aided by the properties and set dressing of John McElveney (FB) and scenic art by Orlando de la Paz). I also noted that he had different levels of snow on the roof of the motel depending on the particular day. The sound design by Drew Dalzell (FB) (based on an original design by Jill Du Boff (FB)) was also quite nice — I particularly enjoyed the use of Eli Eli in Act II and I’d love to find a copy of that recording. The lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) worked well to establish the mood, and the costumes by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) seemed to fit the characters. Mary K. Klinger (FB) was the production stage manager. The Colony is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

“Handle With Care” continues at The Colony Theatre (FB) through December 14, 2014. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

[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: November is busy, busy, busy. This week brings a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11, the Nottingham Festival (during the day) and “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) (in the evening) on Sat 11/15. I’m also seeing theatre when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26, starting with “Harvey” at Palo Alto Players (FB) in Palo Alto for Friday 11/21. That will be followed Saturday afternoon with “The Immigrant“ at Tabard Theatre (FB) in San Jose, and the Dickens Fair (FB) on Sunday in Daly City. Who knows, I might even squeeze in “Rhinocerous” at the UC Berkeley Theatre Department (FB). After I return, it is “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. As for December, I just ticketed “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20, and we’ll probably go see “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Nobel Middle School just before ACSAC. 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“. 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1737910.html

userpic=colony If there is a problem in the theatre today, it is the makeup of the audience. Go to most shows, and you’ll see the same type of audience — older, white, and typically better suited financially. None of these are particularly surprising, given who was trained to attend theatre when they were younger (i.e., in the 1950s and 1960s). Some theatres, playwrights, and artistic directors know how to change that — and I’m thinking of folks like Sheldon Epps over at the Pasadena Playhouse. They’ve mastered the art of the “black play” — that is, a play with something that draws out the African-American audience to the theatre. I’ve written before about how I believe this is a good thing — how, in fact, I wish that the audience for theatre in general was more reflective of society’s makeup. I’ve also bemoaned that the white audience seems to disappear for the perceived “black” plays, and black audience isn’t there for the “white” plays.

So what makes a successful “black” play or musical? To my eyes, there seems to be three varieties. There is the black play that draws on the uniquely black experience and uses that to teach. The Pasadena Playhouse has done loads of these, and you can often find them from playwrights such as August Wilson. The Colony had one recently in Breath and Imagination. Then there are those that draw on the black musical experience. A friend commented that the current musical “Motown” is like that. Then there are others that are just an everyday play with some slight story changes and an all-black cast. The current “Kiss Me Kate” revival at the Pasadena Playhouse is like that: it is the stock “Kiss Me Kate” placed in the milieu of 1920s black vaudeville. Other examples are the castings of “Guys and Dolls” or “Hello Dolly” with an all black cast. I ask all of this because last night we saw “What I Learned In Paris” by Pearl Cleage at The Colony Theatre (FB). This is obstensibly a “black play”: it is an all-black cast set in a significant time and place in black history. But there was no distinct color shift in the audience. Was this due to the play? The promotion? The fact that it was in Burbank?

I don’t really have the answers, alas. But I walked out of “What I Learned in Paris” thinking that the story itself was universal: with the exception of a few elements (mostly having to do with housing discrimination), this could have been the story about any election and the events that happened afterwards. In doing so, it made an important point: that there really is no difference. The black experience is often our experience. It was a good play; a fun play. The black-ness came from the cast and the setting, however, not as much the particular story. I was sad that the African-American theatregoing community in LA hadn’t discovered this play; our audience composition was the typical subscriber composition, and many of the seats on the sides were empty (as if the white single-purchase theatregoers normally drawn in weren’t, and the black single-purchase theatregoers weren’t drawn in). My only conclusion is a marketing one: the Colony simply may not know how to get the word out about its shows to the potential African-American audience. This is too bad: if theatre is to grow and survive, it must draw in the younger audience, draw more minorities to the live theatre experience, and do stories reflective of the world today (the Colony’s recent “Year Zero” was a great example of this, looking at the Hmong commuity).

Is “What I Learned in Paris” a black play? Set in Atlanta in 1972, right after the election of the first African-American mayor of any major city (Maynard Jackson), Paris concerns itself not with the pivotal events of the election and campaign, but the immediate post-election lives of his campaign staff. There are five main characters: J.P. Madison, an older lawyer working on the campaign; his first wife, Eve Madison; his second wife Ann Madison; another lawyer on staff John Nelson, and another staffer who worked on the get out the vote effort, Lena Jefferson. As the story opens in Eve Madison’s place (which was being used as campaign headquarters), J.P., Ann, Lena, and John are celebrating Jackson’s election. We quickly learn the nature of the characters, and that John is secretly in love with Ann, and was just waiting for the election to be over so she could divorce J.P. and be with him. The two major plot complications then appear. First, Eve Madison returns from San Francisco creating tension between J.P. and all. She wants to return to Atlanta and start hosting salons and parties to bring the diverse separate communities of Atlanta together, and to do this she wants to buy a house in Buckhead, an upscale white community near the Governor’s Mansion . Second, J.P. gets on the short list for city attorney. The latter brings to the front the fact that he never actually married Ann — they went to Vegas to get married, but never went through with it and have just been pretending for the last few months. J.P. asks Lena to find him a pastor who can discreetly perform the ceremony before the press finds out. You can see the collisions already on the horizon.

You’ll note that “Paris” is no where in the description above? The title refers to the time when Edie was in Paris just before she divorced J.P., when she realized that she had to know who she was first before she could do any form of relationship — as she put it, she had to be free enough to be able to enjoy eating in Paris alone. This becomes the pivotal point in the second act, when Eve volunteers her services and her townhouse to host J.P. and Ann’s wedding, which she’ll perform; prior to the ceremony, she’ll host a small bridal shower for Ann with just her and Lena.

From the description, you can see there is little distinctly black about this story, save for the campaign that brought everyone together, and the reaction of the upscale community to Evie wanting to purchase there. That, perhaps, is the wasted potential of this play. It had the opportunity to say more about this election and the impact on the community… and it didn’t. Thinking about it a bit more, the problem could be the fact that the election wasn’t all that pivotal. He wasn’t the first African-American mayor of a major city (that honor goes to Carl Stokes in Cleveland in 1967; he wasn’t the first African-American mayor of a southern city (that was Howard Lee in Chapel Hill NC in 1968). In fact — an more importantly for this production and this play — Jackson’s election was the same year as the election of Tom Bradley, the first African-American mayor of Los Angeles.

Still, despite these flaws, we thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was fun to watch, well performed, with some unexpected twists and turns. The director, Saundra McClain (FB), shaped the performances to be natural and to fit the characters well. These seemed like people you would enjoy knowing; they had little quirks and mannerisms that made them fun to watch.

The cast was great. There weren’t really tiers here — all roles were equal in significance. There were two groupings, however. The “Madison” grouping consisted of J.P. Madison (William C. Mitchell (FB)), his first wife Eve (L Scott Caldwell), and his second “wife” Ann (Joy Brunson (FB)). Mitchell played the pompous politician/lawyer well, and at points gave great hints of the compassionate man under the surface. Caldwell captured the free-spirit nature of Evie well. I had recently seen Brunson on Masters of Sex, and it was a delight to see her here. She initially seemed colder as a character, but near the end of the play you could see flashes of fun in the character as Evie drew her out of her political shell and back into herself.

The second groups, for lack of a better term, were the non-Madisons: Shon Fuller (FB) as John Nelson and Karan Kendrick (FB) as Lena Jefferson. Fuller (actually, his character) came across as young and headstrong, and confused about the love with Ann and how to deal with the fact that she was already married. Fuller portrayed this well. Kendrick’s Lena was that all knowing friend: she was in the middle holding things together; she conveyed quite a bit with an expression or look in reaction to an action.

In short, all five actors were great.

The technical side was up to the Colony’s usual excellence. The scenic design by Charles Erven captured the 1970s townhouse era well; this was aided by the properties and set dressing of John McElveney (FB), which was up to its usual excellent standards. The sound design of Dave Mickey (FB) provided great backround music, and the lighting design of Jared A. Sayeg (FB) was simple and effective. Scenic art was by Orlando de la Paz. The costumes by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) were beautiful and effective, and reflected that era well. Leesa Freed (FB) was the production stage manager.

“What I Learned in Paris” has one more week at The Colony Theatre (FB), closing on October 5th. Tickets are available through the Colony website; discount tickets are available on Goldstar and through the LA Stage Alliance.

Dining Notes: We tried someplace new for dinner: The Story Tavern, about 6 blocks (not counting the mall) from the theatre near Olive and San Fernando. In short: yum. I had a delightful beef stew, and they had loads of gluten-free goodies for Karen including Shepard’s Pie. Well worth trying, and we’ll be back.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: This afternoon brings “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB) on Sun 9/29. October currently has two shows (three if you count Yom Kippur on 10/4): “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) on Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF), and “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25. November is back to busy, with “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sun 11/9 (shifting to avoid ACSAC and opening night), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11, “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. I may also see some theatre when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26. Right now, I’m looking at “The Immigrant“ at Tabard Theatre (FB) in San Jose, “Harvey” at Palo Alto Players (FB) in Palo Alto, or “Rhinocerous” at the UC Berkeley Theatre Department (FB). As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente. 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1732056.html

userpic=colony What’s a young adult family’s worst nightmare? Losing your job? No, you can start over. How about your parents moving back in with you, to live, for an unspecified period of time? That’s truly scary. That’s also the basic premises of the comedy “Family Planning” by Michelle Kholos Brooks (FB) in its last weeks at The Colony Theatre (FB) in Burbank, which we saw last night.

“Family Planning” tells the story of Sidney (Dee Ann Newkirk (FB)) and Michael (Jack Sundmacher (FB)). Sidney is an artist who is working from home; Michael is an unspecified businessman who has recently quit his regular job to start a new Internet business. They have the freedom to do this because, after Sidney’s parent’s divorced, they didn’t sell the family house in Westchester County, NY. Instead, after renting it for a bit, they offered it to Sidney and Michael to live in. However, there appear to be strings. After some setbacks (which I won’t disclose because they are part of the humor), Sidney’s father, Larry (Bruce Weitz) has moved back in with them. After years of being a hard-driving businessman, Larry has gotten into yoga and all that goes with it. As the story begins, Sidney and Michael are attempting to have a little, ummm, adult fun in the living room while the “visitor” in the back of the house is asleep. They are interrupted (because, as Teenagers from Outer Space notes, sex isn’t funny, but frustration is) by a knock at the door. It is Diane (Christina Pickles (FB)), Sidney’s mother, who has suddenly come back home leaving her 2nd husband behind in Birmingham AL. At this point, Larry comes out, and the two of them start going at it tooth and nail.

That’s the setup, and there are loads and loads of humorous details as the story swiftly (90 minutes, no intermission) moves towards its resolution. I won’t spoil the story with the details, but suffice it to say that the situation rang true. We’re currently dealing with a parent in assisted living, and we could just imagine the horror if she had to move in with us. I know others in the same situation… so much so that I truly appreciated the line “You’re truly sexy when you’re thinking homicidal thoughts about your parents.”.

Normally, I don’t laugh out loud at shows — even comedies. Often the comedy is predictable, or the jokes are mundane or obvious. This show was different: there were numerous laugh-out-loud moments with unexpected twists and turns. The ending, of course, is predictable: the situation must be reconciled. The journey to get there is a hoot. Cameron Watson (FB), the director, did an excellent job at keeping the story moving forward, and making the characters behave and interact in a realistic fashion. There wasn’t a minute where I felt the show was dragging.

As I noted, the performances were quite believable — and you could tell the actors were having fun with this. Dee Ann Newkirk (FB) and Jack Sundmacher (FB) were a believable couple with good chemistry; the nuances of their behavior made this very believable. Bruce Weitz and Christina Pickles (FB) were also believable as the parents. For the most part, their behavior was also belivable; alas, there were a few line hesitations that shouldn’t have been there the penultimate week of the run. They weren’t enough to be a problem, but they were like the occasional “pop” in a vinyl LP — just a little distracting.

The scenic design was spectacular. David Potts outdid himself in creating a believable suburban house (with supporting scenic art by Orlando de la Paz. John McElveney (FB), as usual, did the set dressing and properties design, and I felt bad at the quantities of props this show must go through (and the clean up afterwards). The costume design was by Kate Bergh, and seemed to reflect that age and disposition of the people wearing them. The sound design was by Steven Cahill (FB), who outdid himself with the wonderful scene-interstitial music. Lighting was by the resident Colony lighting designer, Jared A. Sayeg (FB), and established the mood quite well. Dale Alan Cooke (FB) was the Production Stage Manager.

“Family Business” continues at the Colony for one more week, until August 10th. Tickets are available from the Colony Box Office online.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: August continues 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). I’m also thinking about a new musical, “It Happened in Roswell: An Intergalactic Musical” at the No Ho Arts Center on Sunday, 8/17. The following weekend we’ll be on vacation in Escondido, where there are a number of potential productions… out of the many available, we have picked “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe on Sunday, 8/24, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town on Wednesday, 8/27. I’ll note that what they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads and underwhelming. August will end with “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” at REP East (FB). September is filling out. So far, the plans include “Earth/Quaked starring Savion Glover” as part of Muse/ique in Pasadena on Sun 9/7, “Moon Over Buffalo” (Goldstar) at the GTC in Burbank on Sat 9/13, “Bat Boy: The Musical” at CSUN for the Friday night before Slichot (9/19), “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB) on Sun 9/21, “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 9/27. October, so far, only has one show: “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25, although I’m looking at “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) for either Sat 10/11 or Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF). November is back to busy, with dates held or ticketed for “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 11/8 (shifting to avoid ACSAC), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11, “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1724416.html

userpic=colony Today is Mothers Day. Some people honor their mothers. Some people cherish their mothers. Others just tolerate their mothers, and some have outright hatred for their mothers. However, in general, the normal loving family is, well, boring. You want interest, bring on the dysfunction. Bring on the obsessions. Bring on the hatreds. The entertainment industry knows this. When was the last time you saw a completely normal functional family on television? The Waltons, perhaps? Similarly, in the theatre, we like to watch dysfunctional families. They are at the heart of many of the best comedies (including quite a few we’ve seen recently, such as “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike“, “God of Carnage“, and many more. But the disfunctional family is nothing new. James Goldman‘s 1966 play, “The Lion in Winter” (currently at the Colony Theatre in Burbank) is about one such family.

“The Lion in Winter” tells the story of King Henry II and the Christmas Court in Chinon in 1183. Henry has released his queen, Eleanor of Aquataine, from her imprisonment for the holidays. The story focuses on the battle between Henry, Eleanor, and their three sons — Richard the Lionhearted, Geoffrey, and John — for who will be the next King of England. Henry wants John, a foolish young man to succeed him; Eleanor wants Richard, and Geoffrey… just wants to be noticed. Added into the mix is Alais, the King’s mistress and fiancee of Richard, and Philip, the young King of France, who wants the marriage to take place immediately. The play centers around all the sniping and intrigue that goes along with such succession battles — especially battles where each of the principals has a love/hate relationship with each of the other principals, and each has the rhetorical dagger at the ready to slash at those who are currently not favored.

This is a play whose story is loaded with humorous dialogue, fury, history, anger and betrayal… but ultimately leaves one with an empty feeling. Although the performances are glorious, one wonders at the end what growth has occurred in the characters. Henry certainly hasn’t grown — his feelings for Eleanor haven’t changed and she is going back to prison. He is more disillusioned in his sons than before, but still realizes that he will need to choose whichever is the lesser of the evils. The sons themselves haven’t changed from their stereotypes: Richard is still quick to make war; Geoffrey is still the schemer; and John is still the fool. Eleanor hasn’t changed: she still wants her son Richard on the throne, and is reconciled to a continual battle with Henry. Alais is still the mistress, but recognizes her role as pawn. Perhaps Philip is the only one who has matured. With no ultimate character growth, and no clear point to be made, this is 2½ hours of witty dialogue, signifying very little other than the chance for some great actors to have fun with the words.

Have fun they do. In the lead positions are two strong players, Ian Buchanan (FB) as Henry II and Mariette Hartley as Eleanor of Aquataine. These two come off as appropriately regal, and have an excellent way of using the nuance of phrasing to bring out the knives. Their sparring is fun to watch. This should be no surprise: Hartley is a master at witty repartee given the right foil, and Buchanan serves well in this stead.

The younger contingent are no slouches either. Henry and Eleanor’s sons are played by Brendan Ford (Richard), Doug Plaut (FB) (John), and Paul Turbiak (FB) (Geoffrey). Each portrays each brother with the broad brush required by the story: Richard as the brash warrior who thirsts to be king; John as the foolish young man who delights in teasing others that he is Henry’s chosen to be king; and Geoffrey as the schemer behind the scenes who really just wants to be noticed for his talents. They are all played well. As Alais, Justine Hartley (FB) (Mariette’s daughter) plays well off of Buchanan and her mother; her interactions with the others are more limited. Perhaps the most interesting portrayal is Paul David Story as Philip. Story captures the young French king well — initially seeming naive in his youth, but hiding quite a bit of inner strength that comes out later in the story.

In non-speaking roles are Desa Julia Ilic (FB), Shannon O’Hara/FB, and Nick Vogels/FB as the castle servants. It was a surprise and delight to see Shannon on the stage — we’ve known her for quite a few years. Shannon is the younger sister of one of our daughter’s good friends. She’s currently at LACHSA, and it was just wonderful to see her on the stage. We waited afterwards to talk to her — the director was one of her high school teachers and chose her for this production, and she’s earning points towards an equity card from this. This is one of the benefits of Colony and how they treat their actors, and we’re glad that Shannon is getting this career boost.

The production was directed by Stephanie Vlahos, who kept the story moving alone. As I’ve said many times, in a good production it is difficult to see where the direction ends and the actor begins; that was the case here.

The scenic design by David Potts was a suitably drafty and old castle, with the requisite tapestries to hide behind, the stone blocks, the candles, and such. Costume design was by Kate Bergh and seemed appropriate for the character; whether they were appropriate for the period was harder to judge, but hey, this is theatre. Jared A. Sayeg (FB) did the lighting with the usual high quality, and Drew Dalzell (FB)’s sound design provided the appropriate sound effects and music. Properties were by John McElveney (FB). Dale Alan Cooke (FB) was the stage manager.

“The Lion in Winter” plays for one more weekend (i.e., until May 18). It’s a fun show if you like to watch dysfunctional families in history. Tickets are available through the Colony Box Office; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar or LA Stage Tix. The Colony Theatre is also having a Costume and Prop Sale the weekend of May 30; this also includes some signed posters by Ray Bradbury for The Martian Chronicles. The Colony Theatre has also announced the 2014-2015 season. The season consists of 5 shows: (♦) “Family Planning” by Michelle Kholos Brooks (July 12-August 10, 2014), a comedy about putting a lot of relatives in the same space (stated as a World Premiere, although it was done by PRT in 2012); (♦) “What I Learned in Paris” by Pearl Cleage, a comedy about lovers in Atlanta in 1973 (West Coast Premiere); (♦) “Handle With Care” by Jason Odell Williams, a story about “love, fate, and the importance of GPS-enabled tracking devices” (West Coast Premiere); (♦) “The Road to Appomattox” by Catherine Bush, a drama about Lee’s final retreat to Appomattox (West Coast Premiere), and “Words by: Ira Gershwin & The Great American Songbook” by Joseph Vass (lyrics by Ira Gershwin, Music by Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, and George Gershwin), a jukebox musical about Ira Gershwin (Los Angeles Premiere). Subscription prices run around $175 for the set of shows (at least for where we sit on a Saturday night). Subscription information for the season is here.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend brings both “Porgy and Bess” at the Ahmanson and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at REP East (FB). The next weekend brings the musical “Lil Abner” at LA City College (directed by Bruce Kimmel, with choreography by Kay Cole). The last weekend of May is currently unscheduled: Karen is helping Erin move, and there’s not that much calling to me from Goldstar. June is busy. It starts with a CDF Conference for Karen while I see “The Fantastiks” at Good People Theatre (FB). We lose the following weekend to a Bat Mitzvah. The remainder of the month brings “Stoneface: The Rise and Fall of Buster Keaton” at the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on June 22, and “I’m Not Just a Comic Genius” at Secret Rose (FB) on June 27. July will be busy: “Ghost” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/5, “Return to the Forbidden Planet” at REP East (FB) the weekend of 7/12, “Once” at the Pantages (FB) on 7/19, “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on 7/26, and “Family Planning” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on 8/2. August then remains quiet as we work around vacations and such, but things start to get busy again in September and October. More on that later. 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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1712699.html

userpic=colony Education is important. Sometimes it occurs during school hours, and sometimes after school. But the most important factor in the education is the teacher that is teaching it. [Well, and being able to pay for it, which is where the Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security comes in, but I digress.]

As I was saying, education and teachers are important. The play we saw at The Colony Theatre (FB) this afternoon (which should be seen by every English teacher we know, as well as everyone who is a grammar nazi), “Sex & Education“, addresses just that subject. It tells the story of an English teacher (Miss Edwards) who is tired of teaching; a teacher who is quitting the profession to go sell real estate. It also tells the story of a horny high-school basketball playing senior, Joe, who has accepted a scholarship to North Carolina to play college basketball. It is three days before graduation, and Miss Edwards is administering the final exam in her English class (which includes Joe). She’s looking forward to getting out of the school, and intends just to pass everyone. But then she catches Joe passing a note to Hannah, a cheerleader who is also Joe’s girlfriend. The note is confused mix of topics including insulting the teacher, the test, and asking Hannah to have sex with him under the bleachers, given that she has given him a blowjob before. It is riddled with obscenity, bad grammar, poor sentence construction, and much more. Miss Edwards she asks Joe to stay after the test. What happens next is every English teacher’s dream. She works with Joe to write a proper persuasive essay to get Hannah to overcome her reluctance and sleep with him. Naturally, Joe is reluctant, and the witty repartee as Miss Edward’s “schools” Joe is wonderful. Does Joe successfully persuade Hannah to “do the deed”? You’ll have to come to the show to find out.

“Sex & Education” was written by Lissa Levin, and it is clearly a love note to her teachers. Anyone who appreciates the importance of good writing (or who is dismayed at what passes for writing these days) will love this show. It not only teaches the difference between “lay” and “lie”; it emphasizes the importance of persuasion in getting “laid”. You’ll come out of this show not only entertained, but refreshed in English grammar. How many shows can say that?

The production was transparently directed by Andrew Barnicle (FB) who made his actors seem reasonably realistic. Miss Edwards was played by Stephanie Zimbalist (FB) with energy and enthusiasm. She seemed to be enjoying the teaching role, and handled the large amount of dialogue well (with only a few line blurbles). Playing her foil, Joe, was William Reinbold (FB). Reinbold had the height to be a realistic basketball player, and he came off convincingly young and horny. The third element of the equation was Hannah, played by Allison Lindsey (FB). For much of the show, she was relegated to the sidelines, acting the role of cheerleader. This bothered me, but luckily in the final scenes we got to see her much more as a real character, and this worked well.

The set was designed by Trefoni Michael Rizzi (FB), and it initially reminded me of Lysistrata Jones with the underlying basketball court and hoops on each end (although there was no basketball playing on stage). On top of the court was a large piece of college-ruled paper with a blackboard and desks that constituted the schoolroom. This worked very well. Properties were by John McElveney (FB). The costumes, by Dianne K. Graebner (FB), were appropriately high-school (basketball warm-up suit, cheerleading outfit) or stuck-up teacher. The lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) worked reasonably well, although sometimes the actors seemed to have to hunt out their lighting positions. The sound design of Drew Dalzell (FB) provided appropriate sound effects. Dale Alan Cooke (FB) was the stage manager. Barbara Beckley (FB), the artistic director for the Colony, was away and unable to do her normal announcements, so the new Colony Development Director, Karen Kendrick (FB), did them. I could swear that she was channeling Barbara — she had the mannerisms down pat! She did make one mistake, however: She said their next production, “The Lion in Winter“, was in August … when actually it is in May (see below for August).

As I noted when we saw MoonIE and Broon at the Colony in January, the Colony Theatre (FB) has announced the 2014-2015 season. The season consists of 5 shows: (♦) “Family Planning” by Michelle Kholos Brooks (July 12-August 10, 2014), a comedy about putting a lot of relatives in the same space (stated as a World Premiere, although it was done by PRT in 2012); (♦) “What I Learned in Paris” by Pearl Cleage, a comedy about lovers in Atlanta in 1973 (West Coast Premiere); (♦) “Handle With Care” by Jason Odell Williams, a story about “love, fate, and the importance of GPS-enabled tracking devices” (West Coast Premiere); (♦) “The Road to Appomattox” by Catherine Bush, a drama about Lee’s final retreat to Appomattox (West Coast Premiere), and “Words by: Ira Gershwin & The Great American Songbook” by Joseph Vass (lyrics by Ira Gershwin, Music by Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, and George Gershwin), a jukebox musical about Ira Gershwin (Los Angeles Premiere). Subscription prices run around $175 for the set of shows (at least for where we sit on a Saturday night). Subscription information for the current season is here; I suggest contacting the Box Office (boxoffice@colonytheatre.org) to be mailed information on the 2014-2015 season.

“Sex & Education” continues at the Colony Theatre through March 16, so you have two more weeks to catch. Do so; you’ll enjoy it. Tickets are available through the Colony Box Office; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar or LA Stage Tix.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend brings “Biloxi Blues” at REP East (FB) (moved from March 29). The weekend of March 16 brings Purim Schpiels, with Sunday afternoon bringing “Inherit the Wind” at the Grove Theatre Center (FB) in Burbank. March 22 brings “Harmony” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB), followed by “Author, Author: An Evening with Sholom Aleichem” at the Santa Monica Playhouse (FB) on March 23. The last weekend of March is open, and will likely stay that way as we’ll be exhausted. April starts with “In The Heights” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on April 5, and should also bring “Tallest Tree” at the Mark Taper Forum, as well as the Southern California Renaissance Faire. April may also bring “My Name is Asher Lev” at the Fountain Theatre (FB) (as this runs through April 19). Current planning for May shows “The Lion in Winter” at The Colony Theatre (FB), and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at REP East (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.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1700096.html

userpic=colony Most people don’t appreciate a good clown. They hear the word “clown”, and they instantly think of someone in whiteface, Emmet Kelley-style, who is out to eat them. But to me, the word “clown” conjures images of Red Skelton, a comic actor who just enjoyed the silly for the joy of being silly, and in doing so, brought laughter to the world. There are only a few clowns like that — masters of the art of being silly. We saw one of the last night.

Perhaps I should back up. For years, we have been going to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. One of the performers we enjoy seeing there is MooNiE (Phillip Earl Johnson (FB)). MooNiE is a pure clown, loving the silly for the silly. He typically works Faire with his partner Broon (Brian Howard (FB)). Broon is more of the straight-man for MooNiE (in terms of setting things up and reacting), but is a physical comedian in his own right. Together, they form MooNiE and Broon (FB). Recently, a friend of mine alerted me to the fact they were doing a show at The Colony Theatre (FB) in Burbank. Although this was a rental gig for the Colony, here was a chance to see two performers we love in a venue we love to support. This was especially important, as MooNiE will not be at Southern RenFaire this year. So last night saw us at the Colony, for what might be MooNiE’s last Southern California performance in 2014.

The show itself consisted of two acts. The first act began with some improvisation with both MooNiE and Broon. The opening improvisation was quite funny — these two play off of each other and amplify the signal and the silly. This was followed by Broon’s solo segment, which was primarily a straight-jacket escape with an audience member participating. The fun here was both the reaction (and playfullness) of both Broon and the audience member; however, the segment struck me as something done regularly. At the end, Broon announced it was time for intermission… but the house lights didn’t come up. Still, some audience members fell for that. MooNiE then came out, first carrying a big log across the stage, and then going into his usual ping-pong ball juggling routine that he commonly does at RenFaire. This gives him a chance to play with the silly. For both of these solo acts, even though you have quite likely seen them before, there is something about them that makes them timeless and still funny on repeated viewings. This may be the live audience factor — each performance is slightly different because of the audience reaction and interaction.

The second act, to me, was the stronger act. Although it may have incorporated elements of the RenFaire act (I believe the juggling with a human volunteer in the middle is part of the RenFaire act), the real heart of Act II was the improv. The bulk of the act was the two comics just improvising around the key bits in the act (the banana competition, juggling, the bed of nails). Some of this was based off of comments left by the audience during intermission (including some home-baked cookies from an audience member). This improvisation was hilarious and spectacular, and simply silly. It was amplified by numerous double entendres, and flights off into … various directions, mostly unpredictable. I think that’s one of the aspects that made the second act so funny — it was simply unpredictable and you didn’t know where they were going with the comic bits (indeed, you often got the impression that those on stage didn’t know either). This is comic talent — the ability to think on one’s feet. It is also what separates the improvisational clown from the comedian (who tells stories) and the comic actor (whose talent is timing and reaction). The power of two cannot be underemphasized: what made this act strong was the interplay between the two: one would go off in a direction and the other would follow, and then drag things kicking and screaming in a third or fourth or fifth direction. The clowning was strong, and reminded me of the improvisational masters: Skelton, the last Jonathan Winters, and Robin Williams. You just never knew what was going to happen, and that was great!

A few minor critical comments (although I hestitate to even bring it to the complaint level). First, MooNiE’s accent kept shifting around — sometimes it was midwest, sometimes much more distinctively London or even Cockney. The shifts, although playful, were slightly distracting. Second, I missed the usual announcements about cell phones and exits; it would have been interesting to see MooNiE and Broon’s take on the announcement to put away the phones or anything that lights up. At least no one attempted flash photography. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, to see segments from last night’s show up on YouTube (sigh).

I’ll note that MooNiE and Broon were supported by an excellent technical team; alas, there was no program so that I can’t identify them by name. Lighting was simple but effective, especially in the second act where the spot-equivalent operator seemed to be joining in the fun. Sound was mostly good, although (especially in the first act) the sound had a bit of a muffled quality too it. Set dressing was simple, and there were numerous props on the stage that were not used (and I’m guessing they were there in case the need to improvise with them hit them). MooNie and Broon were also supported by a, yet again, uncredited Merch team. The Colony provided a (yet again uncredited) house manager, who I’m guessing got to assist with the cleanup of the stage after the show — a thankless job.

Overall, this was a show worth seeing if you need a good laugh. Although Southern California won’t be seeing them again in 2014, there are two more opportunities: on January 18 for those in Northern California (Walnut Creek), and on January 25 for those in Illinois. Specific schedule info is here. During the show, MooNiE alluded to the show he’s doing in Chicago this spring (the one keeping him away from Southern): “The Dance of Death”. As he didn’t give a proper plug, here’s the specific information on the show, which is at The Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL from April 1-July 20, 2014. MooNiE (Phillip Earl Johnson (FB)) will be playingthe innocent “Kurt”. If I was in the area, I’d go see it. I”ll note that The Writers Theatre does put their events on Goldstar.

A few other observations on the show. First, the audience at this show looked drastically different than the typical Colony audience. When we go for a subscription show, the audience is distinctly… ummm… grey and older. Alas, this is far too common for theatre audiences today. It is also more elegant and (umm) conventionally stylish. In constrast, the MooNiE and Broon audience was significantly younger, significantly more energetic, and (umm) rounder. It was great to see such a young audience at the Colony — and even more so as they were looking at the Colony’s displays of past shows, looking at the set pieces and awards, and picking up the literature (including subscription literature). This is just the audience the Colony needs to attract. That’s the good part of this rental — exposing the Colony to a new audience.

The bad part? The subscription information was for the 2013-2014 season that is drawing to a close (just two more shows). The Colony Theatre (FB) has just announced the 2014-2015 season, but didn’t have any publicity material out yet. In fact, they just sent the mailing about the season to the subscription base for renewals. So, for those MooNiE and Broon folks reading this, here’s the skinny on the upcoming Colony Season (as I happen to be both a MooNiE and Broon fan, as well as a Colony subscriber). Given I haven’t seen the press release yet, this may be a scoop. The season consists of 5 shows: (♦) “Family Planning” by Michelle Kholos Brooks (July 12-August 10, 2014), a comedy about putting a lot of relatives in the same space (stated as a World Premiere, although it was done by PRT in 2012); (♦) “What I Learned in Paris” by Pearl Cleage, a comedy about lovers in Atlanta in 1973 (West Coast Premiere); (♦) “Handle With Care” by Jason Odell Williams, a story about “love, fate, and the importance of GPS-enabled tracking devices” (West Coast Premiere); (♦) “The Road to Appomattox” by Catherine Bush, a drama about Lee’s final retreat to Appomattox (West Coast Premiere), and “Words by: Ira Gershwin & The Great American Songbook” by Joseph Vass (lyrics by Ira Gershwin, Music by Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, and George Gershwin), a jukebox musical about Ira Gershwin (Los Angeles Premiere). Subscription prices run around $175 for the set of shows (at least for where we sit on a Saturday night). Subscription information for the current season is here; I suggest contacting the Box Office (boxoffice@colonytheatre.org) to be mailed information on the 2014-2015 season.

Dining Notes: We’ve been at a loss ever since Cafe Columbia closed last year. Last night, we tried Mi Latin Kitchen, hoping they had Ajiaco. Alas, they didn’t — and we weren’t that impressed with the menu or the service. We’ll likely go back to La Maria (although they don’t have Ajiaco either), and keep hunting for a new Columbian restaurant. Perhaps Sazon Columbia near us… at least they have it on the menu. El Meson Criollo in Van Nuys doesn’t; in fact, they appear to have the same menu as Mi Latin Kitchen.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Theatre performances for 2014 start next week on January 18 with “Mom’s Gift” at The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre (FB) in North Hollywood. The following weekend, January 25, brings the first show of the REP East (FB) 10th season: “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“ (which we last saw at REP in 2006). February 1 brings “Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike” at the Mark Taper Forum. February 8 will bring “Forever Plaid” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The following weekend, February 15, is being held for Lysistrata Jones at The Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. The next weekend, February 22, is currently open (as Sutton Foster cancelled at the Broad). The last day of February sees us in Studio City at Two Roads Theatre for Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing“, followed the next evening by the MRJ Regional Man of the Year dinner at Temple Beth Hillel. March theatre starts with “Sex and Education” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on March 8. The weekend of March 15 is open, but will likely be taken up with Purim Schpiels (although I might do theatre on Sunday, March 16). March 22 is being held for “Harmony” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB). March concludes with “Biloxi Blues” at REP East (FB) on March 29. April will start with “In The Heights” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on April 5, and should also bring “Tallest Tree” at the Mark Taper Forum, as well as the Southern California Renaissance Faire. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1690299.html

userpic=colony Catholic shrines and iconography. This is something I’ve never understood, being Jewish. The reference given to statues and miracles is just something beyond my ken. Yet such a shrine is at the heart of the last play of this weekend, “Miracle on South Division Street” by Tom Dudzick (FB), which we saw this afternoon at The Colony Theatre (FB) in Burbank.

Tom Dudzick describes his play as follows: “Miracle on South Division Street” is the story of the Nowak family, living amidst the urban rubble of Buffalo, NY’s East Side. Maybe the neighborhood is depressed, but not Clara, the family matriarch. She happily runs her soup kitchen and tends to the family heirloom – a twenty-foot shrine to the Blessed Mother which adjoins the house. This neighborhood beacon of faith commemorates the day in 1942 when the Blessed Virgin Mary materialized in her father’s barber shop! When the play opens, a family meeting is in progress. Daughter Ruth divulges her plan to finally “go public” with the family miracle by creating a one-woman play about the sacred event. But during the course of the meeting, the entire family’s faith is shaken to the very core when a deathbed confession causes the family legend to unravel. The results are heartfelt and hilarious.

Based on a true “shrine” in Buffalo on Senaca Street, the summary above is essentially correct. The main characters are Clara (Ellen Crawford (FB)), the family matriarch, and her three children: Ruth (Karianne Flaathen (FB)), an actress who has written a one-woman play based on the true story of the shrine; Jimmy (Brian Ibsen (FB)), who is about to propose to his girlfriend (whom the family has never met); and Beverly (Meghan Andrews (FB)), who is involved with a near-priest and whose sense of self comes from the shrine. I won’t spoil the secret of the shrine; let’s just say that it was quite unexpected and leads to quite hilarious results.

As always at the Colony, the play was very well performed. All of the cast was exceptionally talented and believable — I especially appreciated the little facial gestures and movements that made it look as if they were inhabiting their characters. Credit, as always, goes to a mix of the acting team and the director, Brian Shnipper (FB).

Technically, the set by Jeff McLaughlin (FB) did a wonderful job of creating a 1940s-era bungalow in Buffalo, down to the linoleum on the floor. This was supported by the appropriate props (including a load of food) from MacAndMe (FB). The costumes by Dianne K. Graebner (FB) worked well to convey the sense of place. The sound effects by Drew Dalzell (FB) blended in well, and the lighting by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) was simple but effective. Leesa Freed (FB) was the production stage manager.

“Miracle on South Division Street” continues at the Colony Theatre through December 15. It is well worth seeing. Tickets are available through the Colony Theatre, as well as through outlets such as Goldstar.

Dining Notes: Well, this really isn’t a dining note — more of a gaming note. Game Haus Cafe (FB), a project we helped Kickstart, has opened its doors in Glendale. Game Haus is a board game cafe — there are hundreds of board games as well as a small menu. For $5 you can game all day. An interesting concept, marred only by slightly difficult parking (which is beyond their control). Still, I intend to go back there, because I can play without having to wait for a scheduled game day. I’m thinking of going the day after Thanksgiving, assuming my head cooperates. Anyone want to join me? There is a summary of the games they have on Boardgamegeek.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: This afternoon brings the rescheduled “Miracle on S. Division Street” at the Colony Theatre (FB). Thanksgiving weekend brings “Falling“ at Rogue Machine on Sat November 30, and may also bring the concert “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays” at REP East (FB) on Sunday December 1 [I'm unsure about this -- on the one hand, it supports REP East... but on the other hand, it's Christmas music]. December will start with “The Little Mermaid” at Nobel Middle School on Friday, December 6. We then leave for New Orleans and the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). When we return we have an interesting play, “Sherlock Through the Looking Glass“, at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (FB). December, as currently scheduled for theatre, concludes with “Peter and the Starcatcher” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Of course, there will be the traditional movie and Chinese Food on Christmas Day — right now, the two movie possibilities are “Saving Mr. Banks” opening December 13 (meaning we can use group discount tickets), or “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” opening December 25. None of the other December releases look worth the money (I’d rather see “August: Osage County” on the stage, thankyouverymuch). Looking into January: The first scheduled show is on January 18: “Mom’s Gift” at The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre (FB) in North Hollywood. The following weekend, January 25, is on hold for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change“, which is the first show of the REP East (FB) season. February 8 will bring “Forever Plaid” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). The following weekend, February 15, is being held for Lysistrata Jones at The Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. The last weekend of February, February 22, is currently being held for Sutton Foster at the Broad Stage (FB) in Santa Monica (if I can find discount tickets). March brings “Sex and Education” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on March 8, and March 22 is being held for “Biloxi Blues” at REP East (FB). Lastly, we may go see “Harmony” at The Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on March 29. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1677857.html

userpic=colony Exploring a life on stage. This is a common theme in the theatre, especially if the life is an interesting one. It was the theme of Friday’s show, “Humor Abuse“; it is the theme of the two musicals whose cast albums I recently purchased (“Chaplin” and “Scandalous“); and it was the theme of the show we saw last night at The Colony Theatre (FB) — “Breath and Imagination: The Story of Roland Hayes” by Daniel Beaty (FB). The exploration of a life can be magical on stage — it can draw the audience into an experience they never knew, and it can both show and share that spark that propelled the protagonist along their journey. If the story is told right, the audience can walk out of the theatre with a little of that spark inside them, excited to learn more about the protagonist, and with an urge to incorporate that spark into their being. For me, although I found “Breath and Imagination” an interesting and beautiful journey, I didn’t walk out with that spark.

“Breath and Imagination” tells the life story of Roland Hayes (1887-1977), an American Lyric Tenor who was the first African-American artist to receive wide acclaim. The facts in the story agree pretty much with the truth, at least as described by Wikipedia and some other biographies of Roland Hayes, so I’m not going to attempt to re-summarize Hayes’ life story. There were some liberties taken with the timeline (such as who introduced Hayes to Caruso), some facts glossed over (such as the fact he married his cousin, or the fact that he had a brother), and the framing device (the creation of a mixed-race music school at the plantation in George where he grew up) does not appear supported by the facts. The latter is the most problematic, for it leaves the audience with the impression that Hayes created the school to stand up to the racial problems in Georgia. Hayes did attempt to combat racism — both by setting an example of what an African American artist can do, and by pushing for integrated seating in the halls where he performed. Yet neither of those aspects was stressed in the production; rather, it was the fictional creation of a music school where blacks and whites studied together. Perhaps this is where the spark was dimmed.

Daniel Beaty (FB) attempts to tell this story by focusing on the relationship between Hayes and his mother, Fanny Hayes, who he called Angel ‘Mo. Interspersed and told through Negro Spirituals and operatic songs that Hayes sung throughout his life, this relationship and the significant incidents in Hayes’ life are told through vignettes involve Roland, his mother, and occasionally a third character (provided by the accompanist). The story generally moves forward from his young life on the plantation to his success on the stage; it is framed by the opening of the school, and occasionally flashbacks to the incident where his wife and daughter were arrested and physically assaulted for sitting down to purchase shoes in the whites-only section of a shoe store in Rome GA. Through the vignettes, we see how Angel ‘Mo encouraged Roland to pursue singing and spirituals, yet was less enthused when he moved his focus from the church to the stage. We also see some of the various obstacles that Roland overcame in his life, from a life as a sharecropper to the life in the city with limited finances, to the different types of racism he faced in both the south and the north, to his acceptance in Europe (although the story does not show the problems he faced in Germany), to the problems he faced in the “new South” in the mid-1940s.

This is not a musical, although it is filled with music. The music in the show serves to showcase and frame Hayes’ talent (and the musicality he inherited from his parents), but the words of the music do not propel or illuminate the story. The music in the story primarily illuminates Hayes’ talent and the musical environment he grew up in. The music was beautiful, primarily slower spirituals and operatic arias (you can find a full list here). The problem — to me — is that the music needs to be the kindling against which the spark of the story works; when successful, the two combine to create a blaze that excites and warms the soul. My musical tastes are not excited by either operatic arias or spirituals presented operatically (folk-style is a different matter). As a result, I didn’t walk out of the show with the combination making me to “Wow!”; I walked out going “Nice.”. The music flew, but didn’t soar.

Where does the fault lie for this problem? I’m not sure. Some is probably me, as this is a style of music that does not excite me. Part of it belongs to Daniel Beaty (FB)’s story, which does not completely bring out the excitement and energy. Part of it belongs to the director, Saundra McClain (FB), who does not bring out the excitement and joy of these characters in the actors — the performed Hayes appears very controlled and restrained, just like the music that he sings. It is just that somewhere, something — or more like, some energy — is missing. This is not to say the story is bad or uninteresting, or that it was performed poorly. I just contrast this with Friday’s “Humor Abuse“, and if the words describing “HA” were “energy” and “excitement”, the words that describe “B&I” were “control” and “beauty”.

The problem was certainly not in the performances. As Roland Hayes, Elijah Rock (FB) became the author’s vision of Hayes — a controlled powerful man who grew up with music, with a beautiful tenor voice that floated musically, battling the discrimination of his time to become a musical artist. He was paired with Karen Kendrick (FB) as Angel Mo. Kendrick’s performance was remarkable — not only did she have a lovely voice, but she demonstrated a number of acting nuances that caught my eye and made her character real (such as her motion tic when she was playing the elderly Angel Mo, especially when contrasted with the youthful Angel Mo). Rounding out the cast was Kevin Ashworth (FB) as the accompanist as well as a number of other small roles (from Roland’s father to a Georgia police officer to a voice teacher to Miss Robinson at Fisk to King George V). Ashworth played the piano beautifully, and disappeared into the various short roles inbetween. All were great performances; the show was worth seeing for the strength of the performances alone.

The scenic design by Shaun L. Motley (FB) was simple — a piano, a multilevel wooden stage that was elegant but unadorned. The feeling was that of a concert hall, but when combined by the props and set dressing of MacAndMe (FB) and the performances of the actors, portions of the stage were transformed into various other locations, including a sharecroppers farms. Also assisting in these transformations were the simple but effective costumes of Dianne K. Graebner (FB). The lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg (FB) worked well to establish the mood — I particularly noted the use of the projections against the back of the stage and striplights on the side and top of the stage. Some special credit should also be given to Orlando de la Paz, who was the scenic artist and painted the faux wooden floor. The sound design by Dave Mickey (FB) was a little more problematic. It was excellent in the clarity of the sounds, and particularly in the quality and directionality of the sound effects in a number of different scenes. It was overly noticeable, however, in the reverb during the concert scenes. Musical arrangements were by Mike Ruckles (FB), with additional arrangements and musical direction by Rahn Coleman. Mary K. Gabrysiak (FB) was the production stage manager. “Breath and Imagination” was staged and directed by Saundra McClain (FB).

A comment or two about the audience at this performance. First, it was nice to see a contingent of students from Burbank High School — it is so important to expose students to the arts. Second, I noticed what I’ll call the “Pasadena Playhouse Effect” at this show. This refers to the fact that whenever Sheldon Epps would produce a show with an African American theme at the Pasadena Playhouse, suddenly the audience would change… hue. In other words, more African-Americans attend shows about African-Americans, with the white audience for those shows seemingly shrinking. This has always bothered me — I believe good theatre is good theatre, and you can find something in every story and life portrayed that will resonate, even if it is from a different culture and experience than your own. I wish everyone would attend theatre — being a theatre audience is my passion and my joy. Perhaps one day we’ll reach the point where there won’t be obvious hue shifts in an audience depending on the subject of the show. That, perhaps, might make Roland Hayes happy — he wanted people of all colors to attend his shows, and wanted to be seen as an artist, and not just a black artist.

“Breath and Imagination: The Story of Roland Hayes” has one more week at The Colony Theatre (FB), closing on October 13. Tickets are available through the Colony website, and they have been available through Goldstar in the past (although as I write this, there are no current offers). The next production at the Colony is “Miracle on South Division Street” by Tom Dudzick, running November 9 through December 15, 2013 (alas, there are no performances Thanksgiving weekend, which screwed up shifting my tickets back one week). Colony is also doing a special production on October 19, 2013, focused on Gene Kelly called “Gene Kelly – The Legacy” (FB). Ticket prices range from $29 to $59.

Dining Notes: Some sad news here. Our normal go-to place before the Colony has been Cafe Columbia on Glenoaks. Alas, they seem to have closed sometime in the last 30 days — their website is wiped, and their phone has a closed message. I’ll miss their excellent food, and I wonder what happened. Luckily, we recently found another good Columbian restaurant, La Maria, in Burbank. However, we didn’t have time to get there, so Fuddruckers it was.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next week sees me at the West Coast Premier of “Burnt Street Boys“ at the Third Street Theatre (FB). The third week of October had been held for the production of “Carrie – The Musical” (FB) by Transfer Theatre, but this production will now be in 2014. I may go to ”Gene Kelly – The Legacy” (FB) at the Colony; I may find something else on Goldstar. October ends with the Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) production of “Kiss Me Kate” (October 26). November starts with “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at Actors Rep of Simi (FB). That will be followed by a visit with Thomas the Tank Engine when we volunteer at OERM over Veterans Day. The third week will be theatre-ish, as we attend ARTS’s Nottingham Village (FB) (a one-weekend ren-faire-ish market — tickets are now on sale). One of those weekends we’re also likely to see a Trollplayers (FB) production of Steven Schwartz’s “Children of Eden” (which runs November 8-17) [Trollplayers is the community theatre group at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Northridge]. The weekend before Thanksgiving will be very busy with three shows: Tom Paxton (FB) in concert at McCabes Santa Monica (FB) on Friday; “Play It Again Sam” at REP East (FB) on Saturday, and the rescheduled “Miracle on S. Division Street” at the Colony Theatre (FB) on Sunday. Thanksgiving weekend is currently open, as is much of December (December is due to the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) in New Orleans, which has me out of two the first two weekends in December… but has me wondering about New Orleans theatre), but should bring “The Little Mermaid” at Nobel Middle School, and “Peter and the Starcatcher” at The Ahmanson Theatre. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

===> Click Here To Comment <==
(Click Here to Comment)

Crossposts: http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/1668057.html

Observations Along The Road... at Dreamwidth

Roadkill Along The Information Superhighway

Watching a Friendship Ravel | "Merrily We Roll Along" @ 4Leaf • GPAC • Colony

Beauty Behind the Humor | “Funny Girl” @ Conundrum @ The Colony

Some Tasty Afternoon Stew

What We Call Making an Exit 👴 “Endgame” @ CTG + “Carney Magic”

Better Warn the Pantages….

Inspired Lunacy

The Real Battle

The Odd Man Out

Medieval Improvisation (or) I Hate a Man Who Quests

The Better Half

Sitting on the Edge is Going Nowhere

Thoughts on a Theatre Season: Colony and Pantages

B’Shert

Theatre Reflections and Community Participation

Your Worst Nightmare

Some Things Never Change

Getting Schooled

Clowning Around

The Impact of a Shrine

A Life’s Journey on the Wings of Song

Profile

May 2025

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags