Observations Along The Road... at Dreamwidth

I am not the type that likes to give out artificial awards in theatre. I know people that do, and I know theatres that find such awards useful in their advertising. I like to believe I’ve got the humility to be above that — I’m just one person with no theatrical criticism training, expressing my personal opinion. Why should what I say matters? Still, I do find it useful to look back at what stuck with me or was most significant. With the highway and news chum updates, I didn’t get a chance to do this at 2016 ended, so let’s do it now…

In 2016 I wrote 76 reviews, although not all were theatre or concerts. The live performances we saw were:

1. Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara. Geffen Theatre, 1/2/2016.
2. Bullets over Broadway – The Musical. Pantages. 1/9/2016.
3. That Lovin’ Feeling. Group Rep. 1/16/2016.
4. 50 Hour Drive By. Zombie Joe’s Underground. 1/23/2016.
5. Stomp. Valley Performing Arts Center. 1/24/2016.
6. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Cabrillo Music Theatre. 1/30/2016.
7. Empire – The Musical. La Mirada Performing Arts Center. 2/6/2016.
8. An Act of God. Ahmanson Theatre. 2/7/2016.
9. Jason Moran – Fats Waller Dance Party. Valley Performing Arts Center. 2/9/2016.
10. Dogfight. Chance Theatre. 2/14/2016.
11. Prez. Chromolume Theatre. 2/20/2016.
12. String/ Awakening. Muse/ique. 2/21/2016.
13. The Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards, Valley Performing Arts Center, 3/1/2016.
14. Man Covets Bird, 24th Street Theatre, 3/6/2016.
15. All Shook Up, Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 3/12/2016.
16. Casa Valentina, Pasadena Playhouse, 3/19/2016.
17. Bach at Leipzig, Lonny Chapman Group Rep, 3/20/2016.
18. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Ahmanson Theatre, 3/26/2016.
19. A Shred of Evidence, Theatre 40, 3/27/2016.
20. Lea Salonga, Valley Performing Arts Center, 4/1/2016.
21. An Evening with Elaine Boosler, Temple Ahavat Shalom, 4/2/2016.
22. Turtle Island Quartet, Valley Performing Arts Center, 4/6/2016.
23. Children of Eden, Cabrillo Music Theatre, 4/9/2016.
24. Stella’s Last J-Date, Whitefire Theatre, 4/14/2016.
25. Anton in Show Business, Hudson Theatre, 4/24/2016
26. Lunatics and Actors. Four Clowns. 4/30/2016.
27. Endgame, Kirk Douglas Theatre, 5/7/2016.
28. Carney Magic, The Colony Theatre (Guest Production), 5/8/2016.
29. The Boy from Oz, Landmark Musicals (San Francisco), 5/13/2016.
30. The Last 5 Years, ACT San Francisco, 5/14/2016.
31. Los Angeles: Now and Then, Los Angeles City College, 5/23/2016.
32. I Only Have Eyes for You, Ricardo Montalban Theatre, 5/29/2016.
33. Alien vs. Musical, HFF16 (Lillian/Sacred Fools), 6/4/2016.
34. Code 197: Driving While Blewish, HFF16 (Studio C/Complex), 6/4/2016
35. Toxic Avenger: The Musical, HFF16 (Good People Theatre, Lillian/Sacred Fools), 6/4/2016.
36. Tell Me on a Sunday, HFF16 (Black Box/Sacred Fools), 6/5/2016
37. All The Best Killers are Librarians, HFF16 (Second Stage/Sacred Fools), 6/5/2016
38. Einstein: The Man, The Myth, The Mustache, HFF16 (McCadden Theatre), 6/11/2016
39. The Boy from Oz, Celebration Theatre, 6/11/2016.
40. Titus Andronicus Jr., HFF16 (Second Stage/Sacred Fools), 6/12/2016
41. 30JJ or Bust: The World is my Underwire. HFF16 (Studio C/Complex), 6/18/2016
42. Lamprey: Weekend of Vengence, HFF16 (Second Stage/Sacred Fools), 6/18/2016
43. Mark Twain Answers All Your Questions, HFF16 (Studio C/Complex), 6/18/2016
44. The Old Woman, HFF16 (Lounge Theatre), 6/18/2016
45. Sweet Love Adieu, HFF16 (McCadden Theatre), 6/19/2016
46. All Aboard the Marriage Hearse, HFF16 (Lounge Theatre), 6/19/2016
47. Squeeze My Cans, HFF16, 6/25/2016
48. Taming of the Show, HFF16 (Black Box/Sacred Fools), 6/26/2016
49. My Big Fat Blonde Musical, HFF16 (Black Box/Sacred Fools), 6/26/2016
50. Hamlet (Las Vegas Style), HFF16 (The Actors Company), 6/26/2016
51. Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, Pantages, 7/3/2016
52. Grey Gardens, Ahmanson Theatre, 7/9/2016
53. Thirteen’s Spring, HFF16 (Moving Art Collective, The Actors Company), 7/15/2016
54. The Little Mermaid, Cabrillo Music Theatre, 7/16/2016
55. Weird Al Takes the Bowl, Hollywood Bowl, 7/23/2016
56. Get Trump’d: We’re Making Opera Great Again, Operaworks, 7/24/2016
57. Copeland and Marsales, Hollywood Bowl, 7/28/2016
58. American/Rhapsody, Muse/ique, 8/20/2016
59. Gutenberg: The Musical, Backyard Renaissance, 8/28/2016
60. Summer/Time, Muse/ique, 9/10/2016.
61. I Love You Because, Red Brick Road/Grove Theatre Center, 9/17/2016
62. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – The Musical, La Mirada Center for the Performing Arts, 9/24/2016
63. Dear World, Valley Performing Arts Center, 9/30/2016
64. Our Town, Actors Co-Op, 10/1/2016
65. Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wyton Marsalles, 10/8/2016
66. Kelli O’Hara, Valley Performing Arts Center, 10/14/2016
67. Evita, Cabrillo Music Theatre, 10/15/2016
68. The Turn of the Screw, Actors Co-Op, 10/22/2016
69. Hello Again: The Songs of Allan Sherman, Temple Ahavat Shalom, 10/29/2016
70. Vote or Die Laughing (Culture Clash), Valley Performing Arts Center, 11/1/2016
71. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Pantages, 11/5/2016
72. Funny Girl, Conundrum Theatre at The Colony Theatre, 11/18/2016
73. Little Women: The Musical, Chance Theatre, 11/25/2016
74. Into the Woods, Nobel Middle School, 11/30/2016
75. Wonderful Town, LA Opera @ Dorothy Chandler, 12/3/2016
76. Amelie – A New Musical, Ahmanson, 12/10/2016
77. The King and I, Pantages, 12/17/2016

That’s quite a few shows, so let’s get on to the recap.

Most Significant Event. I think the most significant event wasn’t a show, but a battle. The battle with Actors Equity over the future of Intimate Theatre (99 seats and under) in Los Angeles was clearly a transformative event. The LA Actors lost the battle (as for the overall war, that’s still up in the air), and the new AEA rules have gone into effect. Companies that don’t fall under exemptions (pretty much all artistic-director non-membership efforts) now will either have to pay minimum wage, or go with non-AEA actors. Membership companies (such as Actors Co-op) are safe for now. We will need to see how this will change the theatrical landscape: will it be doom and gloom, or will we survive. Time will tell.

Greatest Loss. For us, that was the apparent death of two theatre companies where we subscribed: Repertory East Playhouse (“REP”) (FB) and The Colony Theatre (FB). I don’t believe either will be back; certainly not in the forms they were, and likely without us as subscribers. We’ve moved on, and have new subscriptions at Actors Co-op (FB) and the Chromolume Theatre (FB) and the Hollywood Pantages (FB).

Most Talked About Show. For me, a good measure of a show is how much I refer to it afterwards — remembering its impact on me and how it changed my thinking. This year where were a few. The most moving performance was clearly The Hunchback of Notre Dame – The Musical at La Mirada — the combination of signing and singing was transformative. The most magical performance was the recent Amelie – A New Musical at the Ahmanson — there, the stagecraft left me spellbound. But I think the most talked about performance was String/ Awakening from Muse/ique — this was a show that tied-together (pun not intended) everything “string”, from bridged-string instruments to knitting to real string theory.

Best Peformance. All of the shows we saw, which actors and performances stayed with me?

On the actress side, there were two: Kim Dalton (FB), who we saw twice — in Dogfight and Toxic Avenger: The Musical, was perhaps the best find of the year — spunky performance, strong voice, and just strongly memorable. Coming in close was Phillipa Soo as the title character in Amelie – A New Musical — she just charmed the pants off of you with her playfulness.

On the actor side, again we have two: Andrew Bongiorno (FB) in the Celebration production of The Boy from Oz — who basically drove this show with his masterful performance, and the pair of John McGinty (FB) [performance] and Dino Nicandros (FB) [singing] as the title character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame – The Musical. They were just mesmerizing.

Most Creative. These were the shows that took stagecraft to a new level; that left you astounded at what they could do on the stage and the magic that could be created without CGI. I’ve got three in this category that somewhat fit into small, medium, and large — with similar creativity. The small is 24th Street Theatre’s Man Covets Bird; the medium is La Mirada’s Empire – The Musical, and the large is the Ahmanson’s Amelie – A New Musical. All create the magic through the clever use of projections and the actor’s interactions therewith. They take this new artform to a new level. A close runner up is Four Clowns’ Lunatics and Actors, which used no projections but simple performance to create an extremely chilling portrayal.

Most Entertaining Revival of an Old Show. There were a number of old shows that got revivals this year, and some worked better than others. Most were memorable and enjoyable — Funny Girl, Wonderful Town, and Dear World come to mind quite readily. All haven’t been done in ages. I think the one that most made me want to see the original was Wonderful Town. Hearing the music, one could get the sense of why this is a great show and what it could achieve in the right hands. Dear World was good but you could see the creaky-ness in the plot (and one could say similar about The King and I). Funny Girl was good for what it was, but it really needs a full-scale big-budget revival to shine at the level it needs.

By the way, a similar contrast was in play for The Boy from Oz. We saw two “West Coast Premiere”s of this: Landmark Musicals and Celebrations. Both had strengths and weaknesses, and both showed the creativity of small low-budget theatres in realizing a rarely seen show. Celebration’s came out slightly ahead, but Landmark’s had a spunk and a “yes, we can” attitude that was nice to see. It really makes me curious to see what Chromolume Theatre (FB) will do with Pacific Overtures at an intimate theatre level.

Best Memories. There were a few shows that just brought back memories, but I think my favorite was Los Angeles: Now and Then, a lovely musical review about my city, Los Angeles. Some very good songs, and some even better memories. A runner up was Hello Again: The Songs of Allan Sherman, simply because that brought back the parody music of my childhood.

Best “Heard But Never Seen Before”: There were a number of shows which I had only heard, but never seen, until this year. Most were even better on stage. It is hard to pick a “best”; certainly, at a large scale, both Wonderful Town, and Dear World come to mind quite readily. But both of those were “staged concerts”, not full realizations. Perhaps the best full realization was Toxic Avenger: The Musical, although Dogfight is close. Also strong was I Love You Because, but the New York theme was a bit much. But the two The Boy from Ozs fit in there somewhere.

The Best. Was there one production that, if I could, I would go back and see again. Looking over the list of what I saw, I think I would go with Toxic Avenger: The Musical. Amelie was a close second, but I think Toxie had the biggest fun factor.

* * *

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). 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: January starts with a Southern California Games Day, followed by Zanna Don’t at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) on January 16. We may get tickets to Claudio Quest at the Chance Theatre (FB) on January 28. 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: 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.

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I guess the first question is: “Why?”.

After all, I’m on record as saying that The King and I is not my favorite Rogers and Hammerstein show. I’d also seen a production somewhat recently: in 2008 at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). So why see The King and I again.

Well, first and foremost, I wanted to see Hamilton, and to ensure that happened, I got a Pantages subscription. But I didn’t even consider passing on the tickets (as I did for The Book of Morman), so, again, why? The answer is that I had seen the snippets of this Lincoln Center Theatre (FB) revival, and I wanted to see if the changes were sufficient to make me like the musical again.

We saw the show last night, and I have both good news and bad news to report. The production and the performance made this an extremely enjoyable King and I. However, the book itself is becoming increasingly problematic as my consciousness has been raised about cultural sensitivity. Can performance outweigh dated books? Should revivals tamper with successful originals to address book problems that weren’t there when the authors did the original?  What should we do about musicals and plays with books that reflects attitudes counter to what is acceptable today?

As I wrote back in 2008, I’m sure we are all familiar with “The King and I”. It was the 5^th Rogers and Hammerstein musical, coming out in 1951,  two years after the successful “South Pacific”. It was based on a 1994 book. After “The King and I”, R&H would have a string of unsuccessful or less successful musicals (“Me and Juliet, “Pipe Dream”, “Flower Drum Song”) until their final paydirt, “The Sound of Music”.

As for the show’s plot. Many should know it from the beloved movie version. The R&H Theatricals site describes it thusly: “It is 1862 in Siam when an English widow, Anna Leonowens, and her young son arrive at the Royal Palace in Bangkok, having been summoned by the King to serve as tutor to his many children and wives. The King is largely considered to be a barbarian by those in the West, and he seeks Anna’s assistance in changing his image, if not his ways. With both keeping a firm grip on their respective traditions and values, Anna and the King grow to understand and, eventually, respect one another, in a truly unique love story. Along with the dazzling score, the incomparable Jerome Robbins ballet, “The Small House of Uncle Thomas,” is one of the all-time marvels of the musical stage.”

Lincoln Center did what they could. A big problem with The King and I has often been one of casting. For a musical about Siam (now Thailand), it has often been cast with predominately Caucasian actors. In particular, Yul Brynner, the model of the King for most people, was a Russian-born Swiss-American actor. But today’s hallmark is diversity and authenticity, and as this production’s King, Jose Llana (FB), noted in Episode 84 of the Theater People podcast, it is vital to cast Asian roles with Asian actors. This production, for the most part, did that. I think I noted one non-Asian ensemble member — otherwise, all the Asian leads and ensemble members were Asian.  However, as my wife noted, previous few of them were actually Thai.  I had made an similar comment back in 2015 when writing up the Pasadena Playhouse’s Waterfall, where I wrote: “This leads to the next casting complaint: Casting directors that seem to think that all Asians look alike. For those who know, there are distinct differences between the various Asian ethnicities, and the Asian casting here was a mix of Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and probably some I couldn’t distinguish. I find this demonstrates a commentary on the acting pool: it indicates there are insufficient actors of a particular group to properly staff the show. This is something the theatre community needs to combat: we need to encourage more diversity in the acting pool (and diverse stories to employ them). ” We’re moving in the right direction, but we’ll be better when a show such as this can have its Siamese characters cast by predominately Thai actors. That will only happen when diversity is a hallmark in all shows; when there are sufficient roles to make acting a profession for a wide variety of ethnic actors. Reading the credits, we’re not there yet.

Another plus that Lincoln Center did was to increase the effort to make the dancing and movement more authentically Thai, as opposed to a more stereotypical portrayal. At least the movement seemed more Thai to this non-Thai audience member. It could probably have been stronger with a Thai choreographer, which Christopher Gattelli (FB) is clearly not (and which Jerome Robbins, born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz, was clearly not). No knocks on Gattelli or Robbins for their work, which was beautiful Thai-like dancing for a very dance heavy show. But was the research and dramaturgy done to ensure it was an authentic form? That I can’t answer, only that it looked like that Thai-like dance I had seen in Waterfall.

But where this all fell down is the datedness of the Oscar Hammerstein II‘s book (based on the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon). Hammerstein’s writing reflected the 1950’s attitude towards Asians, with pidgin English and mispronunciations (just think of the character Bloody Mary in South Pacific or many of the characters in Flower Drum Song), and an implicit attitude that the Western way is superior. Although there is some commentary to that effect in the show (think of the song “Western People Funny”), the notion is still that the Western way is best. That wasn’t a problem in the 1950s and 1960s, but it is increasingly jarring today. Alas, there’s not much that can be done about it: The King and I is such a beloved show that the R&H Organization would never permit adjusting those attitudes; it will remain — just like the song Baby, It’s Cold Outside — a show whose dated notions ruffles the feathers of the sensitive today (although it may have sounded perfectly right in the context of its original time). This is an increasing problem for many musicals of the 1960s and early: attitudes and portrayals acceptable then are less acceptable now.

Setting that all aside, and looking at the show as the comfortable memory that it is, this production team did a reasonably good job — and the cast and director did an excellent job. The actors certainly brought a sparkle and vitality to the portrayals that made this production eminently watchable; there was a clear chemistry and playfulness there that was transmitted to the audience. Director Bartlett Sher (FB) is to be commended for the little things he either brought out or encouraged — this was just a fun production.

Nowhere was this seen better than in the leads: Laura Michelle Kelly (FB) and Jose Llana (FB). I’ve seen so many stiff Annas, but Kelly brought a sense of joy and delight to the role, and a look that captured the vulnerability beneath the facade as well. Llana’s King was similarly personified. Not just a stiff authoritarian figure, he was able to bring a humanity and personality to the role that was transmitted throughout the auditorium, a sense that can be seen in the bottommost image I found for the show graphic. Both sang wonderfully — strong, clear, and yet with fun in their voice. Delights for the ears and eyes.

The palace leads, Joan Almedilla (FB) as Lady Thiang and Brian Rivera (FB) as the Kralahome, were less playful (as befits their role in the story), but still fun to watch. Almedilla, in particular, had a lovely singing voice.

The “young lovers” required for the secondary subplot, Manna Nichols (FB) as Tuptim and Kavin Panmeechao (FB) as Lun Tha, were a lovely couple. Panmeechao’s role is not written to provide much character, let alone character development, but he gave it his all and had a great singing voice. Nichols’ role had much more character, and she too brought a playfulness to that character that she expressed whenver she good. Yet another lovely voice (this is one show where the women’s songs — particularly those for more traditional vocal ranges — shine) who was a joy to watch.

The last named pair of interest were the eldest children in each family: Graham Montgomery (FB) as Louis Leonowens and Anthony Chan (FB) as Prince Chulalongkorn. These are much smaller roles, but the two had a great interaction in the reprise of “A Puzzlement”, and Chan was particularly strong in the final scene.

Baylen Thomas (FB) portrayed the small role of Captain Orton / Sir Edward Ramsey.

Turning to the ensemble. The Ensemblist podcast (FB) this year (i.e., “season two”) has traced the evolving role of the ensemble from the early days of Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing to this year’s Hamilton. That evolution can be clearly seen here — unlike last week where the ensemble was a collection of smaller individually named roles and characters, this was was clearly in the 1950s with the ensemble of unnamed interchangeable actors who were predominately in unnamed individuated roles. As such, although the ensemble at times brought some clear fun to the roles (I was thinking in particular of the various children, and the playfulness of some of the wives during the school scene), the power of the ensemble was more in the group singing and dance movements. The adult male ensemble, who portrayed unnamed Guards, Monks, and townspeople, consisted of Andrew Cheng (FB) [Ballet – Guard], Daniel J. Edwards (FB) [Ballet – Propman] , Darren Lee (FB) [Phra Alack, Ballet – Propman], Michael Lomeka (FB) [Ballet – Guard], Nobutaka Mochimaru (FB) [Ballet – Angel/George], Rommel Pierre O’Choa (FB) [Ballet – Simon of Legree], Sam Simahk (FB) [Ballet – Propman], and Jeoffrey Watson (FB) [Ballet – Guard, Royal Court Dancer]. The adult female ensemble,  who portrayed unnamed Royal Wives and Townspeople, consisted of Amaya Braganza [Ballet – Uncle Thomas], Lamae Caparas (FB) [Ballet – Eliza], Michelle Liu Coughlin (FB) [Ballet – Royal Singer], Nicole Ferguson (FB) [Ballet – Royal Singer], Marie Gutierrez (FB) [Ballet – Dog], Mindy Lai (FB) [Fan Dancer, Ballet – Dog], Q Lim (FB) [Ballet – Royal Singer], Stephanie Lo (FB) [Royal Court Dancer, Ballet – Dog], Yuki Ozeki (FB) [Fan Dancer, Ballet – Topsy], and Michiko Takemasa (FB) [Ballet – Little Eva]. The ensemble of Royal Children consisted of Jaden D. Amistad, Kayla Paige Amistad, Adriana Braganza, Amaya Braganza, Rylie Sickles [Princess Ying Yaowalak], Noah Toledo, and CJ Uy. Heather Botts (FB), Tony Marin (FB), Marcus Shane (FB), Rhyees Stump and Kelli Youngman (FB) were the swings. I’m not listing whom was understudying whom — that’s a long list.

As noted earlier, choreography was by Christopher Gattelli (FB), based on the original cheorgraphy by Jerome Robbins. Greg Zane (FB) was the associate choreographer. Yuki Ozeki (FB) was the Dance Captain, assisted by Kelli Youngman (FB). Andrew Cheng (FB) was the Fight Captain.

The music (written by Richard Rodgers, and orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett) was under the music supervision of Ted Sperling (FB). David Lai (FB) was the Music Coordinator, and Gerald Steichen (FB) was the conductor. The orchestra consisted of Tim Laciano/FB [Associate Conductor / Synchesizer], Chiho Saegusa [Acoustic Bass]; Mark O’Kain (FB) [Drums / Percussion]; Kathleen Robertson (FB) [Violin], Grace Oh (FB) [Concertmaster], Jody Rubin (FB) [Viola], Paula Fehrenbach (FB) [Cello]; Steve Kujala (FB) [Flute / Piccolo]; John Yoakum (FB) [Oboe / English Horn]; Dick Mitchell [Clarinet]; Bill Wood (FB) [Bassoon]; Steve Becknell (FB) [French Horn]; Danielle Ondarza (FB) [French Horn]; Wayne Bergeron (FB) [Trumpet]; Andy Martin (FB) [Trombone]; Julie Berghofer (FB) [Harp]; David Witham (FB) [Keyboard Sub]; Brian Miller [Orchestra Contractor]. Dance and Incidental Music Arrangements by Trude Rittmann.

Finally, turning to the production and creative side: The set design by Michael Yeargan was generally good, but had one glaring tour problem: the moving on-stage pillars often obscured the view of the actors for those sitting on the side of the theater. It is as if the design was for a much narrower auditorium, and wasn’t taking tour auditoriums into account. There was also an archaic aspect: a curtain going back and forth to permit scene changes behind it. The costumes by Catherine Zuber worked well, although I cannot gauge their accuracy. Wig and hair design was by Tom Watson. The sound by Scott Lehrer was clear and clean, and the lighting by Donald Holder worked well to establish mood and focus attention. Other production credits: Sari Ketter (Associate Director), Kathy Fabian/Propstar (Props Supervisor), Telsey + Company (Casting), Paige Grant (Production Stage Manager), Colyn W. Fiendel (Stage Manager), Katie Stevens (Assistant Stage Manager), Steve Varon (Company Manager).

The King and I continues at the  Hollywood Pantages (FB) until January 21, 2017. Tickets are available through the Pantages website; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar.

Pantages Customer Service Warning: Note: The Pantages theatre not only believes that theatre belongs on the stage, it belongs at the front door. They practice security theatre upon entering the theatre, where they do a bag check to make sure that, among other things, you are not bringing dinner leftovers into the theatre because — heaven forfend — I don’t know what. I do know that the Pantages has none of their own parking, and they encourage patrons (especially subscribers) to take Metro — making it impossible to return to one’s car to put away the leftovers. In contrast, theatres such as the Music Center have a more civilized bag check, wherein you can check your bags and coats for storage. If the Pantages insists on Security Theatre bag check, they should provide lockers for non-explosive items so that patrons can check problematic items upon entry and retrieve them as they exit. That is the civilized way to do it — and theatre should be civilized, not the lowest common denominator (and I’ll note that none of the other theatres we attend does bag examination the way the Pantages does it, including movie theatres).

Pantages Season Ponderings: We recently received a note from the Pantages that said: “You know you are going to renew, why not make it easy and let us do the work for you? Sign up now for our annual, hassle-free season ticket auto-renew program by paying $100 DOWN TODAY and never worry about renewal deadlines again! Signing up to auto-renew automatically put you FIRST in line for Season Seat Upgrades.” The problem with this is that they haven’t announced the 2017-2018 season yet. So what might it be? Some tours are no-brainers, such as Something Rotten and Aladdin: The Musical (although some of these may go to the Ahmanson). But what else? It is unknown if Tuck Everlasting will tour, or if the latest Fiddler on the Roof revival will tour. It may be too soon for Natasha and the Great Pyramid or Evan Hansen to tour. There is a Honeymoon in Vegas tour; unclear if it will come to LA. The revival of Gigi will  be touring. On The Town will be touring. Other than that… I’m not sure.

* * *

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).

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:  This was likely our last live theatre for 2017. December concludes with an unspecified movie on Christmas day; and a return to our New Years Eve Gaming Party.

Turning to 2017, January starts with a Southern California Games Day, followed by Zanna Don’t at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) on January 16. We may get tickets to Claudio Quest at the Chance Theatre (FB) on January 28. 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: 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.

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

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It only took 46½ years.

The first time that the musical Wonderful Town (music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolf Green) trod the boards of the Music Center‘s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, it was in July 1975 under the auspices of the Los Angeles City Light Opera, in a production starring Nanette Fabray. This weekend, Wonderful Town returned to the Chandler, this time in a staged concert production as part of LA Opera‘s celebration of the 100th Birthday of Leonard Bernstein. It was truly a delight to see a form of musical theatre return to the Chandler; it had been absent since the LACLO decamped to the Pantages in the early 1980s. Even more so with this particular show, which demonstrated that after 63 years, it could still sparkle with delight and penache.

As for me, the desire to see Wonderful Town was part of my quest to see shows that I had only heard. I had only hear the original cast CD of Wonderful Town; the 2003 revival is on my wish list. The delight of the show does not come through on that cast album; the stories and personalities are a little flat. Last night put the pieces together, and I look forward to hearing the revival with more modern orchestrations.

The story of Wonderful Town is based upon is Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov‘s 1940 play My Sister Eileen, which in turn originated from autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney first published in The New Yorker in the late 1930s and later published in book form as My Sister Eileen. It tells the story of Ruth Sherwood and her younger sister Eileen, who come to New York from Ohio to find fame and fortune: Ruth as a writer, and Eileen on the stage. The plot is light and there are a batch of colorful characters — Mr. Appopolous who owns the building from which they rent a room; Speedy Valenti, who owns a nightclub; Robert Baker who works at a local newspaper; Helen and Wreck, a couple in the building. The characterizations are similarly broad: Ruth is an extremely smart and brash writer who turns off men with her intelligence, Eileen is a ingenue who charms all the men around her. It is very easy to see how this became an early sitcom on TV. You can find the full plot synopsis over on the Wikipedia page.

The LA Opera production, unlike the previous LA Civic Light Opera production, was a concert staging. The principals were all on chairs on the stage, on-book,  going to podiums when they were singing or speaking. They were backed by LA Opera chorus, and joined on a few numbers by a set of dancers. The orchestra and conductor was similarly on-stage. There were no sets other than some projections; the primary props were hats to distinguish different characters. Everyone was dressed in black. This doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun to watch — the cast and the singers appeared to be having great fun with the show. The concert performance was adapted by David Lee, who also served as the director. Choreography was by Peggy Hickey.

As I noted above, this was the first time I had heard the music in context. There was definitely that Bernstein feel and flair to the music, and the lyrics by Comden and Green seemed much fresher than one might think after 63 years. As always, songs like “Ohio” were earworms, but other songs made much more sense, such as “One Hundred Easy Ways”, “Conga!”, “Conversation Piece”, and “My Darlin’ Eileen”. On the album, you can’t see how these advance the story; on stage, you can. Note to self: I must get that 2003 revival album.

The leads in this production were spectacular. In the primary positions were Faith Prince (FB) as Rose Sherwood and Nikki M. James (FB) as Eileen Sherwood. Prince brought her wonderful comic timing, singing voice, and flair and love of the material to the role. One could clearly see she was having fun up there in all her numbers, but especially in songs like “Conga!” James was also a delight to watch, capturing the role with perfection and comic fun. She was also having fun with the dancing, both in the “My Darlin’ Eileen number and in the scenes at the Viage Vortex”.

On the male lead side was Roger Bart (FB) in far too many roles to list them all (but particularly as the narrator and almost every other major character), and Marc Kudisch (FB) as Robert Baker, the editor of the Manhattanist. Bart was a comic whirlwind, changing characters, voices, and characterizations at the drop of a hat. Literally. He would change hats constantly, and with each hat taking on a new role, from narrator to Speedy Valenti to Delivery Boy to Chick Clark (Newspaper Man) to Policeman to Shoreman. Incredible. Kudisch only had one role — the older newsman Robert Baker — but he nailed it. He was particularly touching in his number “It’s Love”.

The other principal characters were embodied by Tony Abatemarco (FB) (Mr. Appololous), Brian Michael Moore (FB) (Officer Lonigan),  Ben Crawford (Wreck), Julia Aks (FB) (Helen), Elizabeth Zharoff (FB) (Violet), Jared Gertner (FB) (Frank Lippencott), Carlos Enrique Santelli (FB) (Policeman Sean), Theo Hoffman (FB) (Policeman Daniel); and Josh Wheeker (FB) (Policeman Pat).  Of these, Crawford’s Wreck was particularly noteworthy, especially in his number “Pass the Football” and his interactions with Roger Bart.

The LA Opera chorus consisted of Jamie Chamberlin (FB) (S), Nicole Fernandes (S), Renee Sousa (FB) (S), Rebecca Tomlinson (S), Elizabeth Anderson (FB) (A), Aleta Braxton (FB) (A), Sara Campbell (FB) (A), Jennifer Wallace (FB) (A), Daniel C. Babcock (FB) (T), Omar Crook (FB) (T), Charles Lane (FB) (T), Francis Lucaric (FB) (T), Reid Bruton (FB)( B), Abdiel Gonzalez (FB) (B), Mark Kelly (FB) (B), and James Martin Schaefer (FB) (B) [S – Soprano; A – Alto; T – Tenor; B – Bass]. Of particular note here was the female chorus, who were essentially dancing and playing in their chairs, having a load of fun with this music. I love to see this: when those on stage are having fun, the audience feels that and reflects it back.

The dancers, who joined the cast on stage for a few numbers, including “Conga!”, consisted of Richard Bulda (FB) (Dance Captain), Harlan Bengel, Joseph Corella (FB), Hector Guerrero (FB), David Tai Kim/FB, Glean Lewis, James Tabeek (FB), and John Todd (FB). Michael Starr (FB) was the swing.

The LA Opera Orchestra was under the conducting baton of Grant Gershon (FB), who broke into a wonderful dance during “My Darlin’ Eileen”. As I said, everyone was having fun. The orchestra consisted of Roberto Cani (Stuart Canin Concertmaster, 1st Violin), Armen Anassian (Associate Concertmaster, 1st Violin), Lisa Sutton (Assistant Concertmaster, 1st Violine), Margaret Wooten (1st Violin), Ana Laudauer (Principal, 2nd Violin), Marisa Sorajja (Associate Principal, 2nd Violin), Florence Titmus (2nd Violin), Andrew Picken (Principal, Viola), Karie Prescott (Associate Principal, Viola); Dane Little (Principal, Cello), Helen Z. Altenbach (Associate Principal, Cello), Nathan Farrington (Bass), Damon Zick (Reeds – flute, clarinet, Eb clarinet, alto saxophone), Rusty Higgins (Reeds – clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone), Phil Feather (Reeds – oboe, English horn, clarinet, alto saxophone), Glen Berger (Reeds – piccolo, flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone), William May (Reeds – clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bassoon), Ryan Darke (Principal, Trumpet), Rob Schear (Trumpet), Marissa Benedict (Trumpet), Andy Ulyate (Trumpet), William Booth (Principal, Trombone), Alvin Veeh (Trombone), Terry Cravens (Bass Trombone), Alan Steinberger (Piano), Theresa Dimond (Percussion), and Peter Erskine (Drumset). It was great to hear a large orchestra behind a show again.

Finally, turning to the creative credits: the wonderful projections were by Hana S. Kim. They exhibited a depth and playfulness I hadn’t seen before. Lighting design was by Azra King-Abadi. There was no credit for sound design; I got the distinct feeling that the actors were not amplified, and the wonderful sound we were hearing was through the projection of their voices in the hall alone. Take that, Ahmanson acoustics! Additional production credits: Jim Carnahan CSA (Casting Consultant), Trevore Ross (Assistant Director), Lyla Forlani (Stage Manager), Jeremy Frank and Miah Im (Musical Preparation).

I believe there is one more performance of Wonderful Town tonight.

* * *

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).

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:  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 Zanna Don’t at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) on January 16. We may get tickets to Claudio Quest at the Chance Theatre (FB) on January 28. 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: 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.

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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)

I have a number of quests in my life. One quest is to add music to my iPod, and often this includes Broadway and Off-Broadway shows I haven’t seen, but are recommended. Another quest is to see musicals I’ve only heard. This weekend was an opportunity to do the latter, informed by the former, when we went to go see the second preview performance of Little Woman: The Broadway Musical at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim (where Route 91 meets Imperial Highway).

Little Women: The Broadway Musical is a 2005 musical written by Allan Knee (FB) [Book], Jason Howland (FB) [Music], and Mindi Dickstein (FB) [Lyrics], based on the 1869 novel by (all together now) Louisa May Alcott. Perhaps surprisingly to some, I have never actually read the novel (although I do recall having a copy of the sequel, Little Men, as a boy, which I also never actually read). So, going in, my only knowledge of the story was from the cast album, which I had really only listened to on shuffle. I knew it was about four sisters, and one was a writer, and that’s about it.

Reading the Wikipedia summary of the book after the show, I came to see that the stage production was a condensation and approximation of the book. It captured, at least based on Wikipedia, the major themes of the books and some of the major incidents. It also played a little loose with the timeline in the book, but not in a way that seemed to affect the themes in the story. Being a condensation, it was only able to draw the characters broadly; I think this is a flaw that would be found in many musicals that are based on condensations of larger novels — the time available makes it difficult to build deep characters and move the story along. For that, you need TV and binge watching.

The focus of the story is the growth of the character Josephine (“Jo”) March from approximately 15 to her early 20s during the time of the Civil War; it is also a semi-autobiographical tale of the original author as represented by Jo. It explores the relationship between Jo and her sisters (Meg, Beth, and Amy); the societal expectations on women in that era; the perceived role of men in relationship to women; and the perceptions of a headstrong, independent, woman to Civil War society. Thinking about that statement as I write it, I’m drawn to a parallel between Jo March and another headstrong literary woman at the end of the Civil War: Scarlett O’Hara of Gone With the Wind. One Northern, one Southern. Hmmmm.

As opposed to attempting to write a detailed synopsis, I’m just going to point you to the Wikipedia page. I’d rather use this space to explore my observations on the story and its presentation.

Much of the first act is spent establishing the characters and their personalities. With so many significant characters (the four March sisters and Laurie), that takes a while and quite a few songs (and is very different than a story with one or two protagonists).  The main character, Jo, is someone who must have been quite a draw when the story was first written: strong, independent, headstrong, eschewing the cultural norms. They must not have known what to make of her. In fact — being unfamiliar with the story — I had the feeling at the end of the first act that she might be either asexual or lesbian. There was just some sense about her. That proved not to be the case (and isn’t a surprise given when the story was written), but one wonders if that was an attraction of the book (or is an artifice of the musical). Thinking about her in contrast to Scarlett O’Hara is interesting. Jo achieves what she does through her wits and essentially independent of any man. Scarlett has the wits but keeps them to herself; she manipulates men through her femininity and her exploitation of cultural mores. Is this a reflection on the North vs. the South of the time? Ultimately, both attract the men they need by being themselves — their mates love them for who they are and less as a societal caricature. Both are also fiercely loyal to family and relationships. There are significant differences: Jo starts out poor and earns her money; Scarlett starts out rich, becomes poor, but acquires money through manipulation of men. It is still an interesting parallel.

The authors establish the characters of the other sisters to a much lesser extent, and mostly through interaction with Jo. The superficial aspects are sufficient for a musical, although some of the comments I read on the original production felt that was a flaw. I didn’t see it that way. Let’s look at the characters through the performers that created them.

In the lead position was Ashley Arlene Nelson (FB) as Jo March. We’d seen Nelson before in Dogfight, and she was equally strong here. The characterizations of Jo March I’ve read online talk about her as beautiful. I’m not sure you get that classic beauty with Nelson, but you get that same strong inner beauty that shone through in Dogfight. In fact, you get a bit more — there are these telling little smiles and expressions that are just delightful to watch; her performance brings forth the inner fire within Jo to succeed. As such, her performance is mesmerizing. One of the best places to see this is in her interactions with Laurie — just watch during “Take a Chance on Me”, or her face on the lovely “Small Umbrella in the Rain”. A truly delightful performance.

Jo’s sisters were less strongly drawn in the script, but still gave remarkable performances. Laura M. Hathaway (FB), as Meg, the oldest sister, seems more traditionally drawn. She shines in her interactions not only with her sisters in the group numbers, but in her one-on-ones with John Boone. Again, watch the face and the little things, especially during her number “More Than I Am”. Another remarkable performer was Emma Nossal (FB)’s Beth. In fact, it was her performance in “Some Things Are Meant To Be” that made me realize remarkable acting. She was flying a kite on stage just through her movements, and I could swear that I could see the string to the kite. That’s a great performance, where through craft alone one can create the image and impression of existence of the non-existent.  She also had a lovely singing voice, which you can see in the delightful “Off to Massachusetts” number. The youngest sister, Amy, was portrayed by two actresses: Olivia Knox was the younger Amy at our performance (she alternates with Alea Jordan); Angela Griswold (FB) was the older Amy. Young Amy is primarily in the first act and mostly has group songs, yet is still fun to watch  in her performance. The older Amy has a remarkable and distinctive smile and voice — watching her interact with Laurie in “The Most Amazing Thing” is a delight to watch.

This brings us to Laurie (Theodore Laurence III), the orphaned grandson of the neighbor across the street, Jo’s best friend, and … well, you’ll find out. He is portrayed by Jimmy Saiz (FB), who brings a remarkable energy, spirit, and bounce to the role. You can rapidly see why he and Nelson’s Jo become best friends. Again, he has a strong singing voice that is demonstrated both  in “Take a Chance on Me” and in his wonderful duet with older Amy, “The Most Amazing Thing”.

This brings us to the second tier of characters, who are drawn with a much lighter pen. Rachael Oliveros Catalano (FB) portrays Marmee, the mother of the March clan. The scenes she has show here as the glue of stability for the family, and she has some lovely numbers in “Here Alone” and “Days of Plenty”. Beyond that stability and the tension and pain she is facing as woman running a house while her man is away in the Civil War, we don’t learn much about here. Similarly lightly drawn is Glenn Koppel (FB)’s Mr. Laurence, the wealthy man who lives across the street, and who initially is the caricature of the mean rich man. He has a remarkable transformation in his number with Nossal’s Beth, “Off to Massachusetts”, which is quite fun to watch.

One of the characters we meet in the first scene we don’t see again until the top of the second act. Although also lightly drawn, he is one of my favorite performances — Nicholas Thurkettle (FB) as Professor Bhaer.  Not a super amount of lines, but watch closely his interactions with Jo and his facial expressions — particularly in “How I Am” and “Small Umbrella in the Rain”. That last number in particular I found quite touching — I’m sure many of us know relationships like that.

Laurie’s tutor, and Meg’s eventual husband, John Brooke is portrayed by Stefan Miller (FB). We don’t get to know much about John, but the actor has a great duet with Hathaway’s Meg in “More Than I Am”. Lastly, the authoritarian Aunt March is portrayed by Sherry Domerego (FB). We’ve all known or had an aunt like that (I certainly did). Domerego captures the character to a “T”, and is fun to watch in her number with Jo, “Could You”.

The production was directed by Casey Long (FB); Sarah Figoten Wilson (FB) was the Associate Director. As I’ve written before, as a non-actor I have trouble determining where the actor ends and the director begins, or is that where the direction ends and the acting begins. Perhaps it is the distinction between the individual (which is more acting) and the ensemble (which is management of the group). If so, then this production shows the talent of the direction team in not only bringing out strong individual performances, but it bringing out strong group interactions — be it the interactions of the March sisters in numbers like “Our Finest Dreams” or “Five Forever”, or the small two person interactions I’ve previously mentioned. Supporting the directoral team on this was the choreography of Jessie McLean. The dance numbers in this show weren’t all that fancy, but they worked well and supported the story.

Bill Strongin (FB) was the music director, and presumably the on-stage piano player. It was interesting hearing this with the single piano approach. I was only familiar with the full orchestra approach of the Broadway cast album. The single piano worked just fine.

Turning to the behind the scenes creative and supporting professionals: The scenic and lighting design was by Masako Tobaru (FB). I am always impressed by the creativity of the Chance set designs, and this was no exception. This was a clever mix of large book pages (I am still trying to determine if they printed large sheets, or applied words in a reasonably straight line), a projection along the back, and a raked wooden platform, supplemented by a few movable pieces. It worked remarkably well, and was supported by spectacular lighting that made up quite well for the Chance’s lack of a moving spot. In fact, the lighting and set worked well together to direct the attention to particular areas and lessen the focus on others. The Sound and Projection Design supporting this was by the director, Casey Long (FB). I initially thought I would notice the projections more; as it was, the set and lighting moved my perception of the projections to the background. As a result, they supported, instead of actually defining, the sense of place. Sound was similar, as the actual design was only apparent during the storms. The actors were not miced. This isn’t really necessary in a small space like the Chance, although a few could use a pinch more volume. Costume Design was by Erika C. Miller (FB), assisted by Associate Designer Barbara Phillips. The costumes seemed reasonably period to me, and there was only one minor malfunction (which I attributed to the 2nd preview — a dress didn’t get fully zipped). Original fight choreography was by David McCormick. Teodora Ramos/FB was the stage manager.  You can find a list of the Chance Staff here.

Little Women: The Broadway Musical continues at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim (where Route 91 meets Imperial Highway) until December 23. You can get tickets through the Chance Online Box Office, or by calling 888.455.4212. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar. The show is worth seeing.

The Chance Theatre has just announced their 2017 season. In the main series is (1) Claudio Quest, January 27 — February 26 2017, a new musical from the team behind Loch Ness about video games; (2) Middletown, April 21 — May 21; (3) Parade, June 30 — July 30; (4) in a word, September 8 — October 8 ; and (5) Tribes, September 22 — October 22. The TYA Series consists of (1) The Little Prince, February 17 — March 5; and (2) Fancy Nancy, the Musical, May 5 — May 28. The OTR series consists of four shows: (1) How to Conquer America: A Mostly True History of Yogurt on March 1; (2) Ted Malawer’s The Anatomy of Love: OTR LAB Workshop on July 20-23; and (3-4) two TBA shows on May 10 and October 18. The Holiday series consists of The Secret Garden – The Musical, November 24 — December 23 and the return of The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, December 8 — December 23. Of these, only one show currently appears worth the 63 mile drive from Northridge: Claudio Quest. As for the other musicals, I’ve seen them up here (or their time period is completely booked). However, I might make an exception if my niece and nephew want to see Parade. If you live in Orange County, however, this looks like a great set of shows for an affordable price.

Dining Notes: Whenever we go to the Chance, we always eat at the same place: True Seasons Organic Kitchen (FB), a healthy organic hot pot restaurant across the street from the Chance. Healthy vegetables, healthy meat, gluten free options, and home-made flavoring broths.

* * *

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). Note that Chromolume Theatre (FB) is doing a “Black Friday” sale, with 20% off their subscription with the code in the linked email. That’s three musicals for just $16 each (and then donate the 20% back for a tax deduction). You only have until midnight on Monday to take advantage of this special.

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:  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 Zanna Don’t at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) on January 16. We may get tickets to Claudio Quest at the Chance Theatre (FB) on January 28. 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: 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)

The Los Angeles Times called Hedwig, “Annie with a Bad Attitude”. We saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch last night at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), and I’m not sure I would go that far. She is, however, a self-professed nasty woman. In that profession, you begin to see why Hedwig is such a special woman for these times, and why this show appears to have a special resonance.

It is difficult to know how to approach Hedwig. On the surface, it is a hard-rocking musical (supposedly in the style of David Bowie, but not being a Bowie fan, I can’t vouch for that). I do know it is the sort of angry hard rock I like — the type with an underlying melody beneath the volume (Green Day’s American Idiot is similar). But there is a mix of very tender ballads thrown in.

In another sense, it is an echo of our current times where we are beginning to understand the wide variety of gender and sexual identities. Hedwig is not the drag queen of Priscilla, nor the stereotyped gay of La Cage Aux Folles. Hedwig is “genderqueer”, which if you aren’t familiar with the term, is defined as “a person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders.” Hedwig was male, had a botched sex change (hence the “angry inch”), and is now presenting as female … and sometimes male (the ending of the show isn’t quite clear). There is something similar in Hedwig’s husband, Yitzchak, who is traditionally played by a woman dressed as a man, who reemerges as a woman at the end. There is a joke in the show about how Yitzhak was originally singing songs from Yentl — how appropos.

Hedwig is also a topical musical. Unlike musicals that have a set book, the musical is like Hedwig herself — a little bit fluid around the edges. Each production is tailored to the time and the location — hence the references to Los Angeles, the audience interaction, the reference to the Hollywood Bowl, and veiled references to both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (when Hedwig proclaims herself to be a “nasty woman”).

Ultimately, Hedwig might best be compared to The Book of Mormon (of all things). For all the flash and glam and “in-your-face” of the presentation, it is at its heart a very conventional musical story: the quest for love, the quest to find your other half. So many musicals explore this quest. This is demonstrated in a very early number, “The Origin of Love”, which explores not only the origin of gender fluidity, but of the quest to find your other half — whoever he, she, or whatever-pronoun-you-choose may be.

I realize I haven’t describe the plot of the show yet. It is summarized in the Times article; it is also in the Wikipedia page (where it is also useful to read the history of the show). In short, is the story of Hedwig/Hansel, an East German man in love with American music. When a gay American GI offers Hansel a chance out, he takes it — even though it means leaving a bit of himself behind. Becoming Hedwig, she shares her story of her life in America, her relationship with the career and the man behind Tommy Gnosis, and her connection to Yitzhak. In the end, Hedwig finds, well, it is unclear what Hedwig finds in some form of cosmic merging.

The conceit surrounding Hedwig (and the supposed excuse for her being on Broadway (or at your regional theatre) is that Hedwig and her band were booked to perform a one-night show after the previous booking, the new musical Hurt Locker: The Musical opened and closed the same night. Using Hurt Locker’s set, Hedwig goes on. There are Playbills for Hurt Locker scattered around the theatre — if you can snag one, do so. It is hillarious. Just read the entry for Metallica, and you’ll get the tone.

Hedwig is topical, gender bending, in-your-face, transformative, loud, gentle, and surprisingly complicated. It is a clear example of how what we see on the surface is only that — the surface — and that the complexity and strange directions of people’s lives color us in way we can’t expect. We put on the clothes, we put on the wig, we put on the expectations, and we… become. Every Hedwig is different — and there have been many in the role — but they are also the same. Hedwig exposes that common humanity, and exposes that urge to find the person from whom you were torn asunder. You walk out of the show a little confused, but with an ultimately positive feeling.

But “Annie with an attitude”? I think not.

Bringing this Hedwig to life is Darren Criss (FB). Criss’ performance leaves one at a loss for words. Under the direction of Michael Mayer, Criss lives and breathes Hedwig. The personas merge; you truly believe he is she, is Hedwig. It is also clear that she, meaning he, is having a blast on  stage with this role — with a rare liberty to go all out, to play with the audience and the character, to go (within reason) beyond the staid book of a musical. It is just an astounding performance that you will remember long after.

Supporting Criss is her husband, Yitzchak, portrayed by the Broadway Yitzchak, Lena Hall (FB). Silent and sullen throughout much of the show, he gets his/her moments to shine, providing some spectacular numbers (and an astounding transformation). Hall will evidently play Hedwig at a number of performances (Sun Eve 11/6, 11/13, and 11/20; Fri Eve 11/25), and that should be a real Victor Victoria moment: a woman playing a man playing a woman who was a man once. How the ending of the show will be handled at those performances leaves me a little perplexed.

That’s it. That’s the cast. Hedwig (Criss) and Yitzchak (Hall). There is no ensemble. Hedwig and Yitzchak are supported on stage by Hedwig’s band — the Angry Inch. The Inch consists of Skszp (Justin Craig) [Music Director, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals]; Jacek (Matt Duncan (FB)) [Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals], Krzyzhtoff (Tim Mislock (FB)) [Guitar, Vocals]; and Schlatko (Peter Yanowitz) [Drums, Vocals].

Standbys for the performance are Mason Alexander Park (FB) (for Hedwig), Shannon Conley (FB) (for Yitzhak), Dylan Fusillo (FB) (for Schlatko), and Matt Katz-Bohen (FB) (for the remaining band members — Skszp, Jacek, and Krzyzhtoff). Note the Conley is performing as Yitzhak the days that Hall assumes the role of Hedwig.

Turning to the production and creative side. Hedwig was written by John Cameron Mitchell, who was the original Hedwig on Broadway. Hedwig started out as Mitchell’s story — he was Tommy Gnosis — the gay son of an Army General in Berlin; his caretaker was someone like Hedwig. The music and lyrics in Hedwig are by Stephen Trask (FB), and are particularly strong. Orchestrations are by Trask (FB), with an assist on the arrangement of “Sugar Daddy” from Justin Craig. Amusing note: Trask’s real name is Stephen R. Schwartz, the name credited in the Hurt Locker musical — not to be confused with Stephen L. Schwartz, who wrote Wicked, among many other shows; or Stephen Michael Schwartz, who was part of Parachute Express and wrote the musical “It Came From Beyond”.

The musical staging — which appears to be a fancy way of saying choreography without all the implications — was by Spencer Liff (FB). Paul McGill (FB) was the Movement Associate (which is a guess is a fancy way of saying Asst. Choreographer 🙂 ).

The scenic design was by Julian Crouch (FB), and was ostensibly the scenic design of Hurt Locker: The Musical , which was also credited to Crouch.  As this was the design for Hurt Locker, it consisted of bombed out rubble, with a stage door in the back, that gets deconstructed as the show goes on. However, the dual-use design had some nice elements to support Hedwig as well — in particular, the dancing wigs for the “Wig in a Box” number. Lighting design was by Kevin Adams — also credited for both shows.  The lighting design was very effective and rock-ish, but be forewarned there is heavy use of strobes if that is a trigger. The scenic and the lighting were supported by the projection designs of Benjamin Pearcy for 59 Productions — these were awesome in “The Origin of Love”. The true scenic elements, however, were the costumes and the wonderful wigs and makeup. Credit for the costumes goes to Arianne Phillips (FB) (who coincidentally designed the costumes for Hurt Locker), and for hair and makeup to Mike Potter (FB) (ditto for Hurt Locker).  The sound design was by Tim O’Heir (FB), and Stephen Gabis (FB) was the dialect coach.

Before I complete the credits, a buried credit I must highlight. The Playbill for Hurt Locker: The Musical is credited to Mike Albo and Amanda Duarte (FB), with design by Rogers Eckersley. From the casting to the bios to the song titles (“The Humvee With the Roof-Mounted Machine Gun on Top”) to the ads in the back, it is hilarious. Find one. Read it. Laugh profusely.

Completing the real credits: Casting – Calleri Casting (FB); Music Supervision and Coordination – Ethan Popp (FB); Associate Director – Johanna McKeon (FB); Production Stage Manager – Lisa Iacucci (FB); Stage Manager – Jovon E. Shuck; Assistant Stage Manager – Jeff Siebert; Production Management – Aurora Productions; Executive Producer – 101 Productions, Ltd. (and loads of producers).

Hedwig and the Angry Inch continues at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) until November 27, 2016. You can purchase tickets online through the Pantages website. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar. It is well worth seeing; if you are sensitive to loud noises, bring earplugs. If you are sensitive to strobe lights, I’d stay away.

Dining Notes: Before the show, we tried a new restaurant near the theatre, in the complex where they charge far too much for theatre parking (take Metro instead): Greenleaf (FB). It was excellent — healthy, portioned right, and presented well. We’ll come back; it is nice to have an alternative to Feast (FB).

* * *

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:  This weekend continues with the Nottingham Festival (FB) in about an hour. We then lose a weekend as we travel to Palo Alto for a Bar Mitzvah. The third weekend of November brings Funny Girl, a Conundrum Theatre Company (FB) guest production at  The Colony Theatre (FB) and a Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) [excuse me, “Southern California Railway Museum”]. 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 a hold for 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 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.

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

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It started with Bruce Kimmel (FB). I had participated in the Kickstarter for Bruce’s revue “Los Angeles: Then and Now” at LACC. It was there I met  Linden Waddell (FB) and learned about her one-woman show, Hello Again! The Songs of Allan Sherman. I thought it would be a good fit for our congregation, Temple Ahavat Shalom (FB) in Northridge. After some back and forth, we ended up booking the show as a fundraiser for the Men of TAS (FB) and the TAS Sisterhood (FB). Thus began my second stint wearing the hat of a producer :-), similar to my ACSAC Experience.

Last night was the show, and now I can return to my traditional hat — one that fits better — that of a professional audience.  I’ll note that although I had booked Linden’s show based on the strength of her personality and my love of Allan Sherman‘s catalogue. I had actually not watched her You-Tube clip, so the show itself was a complete surprise … and a delight.

It wasn’t just me that loved the show. As the show was going on, I was watching the rest of the congregation audience. Universal smiles. People singing along quietly. After the show, talking to the attendees, there was universal acclaim.  Although many of the younger generation have forgotten Allan Sherman, with their only exposure to parody being Weird Al, the generation in attendance grew up with these parodies, and it was a delight to hear them again. The live aspect added a lot to it — if you know about Allan Sherman, you know these songs were meant to be performed live — they started out as party parodies. It added something.

Linden’s show was not just a simple performance of songs. She brought characterizations and accents and stories to add to the songs, and provided history and context to the songs. It went over very well, and the audience interaction was a delight.

Linden adjusts the songs for the audiences; at our show, the playlist was as follows:

1. Parody Tonight (an introductory adaptation of Sondheim’s Comedy Tonight to set the context of the show)
2. There is Nothing Like a Lox
3. Green Stamps
4. Academy Award Medly: Call Me / Secret Code / Chopped Liver / Overweight People
5. Taking Lessons
6. Crazy Downtown
7. Shticks Medly
8. You’re the Top
9. Sir Greenbaum’s Madrigal
10. Your Mother’s Here to Stay
11. The Ballad of Harry Lewis
12. Skin
13. How Deep is the Ocean/Birdbath
14. One Hippopotami
15. Night and Day (with punctuation marks included)
16. When I’m In The Mood for Love
17. Harvey and Sheila
18. Smog Gets In Your Eyes
19. All of My Laughter (from The Fig Leaves are Falling)
20. Shake Hands with your Uncle Max
21. Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah

What’s nice is that there was  a mix of the familiar and unknown (and that unknown was Amazon’s gain, as I filled in the 6 albums I was missing). Songs that I hadn’t known — such as “Secret Code” or “All of My Laughter”, and it was amazing how many of these songs — from 60 years ago — were still relevant today. You can really see how artists like Weird Al owe there existence to artists like Allan Sherman.

About the only regret I have with the show is that the audience was not bigger. We tried our best to spread the word via social media and promotion, but it obviously didn’t reach the right demographic. This wasn’t the fault of the show — it was our learning curve on this aspect (and one I think many groups need to learn — from my conference experience, publicity is one of the hardest jobs there is and one that often gets left to those without the connections to do it right). A number of attendees expressed interest after the show in booking it for groups they know — I think that is a wonderful testament to the universality combined with nostalgia of this music. Still, I’d estimate we had nearly 100 at the show, which is pretty good attendance.

Linden was accompanied during the show by accompanist Marjorie Poe, who join in on a few songs.

Production credits: The show was directed by Janet Miller (FB), who alas was not in attendance (I enjoy seeing Janet). Linden is booked by Jeannine Frank / Frank Entertainment. On the Temple side, credit goes to the members of the Sherman Show committee: Jackie Zev, Jennifer Kassoy, Larry Hoffman, Roger Lowe, and lil ole me. Our sound was run by Andrew Petrak and Jacob Zonis, alumni of the Nobel Middle School Drama program. A special shout out to Aaron Solomon, the TAS Executive Director, who came over in the late afternoon to help us figure out how to get the connections right and the sound working perfectly. Thank you also to the spouses who helped (Karen Davis (my lovely wife) and Dorothy Hoffman), and all the kids and volunteers who helped usher and set up. A special thank you to our sponsors: Larry and Dorothy Hoffman, and Bernard and Tamara Singer.

If you remember Allan Sherman — and even if you only know Weird Al — I’d recommend you see this show. Alas, for us, it was a one-time event. Luckily, for you, you can check Linden’s website and find future showings.

* * *

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 starts with another Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB): Culture Clash’s Vote or Die Laughing. The following weekend brings Hedwig and the Angry Inch at  the Hollywood Pantages (FB) and the Nottingham Festival (FB). We then lose a weekend as we travel to Palo Alto for a Bar Mitzvah. The third weekend of November brings Funny Girl, a Conundrum Theatre Company (FB) guest production at  The Colony Theatre (FB) and a Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) [excuse me, “Southern California Railway Museum”]. November concludes with a HOLD date for Little Women at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. The last month of the year will include Into the Woods at Nobel Middle School, the CSUN Jazz Band at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), Amalie at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), The King and I at the Hollywood Pantages (FB); 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 a hold for 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 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.

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Last night, we went to go see Evita at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Going in, I was hoping to find some resonance with this year’s political campaign. After all, looking at it one way, we had the story of a popular entertainer who grew into a potent political power, a person who ran a foundation that appeared to do good but was primarily for their family’s personal benefit, a person whose rise to power was based more on style than substance. When examined the other way, we had the story of an ambitious woman whose rise to power was based more on her husband’s reputation than her own; a woman whose husband had a record of sleeping with whores; a woman who ambitiously craved power in a country where women had never ruled; a woman whose political opponents were made to shut up, and often conveniently disappeared.

I was hoping to find resonance, a lesson to be learned, something useful I could bring to my discussions on Facebook.

I found nothing. But it was still a fun story.

I’ve seen Evita numerous times before. I had seen the original when it was at the Shubert Theatre in Century City back when both existed back in 1980. I next saw Evita in a high-school performance at Van Nuys HS back in 2011. The next version was community theatre: the  Maui Academy of the Performing Arts (MAPA) (FB) production at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center (MACC) (FB) last August. Last night, Cabrillo’s version.

As I wrote back in August: For those not familiar with Evita, it is the second rock opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita’s early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death. It is a sung-through opera, with very little non-musical spoken dialogue. You can find a detailed synopsis of the story on the wikipedia page or on the Rice/Webber page for the show.

When one has seen a show this many times, one tends not to focus on the book but the performances. In this production, there were strengths and weaknesses. In terms of overall direction, Roger Castellano (FB) used his ensemble and set well, taking advantage of the simple set and the power of the masses. I appreciated some of his touches, such as the casket for Eva and the “Santa Evita” number. The power of the people came into play in many numbers, particularly in “A New Argentina”. My only directoral quibble (which could be more choreographical, and thus Cheryl Baxter (FB)’s department) was the behavior and movement of the Argentinian Generals in the various scenes (e.g., “The Art of the Possible”, and similar scenes). They need to be crisp, strong, precise, and exude authority and power. These guys ambled in, and had all the precision of a volunteer army. Tighten it up, men.

Evita is one of those shows that lives and dies based on the strength of its leads. Alas, I must report that this production was a mixed bag. Their Che, Marc Ginsberg (FB), was excellent. He had the vocal power, he had the stage presence, he had the appropriate cynical attitude, and he had the look down pat. One of the best Che’s I’ve ever seen. I could list his numbers as examples, but he was just great. This production is worth seeing for his performance.

Their Eva, Cassandra Murphy (FB), was… almost. She had the look perfect. Her vocals were spot on. Her dancing was great. All of which are critical for an Eva. But to excel, Eva needs something extra — a stage presence that grabs you by the neck and demands your attention. This was something that  Amy Hānaili’i Gilliom (FB), the Eva we saw in Hawaii, had. It is something that many of the Broadway Eva’s had. I think it may come from years of being on the stage and knowing how to be the presence that makes that spotlight come to you on its own. Murphy’s Eva had about 85% of that luminescence, but it needs just a bit more to achieve the stellar highs.

The weak spot in this production (at least to me), was David Kirk Grant (FB)’s Juan Peron. Peron needs to be a presence, not a milquetoast. Grant’s Peron had the right voice, but he did not exude power. Peron has to have the sense of a former military man who grabbed the reins of power, not by always the best of means. He has the soft spot for Eva — she is perhaps his one weakness — but otherwise there needs to be that toughness. That just didn’t come across.

In the second tier, we have two named characters who primarily appear only in the first half of the first act. Both were very strong. Bill Ledesma (FB)’s had the sexy look and the requisite sexy voice for the tango singer, Agustin Magaldi. His portrayal of Magaldi against Murphy’s Eva was very strong. Also very strong was Isa Briones (FB)’s mistress.  She has one scene and one song, and she just nails it beautifully. I hope to see more of Briones in future productions in Southern California.

Everyone else in Evita is ensemble. The upper crust. The generals. The des camisados. The union workers. The maids and butlers and hangers-ons. All ensemble. As such, it is hard to single anyone out. However… the little girl that opened up “Santa Evita” just melted my heart. Lovely performance. I’m also pleased to note that the ensemble featured all colors, shapes, and sizes, which I thought was particularly good. The ensemble consisted of Elizabeth Adabale (FB), Isa Briones (FB), Liz Bustle (FB), Fernando Christopher (FB), Eduardo Giancarlo (FB), Augusto Guardado/FB, Veronica Gutierrez/FB, Timothy Joshua Hearl (FB), Jackson Hinden (FB), Katie Hume (FB), Brandon Taylor Jones/FB, Bill Ledesma (FB), Lyrissa Leininger (FB), Janelle Lillian (FB), Sarah Marie Maher (FB), Drew Mizell (FB), Alastair James Murden (FB), Tracy Ray Reynolds (FB), Joshua Rivera (FB), Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal (FB), Katherine Steele (FB), and Kendyl Yokoyama (FB). The children’s ensemble consisted of Luca de la Peña/FB, Savannah Fischer/FB, Calista Loter/FB, Madison North/FB, Brooke Rassell/FB, Emma Safier/FB, Marcello Silva/FB, and Lilly Victoria Thompson/FB.

Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal (FB) was the understudy for Eva Peron.

As an aside, the diverse casting of the ensemble made me question the leads a little: after all, this is Argentina. Wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, the leads be Hispanic. But then again, Eva is always portrayed in the archival newsreels as lily white, so perhaps this was seen as a virtue in the England-worshipping society of Argentina in the 1930s. Still, I think it is an interesting question to explore.

The music for the production was provided by the Cabrillo Music Theatre Orchestra, Dr. Cassie Nickols (FB), Musical Director; Dan Redfield/FB, Conductor; Darryl Tanikawa (FB), Orchestra Contractor; and Darryl Archibald (FB), Music Supervisor.  The orchestra consisted of: Gary Rautenberg (FB)[Flute, Piccolo, Alto Flute]; Darryl Tanikawa (FB) [Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Sax]; Bill Barrett [Trumpet I]; Chris Maurer [Trumpet II]; June Satton (FB) [Trombone]; Melissa Hendrickson (FB) [Horn]; Sharon Cooper [Violin I, Concertmaster]; Sally Berman [Violin II]; Karen Goulding Long [Viola]; Rachel Coosaia (FB) [Cello]; Benjamin Ginsberg/FB [Keyboard Synthesizer I]; Ryan Whyman [Keyboard II]; Tom Griffin [Keyboard III]; Pathik Desai (FB) [Electric and Acoustic Guitars]; Shane Harry/FB [Electric and Double String Bass]; Alan Peck [Set Drums]; and Tyler Smith/FB [Percussion]. The orchestra was produced by Tanikawa Artists Management LLC.

Turning to the production and creative side of things. Th sets were provided by The Music and Theatre Company (FB), with additional scenic design by Alex Choate (FB). Costumes were provided by The Theatre Company (FB); Beth Glasner (FB) was the costume designer. Both the sets and the costumes worked well; I particularly liked the integration of actual archival footage into the projections.  The lighting design by Kim Killingsworth (FB) worked well, particularly the integration of two spots on the scaffolding on the sides of the stage. Jonathan Burke (FB)’s sound design, as always, was clear and crisp. Jim Belcher did the hair and makeup design, and it worked reasonably well — particularly the wigs for Eva Peron. Rounding out the credits were: Jack Allaway, Technical Director; Jessica R. Aguilar, Production Stage Manager; Richard Storrs (FB), Marketing Director; David Elzer/Demand PR, Press Representative; and Will North (FB), Managing Director.

Note that last credit. This was Will North (FB)’s first time helming a production, taking over from long time artistic director Lewis Wilkenfeld (FB). Whereas Lewis would go on and on (and on and on) about what Cabrillo was doing in the community, introducing groups in the audience, and so forth, Will was much more succinct. No mention of all the good, just a quick mention of the raffle and moving forward. Lewis created a personality for Cabrillo; hopefully, over time, we will be able to see Will’s personality emerge as he loosens up and endears himself to the audience.

Evita continues at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) for one more weekend. Tickets are available through the Cabrillo online box office; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar. This is a reasonably good production of the show; well worth seeing if you haven’t seen it before.

* * *

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:  Next weekend brings Turn of the Screw at Actors Co-op (FB) and the new Tumbleweed Festival (FB). The last weekend of October brings Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom (a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood).

Interrupting this recap for a word from a sponsor: Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom is open to the community, and is a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood. Please tell your friends about it. I’m Past President of MoTAS, and I really want this to be a success. Click on the flyer to the right for more information. It should be a really funny night.

November starts with another Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB): Culture Clash’s Vote or Die Laughing. The following weekend brings Hedwig and the Angry Inch at  the Hollywood Pantages (FB) and the Nottingham Festival (FB). We then lose a weekend as we travel to Palo Alto for a Bar Mitzvah. The third weekend of November brings Funny Girl, a Conundrum Theatre Company (FB) guest production at  The Colony Theatre (FB) and a Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) [excuse me, “Southern California Railway Museum”]. November concludes with a HOLD date for Little Women at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. The last month of the year will include Into the Woods at Nobel Middle School, the CSUN Jazz Band at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), Amalie at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), The King and I at the Hollywood Pantages (FB); 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 a hold for 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 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.

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

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Is history what you believe it to be? If you honestly believe that history happened a particular way, does that make it true? Is it acceptable to always slant history a certain way to support a particular argument? Do the facts define history, irrespective of what anyone says history to be?

Sounds like some questions relevant to this political silly season of 2016. Is it?

There was a man who said that particular historical events never happened. He said that others happened in a particular way that supported his view of reality. This man quoted numerous historical sources, and interpreted the evidence in such a way as to build a case to support his views and his arguments. Never mind that the facts and historians across the globe said otherwise. He truly believed that what everyone else knew as reality never happened, and was so ensconced in that belief that he could not see the facts.

However, there was a courageous woman who took him — and other similar believers on. She she called him out for his lies and his falsification. She believed that facts define what is true, not opinion, and a confluence of the facts is irrefutable evidence.

Again, sounds like someone this presidential year.

But the man in question didn’t like being called out for his lies and falsifications. He felt it was hurting his reputation, and was impacting his ability to conduct business deals. He wanted to take her down; he took this personally. He sued her for libel in court, and forced her to prove that he was lying.

Again, sounds familiar if you saw Sunday night’s debate. Only I’m not talking about Decision 2016. The man in question is David Irving (and no, I’m not linking to his website),  and the woman in question is Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. The trial did happen: Irving sued Lipstadt in British Court for Libel, based on her writings about Irving in her book “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory“. Lipstadt subsequently wrote a book about her experiences with the trial, “History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier” (recently rereleased). This book was adapted into a screenplay, which is hitting the big screens this month as “Denial“.

Now, back when I was in college, I knew Dr. Lipstadt. I was a Math/Computer Science major, and we had this requirement called the Breadth Requirement. This meant we had to take courses out of our area in order to graduation. I discovered Jewish Studies was an option for Humanities. Dr. Lipstadt, who was a professor at UCLA in the Jewish Studies Department at the time, taught a number of Jewish Studies courses. As a result, I took a number of courses from her on subjects such as Zionism and Antisemitism (turning in papers printed via nroff on the Diablo 1620 in the CS Department). I’ve been in touch with her off and on since then. When Dr. Lipstadt began to talk about this movie on her Facebook wall, my interest was piqued. I was just coming off two years as president of my synagogue men’s club, and I thought this would be a great event. So I found a date, coordinated a meeting, and picked up a copy of the book so I could prepare some discussion questions. Yesterday afternoon I lead a group of 19 down to the AMC Woodland Hills for the afternoon showing.

The movie tells essentially the story that is in the book: the setup of the conflict, receipt of the lawsuit, preparation of the case, the trial, and the aftermath. It is in many ways an extreme condensation of the book — the book covers the preparation for the trial in extreme detail (and you can see all that detail at the Holocaust Denial on Trial website, which has add the details and the trial transcipts, among other resources), and provides details for almost every day of the trial. Yet such condensation is required in the process of making the film. For those seeing the film, there is one important fact noted in the republished book’s foreward: Every word in the trial scenes is verbatim. The screenwriters did not modify those words, because to do so would be to go against the spirit of the movie.

Looking at the movie as a movie, I thought it was very good (and so did everyone else in my group). It provided sufficient context to the book, presented the discovery in an engaging way, and captured the conflicts of the trial — and the difficulties that Dr. Lipstadt faced in having to stay quiet — well. It provided just enough information on the British legal system for American viewers to understand the context. As a live theatre goer, I noticed the cinematography, and I thought it did a very good job of building the mood, especially in the scenes related to Auschwitz. It wasn’t maudlin; it didn’t well on the specifics and the cruelties of the Holocaust. The focus was the trial.

However, as I watched the movie (with the book fresh in my head), I couldn’t help but notice what was missing. The movie gave the impression that the trial was centered around Auschwitz and Irving’s claims thereabout. The discovery process of the case was much more extensive, looking at all of Irving’s writings and the historical areas they covered. When in the movie they enter the courtroom and see rows and rows of binders on the walls, those aren’t just Irving’s diaries. Those are all of the material that was discovered for the trial. The screenwriter also omitted a number of critical aspects of British court (likely for the sake of time and story): that all materials discovered are shared, and that there are to be no “surprises” during the trial. Further, it didn’t note that if Irving lost the trial, he became financial responsible for all of Dr. Lipstadt’s court costs. It also didn’t note the questions related to Penguin UK’s involvement in the trial.

With respect to the trial itself, there were numerous areas that, again, were condensed out for the sake of the cinematic demonstration. There were numerous aspects of Auschwitz that were hinted at in the movie, but were much more extensive during the trial, such as the ramp to the “delousing room” and the specifics of why Leichter’s analysis of the concrete was flawed. There were aspects of the construction of the facilities. Then there were other areas that were omitted entirely, such as Irving’s claims about the Eastern Front and the massacres of Jews there.

Again, I understand the cinematic need for the omissions. There was one omission that was more problematic to me. A key emphasis of the book is the notion of confluence of history — the notion that factual history arises from facts from multiple sources and multiple datapoints all pointing to the same conclusion. This was Irving’s fatal flaw: he drew facts from one or two sources, interpreting them as he would, and ignoring numerous other sources that contradicted him. That’s not what a historian does. Once examines as many sources as possible, and where the facts lead you are the truth. This notion of confluence of history is extremely important this election season; just this weekend we had a candidate claiming that a particular behavior wasn’t representative, when the confluence of facts pointed to the opposite conclusion. This same candidate identified a few examples about their opponent and claimed it demonstrated a significant pattern when, again, that conclusion wasn’t supported by a confluence of the facts.

However, the movie did leave the audience with an extremely important point, which was also the moral (so to speak) of the book: History is not just what we say it is. One cannot say: this is how I honestly remember things, this is what I believe, and therefore it is true. Having honest antisemitic beliefs, and believing that the Holocaust never happened does not change the reality that it happened. That is such an important point to make this fall, where we have entire political parties insisting that history happened one particular way to support their point of view, completely ignoring the fact that the confluence of the evidence says otherwise.

The performances in the movie were uniformly strong. Timothy Spall, who to me was Wormwood from Harry Potter but whom others recall better as Churchill in The Kings Speech, does innocent evil so well. Rachel Weitz did a great job becoming Dr. Lipstadt — she got the vocal mannerisms down well, although her look didn’t quite fit my memory. The performance was excellent. Tom Wilkinson was strong as Richard Rampton, the lead Barrister on the case, with great support from Andrew Scott as Anthony Julius, the lead solicitor.

This being a movie, I’m not going to list all the credits as I do with a theatre production; you can see them all on the IMDB page.

Note that the underlying topic of the movie: antisemitism (always, as Dr. Lipstadt taught, written without the hyphen), is still far too prevalent. You’ll see it in comments on the book and on the movie. You’re seeing it in this political campaign, from the memes retweeted by the Trump campaign (Pepe the Frog was recently designed as a hate symbol by the ADL, and there was Trump’s earlier tweet) to the most recent debate, with the repeated references to Sydney Blumenthal. These are what are called “dog whistles” — silent signals that most people don’t recognize, but that white nationalists pick up to indicate messages to them. The denial of history — the bending of facts to make a particular point — is so timely this political season.

One other interesting comparison. One incident show in the movie, which was related in the book as well, concerns how Irving demonstrated he was not a racist. Quoting from the book:

Irving assured the reporter, Kate Kelland, that he could demonstrate he was not a racist by the fact that his “domestic staff” had included a Barbadian, a Punjabi, a Sri Lankan, and a Pakistani. They were “all very attractive girls with very nice breasts”.

Shades of a certain presidential candidates and comments made on a bus.

“Denial” is a movie I strongly recommend to all. It is in limited release now, expanding some on October 14, and going nationwide on October 22. See it. Learn from it. Get the book and visit the website and learn more.

* * *

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:  Next weekend has yet another VPAC event: An Evening with Kelli O’Hara on Friday, as well as tickets for Evita at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on Saturday. The following weekend brings Turn of the Screw at Actors Co-op (FB) on October 22 and the new Tumbleweed Festival (FB) on October 23. The last weekend of October brings Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom (a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood).

Interrupting this recap for a word from a sponsor: Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom is open to the community, and is a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood. Please tell your friends about it. I’m Past President of MoTAS, and I really want this to be a success. Click on the flyer to the right for more information. It should be a really funny night.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, October is also the North Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB), although I doubt if we’ll have time for any shows. November will bring Hedwig and the Angry Inch at  the Hollywood Pantages (FB); a Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) [excuse me, “Southern California Railway Museum”]; the Nottingham Festival (FB); and possibly Little Women at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. We still have some open weekends in there I may book. We close out the year, in December, with the CSUN Jazz Band at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), Amalie at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), The King and I at the Hollywood Pantages (FB); an unspecified movie on Christmas day; and a return to our New Years Eve Gaming Party.

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. See here for the Indiegogo. 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)

The first Jerry Herman musical that I ever saw was a failed Jerry Herman musical. the LACLO production of Mack and Mabel back in 1974. Since then, I’ve seen some other failed Jerry Herman musicals, most notably The Grand Tour at The Colony Theatre in 2005. Last night, I added another peacock feather to my obscure Jerry Herman musical hat: a concert performance of Dear World (FB) at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). That just leaves Milk and Honey, and the never performed Miss Spectacular.

When Dear World debuted in 1969, to put it bluntly, it flopped. It came on the heels of Hello Dolly! and Mame, but ran only 177 performances. Based on Jean Giraudoux‘s play The Madwoman of Chaillot as adapted by Maurice Valency, it starred Angela Lansbury as the Countess Aurelia. Although Lansbury won a Tony Award for her performance, there were many problems. Most critics blame the fact that this was a chamber-piece blown up for a large Broadway house. Others cited problems with the books, and some articles I’ve read cited the banality of some of the lyrics. There have been attempts to update the show — most notably at Goodspeed in the early 2000s — but they haven’t gone anywhere. Last night’s performance was not a formal production of the show — there were no sets or costumes, no choreography. It was a concert performance: actors on-book at music stands performing, with a narrator to set the scene. By doing so, it allowed the audience to focus on the score and the story. The version presented appeared to be the revised Goodspeed version, which started from the original book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, with subsequent adaptations by David Thompson. This version reordered the songs slightly, and added two songs that were not on the original cast recording from 1969.

The basic structure on Dear World is one common to musicals from the 1960s: there is a basic main story, and a background love story (because there always needs to be a love story). The basic main story, as modified slightly from the original, concerns a bunch of greedy rich corporate presidents discovering oil under a cafe in Paris, and the Countess and her mad friends hatching a plot to prevent them from destroying Paris to get the oil. The love plot concerns the relationship between a waitress at the cafe and the son of one of the corporate presidents. At bit fanciful and farfetched, one could imagine it falling with a thud in 1969 because of the lack of the concern at that time about either the supply of oil or corporate greed. We hadn’t even had the first Earth Day yet. There was no connection with the plot at all.

Today, on the other hand, the basic plot is much more relevant. We have seen what men will go through to get their oil and gas — especially just up the hill in Porter Ranch, for example. We have seen how corporate greed can destroy. Speaking of corporate greed, in fact, we have a candidate for President who is the poster child for corporate greed and unbridled wealth. One of the songs added to the second act, “Have a Little Pity on the Rich” (performed excellently by Steven Weber (TW)), could easily be sung by Donald Trump, as a man who isn’t attracted to wealth — wealth is attracted to him:

If I throw a diamond in the Seine
It comes up in the trout I had for dinner.
If I bet a bundle on a mare with rickets
Well, the mare becomes a winner.
If I throw a franc away
Or give a bank away
Or drop my assets in a ditch
The more that its money to burn for me
The faster profits return to me
So have a little pity on the rich.
(“Have a Little Pity on the Rich“, M/L: Jerry Herman)

His opposition is a determined woman, a woman who many think of as crazy, but might be the most sane out there. Her core belief is captured in the simple song “One Person”:

If one person can beat a drum
And one person can blow a horn
If one person can hold a torch
Then one person can change the world.

C’mon, in this era of Bernie Sanders, who can’t hear that as a battle cry.

Thus, in Dear World, we have a musical that has the potential to have a reverberating legacy that wasn’t there in 1969 when it was first produced, or even in the early 2000s when the revised version comes out. We have a musical that has the potential to make a statement about the power of one (as any mathematician knows) over corporate greed, about the power of a determined woman over greedy white men.

We have the potential, yes. However, I don’t think the Goodspeed revisions quite get one there. The characters are a little too comic, a little too caricatured.  The underlying love story feels grafted on, an afterthought, something not integral to the story. The madness of the Countess and her friends seems out of place today. It is as if the book writers never were quite sure what they wanted the story to be: allegorical farce or a pointed message piece. Could this piece succeed? Yes, given the right attention, the right reworked book, and some reworking / restructuring of some of the songs.

Yes, some of the great Herman songs need reworking, simply because of their banality. The title song is a great example:

Please take your medicine, dear world,
Please keep your pressure down, dear world.
Promise to thrive on each word your doctor speaks,
He’ll bring the roses back to your cheeks.
For you’ve been a pallid and blah world,
Stick out your tongue and say “Ahh,” world.
We’ll give you plasma and tonic, by the spoon,
So be a dear world,
Take your medicine, dear world,
Keep your pressure down, dear world,
And get well soon!

There is the potential for a great musical here. It is no longer critical. But it still needs some medicine.

Luckily, in a concert version you can set all of that aside and listen to the music. It’s one night, so you don’t need to worry about whether the book works long term. You can assemble a team of great performers, a wonderful orchestra, and sit back and enjoy. This is what VPAC did.

Stepping into the shoes of Angela Lansbury (who was perhaps too young for the part back in 1969) was Tyne Daly (FB) — who fit the part great. She brought a unique characterization to a performance that minimally required her to sing, and in doing so brought the Countess to life. She handled her numbers well, in particularly her main numbers of “I Don’t Want To Know”, and “One Person” quite well.

Supporting Lansbury as the other countesses were Vicki Lewis (FB) as Madame Constance and Bets Malone (FB) as Madame Gabrielle. They played off each other well, and were great in the tri-parte “The Tea Party”.

The evil side of the equation was represented by the three corporate presidents — E.E. Bell (FB) [President One], Michael Shepperd (FB) [President Two], and James Leo Ryan (FB) [President Three] — and the Prospector who discovered the oil, Damon Kirsche (FB). This group was strong — especially Bell and Kirsche. Shepperd needed to be closer to the microphone; his voice (which was good) was not always picked up and amplified equally to the others. They did appear to be having great fun with the roles.

The love interests were represented by Nina (Brandi Burkhardt (FB)), a waitress at the Cafe, and Julian (Zachary Ford (FB)), the son of one of the corporate presidents. Both had wonderful singing voices and made a cute couple, and as their characters worked well in the story. The love part of the story for them, however, just felt grafted on and didn’t fit well — seemingly just there so some ballads could be sung. They were sung beautifully, but still….

Standing out in a spectacular fasion was Steven Weber (TW)’s Sewer Man. Weber does evil and eccentric so well. He sang strongly, actually danced, and was just a delight to watch.

Rounding out the cast were Jane Leeves (FB) as the Narrator, and Sean Smith (FB) as the Sergeant. The main performers were supported by the Acasola (FB) ensemble from CSUN — CSUN’s first A-cappella Group.

Also supporting the production was the Dear World orchestra, under the direction of conductor and music director Darryl Archibald (FB). The orchestra consisted of Roberto Cani (Concertmaster); Kathleen Robertson (Violin); Tamara Hatwan (Violin); Kirstin Fife (Violin); Adriana Zoppo (Violin/Viola); Stephanie Fife (Cello); John Krovoza (Cello); Sal Lozano (Woodwind 1); Greg Huckins (Woodwind 2); Glen Berger (Woodwind 3); Joe Stone (Woodwind 4); John Mitchell (Woodwind 5); Danielle Ondarza (French Horn); Dan Fornero (Trumpet 1); John Fumo (Trumpet 2); Dan Savant (Trumpet 3); Dave Ryan (Trombone 1); Stephen Huges (Bass Trombone); Andrew Synowiec (Acoustic Guitar / Mandolin); Jeff Rizzo (Keyboard); Amy Wilkins (Harp); Mark Converse (Percussion); Bruce Carver (Percussion); and Tim Christensen (Bass / Contractor). There was no triangle, which was uncharacteristic of a Jerry Herman musical :-).

On the creative and production side, Zack Leuchars (FB) did the lighting design, and Nick Oldham did the sound design. Both were good, although there were a few sound problems. Orchestrations were the original orchestrations by Phillip J. Lang, except for a few songs orchestrated by Darryl Archibald (FB). Casting was by Amy Lieberman. The production was directed by David Lee (FB), and produced by Suzi Dietz (who we remember from her Pasadena Playhouse days).

This was a one-time only performance at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). It was part of the Scenes and Sounds series at VPAC, to which you can still subscribe.

* * *

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:  Today brings an open-house at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), followed by Our Town at Actors Co-op (FB) this evening… and then it is the start of the High Holy Days. The second weekend has another Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB) event: this time for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The third weekend has yet another VPAC event: An Evening with Kelli O’Hara on Friday, as well as tickets for Evita at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on Saturday. The following weekend brings Turn of the Screw at Actors Co-op (FB) on October 22 and the new Tumbleweed Festival (FB) on October 23. The last weekend of October brings Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom (a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood).

Interrupting this recap for a word from a sponsor: Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom is open to the community, and is a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood. Please tell your friends about it. I’m Past President of MoTAS, and I really want this to be a success. Click on the flyer to the right for more information. It should be a really funny night.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, October is also the North Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB), although I doubt if we’ll have time for any shows. November will bring Hedwig and the Angry Inch at  the Hollywood Pantages (FB); a Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) [excuse me, “Southern California Railway Museum”]; the Nottingham Festival (FB); and possibly Little Women at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. We still have some open weekends in there I may book. We close out the year, in December, with the CSUN Jazz Band at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), Amalie at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), The King and I at the Hollywood Pantages (FB); an unspecified movie on Christmas day; and a return to our New Years Eve Gaming Party.

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. See here for the Indiegogo. 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.

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Shortly after the Hollywood Fringe Festival, I read a review in the LA Post-Examiner about a production of I Love You, Because at the Hudson Theatre. I had heard the music from the show before (I have the CD), and wanted to see it; unfortunately, I just couldn’t fit it into my schedule before it closed. Luckily for me, I learned about a different production being produced by someone I knew from my Temple Beth Torah days that was opening in September. The show’s schedule and my schedule were able to mesh, and so last night we were out in Burbank to see the Red Brick Road Theatre Company† (FB) and Endeavor Theatre Ensemble’s production of the Cunningham and Saltzman musical “I Love You, Because” at the Grove Theatre Center.
[† Red Brick Road does have a website, however it is currently under construction and not yet uploaded. Eventually, you’ll find it here.]

I Love You, Because is a musical about… well, let me start by telling you what everyone says it is about. Everyone says — that is, it seems to be that every review of the show that you will read will say — it is a modern twist of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Now, I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice, but I have read the Wikipedia summary,  and I have difficulty seeing the purported connection. My advice: ignore that claimed aspect of the show, as it appears to be tenuous at best. Beside that, there are no zombies.

So what is I Love You, Because about. To me, it is a comedy squarely in the center of the off-Broadway subgenre of small cast comedies about finding love in New York. You know them: shows like First Date; Brownstone, The Musical; Five Course Love; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; I, Sing; Little Shop of Horrors… oh, right, no zombies. In any case, shows about some small number of couples seeing to find love through endless dating, finding Mr. Wrong, and then finding Mr. Right. I don’t know why they are always in New York — perhaps Gothamites are much worse at finding love, or perhaps Gothamites will only go see a show if it is about their city (whereas LA folks care about love in New York, perhaps New York doesn’t care about LA).

In any case, I Love You, Because is squarely in the “looking for love” genre of musicals. In this case, we have two young and beautiful gothamites: Austin and Marcy. Each has just been dumped by their long-term paramores. One, Marcy, would just like to move on, but her best friend Diana convinces her that she absolutely must wait the proper amount of rebound time. The other, Austin, wants to win back the love of his life, but his brother, Jeff, convinces him that he must go out and date again, for only then will the universe restore balance by bringing the woman that dumped him back. If you hadn’t realized it yet, both of the sidekicks are pretty cynical about love itself and neither has any realistic hope or want of finding a relationship. So the two sidekicks happen to set up a date with each other, and happen to bring along their best friends so they can meet and force the universe to do what they want.

The universe is perverse, so you can guess what happens.

That’s right, Austin and Marcy start seeing each other: her to have something to pass the rebound time with; him to have someone help him right the perfect poem to win his girl back. There’s no interest of the two in each other, as they are stereotypical opposes: he a straight-laced Republican; she a free-spirited Liberal. As I said, you can guess what happens; I probably shouldn’t spoil it too much.

As for the sidekicks, you can probably guess what happens there. After all, you’ve see Mike and Molly. That’s right: they become friends with benefits.

By now you can see where this is going, and anticipate where things will end up. There is a crisis at the end of Act I prompted by the profession of actual feelings; Act II serves to resolve those feelings and bring everything to a happen ending, with the help and lubrication of two nameless supporting cast members who serve various roles, including as bartenders and waitresses (something every actor in New York knows how to play well).

Overall, I found the story a bit sitcomish, but enjoyable and funny and cute. That may be because the characters were written a bit broadly. Others in the audience were guffawing and finding it hilarious throughout — I’m not that demonstrative, but there are some very cute bits.  There could be an age factor in this: the humor may hit even more to those who are closer to the modern dating world than I, an engineering type who married another engineering type and never really explored the dating scene (except with other mathematicians, scientists, and engineers).

Part of this could be due to the fact that this was an early work from the authors, Ryan Cunningham (Book and Lyrics) and Joshua Saltzman (Music). The team does not have a lot of musicals under their belt, and often the oeuvre of a team matures over their production span. In many ways, the lyrics and music were a bit stronger than the book itself. Many of the songs were very cute and the audience could relate to them. Good examples of this are “We’re Just Friends”, “Coffee”, and “That’s What’s Gonna Happen”. Of course, there is the very strong “The Actuary Song”, which makes one think of the heist planning in 70 Girls 70. On the other hand, there were some klunky-ish songs such as “…But I Don’t Want to Talk About Her”.

One thing that was notable here was the casting, for which there is no specific credit (so it was likely a combination of the director and the producers). Most productions of this show, judging by the cast pictures, tend to select a uniformly white, good looking, model-proportioned cast. This production was far from that. Of the three female cast members, two were on the fubsy side, the third was a person of color. The male side was a little less diverse, although that is understandable given two of the three characters are brothers. But it was truly a nice thing to see on the stage — especially as -ism based on size has been about the only -ism to remain common.

ETA: Photos from the production have been posted on the production’s Facebook page.

Let’s turn to this cast, under the direction of Carol Becker (FB). In the lead positions were Laura Bevilacqua/FB as Marcy and Nick Echols (FB) as Austin. Let’s start with the basics: I was smitten with Bevilacqua’s performance. She had a remarkable personality, a dazzling smile, wonderful expressions and reactions and an extremely strong singing voice that did not require the amplification that it had. She was just a joy to watch, especially when she wasn’t the center of the action and was just reacting. Echols seems to start out a bit stiffer (this was, after all, the second performance of the show) and to have some amplification problems, but as the show progressed he became a much warmer character and less of the stereotype he began as. (boy, that was a convoluted sentence).  One other thing worth noting was the size difference between the two: even in her heels, Bevilacqua was at least a head shorter than Echols. It was fun to watch them navagate around that.

In the sidekick tier, we had Kristen Bennett/FB as Diana and Matthew Ian Welch (FB) as Jeff. Bennett and Welch just seemed wrong for each other, yet the pairing work. No where else was this clearer than in the “We’re Just Friends” song, where the two are clearly having a load of fun. Bennett had a very strong gospel style voice, and Welch had an amazing baratone that just seemed to come from nowhere.

Rounding out the team in various character roles were Ali Deyer (FB) as the “NYC Women” and Tim Jim Lim/FB as the “NYC Men”.  I really liked Deyer — it was nice to see someone who was zaftig on stage where it wasn’t being played for the funny, but just as a normal character with a normal life. Deyer also had a strong singing voice. I was less crazy about Lim — his characterizations were a bit over the top and at times bordered on the stereotypical; I was also not enamored of his singing voice, which was a bit weaker than the other two men in the cast. Lainie Pahos (FB) was the understudy for Marcy/Diana.

The on-stage musicians were under the musical direction of Stephanie Deprez (FB), who was on stage playing as much as the actors (she was a hoot to watch). The “orchestra” consisted of Betsi Freeman (FB) (Piano), Glenn Ochenkoski (Drums), Mark Corradetti (FB) (Bass), and Jeff Kroeger (Keyboard). Choreography was by Liza Barskaya (FB) and worked pretty well given the space — again, I particularly enjoyed it on the “We’re Just Friends” number.

Turning to the production and creatives side. The set design by Carmi Gallo was reasonable: it didn’t give a strong sense of New York other than the pictures hanging on the wall; additionally, there was this odd red LED shape at the back that would turn on occasionally. It was unclear what that was meant to convey; hence, it served primarily to distract. Properties design was by Rebecca Kahn/FB, and they worked reasonable well — especially all of the fruity drinks and such. The sound design from Jay Lee was problematic: there was bad balance between the actors and the music; in that size space, the music needs to be toned down and the actors — especially these actors — do not require much amplification. As it was, it was a bit overpowering. The lighting design by Robert Davis conveyed the proper sense of mood and time, and thus worked well. The costume designs by Christine Macedo were strong — I particularly enjoyed the costumes on the lead actress (remember, I said I was smitten); all conveyed that sense of New York design that doesn’t work as well in LA :-). Rounding out the production credits were: Becky Murdoch/FB, Assistant Director; Owen Panno (FB), Stage Manager (who didn’t recognize us from the many years ago where we frequented TDWA in Northridge with all the Nobel grads); and Emily Mae Heller (FB) and Betsi Freeman (FB), Producers.

I Love You, Because continues at the Grove Theatre Center (FB) through October 2nd. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets; they do not appear to be up on Goldstar. I found it a fun and cute show — not deep, but fun — and a nice way to pass the evening.

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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), and a mini-subscription at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). We’re thinking of adding yet one more subscription: the Chromolume Theatre (FB) in the West Adams district. Their 2017 season looks great: 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:  The last weekend in September brings The Hunchback of Notre Dame at The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB). October is a bit more booked. The first weekend brings Dear World at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB) and Our Town at Actors Co-op (FB), as well as the start of the High Holy Days. The second weekend has another Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB) event: this time for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The third weekend has yet another VPAC event: An Evening with Kelli O’Hara on Friday, as well as tickets for Evita at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) on Saturday. The following weekend brings Turn of the Screw at Actors Co-op (FB) on October 22 and the new Tumbleweed Festival (FB) on October 23. The last weekend of October brings Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom (a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood).

Interrupting this recap for a word from a sponsor: Linden Waddell’s Hello Again, The Songs of Allen Sherman at Temple Ahavat Shalom is open to the community, and is a joint fundraiser for MoTAS and Sisterhood. Please tell your friends about it. I’m Past President of MoTAS, and I really want this to be a success. Click on the flyer to the right for more information. It should be a really funny night.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, October is also the North Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB), although I doubt if we’ll have time for any shows. November will bring Hedwig and the Angry Inch at  the Hollywood Pantages (FB); a Day Out With Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum (FB) [excuse me, “Southern California Railway Museum”]; the Nottingham Festival (FB); and possibly Little Women at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim. We still have some open weekends in there I may book. We close out the year, in December, with the CSUN Jazz Band at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), Amalie at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), The King and I at the Hollywood Pantages (FB); an unspecified movie on Christmas day; and a return to our New Years Eve Gaming Party.

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. See here for the Indiegogo. 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.

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

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