Observations Along The Road... at Dreamwidth

Last night, we were down in Hollywood / West Hollywood to see the second mainstage musical in Chromolume‘s 2026 season of Identity and Expression. Chromolume is an interesting theatre company—one that takes very ambitious swings on a shoestring budget. With Chromolume, you will see shows you rarely see elsewhere, done in a constrained environment where creativity is required. I think the best example of this was a show in their previous location, where they managed to stage Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures in a tiny black-box space, with no wings, overhead, or scenery space. We’ve seen such a wide variety of shows we’ve never seen there, from Zanna Don’t to Dessa Rose to Prez. In their last mainstage show, they managed to stage the full musical The Color Purple in a 73 seat black box.

For their second mainstage show this season, Chromolume has mounted If/Then, a musical we last saw on tour at the Pantages back in 2015, with much of the original cast, including Idena Menzel, Anthony Rapp, and LaChanze.

First and foremost: My friend James Umbach should see this musical. It is rare to find a musical centered around a city urban planner.  [To explain, James, in addition to being a road person, is a city planner for the city of Fernley, NV]

As for the story itself, I’d like to take advantage of the synopsis and observations I wrote when we saw the show for the first time, as those comments still hold:

Science has a theory that every time anyone makes a decision, the universe splits. Each reality reflects the timeline from the decision point, following what would have happened for each way the decision could have gone. This creates an infinite number of alternate realities, reflecting all possible decisions. Many may be dead and lifeless; many may be almost identical. Each is self contained, with no way to know that the other realities exist.

If/Then shows the path of two of those realities as they apply to the life of Dr. Elizabeth Vaughan, an urban planner recently returned to New York City after the end of her college marriage. Both paths revolve around the interaction of Elizabeth and her friends: Lucas (a college friend and housing activist); Kate (a lesbian kindergarten teacher who lives across the hall from Elizabeth); Stephen (another college friend and an urban planner with the City of New York); and Josh (an Army doctor just returned from a tour of duty, who meets Elizabeth in the park).

Let’s pause at this point. Alternate realities are “in”. As I write this, a Big Bang Theory spinoff (“Stuart Fails to Save the Universe”) has just premiered on HBO Max that is centered on alternate realities. We’ve had loads of Spiderman movies based on alternate realities. It’s a popular theme, and a great basis for the exploration of the question “What If?” (in fact, that’s the starting and ending song of this show). So as the basic premise for a show it is a promising idea. Back to my 2015 synopsis:

In one path (the “Liz” path, so-called because Elizabeth is called “Liz” in this path), Liz follows the advice of Kate: she makes the wild choices. She goes into academia, starts dating the man she just met (Josh), and works to build a family and friends.

In the other path (the “Beth” path), Beth follows the advice of Lucas: she accepts a job doing urban planning for the city, and dedicates her life not to love but to work, moving up the urban planning life, working for Stephen.

In both cases, the “ideal” life goes in an uncertain direction in the second act, concluding with Beth/Liz getting the opportunity to start over. You can find a more detailed summary with the various plot twists over on Wikipedia.

The presentation of the alternate realities keeps intertwining the two timelines: songs often keep going back and forth from one line to the other during the song.  Contrast this with The Last 5 Years, which also has two timelines, but keeps them separate except for one meeting point. How do you keep track of which line you are in?  By what characters are around, their demeanor, and by what Elizabeth is called.

In reading the reviews before the show, I’ve seen critics all over the map regarding the story (an original story by Brian Yorkey) and the music/lyrics (music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Brian Yorkey). Some like it; some find it “meh”. I actually enjoyed the story and seeing the multiple lines. If I had one quibble story-wise, it is that the show is far too New York City centric. I understand that to New Yorkers and to those who work on Broadway, New York City is the center of the universe — but it really isn’t. The 33 square miles of Manhattan is just a drop compared to most megalopolises.  The constant dropping of references to New York communities and institutions is confusing to the non-New York audiences, and the New York specific references in the projects provide no meaning or clues to those that know not New York. But the worst part is: none of them are necessary. The story would work just the same in any other major city (with some joke adjustments). This makes the New York attitude come off with a sense of “we’re better and cooler than you” — which will play great on Broadway, but lands with a thud elsewhere, thankyouverymuch.

Let’s pause again at this point. By the time a show moves out of the original production and the original tour, the story is effectively cast in stone. Regional, local, intimate theatre, etc. remountings are constrained by the story’s problems (and often, by the original’s design and constraints—I was just reading a post on Reddit about how some productions of Mamma Mia are constrained in how they can advertise the show). What this means is that we can’t really blame Chromolume for basic plot or music problems: their only involvement was choosing the show for the season, and their subsequent execution of the show. So in terms of the show itself, the choice was reasonable: This show hasn’t been mounted in Los Angeles since the original tour 10 years ago; the venue and budget is so different that the ambition of this attempt is to be applauded independent of any inherent problems in the show itself.

That said, back to the last paragraph of the quoted comment. This show is far too New York centric. New Yorkers seem to love shows centered in New York; they think there city is the best in the world. Los Angeles would beg to differ on that point. But more importantly, unless New York is a vital element to the plot and story, it should not be the centering. In such cases, the centering is clearly pandering to a Broadway audience who wants to worship their city. But when the show has its subsequent productions out of NYC, it helps it fall flat. In this case, there are really only two New York specific things to the story: a meet-cute in the subway, and using the Mets/Yankees for a distinction in a song. Well, city planning takes place in many many cities; many cities have urban transportation systems and multiple sports teams. This could have been in Chicago or St. Louis or even San Francisco, and it would have worked.

Moving past that rant (as you might have guessed, I’m native Los Angeles, and have no desire to live in New York—and that applies to Broadway as well, for Los Angeles has its own vibrant theatre community that I’d match with any city). This show itself has other problems. Here’s more of what I wrote in 2015:

This brings us to the music of the show. Going in, I had heard the album — in fact, I had heard the album with this cast (which is now something rare to get in Los Angeles (ah, for the days when the LACLO usually brought in the Broadway stars)). I had actually liked the music quite a bit — if I look in my iTunes, 60% of the songs are starred as favorites. Some songs are particularly cute — such as “What the Fuck?”; others are very touching. I particularly liked “You Learn to Live Without”, which is a lovely counterpoint to “Who Gave You Permission?” from Ballroom. Both looked at dealing with the aftermath of death: one with acceptance and moving forward, the other with anger. About my only problem with the music was volume — at times, it tended to overpower the voices.

Ten years lager, and about the only song that I remember from the show is “What the Fuck?”. The music, simply put, is pretty unmemorable. Kitt and Yorkey can do memorable songs; just look at Next to Normal. This show comes across as a less memorable effort.

The story has one other major problem. As noted, the basic question is the story is: What path should Elizabeth take to make her life complete? But none of the choices involve Elizabeth being a success without dependence on a relationship. Why is it that a man can find happiness and success in a career, but a woman requires a relationship to be successful? Elizabeth has strong friends, a great career as an urban planner, in (to quote Hamilton ) “the greatest city in the world”. So what (or who) is Elizabeth, independent of any romantic relationship with a man? I’m not sure the book of this show has an answer.

We’ve talked about some weaknesses of the show. What are some of the strengths? First and foremost, centering a story about a female technical professional is a great thing. I noted this back in 2015, saying “This is a wonderful role model for the girls in the audience, and deserves extra applause.” The show also shows somewhat realistic same-sex relationships: not just male-male, but female-female. This was on the edge back in 2014 when the show was on Broadway (same-sex marriage was a new thing then); it is still good to see such relationships portrayed without a lot of stereotypes.

The show also raises some good questions. There are far too many folks these days who get stymied by decision paralysis. Games know this well: In trying to decide your next move, you get stuck analyzing the possibilities and payoffs. If there’s a point to this show, it is: Don’t overthink, just do. Take that chance. That’s a reasonable point to make.

Let’s now turn from the show itself to this particular production. As many reviewers have noticed, this show suffered from the same problem I noted on tour: “About my only problem with the music was volume — at times, it tended to overpower the voices.” The same was true here, and especially so as the performers had no amplification. The volume on the music needed to be turned down where possible: the amp on the keyboard and the bass in particular. The director also needed to emphasize to the actors to project their voices so that they could be heard clearly throughout the small space. There were segments and dialogue that could not be heard where we were sitting—and we were in the second row on stage left. I think actors today are trained to speak as if they were amplified (and this is certainly true for actors who work predominantly in TV and films); it is a different skill to learn to perform without amplified voices, and directors in unamplified venues need to remind their performers of this.

Other than the volume of the voices, the performances themselves were strong. Renee Cohen (who, looking back, once posted a comment my review of Hands on a Hardbody inviting her to see her in Cabaret) gave a great performance as Elizabeth / Liz / Beth. She had a bit of a Rock-y (as in Rock Music) singing voice with points of tenderness, and brought the character to life well. Normally, her tattoos would have bothered me (as I find they make me think of the actor as the actor, not their character), but they seemed to fit the age and character, so I was able to ignore them. Also strong was Jon Armijo as Josh. He had a strong voice and personality, and seemed to have chemistry with Cohen’s Liz.

Other notable main cast members were Danielle Johnson’s Kate, who brought a strong personality and singing voice to the character, as well as strong chemistry with Stephanie Saunders’ Anne. I also liked Judd York’s Lucas, who brought a nice playfulness to the stage. Lastly, we think we’ve seen Keenan Carver (who played Stephen) before, but he’s not coming up on a search.

Of the ensemble, standouts include Shaheen Kapambwe and Nadia Salina Salvia. Kapambwe had a number of small roles, but I think I detected between them a strong singing voice. Salvia also gave glimpses of her voice; I wonder what she could have done with the role of Elizabeth.

In terms of other aspects of the execution: It was hard to keep track of the various timeline threads  based on character interactions alone. There were no real set clues, and although I think they tried to use costumes, it wasn’t really clear. The set itself was a podium, three black scenic boxes, and a bench; the back was some sort of hand-drawn graphic with the show’s name and some references to New York. One of the reviews reminded me that the tour used colored lights to show timelines. That might have helped here, but something was needed.

As for costumes: I think the memo was: wear something black or grey. Other than that, it seemed to be mostly street clothes, with some accessories to hint at profession: a doctor’s coat, a camouflage cap, a teacher’s (umm) cardigan. Chromolume does work on a minimal budget (and they lose money on each show, and can use more donations), so simple sets and costumes are not a surprise. However, design-wise, something stronger was needed to distinguish timelines.

Sound-wise, in addition to the volume problem of the music, there were some aural discongruities. A baby (prop) would be held on stage, and would supposedly cry, but the cry would come from offstage. Similarly, cell phones would be held but would ring offstage. These problems wouldn’t be noticed in a large theatre like the Pantages or Ahmanson. In a small theatre, sound location is, well, amplified. You can easily tell where the sound is coming from. Having some form of mid-stage speaker would have helped quite a bit here, and might have been patchable into the music sound system.

In terms of dance and movement: The space was covered well. There were no particular dance numbers that stand out in my memory.

So let’s do the bottom line, well, at the bottom. Should you go see If/Then at Chromolume? First, if you do, be quick. There’s one more performance this evening, so get your quickits tick, umm, tickets quick, if you decide to do so.

But should you go? Story and music wise, this isn’t a classic. It’s not as forgettable as some, but isn’t top tier either. The questions it raises are good one, and it does center a female professional. What is notable and worthy here is the execution: Yet again Chromolume attempts a show that has only been done on large stages, and stages it, with reasonable success, in a small black box theatre. Chromolume also does it with a show that is rarely done, and swings to see if a lesser known show can be successful. These efforts must be applauded and supported and encouraged. In a world of theatres doing remountings of The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music and Mamma Mia—all crowd pleasers but all overdone, be a Chromolum and do If/Then. Be a Pasadena Playhouse and do Brigadoon. Be a Group Rep and do Applause.  Be a Conundrum and do Big Fish.

So, yes, if you can catch it, go see If/Then at Chromolume (at the Zephyr in Hollywood). The story isn’t perfect and there are some sound problems. But shows like this must be encouraged. While you’re at it, grab some great Uzbek food at Zira two doors down from the theatre.

Next up at Chromolume (in November): Stephen Sondheim’s Roadshow. Chromolume always does one Sondheim show per season, and this is another ambitious swing. The show hasn’t had a production in Los Angeles before; indeed, most folks forget about the show when they list Sondheim shows (or they think of it under its pre-Broadway name, Bounce). That, too, will be worth seeing.

Credits

If/Then. Music by Tom Kitt. Lyrics and book by Brian Yorkey. Directed by Brayden Hade. Choreography by Ellie Rodriguez.

Cast : Jon Armijo Josh; Ryan Axberg Ensemble; Keenan Carver Stephen; Renee Cohen Elizabeth / Liz / Beth; Quin Domalaon Ensemble; Danielle Johnson Kate; Shaheen Kapambwe Ensemble; Joelle Lewis Elena; Natalie Luna Ensemble; Nadia Salina Salvia Ensemble; Stephanie Saunders Anne; Christopher Jewell Valentin Ensemble; Michael Vandie David; Judd Yort Lucas. Understudies: Amy Melendrez u/s Elizabeth / Liz / Beth; Jason Rivera u/s Josh.

Music Department: Isaac Schanno Johnson Music Direction, Piano; Gage Getz Bass; Trinidad Rojas Drums.

Production and Creative: Brayden Hade Director, Scenic Design, Costume Design; Ellie Rodriguez Asst Director, Choreographer; Mary Zastrow Intimacy Director; Devin Harris Lighting Design; James Esposito Sound Design, VP Operations (Chromolume); Ashia Coleman Costume Design; Mara Aguilar Production Stage Manager; Deziree White-Virk Asst Stage Manager; Ken Werther Publicity. For Chromolume: James Esposito VP Operations; Bonnie Sludikoff Artist Coordinator; Nike Montelibano Marketing; Veronica Vasquez Casting Associate; Michael Angel Social Media Manager; Lizeth Olguin Moore Box Office Coordinator; Brianne Lopez-Cole House Manager; Christopher D. Baker Youth Program Director; Ken Werther Press Agent.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania. If you are looking for discount tickets, TodayTix (unlike their predecessor Goldstar Events) doesn’t handle the small theatres in LA. Luckily, Theatre Source LA has a new initiative: StageRushLA for discount tickets.

Upcoming

Key: 🎭 Theatre / 🎼 Music / 🎙 Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (🎫 indicates ticketing is pending).

• August: 🎭 Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September: 🎭 Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages; 🎼 Sutton Foster at The Soraya; 🎭 The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎭Every Brilliant Thing at The Main;  🎭🎫 Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; 
• October: 🎭 The Outsiders at BIH/Pantages; 🎼 Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane at The Soraya; 🎭 Les Miserables at 5-Star Theatricals; 🎼 Gershwin and the Golden Age (feat. Michael Feinstein) at The Soraya; 🎭 The Who’s Tommy at BIH/Pantages.
• November: 🎭 Passing Strange at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎭 Oh Mary at CTG/Ahmanson; 🎙 Dance Theatre of Harlem at The Soraya; 🎭 Road Show at Chromolume Theatre; 🎭 Destiny of Desire at CTG/Taper.
• December: 🎭 Candide at LA Opera; 🎼🎫 Go Jazz at The Main (Tent. Date); 🎭🎫 Big Fish at Conundrum; 🎼 Spanish Harlem Orchestra at The Soraya; 🎭 Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at CTG/Ahmanson.

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

When you think of a musical, what comes to mind? An orchestra in pit, perhaps on-stage in the back? Singers and dancers? Elaborately choreographed numbers?

Set that all aside when you see Mexodus at the Pasadena Playhouse. Mexodus is a very non-traditional musical, at least in that respect. All of the music is created live by the two performers telling the story. And when I say created, I literally mean created. Not only do they play all the instruments, but the record and loop those instruments and background sounds live as they perform the story. They then play them back as they tell the story to provide their own generated backing tracks. It is a very unique way of presenting a musical. Additionally, not only are these two the performers, they are also the authors: all the music and lyrics and story are by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, who perform the show.

Oh, and there are no traditional song and dance numbers, but that’s less surprising with a cast of only two.

As for the show itself, well, an article in Playbill describes it best:

When the two began working on it five years ago, they were still relative strangers. Back in February 2020, Quijada and Robinson were both speakers at a conference for actors who were also musicians. The two immediately got along: they both played multiple instruments, they loved hip-hop and musical theatre, and they grew up going to church.

After the conference, the two were hanging out at Quijada’s small studio apartment “just rapping and vibing and stuff,” recalls Robinson. “But he was like, ‘Have you ever heard of the Underground Railroad that led south to Mexico? And I was like, ‘oh shit. That does make sense.’”

Quijada had seen a History.com article about the Underground Railroad to Mexico on Facebook. “I remember reading that and thinking about my parents and their story of crossing the border,” says Quijada. He jotted that factoid down in 2017 as an interesting idea for a potential piece, but didn’t touch it until 2020, after he met Robinson, because, “I’m not going to write a slave narrative alone. That’s not my story.” Quijada’s parents are from El Salvador.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as the theatre industry was shut down, Robinson and Quijada passed the time writing songs for Mexodus, bringing in their love of hip-hop and also gospel and bolero. The goal was to have enough songs to do a concert in 2021 at the development hub New York Stage and Film. Scholarship about the Underground Railroad to Mexico was scarce, but the two were able to find some compelling stories—such as the story about a slave who crossed the Rio Grande on a bale of floating cotton. Admits Robinson: “We don’t know if it’s a folk tale that happened for real, for real. But just the idea that the thing that enslaves you can be the thing that sets you free—that is the bigger metaphor.”

So Mexodus  tells the story of Henry, a slave from Victoria TX, and Carlos, a former Mexican army medic turned ranchworker across the border in Mexico (probably in the Neuvo Leon province). After having killed his master when his masters wife made sexual overtures to him (and the master caught them), Henry escapes across the Rio Grande floating on a bale of cotton. Carlos rescues him. The story the develops shows how the two became friends, and they provided protection for each other.

But more than this surface story, there are some key underlying messages. It starts at the very beginning, when Quijada tells a story about his youth in Chicago when they had to stop to get gas in a Black neighborhood. His parents were scared for their safety, simply because the people around them were different. He emphasizes how this shows that the attitudes America held during slavery: fear about people who were different, and only feeling comfortable around “your own” were still present today. He implies that a lot of this fear is what is driving what we are seeing today: People that are only comfortable with their own, and the immense fear many people have over those who are black and brown. They don’t see them as people; they see them only as the archetypes to be feared.

My wife said it well: She came into see a play, and came out having learned history. According to the History.com article that likely inspired the story, “Researchers estimate 5,000 to 10,000 people escaped from bondage into Mexico”. Mexico abolished slavery in 1829 when Texas was still part of the country, in part prompting white, slave-holding immigrants to fight for independence in the Texas Revolution. Once they formed the Republic of Texas in 1836, they made slavery legal again, and it continued to be legal when Texas joined the U.S. as a state in 1845. Mexico refused to sign a treaty equivalent to the Fugitive Slave Act, insisting that all enslaved people were free when they set foot on Mexican soil. Despite this, some U.S. owners of enslaved people still hired slave catchers to illegally kidnap escapees in Mexico. This is also a plot beat in the story.

Robinson makes it appear that his family history includes escaped slaves that went to Mexico. Whether this is true is hard to know, but he does make it believable. As such, this is a layer above histories such as Hamilton: This appears to be the real story of the performers telling the story.

The music is complex, and is not your traditional Musical style. It is hip-hop, and Tejano, and gospel, and so much more. It is also complex and developed. Again, quoting from the Playbill article:

The two act while singing and playing every musical instrument in the show. There’s no backing orchestra here—it’s just these two performers, some guitars, a bass, a piano, a trumpet, and drums. Oh, and the most important instrument of all: a looping station, which allows them to record a musical phrase and then play it back in repeat, so they can then layer multiple instruments on top of each other. This means that Quijada and Robinson are creating the arrangement for each song live on the spot every night. […] The musical complexity of Mexodus means that it doesn’t always go smoothly, notes Robinson. “It’s so complicated and the margin for error is so thin, like, if we hit [a button] a millisecond too late, we could derail three songs. I wish I was being hyperbolic. There have been some things that have messed up on our part, even in this run—like running up the steps and accidentally hitting the button and not meaning to. It’s like, ‘Why did that not record?’” They asked me if I noticed a mistake that occurred on the night I went to the show. I can honestly say that no, I couldn’t tell, because I was so swept away by the music I was hearing.

I can attest to that. At our performance, Quijada was having trouble with the peg at the bottom of his guitar that holds the strap. He kept fiddling it, while still trying to keep the music going and having the loop and record. He did, and he even joked live about it during the show. Both Quijada and Robinson give shoutouts to the technical and sound crew assisting them with the looping. They deserved it.

That’s yet another reason to see this musical. Often, when I see musicals, I assess their ability to move to the regional or school stage. Mexodus is technically complicated and requires sophisticated technology, and multi-talented musicians to pull it of. This is not a show likely to be seen on the regional or school stage. Pasadena Playhouse was able to remount this by bringing in the original Off-Broadway cast, including the original looping system architect. I’ll note that if you are interested in this production, it has been recorded and is available on Audible. I’m not sure I like that trend: I prefer traditional cast albums. Perhaps one day they will release just the songs as a cast album; for now, just one song has been released.

The show is short: Just 90 minutes with no intermission. It is well worth seeing, especially if you would like to learn some history you probably never knew. Oh, and the music is great as well.

Credits

Mexodus. Written and performed by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson. Directed by David Medizábal. Choreographed by Tony Thomas.

Cast: Brian Quijada Carlos; Nygel D. Robinson Henry. Understudies: Trent Lawson Henry; Alan Mendez Carlos.

Production and Creative: Brian Quijada Co-Creator; Nygel D. Robinson Co-Creator. David Medizábal Director, Costume Designer;  Tony Thomas Choreographer; Alan Mendez u/s Carlos, Music Director; Riw Rakkulchon Scenic Designer; Mextly Couzin Lighting Designer; Mikhail Fiksel Looping System Architecture & Sound Designer; Johnny Moreno Video/Projection Design; Hope Villaueva Production Stage Manager; Fior Tat Asst Stage Manager; Mike Deyo Assoc Sound Designer; Hide Nakajo Asst Sound Designer; Matt Perosa Deck Chief; Jordan Del Pino, Joe Court Audio Engineer A1; Akari Izumi Audio Engineer A2.

Key Producers: P3 Productions, Audible. Originally produced by Baltimore Center Stage. West Coast Premiere produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania. If you are looking for discount tickets, TodayTix (unlike their predecessor Goldstar Events) doesn’t handle the small theatres in LA. Luckily, Theatre Source LA has a new initiative: StageRushLA for discount tickets.

Upcoming

Key: 🎭 Theatre / 🎼 Music / 🎙 Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (🎫 indicates ticketing is pending).

• July: 🎭 The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; 🎭 If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August: 🎭 Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September: 🎭 Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages; 🎭🎫 The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎼 Sutton Foster at The Soraya; 🎭🎫 Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; 🎭🎫Every Brilliant Thing at The Main; 
• October: 🎭 The Outsiders at BIH/Pantages; 🎼 Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane at The Soraya; 🎭 Les Miserables at 5-Star Theatricals; 🎼 Gershwin and the Golden Age (feat. Michael Feinstein) at The Soraya; 🎭 The Who’s Tommy at BIH/Pantages.

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

Some shows I go into knowing the basic story and plot. For some, I know only what I can glean from the music. For Primary Trust at the Mark Taper Forum (CTG), I really knew nothing in advance. I had read no reviews; there was no music (it’s not a musical). I was going in blind.

Primary Trust is a 4-player comedy-drama hybrid. Two characters are the same throughout the show. The other two take on a large number of other characters throughout. The basic story concerns Kenneth, a black man living in Cranberry NY, about 30 minutes from Rochester NY. A loner, he spends his days working at a bookstore job arranged by his social worker when he turned of age; by nights, he spends drinking Mai-Tais at an old Tiki-bar downtown. I’d say he’s drinking along, but he’s really drinking with his imaginary friend, Bert. When the owner of the bookstore announces he is retiring and moving to Arizona, Kenneth finds himself, for the first time in his life, having to look for work. Based on a recommendation from a caring waitress, Corrina, he finds a job at newer of the two banks in town, Primary Trust. He finds success as a teller there, but some echoes from his past threaten to derail things.

I’m intentionally not trying to give away the details of the plot or the resolution, but I do want to comment a bit on the story.

First, it is very slow moving story. There are — perhaps intentionally — lots of pauses. There are also lots of “dings”, as in a teller’s bell, which serve to punctuate the ends of thoughts or just to separate.

Second, what seems to be a straightforward story turns out to be something else entirely: it is a story of recovery from trauma and the importance of friends. Kenneth’s isolation both at work and at the Tiki bar turns out to have been the product of childhood trauma. To be clear, it is not sexual trauma; it is more abandonment trauma. It is this trauma that directly relates to the imaginary friend, Bert. It also relates to Kenneth’s behavior, Kenneth’s difficulty with interacting with people, and Kenneth’s difficulty with making real life friends.

By the end of the play, Kenneth has recovered sufficiently that he has started to make friends, and to go out and interact with them. It clearly isn’t a full recovery, but it is progress.

The ultimate question is: Did I like the play? That’s hard to say. My wife wasn’t a fan; she found it a bit of a downer. I found it more uplifting, but slower. Perhaps “gentle” is a better word? I like Kenneth’s slow steady growth. I could also see this having a long life at the regional and intimate theatre level: simple sets, small cast, no real special effects. It is efficient to stage and present.

The performances were all strong, but most notably Rebecca S’manga Frank, who played a large number of waitress roles and ultimately, Corrina. She did a remarkable job of presenting the wide range of characterizations. James Urbaniak was also equally strong with the secondary male characters, notably Clay, Kenneth’s boss at Primary Trust. Petey McGee was very strong as Kenneth, showing the aforementioned gentleness of character.

Primary Trust continues at the Mark Taper Forum until June 28, 2026. It’s an interesting comedy/drama. Tickets are available through the Center Theatre Group website.

Credits

Primary Trust. Written by Eboni Booth. Directed by Knud Adams. Primary Trust was developed at the 2021 Ojai Playwrights Conference. Originally produced in New York City by Roundabout Theatre Company, 2023.

Cast: Ugo Chukwu Bert; Rebecca S’manga Frank Corinna / Wally’s Waiters / Bank Customers / Others; Petey McGee Kenneth; James Urbaniak Clay / Others; Luke Wygodny Musician, Original Music.

Understudy Cast: Destiny Faith u/s Corinna / Wally’s Waiters / Bank Customers / Others; Wendell Jordan u/s Bert; Mark Rowe u/s Clay / Others; Dustin Stern-Garcia u/s Musician; Jordan Temple u/s Kenneth.

Production and Creatives: Eboni Booth Playwright; Knud Adams Director; Marsha Ginsberg Scenic Design; Sophia Choi Costume Designer; Masha Tsimring Lighting Design; Mikaal Sulaiman Sound Design; David Lober Production Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Stage Manager; Jihee Jenny Park Substitute Stage Manager; Henry Russell Bergstein CSA Casting.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania. If you are looking for discount tickets, TodayTix (unlike their predecessor Goldstar Events) doesn’t handle the small theatres in LA. Luckily, Theatre Source LA has a new initiative: StageRushLA for discount tickets.

Upcoming

Key: 🎭 Theatre / 🎼 Music / 🎙 Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (🎫 indicates ticketing is pending).

• June: 🎭 Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson.
• July: 🎭 Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎭 The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; 🎭 If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August: 🎭 Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September: 🎭 Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages; 🎭🎫 The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎼 Sutton Foster at The Soraya; 🎭🎫 Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; 🎭🎫Every Brilliant Thing at The Main;
• October: 🎭 The Outsiders at BIH/Pantages; 🎼 Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane at The Soraya; 🎭 Les Miserables at 5-Star Theatricals; 🎼 Gershwin and the Golden Age (feat. Michael Feinstein) at The Soraya; 🎭 The Who’s Tommy at BIH/Pantages.

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

Way back in January 1980, I had the joy of seeing the original cast of Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the Aquarius Theatre on Sunset Blvd, as part of the National Tour of the show. It was then I fell in love with the music of Fats Waller and the performance of the original cast. The show was interesting. It was one of the first jukebox musicals performed. Through the performances and the songs, it loosely told the story of Fats Waller: his style, his popularity, his reception in the white vs. black communities, and his problems in life. Since then, when productions of the show have been mounted, I’ve tried to see them.  I remember a production of the show back in 2008 by Cabrillo Music Theatre (now 5-Star Theatricals), directed by Ken Page (I even used the same title for the writeup back then). Rereading that review, I wasn’t all that impressed with their production, although I did like Natalie Wachen as “Charlene” (they kept the original character names).

Fast forward to 2026. I learned that Ebony Rep, the company where I saw 5 Guys Named Moe a few years ago, was mounting Ain’t Misbehavin’. They had done such a great job on Moe, I thought I would try to squeeze it in. So I booked tickets for the penultimate performance (forgetting that the Tony Awards were on at the same time), and we trucked on down to Washington Blvd for the show. Luckily, I was able to record the main broadcast part of the Tonys because DirecTV is reliable. As for the Tonys Act One: PlutoTV, or Spectrum, or my Orbi RBK752P router sucks, because the live streaming show was unwatchable for the buffering and interruptions. If someone knows how to find Act One for delayed watching, let me know.

But back to Ain’t Misbehavin. As noted above, this is a true jukebox musical. The song sequencing and the performances tell the story, hopefully aided a bit by program notes (although, alas, the ERT program contained no background information on Fats Waller). Generally, the Ken Page role (deeper voiced larger man) is a surrogate for Fats himself; other “characters” just interact.

Wren Brown, the director, made the directorial choice to set the show in a Harlem Brownstone at a form of cocktail party. While this provided a suitable setting for the time, it lost the connection between the original Ken Page character (played by Chester Gregory here and called Chester) and any personification of Fats Waller. This served to lose the meaning, and in some senses, poignancy, of songs like “Black and Blue” or “Lounging at the Waldorf”.

In general the performances were very strong, although I have this feeling that they swapped a few songs between the female performers. In general, Natalie Wachen (who we saw in the Cabrillo show) did the Charleyne Woodard songs; Connie Jackson did the Nell Carter songs; and Ledisi did the Armelia McQueen songs (although I could have those two swapped). Chester Gregory did the Ken Page songs; and Marty Austin Lamar did the Andre DeShields songs. In the “Ladies Who Sing With The Band”, I think there was a bit of overplay on the bad singing for “Yacht Club Swing” and “Nylons Bloom”, and I did detect some slight lyrics changes in “Off Time”. But overall, the performances from the stage were strong. There were quite a few that stuck in my mind: Again, Wachen was really strong in “Keepin’ Out of Mischief”; the whole company was great in “Black and Blue”, and Jackson was great in “Cash for Your Trash”. Both Jackson and Ledisi were strong in “Find Out What They Like”.

Especially during the first act, and especially up in the balcony, there were some amplification problems that made the performances seem overly shrill. That seemed to have been corrected by Act Two, so I think it was a tuning issue.

The on-stage band, led by William Foster McDaniel, was hot. This was demonstrated during the Entre’acte and during the playout. They were wonderful.

However, there was a performance problem: The audience. In the row in front of us, we had folks taking out their phones in the beginning and videoing, and then putting them away. We had them bringing them out to check things. We had another group that was looking at pictures on their phone during the show, combined with talking. It was as if these folks had never been to live performance before, or were unaware about the audience members around them. Now I see why Patti LuPone does what she does. Audiences need to remember that it is the light from devices that disturbs other audience members and the actors on the stage, not just the noise. Keep your voices down, and your light-emitting devices off.

Additionally, the audience also seemed to ignore the capacity limit of the elevator, causing it to break before the show. This not only delayed the start of the show necessitating the director to do an impromptu Q&A, but led to the elevator being broken after the show. This created problems for the disabled folks in the balcony who needed the elevator and now needed to go down two flights of stairs.

The last performance of Ain’t Misbehavin at Ebony Rep is today at 8pm, and it is sold out. The Ebony Rep is an interesting place, although parking is horrible. It was built on the site of the former Ebony Showcase Theatre, which was torn down after an unsubstantiated claim of structural instability on the site of the former Rimpau/Metro theatre. I mention this because during Wren Brown’s Q&A, he noted that he grew up a few yards to the south through the theatre’s wall, back when EST was still around. FSY converted the former theatre into the new PAC.

Credits

Ain’t Misbehavin’. The Fats Waller Musical Show. Music by Thomas “Fats” Waller. Conceived by Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horowitz. Created and originally directed by Richard Maltby Jr. Original Choreography by Arthur Faria. Directed by Wren T. Brown. Choreographed by Dominique Kelley.

Cast; Marty Austin Lamar, Connie Jackson, Ledisi, Chester Gregory, Matalie Wachen

Music Department; William Foster McDaniel Music Director, Piano; Land Richards Drums; Keith Fiddmont Saxophones; Fernando Pullum Trumpet; Weldon Scott Bass; Luther Henderson Musical Adaptations, Orchestrations, and Arrangements; Jeffrey Gutcheon Vocal and Musical Concepts; Jeffre Gutcheon and William Elliott Musical Arrangements.

Production and Creative: Dominique Kelley Choreography; Wren T. Brown Direction, Founder, Producing Artistic Director; John Iacovelli ז״ל Scenic Design; Wendell Carmichael Costume Design; Andrew Schmedeke Lighting Design; Danny Fiandaca Sound Design; Kevin Williams Property Designer; Elsbeth M. Collins Production Stage Manager; Sir Tony Wig Design; Cynthia Ayala Co-Lighting Designer; Candace Brown Assoc. Choreographer; Patty Onagan Consulting Public Relations; Gayle L. Hooks Managing Director; Andi Chapman Assoc. Artistic Director; Courtland Trapp Technical Director; Israel Hicks Founding Artistic Director.

Producers: Ebony Repertory Theatre in association with Fig Street Films. Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club. Originally Produced on Broadway by Emanual Azenberg, Dasha Epstein, the Shubert Organization, and Jane Gaynor & Ron Dante.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Shows left and right have been announcing that they will be going on tour (even shows that are closing). So, even though we haven’t started the 2026-2027 seasons for Broadway in Hollywood (BIH) and the Center Theatre Group (CTG), here are my predictions for the 2027-2028 seasons in Los Angeles.
^* indicates shows for which tours are not yet announce, but I’m guessing they will tour. 🏆 indicates 2026 Tony Award winning; ^⭐ indicates nominee.
Sources: Playbill as indicated, Tours to You, Broadway League Tours.

Additionally, May saw the opening of ticket sales for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. There are over 2,150 performances over the month of June; there are 439 shows listed in the show catalog. These all occur during the month of June, with multiple shows throughout the day. 20 minutes to move in; then the show; 20 minutes to move out. Ticket prices are low. The shows run the gamut, from totally strange to one person shows to full on short plays to musical reviews. You’re sure to find something you’ll like.

Upcoming

Key: ♦ Theatre / 🎼 Music / 🎙 Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• June: ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson.
• July: ♦ Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August: ♦ Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September: ♦ Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages; ♦⊕ The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Turning at Taper/CTG; 🎼 Sutton Foster at The Soraya; ♦⊕ Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; ♦⊕Every Brilliant Thing at The Main; 

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as One Never Knows, Do One? | "Ain't Misbehavin'" @ Ebony Rep by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

This has been the spring for classic musicals in Los Angeles. First, we had the wonderful revisical version of Flower Drum Song from East West Players, which premiered on Broadway in 1958 (and whose source book author, CY Lee, is actually remembered on the walls of the Pasadena Playhouse). Then we had the excellent touring production of The Sound Of Music, which was brought to the heights by the performances of its leads, Cayleigh Capaldi as Maria and Kevin Earley as Captain Von Trapp. The Sound of Music premiered on Broadway in 1959. The trio concluded this week with the lightly revised revival of Brigadoon at the Pasadena Playhouse, which we saw last night. Brigadoon premiered on Broadway way back in 1947. I had forgotten what a joy Brigadoon is; I truly believe the Pasadena Playhouse version is worthy of a Broadway transfer. Brigadoon hasn’t been on Broadway since 1980, and this updated version brings and updated energy and sensibility to the show, combined with the luscious score. In this era of continuous revivals of seemingly the same recent shows, this could be a breath of fresh Scottish air.

In seeing this show, I was trying to remember the last time I saw Brigadoon. I thought it might have been at the old LA Civic Light Opera, but they last did the show in 1954 (which was before I was born). Perhaps it was in the Cabrillo Music Theatre days (now 5-Star), but then I would have a program. Perhaps I only thought I had seen it, and was conflating it with the movie version with Gene Kelly and Van Johnson, which I’ve seen many times. That’s a distinct possibility, as I didn’t remember some of the songs (and those are the songs that were cut in the movie). But it turns out I have seen Brigadoon before on the stage: a December 1981 production of the Al Malaikah Shrine at the Shrine Theatre, with Genevieve Marie Sordetto as Fiona and Brad M. Arrington as Tommy Albright.  I must have gone with my parents (who were avid theatregoers), as I was still a college undergrad at the time, and my dad was a member of that Shrine club. I also, surprisingly, only had one version of Brigadoon in my music library: the 1991 Studio Cast. A good version, but one is not enough. That was remedied this morning (I added the 2017 NY City Center revival).

The reason for the above reminiscing is to demonstrate that, like many I’m sure, I knew of Brigadoon, but I didn’t remember it well. I think we all remember the outlines of the story: Two NYC hunters (Tommy and Jeff) on vacation in Scotland discover an enchanted village that reappears for one day every one hundred years. One of the hunters falls in love with a local lass (Fiona). There’s a wedding, and the suitor that wasn’t selected (Harry) attempts to leave the village, which would destroy it. He is stopped and dies in the process. The hunter in love wants to stay with the village, but his friend convinces him to leave. Back in NYC, he’s unhappy, so he returns to Scotland and loves the girl so much that the village reappears and takes him in. Along the way, there’s lot of dancing and singing, including the standard “Almost Like Being In Love”.

Those are the main story notes. But (unsurprisingly, as the original was written in the late 1940s), the original story had dated elements. It reflected an American stereotypical view of Scotland. It showed Scottish women with no agency (a very 1940s view), which was not the reality. The presentation of the two American friends was dated. The show wasn’t as problematic as Flower Drum Song, but it needed updating. If you’re not familiar with the original details of the show, Wikipedia has a good summary of the plot. If you’re only familiar with the movie, you can see the movie excised even more story, notably the sub-story of Meg Brockie. They also changed how Jeff killed Harry Beaton. The movie was clearly not the basis for a good revival: the movie was more a piece to show off its stars, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.

For the Pasadena Playhouse version, Alexandra Silber adapted and updated the story. Here are the changes I could detect. She changed Meg Brockie from a simple milkmaid to an independent woman who operated a pub (which became the center for much of the action in the story). She might have been a widow, which would explain the ownership. They also made Meg much more sexually forward and lusty than would have been acceptable in the 1940s or 1950s. She changed the town leader, Mr. Lundie, into the Widow Lundie. This might have been done to fit the casting of Tyne Daly, but it also fits with the power of Widows in Scottish society. She changed the manner of death of Harry. In the 1940s original, as Wikipedia notes “Jeff also reveals that he tripped Harry and accidentally killed him.”. In the movie, again according to Wikipedia, “With men closing in on him, Harry climbs up a tree to hide but is accidentally gunned down by Jeff, who skipped the wedding to go hunting. Harry falls dead to the ground and is soon found by the men.” In this version, however, Jeff is not responsible for Harry’s death. As Harry nears the edge of town, they lock eyes. Harry seems to decide he can’t cause the town’s destruction, and so throws himself off the bridge instead.

There are also significant changes made in the penultimate scenes. In the original, according to Wikipedia, “Four months later, Jeff is drinking heavily at a hotel bar in New York. Tommy, who has been living on a farm in New Hampshire, enters and greets Jeff, but is still in love with Fiona and cannot stop thinking about her. His fiancée Jane Ashton, a beautiful socialite, talks to him about their impending wedding, but everything she says causes him to hear Fiona’s voice and dream of Brigadoon (“Come to Me, Bend to Me” (reprise) and “Heather on the Hill” (reprise)). Tommy tells Jane that he cannot marry her, and she argues with him, but he continues to daydream about his true love (“Go Home With Bonnie Jean” (reprise) and “From This Day On” (reprise)). Jane leaves, and Tommy tells Jeff that he wants to return to Scotland, although he knows the village will not be there.”

In this updated version, Silber turns it around: Tommy is so much in love he can’t get over it and has turned to drinking. Recent promotions mean nothing to him, and there is no fiancée. Everything the barkeep says (played by the same actor that played Widow Lundie) makes him think of Fiona and Brigadoon. Jeff, now sober, returns and convinces Tommy he was wrong. There can be such a love, and he had it with his wife who died (presumably of cancer). It is Jeff who tells Tommy he must go back to Scotland, and provides him with the tickets.

I found that the updated story worked well, and fit the beats I remembered. The revisions were suitably gentle and nudged the story into something that worked better for modern audiences. There are still some aspects that feel dated—in particular, the heavier emphasis on dance and ballet that one doesn’t see in modern shows—but they are tolerable. It is quite possible that the Agnes DeMille dances are contractually required (similar to the dream sequences in Oklahoma or The King and I).

The performances were top-notch. In the leading positions were Betsy Morgan as Fiona Mac Laren, Max Von Essen as Tommy Albright, and Happy Anderson as Jeff Douglas. Morgan brought a wonderful life and vivaciousness to Fiona; one could easily see why Tommy fell in love with her. She also had a spectacular singing voice. Von Essen was a great leading man, with a relatable stage presence, a great singing voice, and most notably, spectacular chemistry with Morgan. Anderson transformed Jeff from a handsome friends to a more lovable doofus. Anderson provided some wonderful comic relief through the show.

As the couple getting married, Kylie Victoria Edwards (Jean Mac Laren) and Daniel Yearwood (Charlie Dalrymple) were great. I particularly enjoyed Yearwood: he had a wonderful voice and was fun to watch on stage.

The simple milkmaid, Meg Brockie, was transformed in this version to a tavern owner, vivacious and fully of life and happiness. She was played by Donna Vivino with a strength of voice and personality that was great. Although it wasn’t listed in her credits, I could swear that Vivino is a local. I think I’ve seen her (and her daughters) playing multiple roles out at Cabrillo/5-Star.

The matriarch of the town, Widow Lundie, was played by Tyne Daly. This was a coup getting her for this role, as she brought a wonderful gravitas to the character. Alas, you could see by how she was moving on stage that she is getting frailer than she once was. Still, she is a theatrical powerhouse and it is always a delight to see her on stage. I particularly liked her turn as Frankie, the barkeep.

Also notable was Jessica Lee Keller as Maggie Anderson. She was hidden during much of the production, but had a spectacular dance turn during the funeral scene.

Lastly, I’d like to call out the ensemble and cast members who were playing instruments on stage. They aren’t explicitly identified in the program, unless they had some of the musicians don costumes and come on stage. So to the unspecified fiddle, bodhran, bass, piccolo, and bagpipe players: your presence in the tavern scenes added a wonderful authenticity to those scenes, and brought back memories of shows such as Once or Come From Away, both of which have elements like that.

I am delighted to note that the scenic aspects of the show were achieved without the use of a single glitter cannon or a single projection. There was wonderful traditional scenery: bridges, taverns, villages; the Pasadena Playhouse provides sufficient fly space that they were able to use a lot of “fly in” scenery. Costumes were suitably Scottish; Jeff and Tommy had their costumes updated to modern times (including modern backpacks and water bottles, and I think I even spotted a cell phone).

Were there any negatives? Perhaps one minor one: There were four stage lights at the top of the proscenium that were very bluish-white (distractingly so). They were fine when they were tuned to other colors, so they just need to be toned down a bit.

Other than the horrid (to us) Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha earlier this year, the Pasadena Playhouse has been hitting it out of the park this season. Their next season looks to be equally strong. We’ve already renewed our membership, and we look forward to scheduling our shows for the next season. This production of Brigadoon is yet another example of the quality work from the Playhouse. Folks should get over to the Playhouse to see it and be reminded how the classic musicals still hold up. It runs until June 14, 2026. Tickets are available through the Playhouse Website.

Credits

Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon. A new adaptation by Alexandra Silber, inspired by the original book by Alan Jay Lerner. Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. Original dances created by Agnes DeMille. Directed and choreographed by Katie Spelman.

Cast (^æ indicates members of Actors Equity): Happy Anderson^æ Jeff Douglas; Brian Calì^æ Ensemble / Angus; Amanda Clement^æ Ensemble, Dance Captain; Tyne Daly^æ Widow Lundie; Sophie Liu David^æ Ensemble; Kylie Victoria Edwards^æ Jean MacLaren; Michael Scott Harris^æ Archie Beaton; Jessica Lee Kellar^æ Maggie Anderson; Evan Kinnane^æ Ensemble; Julia Wheeler Lennon^æ Ensemble; Brian Kim McCormick^æ Ensemble / Stuart; Spencer Davis Milford^æ Harry Beaton; Betsy Morgan^æ Fiona MacLaren; Gabriel Navarro^æ Ensemble; Chuck Saculla^æ Ensemble / Sandy Dean; Amy Smith^æ Ensemble; Gil Sweeney Ensemble / Swing; Donna Vivino^æ Meg Brockie; Max Von Essen^æ Tommy Albright; Daniel Yearwood^æ Charlie Dalrymple; Geoffrey Wade^æ Andrew MacLaren.

Music Department: Darryl Archibald Music Supervisor; Brad Gardner Music Director / Conductor; Gennie Cheng Assoc Music Director / Piano; Bethany Mennemeyer Concertmaster, Rhea Fowler, Nichole Garcia, and Nolan Livesay Violin; Rodney Wirtz and Bryan Gonzalez Viola; Ginger Murphy and Chris Ahn Cello; David Hughes Bass; Rachel Mellis Flute, Piccolo; Victoria Sabonjohn Oboe; Laura Stoutenborough and Adrienne Murray Clarinet; Lieza Kallin Bassoon; Jared Haworth and Elizabeth Donahue Bagpipes; Lisa McCormick French Horn; Tim Rubottom, Barbara Laronga, and Justin Drisdelle Trumpet; Devon Taylor Trombone; Nick Stone Percussion; Eric Heinly Orchestra Contractor.

Production and Creative (^æ indicates members of Actors Equity): Alan Jay Lerner Lyrics, Book; Frederick Loewe Music; Alexandra Silber Playwright; Katie Spelman Director, Choreographer; Jason Sherwood Scenic Designer; Raquel Adorno Costume Designer; Jaymi Smith Lighting Designer; Danny Erdberg Sound Designer; Ursula Kwong-Brown Sound Designer; Alberto “Albee” Alvarado Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Ryan Bernard-Tymensky Casting; Jill Gold^æ Production Stage Manager; Lauren Buangan^æ Asst Stage Manager; Miriam Mendoza^æ Asst Stage Manager; Gaby Ostrove^æ Asst Stage Manager.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; BIH/Pantages; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

There were some interesting theatre and theatre-related announcements recently. First, the Pasadena Playhouse announced their 2026-2027 season. It’s pretty spectacular. The season begins with a new production of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s tragicomedy The Visit, directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak and starring Jefferson Mays. The Visit was later turned into a musical by Fred Kander and John Ebb; but this is the play version. Next up is the long-awaited L.A. premiere of Passing Strange, the Tony-winning musical based on the life of L.A.-born musician Stew, directed by Tony nominee Zhailon Levingston. Passing Strange never toured after winning the 2009 Tony, so this is its LA debut. There is then a TBA winter production (hopefully better than last year’s Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, which was horrible). That is followed by Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, the musical version of the play we saw two weeks ago. This was on Broadway but did poorly and thus never toured; it is its LA premiere. Lastly, a revival of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with Alfred Molina. We’ve already renewed our membership.

Also announcing last week was the Soraya, previously known as the Valley Performing Arts Center on the campus of Cal State Northridge. Can’t you just hear Vin Sculley saying “Isn’t it beautiful”. They have announced their 2026-2027 season. There is loads of good stuff this season. Notable for theatre folks is the opening show, Sutton Foster; in April, Audra McDonald will grace the stage. Along the way, there are shows such as Snarky Puppy with the CSUN “A” Jazz Band, Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves celebrating John Coltraine; a tribute to Gershwin and the Golden Age with the LA Jewish Symphony; the Dance Theatre of Harlem; Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltraine; A tribute to Frank Sinatra with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; the Emmet Cohen Trio; and much more. Music of all varieties, jazz, dance, pop, classical, and loads more. Those are just the shows we’re interested in. Memberships are also on sale.

Lastly, May saw the opening of ticket sales for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. There are over 2,150 performances; there are 439 shows listed in the show catalog. These all occur during the month of June, with multiple shows throughout the day. 20 minutes to move in; then the show; 20 minutes to move out. Ticket prices are low. The shows run the gamut, from totally strange to one person shows to full on short plays to musical reviews. You’re sure to find something you’ll like.

Upcoming

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

• May: ♣ Bugs Bunny at the Symphony at St. Louis Symphony; ♦ Fat Ham at Black Reperatory Theatre (St. Louis); ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson.
• July: ♦ Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August: ♦ Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September: ♦ Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages; ♦⊕ The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Turning at Taper/CTG; ♣⊕ Sutton Foster at The Soraya; ♦⊕ Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; ♦⊕Every Brilliant Thing at The Main

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

Back in the early 2000s, I picked up the original cast recording of what was then an off-Broadway musical, Lone Star Love. Subtitled, “The Merry Wives of Windsor TX”, this was a musicalized version of the Shakespeare story transplanted to the West in Post-Civil War times. Alas, it never made it to Broadway thanks to the antics of Randy Quaid, one of the few folks to receive a permanent ban from Actors Equity.  There was a concert performance of the show in 2025, but otherwise it hasn’t seen an attempt at revival. As for me, I loved the music from the show and have always wanted to see it.

I mention this because of an interesting set of circumstances. We had tickets for Sat 5/2 to see Anyone Can Whistle, a rarely done Sondheim show, at the El Portal from a new theatre company, but it ended up getting canceled. While hunting around for a replacement show, we thought about Reefer Madness: The Musical  at the Wisteria Theatre, but their seating was strange and overpriced. Then I saw LA Opera advertising Verdi’s opera, Falstaff.

Many many years before the folks behind Lone Star Love attempted to musicalize Shakespeare, the noted opera composer Verdi did the same thing. It was Verdi’s second comedy (and the only successful one), written in his late 1970s. It was also one of the last shows to be conducted by James Conlon. So, we thought…. why not? We normally go to traditional theatre and musicals, but it’s worthwhile to go out of our comfort zone occasionally. Why not a real opera, with a known fun story. So we dressed up (because you dress up for the opera), trotted down to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and went to the Opera. We went early enough so we could attend a pre-show lecture by James Conlon about the show and its history. That helped quite a bit.

Here’s the summary of the story as described by LA Opera: “Sir John Falstaff finds himself a bit short on cash, so he hatches a scheme: seduce two merry (and wealthy) wives of Windsor and live out his days in luxury. Too bad this bumbling knight happened to send both his targets the same love letter! Now Alice Ford and Meg Page are set on teaching Falstaff a lesson, and it’s not long before a long list of his adversaries join in. Audiences are in for a whirlwind of disguises and deceptions, and maybe even an unexpected dip in the River Thames.”

First, some thoughts of the opera itself, and then this specific show.

There are some key differences between opera and musical theatre, beyond being “sung through”. After all, Sweeney Todd is sung through, and Evita is sung through, but they aren’t opera. First and foremost, opera isn’t amplified. At least we couldn’t see or detect any, and yet we could hear the performers clearly from the topmost balcony. Second, it typically isn’t in English, so you need to follow projected super-titles that provide translation (unless you know Italian). Last, there’s emphasis on the orchestra, which is SIGNIFICANTLY larger than the smallish orchestras one sees in musical theatre these days.

Now some thoughts on this show itself:

First, the music wasn’t something you could “hum”. It was pretty and all that, but I didn’t walk out of the show humming any of the arias. That might be different if I was a big opera person, but I’ m not. I didn’t have the urge to go out and get a recording of the opera (instead, I’m listening to Lone Star Love as I’m writing this).

Even with the language difference, the story was easy to follow. The roles were played with fun and joy, and I particularly enjoyed the playfulness of Hyona Kim’s Mistress Quickly and Craig Coiciough’s Sir John Falstaff. The voices were lovely, and as I noted before, were quite clear without amplification in the top balcony of the Dorothy Chandler. It was clear that they were having fun with this (and it was great watching the littles in the final scene of the third act).

The scenery was much more traditional / Shakespearean than one finds in modern theatre. There were no projects. Nothing flew in from the fly space. Nothing was carried in by the actors or stage crew. There were just traditional flats and structures and such. They were pretty, but a different style. If I had a sound complaint, it was more that the scenery changes were quite noisy.

It might be interesting to see operas such as this stage in the modern theatrical style: that is, modern scenery, amplification, quasi-realistic performances. Would that improve the audiences?

Speaking of the audiences: It was a delight to see folks all dressed up. Folks used to dress up for theatre in LA (I remember it from the days of the LA Civic Light Opera), but you don’t see that anymore.

The large orchestra was wonderful to listen to.

Falstaff continues at LA Opera through May 10, 2025, which will be Conlon’s last conducting performance, IIRC. Tickets are available through the LA Opera website.

Credits

Falstaff. Music by Giuseppe Verdi. Liberetto by Arrigo Boito after William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Parts I and II. Directed by Shawna Lucey. Conducted by James Conlon.

Cast:

• Principals: Nathan Bowles Dr. Caius; Craig Coiciough Sir John Falstaff; Yuntong Han Bardolph; Vinicius Costa Pistol; Sarah Saturnino Meg Page; Nicole Heaston Alice Ford; Hyona Kim Mistress Quickly; Deanna Brelwick Nannetta; Anthony Leon Fenton; Ernesto Petti Ford. 
• LA Opera Chorus: Sopranos Christina Borgioli, Alannah Garnier, Karen Hogle-Brown, Stephanie Jones, Elizabeth Lee, Lori Stinson, Courtney Taylor, Janet Todd, Sunjoo Yeo, Ella Yewon Yoon; Altos Elizabeth Anderson, Natalie Beck, Danielle Marcello Bond, Molly Burnside, Sara Campbell, Veronica Christenson, Kelly Krantz, Andriana Manfredi, Jessie Schulman, Bonnie Snell Schindler; Tenors James Callon, Christopher Craig, Omar Crook, Adam Faruqi, Sung Bong Kim, Charles Lane, JJ Lopez, Francis Lucaric, Sal Malaki, Todd Strange, Daniel Suk; Bass Tim Campbell, Abdiel Gonzalez, James Hayden, Mark Kelley, David Kress, E. Scott Levin, Connor Licharz, Gabriel Manro, Steve Pence, James Martin Schaefer.
• Supernumeraries (* indicates children): Ryan Benson, Jeff Cook, Tony Cronin Innkeeper, Tucker Futnell, Dane Halvorson, Slim Khezri, Howard Morales, Sean Wrinkle, Enzo Ma*, Anastasia Michel*, Violette Michel*, Osgood Shelby-Szyzsko, Schroeder Shelby-Syzsko Robin, Falstaff’s Page, Bellami Smith*, Koa Spiegel-Shaw*, Ean Sun*.

LA Opera Orchestra: First Violin: Alyssa Park Stuart Canin Concertmaster; Armen Anassian Assoc Concertmaster; Lisa Sutton Asst Concertmaster; Cheryl Norma; Olivia Tsu; Beau Henson; Katie Sloan; Heather Powell; Radu Pieptia; Adam Millstein; Erica UzCa; Myroslava Khomik. Second Violin: Ana Laudauer Principal; Grace Oh Assoc Principal; Florence Titmus; Leslie Katz; Michele Kikuchi; Cynthia Moussas; Lorand Lokuszta; Haesol Lee; Ina Veli; Irina Voloshina; Viola: Erik Rynearson Principal; Even Antes Assoc Principal; Peng Jing; Kate Vincent; Aaron Oltman; Diana Wade; Linnea Powell; Carrie Holzman-Little. Cello: Rowena Hammill Principal; Michael Kaufman Assoc Principal; Dane Little; Helen Altenbach; Nadine Hall; Trevor Handy. Bass: Nathan Farrington Principal; Evan Hillis Assoc Principal; Frances Liu Wu; Zach Histop; Timothy Eckert. Flute: Heather Clark Principal; Angela Wiegand; Sarah Weisz Piccolo. Oboe: Leslie Reed Principal; Jennifer Cullinan English Horn. Clarinet: Stuart Clark Principal; Donald Foster Bass Clarinet. Bassoon: William May Principal; William Wood. Horn: Steven Becknell Principal; Daniel Kelley, Jenny Kim Assoc Principal; Aija Mattson-Jovel. Trumpet: Ryan Darke Principal; David Washburn Assoc Principal; Bryce Schmidt. Trombone: William Booth Principal; Alvin Veeh; Terry Cravens; Todd Eames Bass Trombone. Guitar: Paul Viapiano Principal. Harp: JoAnn Turovsky Principal. Timpani: Gregory Goodall Principal. Percussion: Theresa Dimond Principal; John Wakefield. Others: Melisandra Dunker Music Librarian; Brady Steel Orchestra Personnel Manager; Julian Garvue, Bryndon Hassman, and Bin Yu Sanford Musical Preparation.

Production and Creative: James Conlon Conductor; Lee Blakeley Original Production; Shawna Lucey Director; Adrian Linford Scenic and Costume Designer; Pable Santiago Lighting Designer; Jeremy Frank Chorus Director and Asst. Conductor; Andrew Kenneth Moss Fight Director; Sara E. Widzer Intimacy Director; Ky Chassells Asst Director; Whitney McAnally Stage Manager; Peter Walsh Prompter; Randall Behr Supertitles; CBS Scenic Studios Scenery Construction; Studio Sereno Additional Props; Los Angeles Opera Costume Shop Costumes; Los Angels Opera Wig Department Wigs.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; BIH/Pantages; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

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

• May: ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Fat Ham at Black Reperatory Theatre (St. Louis) ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
• July: ♦ Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August: ♦ Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Never Piss Off Smart Women | "Falstaff" @ LA Opera by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

Revisals. The process where the book of a musical (and occasionally a play) is reworked to update the story, potentially remove problematic or outdated material, and to fix things that really didn’t work. Sometimes these reworks are light, such as the rework of Sweeney Todd to have the actors play their own instruments or dramatically downsize the set of players, or the rework of West Side Story to include more lyrics in Spanish. Sometimes they are more significant, such as the rework of Cats that is currently on Broadway: Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Sometimes they are successful, and sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes they change very little, and yet are very controversial. An example of this is the recent revival of Oklahoma, which was a stripped down version of the musical that retained all the words, but made the presentation much darker. There were those who got what was being done and loved it. There were those that hated it.

Oklahoma brings us to the second relevant aspect of this little discourse: Rogers and Hammerstein. The main stage shows of this dynamic duo fall into three groups (I’m excluding the two shows done primarily for the large and small screen: State Fair and Cinderella). There are the shows that became clear classics: Oklahoma, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music. There are the shows in the middle that are problematic today for various reasons: The King and I, Carousel, and Flower Drum Song. Lastly, there are the shows that are rarely performed today,  and that were generally not all that successful: Allegro, Me and Juliet, and Pipe Dream.

The first tier of shows seem frozen. With the exception of the aforementioned Oklahoma, there haven’t been attempts to radically revisit these shows to expose unseen aspects. The Sound of Music is currently on tour; I don’t expect the staging to be any different from the regional production I saw last year at 5-Star Theatrical, or the versions one sees in a community theatre. What can you do with The Sound of Music? How do you improve on that show? South Pacific is similar: there are a few more stereotypes in that show, but those are accurate for the time, and the point made by that show remains applicable.

The last tier of shows are begging for rework and revival. Allegro was the most successful of the bunch, but really hasn’t been revived except for one Encores version. Similarly with Pipe Dream. All need rework to fix the problems that doomed them in the first place.

This brings us to the middle tier. The King and I suffers from a major stereotype problem: Although the music is beautiful, the portrayal of the Siamese kingdom is offensive today both in the style of speech and how the people are viewed. It also is deeply entrenched in the “white savior” problem, and that may be incurable. Carousel has a major problem with domestic violence against women. Although the story is strong, it would likely require rework to be acceptable today. That leaves Flower Drum Song. FDS was successful when first released, but over time has become a problem. The penultimate show by the duo, it suffered from a very stereotypical view of the Asian-American community (not surprising, as it was written by two white guys), and has not aged well.  The movie version wasn’t a classic, and the show has seen few revivals due to the portrayal problem. Read the summary of the 1958 plot on Wikipedia, and the problems become clear.

According to Wikipedia, after seeing the mid-1990s revival of The King and I, playwright David Henry Hwang got the idea to rework and revise FDS with proper representation. It took a few years, but a revised version hit Los Angeles and then Broadway in 2002. There was a complete rework of the plot, retaining only character names, most of the music, and the ultimate points of the musical about the clash of old and new cultures. It had mix reviews and wasn’t successful (although I liked the album, but didn’t see the show). You can read the summary of the 2002 plot on Wikipedia. I think the new story generally works well.

This brings us to 2025. East West Players chose to include Flower Drum Song as the last show in their 2025-2026 season (which immediately caught my eye, and I grabbed tickets as soon as I could). This version would be yet another rework by David Henry Hwang of the 2002 rework. It finally hit the stage this week, and after two cancelled preview performances due to technical issues, it opened for preview performances Saturday. We saw the second preview performance Sunday evening. It officially opens Thursday. So note: Some of my observations may be overtaken by events, and some things we saw may have been adjusted by opening.

In terms of story, about 85 to 90% of the 2002 story remains.

The ending coda has completely changed, but luckily they retained having the cast state where they are from (something I loved on the cast album). I did notice a number of lyric changes from the original show, and even a few from the 2002 revival. I like the new ending quite a bit.

Skip this paragraph if you want to avoid a spoiler:  According to Wikipedia, the ending in 2002 was “Ta leaves Club Chop Suey and the two become street performers as Chao departs for Hong Kong. Harvard announces his intention to return home and attempt a reconciliation with his disappointed parents. Despite his irritation at Ta, Wang allows him to marry Mei-li at the club (which now features Ta’s Chinese opera one day a week), as the company celebrates how Chinese and American cultures have converged to create this happy moment.” The updated show has the double wedding as the ending still. However, most of the main characters move to Los Angeles — and in fact, it is implied that Ta and Mei-li start a theatre company in Los Angeles that eventually becomes East West Players. Harvard remains in San Francisco, and turns the club into a successful gay Asian nightclub to provide visibility for yet another segment of the Asian community. 

As this was a preview, there were a few problems but no stopping of the show. In the first act, as the headdress was being removed from Linda Low’s head, it caught on her hair pulling off her wig. As she tried to recover it flew in the face of the actor next to her. The actors handled the problem quite well, and the humor played well with the audience. I wouldn’t be surprised if that problem doesn’t become part of the show. In the second act during “Don’t Marry Me”, the problem of using real food arose: one actor was still chewing when it was time for his song cue. Again, this was handled professionally (with a little humor) and worked well. Such is the fun of a preview, and actually added to the enjoyment of the show.

Overall, the reworked version of the show did a great job of illustrating the problems of the Asian immigrant experience in the 1950s and 1960s, where white culture saw them as a stereotype created by movies (e.g., Mickey Rooney playing Japanese) and media. It was characterized in the show as the impossibility of being 100% Asian or 100% American. The updated epilogue does a better job of showing the transition of the Asian-American community.

Performances were strong throughout. My wife loved the performance of Scott Keiji Takeda as Ta (the son), in particular his voice. I loved Grace Yoo’s Mei-Li, especially watching her facial expressions. Krista Marie Yu was strong as Linda Low, and Kenton Chen seemed to be having great fun playing it up as Harvard. Emily Kuroda captured the humor of Madame Liang well; similarly, Marc Oca did a great job as the father, Wang, capturing the change from the traditional to the nightclub performer. Lastly, it is always a joy to see Gedde Watanabe on stage.

The ensemble was strong, playing multiple role and singing and dancing up a storm. I can’t speak to the authenticity of the dance moves, but they were fun to watch.

Staging was simple. Thankfully, there were no projections, and no confetti gun. There were a few tables and such as props, and appropriate background signs and such. They established location quite well. The costumes were effective and beautiful. There were a few sound problems, but that’s not a surprise in a preview performance where the sound is still being tuned and the performers are still adapting to the microphones.

About my only complaint with the show was the program: For all the credits included, there was no credit and bio for Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Although older audiences know who these folks are, the “kids” today likely have little idea — and especially, they may not know anything more about them than Oklahoma or The Sound of Music.

My wife summed it up best as we were leaving, and talking to Emily Kuroda who played Madame Liang as we walked to our cars: This was one of the best productions we’ve seen in a long time, both in terms of story and performance. It continues at the Aratani Theatre next to the JACCC through May 31. Tickets are available through the EWP website. Go see this show.

Credits

Flower Drum Song. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by David Henry Hwang, based on the original book by Hascar Hammerstein II and Joseph Fields, which was based on the novel by C. Y. Lee. Directed by Lily Tung Crystal^*. Choreographed by Lainie Sakakura^* and Janelle Dote Portman.

Cast: (^æ indicates members of Actors Equity): Cooper Lee Bennett Chao; Kenton Chen^æ Harvard; Emily Kuroda^æ Madame Liang; Marc Oka^æ Wang; Scott Teiji Takeda^æ Ta; Gedde Watanabe^æ Chin; Grace Yoo^æ Mei-Li; Krista Marie Yu^æ Linda Low; Joven Calloway^æ Ensemble, u/s Harvard; Ethan Yaheen-Moy Chan Ensemble, u/s Ta, u/s Chao; Ijay Espinoza Ensemble; Sierra Goria Ensemble Swing; Sally Hong^æ Ensemble, Dance Captain, Ms. Lee; Tony Jin Ensemble Swing; Brian Shimasaki Liebson^æ Ensemble; Esther Lee^æ Ensemble, u/s Linda Low; Emma Park Ensemble; Gemma Pedersen Ensemble, u/s Mei-Li, u/s Linda Low; Hillary Tang^æ Ensemble; Ai Toyoshima^æ Ensemble; Haoyi Wen Ensemble; Paul Wong^æ Ensemble, u/s Chin, u/s Wang. Gedde Watanabe^æ performs Chin from Apr 16-May 10 and May 17-31. Paul Wong^æ performs Chin and Ethan Yaheen-Moy Chan performs Ensemble from May 11-17. Joven Calloway^æ performs Harvard and Tony Jin performs Ensemble on May 23.

Music Department; Marc Macalinta Music Directior, Conductor, Keyboards; Don Sebesky Orchestrations; David Chase Musical Adaptation; Richard Berent Asst Music Director, Keyboard; Robert Elhai Additional Arrangements; Ian Dahlberg Reed 2; Vincent Reyes Guitars; Casey Lipka Bass; Phil Moore Reed 1; Rebecah Yeh Cello; Christopher Spilsbury Drums / Percussion; Avery Robinson Trombone; Peter Marcos Violin; Richie Francisco Trumpet.

Production and Creative (^* Member of Stage Directors and Chroeographers Society; ^¤ Member of United Scenic Artists 829): David Henry Hwang Book; Richard Rodgers Music; Oscar Hammerstein II Lyrics; Lily Tung Crystal^* Director; Lainie Sakakura^* Choreographer; Janelle Dote Portman Choreographer; Jamie Guan Beijing Opera Choreographer; Chen-Wei Liao^¤ Scenic Designer; Jiyoun Chang^¤ Lighting Design; Ruoxuan Li Costume Design; Brian Hsieh Sound Design; Naomi Kasahara Properties Design; Y. Sharon Peng Hair and Makeup Design; Darlene Miyakawa^* Production Stage Manager; Annie Jin Wang Dramaturg; Shinshin Yuder Tsai Intimacy Director; Mara Palma Asst. Director / Directing Fellow; Patrick Chew Cultural and Language Consultant; Katie Adams Asst Scenic Designer; Ruth Araujo Asst Costume Designer; Antonia Yang Asst Lighting Designer; Maddi Deckard Asst. Sound Designer; Kevin Dajay Asst Props Designer; Sarah Albee Asst Choreographer; Nora Degreen Asst Choreographer; Grace Mori Asst Beijing Opera Choreographer; Brandon Hong Cheng^æ, Jaclyn Gehringer, and Bonifacia-Erlinda Montaño Asst Stage Manager; Sally Hong^æ Dance Captain; Ai Toyoshima^æ Asst. Dance Captain. Robert Longbottom Original Direction and Choreography.

Small Print: FLOWER DRUM SONG is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, www.concordtheatricals.org. Produced on Broadway by Benjamin Mordecai, Michael A. Jenkins, Waxman Williams Entertainment, Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum/Gordon Davidson/Charles Dillingham, with Robert G. Bartner, Dragotta/Gill/Roberts, Kelpie Arts/Dramatic Forces, and by arrangement with The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November).  Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Lastly, I’ll note Group Rep in NoHo has announced their season, which includes a mounting of Applause in the July-August timeframe. That’s useful if you missed the MTG one-nighter; I haven’t yet decided if I want to see it again (although Group Rep does a great job with older and rarely done musical re-visits).

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

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

• April: ♦ Real Women Have Curves at Casa 0101.
• May: ♦ Falstaff at LA Opera; ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
• July: ♦ Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.

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

Let me start out by saying that we don’t have Netflix. We’ve long used DirecTV Satellite, and have so much backed up on the DVR to watch we’re not switching. We’ve dabbled in the streaming (Paramount+, for Star Trek), but that’s about it. Given all the price increases we’re reading that Netflix is doing, we’re likely not to be subscribing for a while either.

Why do I mention this? Because Kim’s Convenience is evidently a Canadian sitcom on Netflix, and unlike much of the world, we’ve never seen it. It was evidently based on an original play by Ins Choi, which we hadn’t seen either. Well, until this afternoon at the Ahmanson.

Let’s just say that seeing the play makes me want to see the series. However, it doesn’t make me want to see it enough to pay Netflix prices. Eventually, these Netflix “exclusives” will show up elsewhere, I’m sure, as companies attempt to monetize their catalogs. So, for those folks (like us) who are not Netflix folks: Seeing this show is one way to get a taste of Netflix without that continual monthly charge.

Kim’s Convenience is a touching and warm story about a Korean family running a small family store in Toronto. Along its journey, it touches upon the issue of families and all their disagreements, on the generational passing of a family business when the next generation has other plans, on Black-Korean relations, and how family can bring things together. It wasn’t what I expected: When I saw an old man running a convenience store, I was expecting something darker with crime and theft and violence, but that just wasn’t there. Perhaps if the story had been set in America; this was a Canadian story after all.

The cast was very strong; this isn’t surprising as most of the cast is the original cast of the original play. Alas, at our performance we didn’t get playwright Ins Choi in the lead, but his alternate James Yi was wonderful in the role. Brandon McKnight did a great job of portraying a large number of different characters, and I really enjoyed the facial expressions of Kelly Seo’s Janet.

The staging was simple: A single-set well-stocked convenience store (I wonder what they are going to do with all the products afterwards?). Industrial lighting, except for a few scenes. Other than stocking the story, this is likely something that can be done at the regional or school level, if it is ever released for licensing.

I really don’t have much more to say, other than this was a delightful show that we really enjoyed. Go see it.

Kim’s Convenience continues at The Ahmanson Theatre through April 19, 2026. Visit the show page to get tickets.

Lastly, the Ahmanson Theatre announced their 2026-2027 season last week. Not quite the touring blockbuster of the Broadway in Hollywood season, but still quite good. I also predicted right, guessing that both Oh, Mary and Boop! The Musical would end up at CTG. The One CTG subscription package is (1) The Turning (Taper, 9/2-10/11/25); Oh Mary! (Ahmanson, 11/10-12/10/26); Destiny of Desire (Taper, 11/11-12/20/25); Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (Ahmanson, 12/12/25-1/10/26); Fiddler on the Roof (Yiddish) (Ahmanson, 2/13-3/14/26); John Proctor is the Villain (Taper, 3/17-4/25/26); August Wilson’s Fences (Taper, 5/26-7/3/26); and Boop! The Musical (Ahmanson, 7/6-8/1/26). The CTG:FWD add-ons are The Music Man, Riverdance 30-The New Generation, Dogman: The Musical, and Clue. When I initially blocked dates on the calendar (in the current season, we were the 1st Saturday at the Ahmanson, and the 6th Saturday at the Taper), there were some bad conflicts: Two shows were on the same day, and one show would have had us running from at DTLA matinee to a 730p show in Thousand Oaks. Luckily, CTG learned: According to the subscriber line, subscribers in our group are now the 1st Saturday at the Ahmanson, and the 3rd Saturday at the Taper. Much better. There is currently only one bad conflict, and that involves moving the Pantages show to accommodate a show at the Soraya. We’ll have a couple of runs from DTLA to either the Soraya or the Pantages, but those are doable. We’re on auto-renewal, so I shouldn’t have much to do other than add Riverdance to the mix.

One other season comment: Could the theatres please stagger their season subscriptions. Broadway in Hollywood hit last month. CTG this month. I just got emails from the Pasadena Playhouse and the Soraya about renewing our memberships there. When these all hit at the same time, especially if there are not payment plans, it can overload the pocketbook.

Credits

Kim’s Convenience. Written by Ins Choi. Directed by Weyni Mengesha.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Ins Choi James Yi Appa; Kelly Seo Janet; Esther Chung Umma; Ryan Jinn Jung; Brandon McKnight Rich, Alex, Mr. Lee, Mike. Alternates and Understudies: ↑ James Yi Appa Alternate; Frank Chung Jung u/s; Ngabo Nabea Rich, Alex, Mr. Lee, Mike u/s; Rosie Simon Janet/Umma u/s.

Production and Creative: Weyni Megesha Director; Ins Choi Author; Joanna Yu Set Design; Ming Wong Costume Design; Wen-Ling Liao Lighting Design; Fan Zhang Sound Design; Nicole Eun-Ju Bell Projection Design; David S. Franklin Production Stage Manager; Angela Mae Bago Asst Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Asst Stage Manager; Aaron Jan Asst Director; Becca Trimbur Company Manager; Pemberly Productions Tour General Manager. The set, props, paint, and costumes for this production were built by the Soulpepper Theatre Company artists in Toronto, ON, CANADA.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November).  Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Lastly, I’ll note Group Rep in NoHo has announced their season, which includes a mounting of Applause in the July-August timeframe. That’s useful if you missed the MTG one-nighter; I haven’t yet decided if I want to see it again (although Group Rep does a great job with older and rarely done musical re-visits).

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

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

• April: ♦ ♦ Ride the Cyclone at The Main; ♣ Jeremy Jordan at The Soraya; California Science and Engineering Fair at CLU; ♦ Flower Drum Song at East/West Players; ♦ Real Women Have Curves at Casa 0101. NOTE: We need judges for the California Science and Engineering Fair. If you have a degree in the sciences and are available to judge April 12 at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, sign up to judge here.
• May: ♦ Falstaff at LA Opera; ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
• July: ♦ Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.

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

Many years ago, I got the off-Broadway cast album for Here Lies Love, a musical about Imelda Marcos by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. I fell in love with the last song on the album, “God Draws Straight”. In my mind, I thought it was about LGBTQ stuff, similar to “God Don’t Make No Trash” from bare. Well, yesterday afternoon we saw Here Lies Love at CTG/Mark Taper Forum, and I came to realize the song means something different—something more timely. It means that building a more just and democratic society can be done, but it isn’t a straight path. There are fits and starts, and sometimes you go the wrong direction, but if you persevere and keep protesting and fighting, you will reach your goal.

This musical was written in 2010, and didn’t open Off-Broadway until 2013. This was long before the rise of Donald Trump. Yet the musical hits today as something very timely: the behavior of Ferdinand Marcos in office is very similar to the behavior of Trump. Abusing democracy, grabbing power, using the military against citizens, disappearing people. The key difference is that Melania shows no interesting in personally taking power (thankfully). “God Draws Straight” concludes on a hopeful note, but alas recent history hasn’t borne that out, with Duterte‘s rise to power, and then the election of BongBong Marcos, Imelda and Ferdinand’s son. But the parallels remain.

This is the first regional production of Here Lies Love in Los Angeles, after an initial Broadway run in 2023. This production reimagines the story from a disco to a noontime Philippine TV show hosted by a drag-queen, still telling Marcos’ story. It also retains a controversial aspect from the original production: recorded music. I became suspicious of this in the program, where in an interview with Byrne, he talks about «”track acts” in dicos, live disco sets with backing tracks where artists would perform karaoke version of their hits». I also noted that there were no credits for the musicians in the program: only a music director and a music producer. I agree with the Broadway Unions somewhat here: Theatre requires live performance, and if at all possible, live music (I make some exceptions for intimate theatres that have neither space nor budget). If you are going to do recorded music, at least have the courtesy to record and acknowledge the musicians that performed the music for the recording.

The concept of the musical is entertaining, and does a great job of educating people about the history of the Marcos regime in the Philippines (similar to the way Evita educates about the rise of the Peron Family in Argentina). The fear is that the upbeat and pop nature of the musical masks the actual terror and fear of those that had to live under the regime, and potentially makes Marcos appear to be a better person than she was. This is a form of historical whitewashing (or, to use a less charged term, gaslighting), similar to the whitewashing that has taken place about the People Power Revolution. Luckily, the program for the show helps one to see through the glitz to the reality. As I write this, I realize the parallel to the change that CTG made in this production: the drag queen narrator provides a similar façade: a face of glitz and glamour, with something different underneath. In a world of those who would be authoritarian and who would grab and take power, the truth and the reality doesn’t matter. What is important is the façade, the image, the story created by the media. As noted before, this musical speaks well today.

The performances were top-notch, with an incredibly large cast for the small Taper space. We had an understudy in the narrator position of Imeldific, Steven-Adam Agdeppa. Steven-Adam was wonderful, showing the transition from the glitz to the man under the glitz. Reanne Acasio was a very strong Imelda, and Josua Dela Cruz was a great Ninoy Aquino. Carol Angeli stood out as Estrelia Cumpas, Imelda’s nanny and childhood friend. Also notable, although I can’t tell from the program which ensemble member she was, was the ensemble member who played Cory Aquino, Ninoy’s wife. She just had a look that drew my eye to her. The ensemble members were interesting to watch, especially the facial expressions and their interactions with the audience. I’ll note that this show is very audience-interactive; it is not a proscenium-stage show that plays to a passive audience.

I should also note: There is no mention of Imelda Marcos’ shoe obsession; the only hint is at the beginning when she is given her first set of heels to replace her flats. I’ll also note that the term “Imeldific”, which is used as the name of the drag-queen in the show and is a Philippine adjective meaning «”anything exaggeratedly ostentatious or in bad taste”, referring to clothing, architecture, décor, etc.» is something that could equally be well-applied to Trump’s taste and decorating style. Parallels upon parallels indeed. Perhaps the media needs to start using the term Imeldific to describe Trump.

The story of Marcos is told in Here Lies Love generally in a sung-through fashion. Although there are small snips of dialogue, most of the story comes through the dance numbers and the projections on the upper screen. We brought our binoculars, but sometimes focusing on watching the faces and the dancers meant that we missed some of the story on the projections.

The show also contains my current pet peeve: Confetti that drops from the ceiling. There is no real story need for this other than the glitz. It creates plastic that just gets thrown away, which is horrid for the environment. We need to push back against this trend (and I know I’ll see it next week at Spamalot).

Overall, we really enjoyed this show. We learned a lot of history, realized a lot of (scary) parallels, and were entertained through the performances. Yes, I did tear up when “God Draws Straight” started; it just hits that way. If you can get tickets, I recommend the show. Tickets should be available through the CTG website.

Credits

Here Lies Love. Concept, music and lyrics by David Byrne. Music by Fatboy Slim. Choreography by William Carlos Angulo. Directed by Snehal Desai.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Reanne Acasio Imelda Marcos; Joan Almedilla Aurora Aquino; Carol Angeli Estrella Cumpas; Joshua Dela Cruz Ninoy Aquino; Sarah Kay Maria Luisa; Aura Mayari Steven-Adam Agdeppa Imeldific; Chris Renfro Ferdinand Marcos. Ensemble: Steven-Adam Agdeppa, Kayla Amistad, Kelvin Co, Joanne Javien Coudriet, Audrey Lyn Crabiño, Jefflorenz Garrido Garrick; Goce Macatangay, Danielle Louise Mendoza, Justine Rafael, ↑ Hayden Rivas, Ryan Salazar. Swings: ↑ Hayden Rivas, Johnisa Almariya Breault, Zandi de Jesus.

Music Department: Joe Cruz Music Director. Jennifer Lin Music Director; Justin Levine Music Producer, Vocal Arrangements; Matt Stine Music Production, Additional Arrangements. No credit is provided for the actual musicians.

Production and Creative: David Byrne Concept, Music, Lyrics; Fatboy Slim Music; Snehal Desai Director, CTG Artistic Director; William Carlos Angulo Choreographer; Hayden Rivas Dance Captain; Arnel Sanciaco Scenic Designer; Jaymee Ngerwichit Costume Designer; Marcella Barbeau Lighting Designer; Brian Hsieh Sound Designer; Yee Eun Nam Projection Design; Kaleena Jordan Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Ely Sonny Orquiza Dramaturg; Janelle Dote Portman Assoc. Director; U. J. Mangune Assoc. Choreographer; Jill Gold Production Stage Manager; Miriam E. Mendoza Stage Manager; Jihee Jenny Park Stage Manager; Kimberly Grigsby Vocal Arrangements; Justin Levine Vocal Arrangements; Michael Donovan CSA Casting; Richie Ferris CSA Casting; Joseph Pinzon Casting Consultant; Jimmy Elinski Drag Queen Costume Specialist.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November).  Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Broadway in Hollywood has announced its 2026-2027 season, and it is spectacular. The only major shows missing are Oh Mary, Boop: The Musical, and Just In Time. I expect Oh Mary to show up at the Ahmanson, and possibly Boop; Just In Time might be in the following Broadway in Hollywood season as I haven’t seen it announce any tour dates. Perhaps some local theatre will decide to mount Real Women Have Curves – The Musical or Dead Outlaw. One can hope. Lastly, I’ll note Group Rep in NoHo has announced their season, which includes a mounting of Applause in the July-August timeframe. That’s useful if you missed the MTG one-nighter; I haven’t yet decided if I want to see it again (although Group Rep does a great job with older and rarely done musical re-visits).

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

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

• March: MoTAS Poker Tournament; ♦ Spamlot at BIH/Pantages.
• April: ♦ Kim’s Convenience Store at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Ride the Cyclone at The Main; ♣ Jeremy Jordan at The Soraya; California Science and Engineering Fair at CLU; ♦ Flower Drum Song at East/West Players; ♦ Real Women Have Curves at Casa 0101. NOTE: We need judges for the California Science and Engineering Fair. If you have a degree in the sciences and are available to judge April 12 at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, sign up to judge here.
• May: ♦ Falstaff at LA Opera; ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

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

Last night, we saw The Color Purple at Chomolume Theatre at the Zephyr. We have a history with both, so a little digression is in order at the start. Watch out for rabbit holes.

We last saw The Color Purple at the Hollywood Pantages in June 2018. That day, we also saw The Story of My Life down the street at the Hobgoblin, a production of Chromolume Theatre as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Little did we know then (or perhaps we did — I can’t remember) that it would be the last incarnation of that iteration of Chromolume: the rest of their season (Jane Eyre, The Musical and Stephen Sondheim’s Passion). We had been Chromolume Subscribers since 2016 when we discovered them with Prez, and enjoyed two great seasons (although Hello Again was strange). In 2018, Chromolume would lose their tenancy at The Attic Theatre in West Adams, and after various kerfuffles, would go quiet until 2025, about 7 years later. Chomolume restarted in 2025 with a season consisting of First Date, I Love You Because, The Bridges of Madison County, Marry Me a Little, and Passion. All of which we had seen, and none of which we cared to see again. In fact, Passion was the last show I saw (at Boston Court) before the pandemic closed everything down. But we’ve always loved the company and what they try to do, and so we resubscribed this season. The Chromolume 2026 season is: The Color Purple, Elegies (HFF), If/Then, and Stephen Sondheim’s Roadshow (a/k/a Bounce). Most we haven’t seen, and for most of them, it is hard to imagine how they would be done in a 80-ish seat black box with no fly or orchestra space. But if any company can do it, this one can: After all, they staged Pacific Overtures in a small black box theatre.

Continuing the story/history lesson: This bring us to 2010, which is when I previously saw The Story of My Life (a two-hander musical that is just beautiful). 2010 was the disastrous year of the Pasadena Playhouse bankruptcy, when subscribers were left with donated tickets. We switched our subscription to the Colony Theatre that year; Colony later had its own financial troubles, went dark, and is slowly coming back. The Pasadena Playhouse has also returned strong: winning a regional Tony Award and doing mostly strong productions such as the just finished Amadeus (with a few misses, such as their recent Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha). Yes, we are back as members at the Pasadena Playhouse. Reading through the theatre posts about 2010 also reminded me how I (back then) hated the Pantages; now we are regular subscribers and are quite looking forward to their upcoming season.

Finishing the history lesson: This brings us to 2008, when we saw the first iteration of The Color Purple  musical at the Ahmanson. That was my first time seeing the show: I had heard of the original movie with Oprah Winfrey, but hadn’t seen it. I had never read the book. I was impressed with the story and with the music, and how much of the show was sung through (and yet it didn’t feel like a sung-through musical). As I wrote then: “This is the mark of a good musical: it can use music to concisely tell story, establish people and personas, and advance the plot. The music works very well in this, even though there are very few “stand alone” songs.”

This also brings us back to The Color Purple — and I promise I’ll tie it back to that long introduction rabbit hole. Here’s how I described The Color Purple back in 2008:

“The Color Purple” basically tells the story of Celie, a young black girl in the south, knocked up by her step-pseudofather twice by the age of 14, and then married off soon after to a man who beats her to get her to obey. It is the story of the love between Celie and her sister Nettie, the story of the relationships in Celie’s life. In particular, it is about how Celie’s relationships with some strong black women make her realize that she is loved, that she does have value, that she can stand up for herself and accomplish something, and the power that love plays in it all.

That was a bit simplistic. The Color Purple is a story about love, but it is even more the story of resilience, of saying “Hell No” when people try to push you down. It is a story about love, but much less the traditional notion of romantic boy-girl love. The love in Color Purple is about the love and bond between sisters, the love and bond between women, and the love that is formed out of goodness and caring about others.

The notion of resilience is what ties this musical to the history I started with. We see resilience is the story of Chromolume Theatre, which has refused to stay down over its 24 year history (with 2 7-year breaks). We see resilience in the story of the Pasadena Playhouse, which has come back strong. We may also be seeing resilience in the story of the Colony, which looks to be recovering from its down period (and will be producing Catch Me If You Can later in the year, which we’re interested in seeing); however, the Colony isn’t yet back to doing seasons yet. Resilience is the story of small theatre in Los Angeles: a small but vital community that depends on a network of performers and audience members that believe in it, despite others thinking Los Angeles is a film center. Los Angeles is a theatre town. Its small theatres are alive. They are producing knock-out productions such as Chromolume’s The Color Purple, which according to Chromolume is almost completely sold out at the time it is opening. Who would have thought this would happen back in the days of the I Love 99 fights and Actors Equity changing the 99-seat and under rules? Of course, small theatre (just like big theatre) is rarely profitable, and theatres like Chromolume depend on your support to survive. Donate today.

Now, let’s turn our focus to this production. When Chromolume announced their season, I wondered how they might mount The Color Purple in the tiny theatre they were leasing. The Zephyr is a 74 seat thrust theatre, with no wing space, no fly space, and no orchestra space. There are barely dressing rooms, and crossing from one side of the stage to the other off-stage requires going outside through a narrow alleyway. So I was curious. How would Chromolume do this. Luckily, the recent John Doyle staging of the 2015 revival (which is the version licensed) uses minimal sets, and the directory Elijah Green built upon this. The Chromolume set consisted of a house-suggestive structure with a small triangular thrust area, and a large number of wood chairs.  Green built upon this, and used every inch of the small Zephyr space to bring the story alive, including the aisle spaces within the audience area.

Green also cast the production with remarkable talent, notably Veronica Driscoll as Celie and Jodi Marks as Sofia. Driscoll was outstanding, especially in her transformation between the first and second acts and how she found her inner beauty and strength. She had a remarkable singing voice. Marks’ Sofia was also strong (we’d seen her before in 5-Star’s Frozen), especially in the second act. But all of the cast was strong: strong singing, strong dancing, strong characterizations. Others that caught my eye were Milyah Law as Doris, and Jayla Bryant’s Darlene. They were part of a trio that essentially served as a greek chorus commenting on the story. Jonathan Farrington was a strong Harpo, and Lonnie Jones III was strong as Mister. Lastly, Minque Taylor was dazzling as Shug Avery, and (although not seen as much), Shelby Williams was great as Nettie.

I’d also like to highlight one spectacular number: Miss Celie’s Pants. The dancing and the movement here was just stupendous. It was a joy to watch.

Seeing The Color Purple in an intimate space brings one closer to the story, and one notices characterizations and story aspects that get lost in the cavernous touring spaces of the Pantages or the Ahmanson, especially when one isn’t in the overpriced center orchestra seats. You can see the real emotions of the characters, see the joy in the dancers, realize story beats. It makes the story come alive in a very different way than the detached experience you get in the large houses. If you have the chance to see shows like this in intimate or smaller theatres, take it.

Were there some problems? Only some minor things. The music at times overpowered the actors. That’s unsurprising, as the small theatre doesn’t amplify the actors, and you can’t always soften the instruments. The sound without amplification is also directional, so that when actors were facing away it was harder to hear them. That’s how theatre was originally, folks, so just be aware. You can also insert my pet peeve about tattoos: the trend of “kids” these days to get tattoos is a problem in the theatre, when seeing a tattoo makes one see the performer as the modern actor, not the character. It’s something that is hard to fix as people have the right to do with their bodies as they will, and can’t easily be undone (and I’ll need to get used to it), but there are minimization techniques. But these are really at the noise level, and none really distracted.

Lighting generally did a great job of establishing the mood (and is harder in this theatre where there are no real spaces for follow spots), and costumes generally established the place and mood well.

Overall, this is a production that is well worth seeing. You can get tickets through the Chromolume website, but be aware that many shows are sold out. They may be able to extend if the demand is there, so let them know. The show currently runs through March 29.

Lastly, I generally don’t write up concerts. We had two concerts between Amadeus at the Pasadena Playhouse and The Color Purple: Mandy Gonzalez at the Broad Stage and Noel Paul Stookey at Cerritos Center. Both were excellent.

Credits

The Color Purple. Based upon the novel written by Alice Walker and the Warner Bros./Ambin Entertainment motion picture. Book by Marsha Norman. Music and Lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Directed by Elijah Green. Choreography by Katie Powers-Faulk.

Cast: Veronica Driscoll Celie; Minque Taylor Shug Avery; Lonnie Jones III Mister; Jodi Marks Sofia; Jonathan Farrington Harpo; Shelby Williams Nettie; Amaya J Squeak; Jayla Bryant Darlene; Milyah Law Doris; Olivia Leyva Jarene; Jordan McAllister Ol’ Mister; Johnathan O’Neal Buster; Christopher Baker Preacher; Kara Marie Church Soloist; Omari Miller Grady; Stephen Gregg Pa; Myia LaShaun Olivia. Understudies: Barbara Ann Reed Celie u/s; Andante Petit-Homme Mister u/s; Journie Ma-Johnson Sofia u/s; Kara Marie Squeak u/s.

Music Department: Miki Yokomizo Music Director, Piano; Kiarah Davis Guitar; Tony Jones Drums.

Production and Creative: Elijah Green Director; Miki Yokomizo Music Director; Katie Powers-Faulk Choreographer; Ariella Salinas Fiore Intimacy Director; Shawn Plunkett Scenic Design; Shon LeBlanc Costume Design; Daniel Mitchener Lighting Design; James Esposito Sound Design, Chromolume VP of Operations; Mara Aguilar Production Stage Manager; Kendré Scott Asst Stage Manager; Ken Wether Publicity; Bonnie Sludikoff Chromolume Artist Coordinator; Niko Montelibano Marketing; Veronica Vasquez Casting Associate; Michael Angel Social Media Manager; Lizeth Olguin Moore Box Office Coordinator; Brianne Lopez-Cole House Manager.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November).  Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Broadway in Hollywood has announced its 2026-2027 season, and it is spectacular. The only major shows missing are Oh Mary, Boop: The Musical, and Just In Time. I expect Oh Mary to show up at the Ahmanson, and possibly Boop; Just In Time might be in the following Broadway in Hollywood season as I haven’t seen it announce any tour dates. Perhaps some local theatre will decide to mount Real Women Have Curves – The Musical or Dead Outlaw. One can hope. I do know the Segerstrom is doing Curves in Concert on March 20, but we just can’t make it due to the distance and a busy busy March.

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

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

• March: ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at 5-Star Theatricals;  ♦ Here Lies Love at CTG/Mark Taper; MRJ Man of the Year Dinner at Temple Beth Hillel; MoTAS Poker Tournament; ♦ Spamlot at BIH/Pantages.
• April: ♦ Kim’s Convenience Store at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Ride the Cyclone at The Main; ♣ Jeremy Jordan at The Soraya; California Science and Engineering Fair at CLU; ♦ Flower Drum Song at East/West Players; ♦ Real Women Have Curves at Casa 0101. NOTE: We need judges for the California Science and Engineering Fair. If you have a degree in the sciences and are available to judge April 12 at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, sign up to judge here.
• May: ♦ Falstaff at LA Opera; ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

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