Observations Along The Road... at Dreamwidth

Growing up Jewish, I used to think Christmas was a humbug. I didn’t actively hate it (although I did, and still do, dislike the heavy marketing aspect of it and the way American society pushes it down everyone’s throats), but I also didn’t appreciate many of the Christmas rituals. That’s been changing over time; I’ve been increasingly liking the notion of the holiday as something that spreads goodwill (something that goes back to my favorite Christmas song, Peter Paul and Mary’s Christmas Dinner). As such, I thoroughly enjoyed the recent Christmas episode of “The Librarians”. I’ve also had a growing appreciation for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (especially since discovering the wonderful concert version of the story). So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I increasingly found myself drawn to Zombie Joe Underground (FB)’s production of the story; the excellent reviews on Bitter Lemons didn’t hurt either.  So last night, yes, we voluntarily went to see a Christmas-themed theatre production (does this mean Elf: The Musical is in my future? One never knows!)

First, however, a word about A Christmas Carol in general. I realized this morning one reason I’m growing to like the story — it doesn’t emphasize the religious aspects of the holiday, nor does it emphasize the commerical aspects of the holiday. Mind you the religious aspects are fine for those who are Christian; I’m not. As for the commercial Christmas, Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer say it best. But what Dickens’ story emphasizes is the goodwill aspect of the holiday, and the importance of having a changed attitude towards one’s fellows. It emphasizes the importance of not worshiping the gods of business and money, but doing something good with one’s life. That’s a concept that resonates with me.

Next, a word about Zombie Joe Underground (FB) (ZJU), in general. This was my first time at the venue, although I’ve known about it for ages from Livejournal. The venue is truly a black box theatre, lacking even a conventional stage and conventional stage lighting (I think all the lights were parabolic reflectors; not a single Leiko). Yet the theatre performed there was remarkably creative, with an emphasis on the theatricality of the actors, not the sets or props. This is very refreshing to see, and a nice change of pace for our mix of shows. From what I’ve been told, and looking at the mix of past shows on the wall, the venue specializes in the creative and avant guard, not the traditional play or musical that might hit a traditional stage venue. They lean towards the macabre in a way similar to The Visceral Company (FB); but have a different approach towards production and staging. I do plan to keep a closer eye on the venue for future productions of interest.

What happens when you bring a production company like ZJU together with a classic Christmas story? You get something offbeat. Mind you, they don’t change the story (unlike my favorite version, A Mulholland Christmas Carol), although they do imperceptibly condense the story to under an hour. Rather, you get all the essential elements the story presented in an offbeat approach with actors that are truly having fun with it. I guess at this point I should provide a synopsis of the story, but if you don’t know A Christmas Carol — given all the myriad versions out there — then you have truly been living under a rock. So, for those living under rocks, click here.

You get a sense of the energy of this production from the start, when the “Steam Punk Chorus” comes out and starts singing a number of Christmas carols. I put “Steam Punk” in quotes, for the ZJU notion of steampunk is wearing goggles (even swim goggles) and corsets, and none of the Victorian mechanical inventions I would expect. The chorus is more macabre, with white faces, darting eyes, playful grabbing and sexiness (without exposure), and warped attitudes. I still can picture in my mind their reactions and playfulness with the tambourine one of the young ladies was playing. They are also — much to my surprise for a storefront theatre — quite strong singers. The voices of these seven actors are just remarkable — from the young man singing Ave Maria to the blend of all the women’s voices (especially the one with the tambourine). Truly a remarkable opening.

After the opening songs, the story of Scrooge begins in earnest. The retelling itself stuck to the traditional story; I found it difficult to identify much that was abridged. With the exception of the actor portraying Scrooge (Sebastian Muñoz (FB; Page)), everyone (including the director) played multiple roles and were not only switching hats, but costumes, wigs, makeup and styling constantly. This led to a form of theatre that emphasized the creativity and what the acting process brings to create the sense of place and character. You were transported to London in the 1800s through the performances in front of you, not the scenery or the sounds. There was also a ZJU sense of playfulness in the mix — the occasional pale face, the use of total darkness and flashlights, the occasional “steam punk” chorus aspect in the background. It’s hard to put into words, but the total overall effect just made the show really fun and different.

The performances also brought out a sense of joy. As always, I have trouble telling what came from the actors and what came from the director, although in this case the director was one of the actors (Denise Devin (FB)). This team of actors — and it is hard to single anyone of them out given the multitude of roles —  were uniformly great. Those in the chorus were strong singers, and they all brought a form of maniacal energy to their myriad roles that it was just remarkable to watch them. I was going to try to give a bunch of specific mentions, but they would all seem to devolve around the same thing — they were great. A few things that stick in my mind: Scrooge’s energy and passion; the characterizations of young Scrooge (although how Scrooge went from being a young bald man to an older man with hair was astounding :-)), of his sister, of Mrs. Cratchet, the joy of the ghost of Christmas Present, the playfulness of Tiny Tim and Cratchet’s children, the joy of Fred — all were spectacular.

The acting team consisted of the following individuals: Jason Britt (FB) [Ghost of Marley, Bob Cratchit, Topper, Belle’s Husband]; Denise Devin (FB) [Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future]; Courtney Drumm (FB) [Steam Punk Chorus, Tiny Tim, Carol Boy, Turkey Boy, Want, Belle’s daughter, Laundress]; Gloria Galvan (FB) [Mrs. Cratchit, Steam Punk Chorus (she was the one with the tambourine that I liked), Mrs. Fezziwig, Ms. Lacey, Charity Gentleman]; Sara Kessler (FB) [Steam Punk Chorus, Fan, Elizabeth]; Lara Lihiya (FB) [Steam Punk Chorus, Violin, Belle, Belinda, Narrator, Housekeeper]; Sebastian Muñoz (FB; Page) [Scrooge]; Kelly Rhone (FB) [Martha, Steam Punk Chorus, Charity Gentleman, Exchange Man, Guitarist, Narrator, Waiter]; Kevin Pollard Jr. (FB) [Steam Punk Chorus, Younger Scrooge, Undertaker, Narrator, Peter Cratchit]; and AJ Sclafani (FB) [Steam Punk Chorus, Fred, Narrator, Exchange Man, Fezziwig].

Turning to the technical — ummm, what technical? The credit for scenic design is listed as Angelia Weitzman (FB), but there was no scenery to speak off, other than a black box or two; the true scenic design came from her other credit — co-costume designer together with the director, Denise Devin (FB). Also working on costumes — specifically, special costumes — as well as the props was Jeri Batzdorff (FB). The costumes and props combined to give a wonderful scenic design of the imagination — a nice (and interesting) change of pace from the more realistic scenic design of the larger/more traditional theatres. Technical sound and lights assistance was by Steven Alloway/FB: there really was no additional sound, and the lights themselves were rudimentary — no Leikos, but a number of parabolic reflectors either with colored bulbs or gels, without the traditional lighting control bar. Still, Alloway and the other designers used what they had to best effect, and there were a number of times I noticed the use of the lighting to create a mood for the scene. Hence, kudos are in order for the lighting. Production Graphics were by Zombie Joe, who also produced the show. Musical stylings were by the Steam Punk Chorus. The production was directed and adapted from the original by Denise Devin (FB).

I do have one negative to add — not about the show, however. Zombie Joe’s really needs to improve its website. As someone who has an old website, I can recognize a website with an even older look — the blinking and the animation reminds one of the days of MySpace and all the blinking free sites. Zombie Joes would do good to find a volunteer who could revamp their site to provide more information on their shows and the theatre itself, in a style that is much more conducive to the modern web.

There is one more performance of the ZJU version of A Christmas Carol (FB) today at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available through tix.com, or in person at the theatre. Note that the show itself is under an hour.

Dining Notes: For dinner before the show we tried a new restaurant in North Hollywood, Yerevan Steak House. They are a few blocks up Lankershim from the theatre, about 3 blocks N of Burbank, across from Mofongos Puerto Rican (where we’ve eaten before). Yerevan is a simple Armenian kabob house, family run with a very family feel, and excellent food. I think we’ll be back.

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

Upcoming Shows: This was our last show of the year, unless I unexpected add something on New Years Eve. It’s been an interesting theatrical year — I’ll work on recap post next. As for 2015: January is filling up. The first weekend of January there’s no interesting live theatre, so I may go see the new “Into the Woods” movie. The following weekend brings two shows: “Serial Killer Barbie: The Musical” (FB) at the No Ho Arts Center on Friday January 9 and “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente at American Jewish University on Sun January 11. The next weekend starts the Rep season with “Avenue Q” at REP East (FB) on Sat Sanuary 17. The following weekend is currently open (but I’m looking). January may conclude with the Cantors Concert on Sat January 31 at Temple Ahavat Shalom. February and March pick up even more, with “The Threepenny Opera” at A Noise Within (FB) on February 15, a hold for “Loch Ness” at the Chance Theatre (FB)  on February 21, “The Road to Appomattox” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on February 28, the MRJ Man of the Year dinner on March 7, “Carrie: The Musical” at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) on March 14, a hold for “Drowsy Chaperone” at CSUN on Friday March 20, “Doubt” at REP East (FB) on Saturday March 21, “Newsies” at the Pantages (FB) on March 28, followed by Pesach and the Renaissance Faire on April 11. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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Way back ago, in the dark ages of 2007, a theatre arts program was revived at my daughter’s then middle school. Two English teachers, Fanny Araña and Jean Martellaro, brought back a theatre arts program, and with nothing more than enthusiastic students and parents (of which we were two), these teachers energized students and created a spark of learning through theatre. That program had borrowed lights on overloaded extension cords, no sound to speak of, and a hastily assembled set. Jump ahead seven years. This program now has professional quality lighting and sound, professional quality sets, and a large cadre of students coming back as Alumni to teach and help run the program. That qualifies as a success in my book.

Needless to say, we’ve been attending and supporting these programs since Day Zero. So it wasn’t a surprise that, even thought our daughter is safely back at UC Berkeley after Thanksgiving, we were invited to the first Tuesday Alumni Night performance of their latest show, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat“. As I’m likely dealing with the TL;DR generation, here’s the bottom line: Especially considering this is a middle-school production, go see this. You’ll be blown away by the production values, which rival any high school or community theatre production. Although the book has its weaknesses, the enthusiasm makes up for it; although the kids are not professionals, they do an excellent job that far exceeds middle-school production expectations. But then again, you would expect no less from the Nobel Middle School Theatre Arts program.

If the production has one major weakness, it is an unavoidable one: the selected show. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is a late 1960’s pop cantata, 35 minutes long– it was the first published work by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber. After the success of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, it was rewritten and lengthened with some novelty musical numbers — but at its heart, it is a simple pop cantata, essentially sung through. It tells the Biblical story of Joseph from the incident with the coat of many colors through the brothers return to Egypt through pastiches of musical styles, and is — to put it succinctly — cute. It requires some strong lead vocals, and has loads and loads of choral parts. This is why it is a great middle school show. I have the original pop cantata album, and I saw the 1982 tour (with Laurie Beechman  and Bill Hutton) when it was at the newly remodeled Pantages theatre  — in fact, I think it was one of the first shows after the remodeling. Since then, it has been lengthened a little each time it hits Broadway again. This adds material, not depth. But none of this is anything to those who license it can change (but who would deny me the fun of railing against Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber). Further, for most people (and, truthfully, even for me), this is a fun little show.

So, you ask, how did Nobel do with the show. First, please note my observations are based on an Alumni performance — essentially, a preview night. They asked for notes from the audience, which we gave. So I expect that the performances this weekend will be even stronger and better than what I saw. As a result, I will withhold some of the comments on things I expect to be easily resolved by Thursday night. You should also be aware that these kids are not professional actors, singers, or dancers. They are middle school students who have had some training. Their voices are good with glimmers of great and occasions of not-so-great. There are some wonderful dancers (I recall some particularly spectacular ballet moves); and there are some who are a little less so. There are some who give great performances to accompany what they are saying, and there are the occasional few who overemphasize or underplay. But considering these are kids — and we’re talking the 12-14 age group here — they are doing remarkably well. I will say their performances soars over some high school performances I have seen.

Traditionally, in Joseph, the powerhouse player is the narrator. This requires a strong belting voice — something you rarely find in a public middle school. The directors (Fanny Araña, Carolyn Doherty, and Daniel Bellucci) wisely decided to change the single narrator to a quartet. The result worked quite well. The four narrators — Alana DuPre, Amanda Magaña Kamryn Siler, and Rebecca Radvinsky — worked very well together. They sang with good strength and quality, and added strong acting and emoting to their performance (making them quite fun to watch).

At the heart of this show, however, is Joseph (Jake Dalton). Joseph not only is the center of the action, but has quite a few key songs (including some of my favorites, “Close Every Door” and “Any Dream Will Do”). As Joseph, Dalton played the role well, and his singing was reasonably good. I kept hearing an odd slightly British accent, which I didn’t know was the student or the coaching. I commented on that, so it might be corrected. There were also some odd phrasings to my ear, but that could just be due to over-familiarity with the original cantata and the 1982 OBC (Original Broadway Cast). Other than being plagued by microphone problems, there were no major issues and Dalton did very good for a student.

Joseph’s brothers (Reuben (Shane “Squishy” Smith); Simeon (Colby Haney); Levi (Arno Nizamian), Judah (Kasha Bansal), Dan (Anthony Tedesco), Naphtali (Jesse “The Rock” Pacheco), Gad (Troy Richman), Asher (Nicholas Aguilar), Issachar (Brandon Moser), Zebulun (Robert Cerda), and Benjamin (Max Chester)) all played their roles well. As they were unamplified, they could use a bit more oomph in the choral numbers (but, again, that may be addressed by opening night — it could also be addressed by increasing the pickup on the drop microphones). A few of the brothers got leads in the songs; I was particularly taken with Smith’s performance in the French Bistro number (“Those Canaan Days”).

The wives (Talia Ballew, Taylor “Cookie” Carlson, Willow Islas, Hannah Protiva, Marena Wisa Wasef, Kennaya Ndu, Ellie Zahedi, Elizabeth Ramos, Daniela Johns, Rachel Khoury, Amanda Macias, Ariana DeLeon) and the chorus (Abigail Beck, Amanda Pipolo, Charlotte Doolittle, Inaya Durfied, Joann Gilliam, Jordyn Lowe, Julia Denny, Rena Rodriguez) were less distinguishable as characters — they are not called out by the story by name, and provide mostly background voices. I did like the chorus in the black leotards, although when they came out carrying the jail cell it looked like a scene from Chicago: The Musical. There were some particularly good dancers in this crew — especially the ones adding ballet moves. Alas, I couldn’t identify the good dancers by name. As with the brothers, a bit more oomph in the choral numbers would be good; drop microphone pickup can be adjusted to compensate. There were also some good performances by the three ensemble members acting as waiters in the French Bistro scene.

Rounding out the cast were the other minor characters: Pharoah (Justin Tuell), Potiphar (Jacob Lipman), Mrs. Potiphar (Brooke Kier), the Baker (David Gomez), the Butler (Spencer Goldman), Jacob (Samuel Katz), and the guards (Kevin Foster, Kyle Kaplan). A few comments here. Tuell was good, but could amp up the Elvis impersonation (one wonders how much this generation even knows about Elvis, sigh….). The character is intended to be overplayed, but less as “the King” and more as “Elvis, the King” (thankyouverymuch). This may be addressed by opening. Kier did some lovely dancing as Mrs. Potiphar; I found it interesting the (necessary) middle school script change of “come and lie with me, love” to “come and be with me, love”. I had forgotten that Jacob was more of a be seen than heard role — he has a snippet of a song in the opening and is thence quiet (although he performed quite well).

Musical direction was by Daniel Bellucci, a Nobel alumni. This was less of a “musical” direction (as in orchestrations) and more in the form of vocal direction. Bellucci had a lot of work to do — a large cast of kids who likely had little to no vocal training, doing a sung-through show. I think he did remarkable. Although there were some odd phrasings at times, and a few kids who had voices that were occasionally off, the result was spectacular for less than a semester’s worth of work and untrained talent. I don’t think you can compare vocal quality here to Equity and trained actors; for what these kids are, they did extremely well (and you’ll be very surprised). The one musical problem was more on the other side: this was intended as a sung-through show, not a typical musical where there is space after each song for applause and scene changes. As a result, the musical transitions were very abrupt and jarring, especially the spaces between songs. Some of this was unavoidable — at a school production, you have to plan for applause after each song (parents and students being proud of their offspring and friends); some might be addressed through some soundtrack editing.

Dance in this show was very good. The choreography, by parent Carolyn Doherty and Alumni students Madison Tilner, Ryan Wynott, and Michael Lertzman (MRM) worked very well. They were able to take advantage of those students with dance training, and even those without formal training moved well.

The remaining aspects of the show were primarily technical. The sets were spectacular, reflecting the transition over the 7 years. They were well constructed, realistic looking, worked well, and established place very very well. Credit goes to long time Set Consultant Dennis Kull, as well as Alumni set designer Ben Tiber assisted by parents and alumni on construction. Props (coordinated by Kamille Flack) also worked well. Costumes worked well — I particularly liked the white outfits worn by the narrators, the black leotards previously mentioned, the Elvis outfit, Jacob’s outfit, and the general desert clothing of that era. No credit is given for costume and makeup design, but the costume lead was Tam Le.

Sound and lights reflect the tremendous growth of this program — even more remarkable when you realize there is no funding support from LA Unified. This is all from parent contributions and grants. The lighting, which in the early days were some side lighting trees on overloaded extension cords and no ability to program lights (or even get to overhead lights) has grown to professional lights, on professional fixtures, with professional software. This worked effectively to build and convey the mood. Credit goes to Lighting Coordinator Terry Meadows, Lighting Designer Artur Cybulski, and Alumni Lighting Consultant Nicholas Carlson. Zarah Shahinian was the crew lead for lighting, and David Manalo and Isabelle Saligumba were the crew leads for spots. Sound is also markedly better than the early days, where there were about three stand-up mikes. Today, there are about 8 wireless microphones, two hanging microphones, and a full sound board. In general, the sound worked well, although there was a balance problem between the music and the voices at times. That may be corrected by opening night. There was also a lot of wireless microphone static, especially on Joseph’s microphone and Pharoah’s microphone. This could be placement or interference; again, I expect it to be corrected by opening. Credit here goes to Sound Consultant (and Alumni) Michael McNabb, assisted by Stephen Rabin (crew lead). There were numerous additional supporting technical credits, which I’m not going to list. I will note that Tam Le also served as stage manager, and David Manalo as house manager.

This was the first show that Fanny produced on her own; well, not really on her own, as she the help of a lot of Alumni, plus her co-directors. She did a great job, but we still miss Jean (Ms. M) (who is off in Vermont on a leave of absence). A birdie says she will be back in town for the weekend performances — we might not stay for the performance, but might just drop by to say “hi”. Fanny deserves kudos for her work on this — pulling middle-school children into a coherent team for a production such as this is worse than herding cats. However, the teams and the relationships that this intense activity builds in the kids changes their lives forever; it also changes the teacher. You could see Fanny last night just soaking up the love that 7 years of students have for her. Financial rewards for teachers are nice and necessary to sustain the family, but my belief is that the best teachers get the sustenance for their heart and spirit from the success and love of their students.

One last thank you to be acknowledged: the Nobel Administration. When this program started, the Nobel administration was at best neutral towards it. This attitude has changed as the program has proved itself. The Tuesday Alumni Night was an experiment that should be continued… for a number of reasons. First, it cements a love of students for their middle school. This is no little thing — our society encourages high school support, but middle school alumni are forgotten (take that, Paul Revere JHS — Pali contacts me, but you… never). Second, it provides the emotional sustenance for those that bring this program to life. Third, it bonds student to student. Fourth, and most importantly — from an administration point of view — it provides the school (which is now a charter school) with an alumni base to provide financial support. Think about the fact that the first cohort of students from this program are just about to graduate with their Bachelors Degrees (my daughter, who was a 7th grader the first year, is a junior). If they love this program, they love the school, and will be there to respond to fundraising appeals. This is no little thing at the middle school level, in a cash-strapped district that cannot afford the extras for the students.

There are four performances of “Joseph“: Thursday, December 4 through Saturday, December 6 at 6:30PM, and Saturday at 2pm. Tickets are $5, available through the Nobel Student Store or at the door. Additional contributions are welcome. Nobel Middle School is located at 9950 Tampa Avenue in Northridge, CA 91324 (Cross-streets are Tampa, Merridy, Vanalden, and Lassen). Enter off of Merridy.

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

There’s no theatre on the books this weekend; I’m heading off to the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) in New Orleans. When I return, it will be “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim in the afternoon, followed by an Austin Lounge Lizards concert at Boulevard Music in Culver City on 12/20. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente; additionally we’ll likely have the first show of the REP East (FB) season: “Avenue Q“.  Ticketed productions pick up in February, with “The Threepenny Opera” at A Noise Within (FB) on February 15, “The Road to Appomattox” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on February 28, the MRJ Man of the Year dinner on March 7, “Carrie: The Musical” at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB) on March 14, a hold for “Drowsy Chaperone” at CSUN on the weekend of March 21, “Newsies” at the Pantages (FB) on March 28, followed by Pesach. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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Back in 2012, I went to the West Coast Jewish Theatre (FB)’s production of “New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch Spinoza“. At that time, I learned that their next production was to be the musical version of Mark Harelick (FB)’s play “The Immigrant“. I obtained a copy of the CD, and started to try to fit it into my theatre schedule — but, alas, I couldn’t. This year, when planning my trip to the Bay Area to visit my daughter (who is in her third year at UC Berkeley, and her second year of Yiddish studies), I discovered that Tabard Theatre Company (FB) was doing the original play during my visit. I quickly made arrangements to attend — which we did yesterday, seeing the penultimate performance of the play. I am extremely glad that we did — this was a very very moving play; I play I want to see again when it revisits Southern California. I’d recommend you go see it, but it closed last night.

One thing common to all Americans is the immigrant experience. For some, it is so far back there is no memory (native Americans). Others try to forgot those times (“I came over on the Mayflower”). In the Jewish community, most know their immigration story. For example, I know how my grandfather came to American from Vitebsk, entering at the Port of San Francisco and going to New York. I know that other branches of my family came from Germany to New York, and then to Nashville. These are experiences that shape a family.

“The Immigrant” tells one such story — and one that is true. It tells the story of the Harelick family (yes, the author of the play), whose patriarch (Haskell Garelick, changed to Haskell Harelick) immigrated from Russia in the early 1900s to Galveston TX, and thence to a small community on the Texas plains called Harrison. Starting life with a pushcart selling bananas, he befriends the town banker (Milton Perry) and his Southern Baptist wife (Ima Perry), coming to live with them. Perry helps Harelick move from a pushcart selling bananas to a horse-drawn cart selling fruits and vegetables to a dry-good store. Harelick saves money to bring his wife (Leah in the play; Marleh in real life) over from Russia. The family thrives and grows with the addition of three sons. A friendship grows between Leah and Ima, and Haskell and Milton become estranged. Near the end of Milton’s life, they reconcile. The family goes through WWII, with Milton eventually dieing in 1987 at the age of 100.

This is the story of the play. The first act is centered in 1909 and 1910, and focuses primarily on Haskell’s arrival, his befriending of Milton, and the initial growth of the business and the bringing over of his wife. At least 60% of the first act is in Yiddish. The second act provides the rest of the story very fast in little vignettes: the budding friendship between Leah and Ima, the birth of each child, a Sabbath dinner, the reconciliation, and a epilogue that finishes the story. All the while, projected around the actors between scenes, are pictures of the real Harelik family that correspond to the times being presented.

The overall picture presented is a very touching one — and a very American one — that shows the impact of the immigrant on a community, and the values that an immigrant can bring to a community. It shows how a community can fear the outsider. It also highlights (in the WWII scenes) how America’s attitude has changed — the country used to welcome the immigrant; now it fears the immigrant (witness the recent situation in Washington DC).

This play also brought to mind two other plays that I have seen recently. The first (and most recent) was “Handle with Care” at the Colony. That play was also a fish out of water situation. In the play, Ayelet can speak very little English, and is speaking rapid fire Hebrew to the audience. The audience (well, most of the audience) likely cannot understand the words, yet quickly understands the meaning. Similarly, in The Immigrant, the audience (well, most of the audience) does not understand the Yiddish that Haskell is speaking, but they get what he is saying. The other play this evoked was “Bat Boy: The Musical“. That play also explores how strangers are received, but with a much more tragic end. All of these plays make us realize that we can see the stranger in our community with fear, or we can get to know them and learn that they are good people.

A final observation on the story itself: As I said at the beginning, I was more familiar with the musical. As I watched the play, I could easily see the places where they musicalized the story, and why the story cried out for the musicalization. I look forward to the day when I can see the musical version.

I really only had one minor quibble with the story: In the Sabbath scene, after Leah lights the candles alone and they do the blessing over the children, they indicate they are doing the blessing over the wine… and then proceed to recite the blessing over the candles (which should be said as you light them). They then do the (short) blessing over the wine. This is probably something only I would catch.

Let’s now look at the performance in this piece, which was under the direction of Karen Altree Piemme (FB), who clearly worked closely with these actors to draw out extremely moving performances.

The Harelick family was portrayed by Steve Shapiro (FB) as Haskell, and Erin Ashe (FB) as Leah. Shapiro was remarkable in the role, handling the language and dialect with aplumb (at least to my untrained ear, and I didn’t hear any complaints from my daughter). Shapiro just seemed to become Harelick, inhabiting the character and bringing him to life seamlessly. Ashe’s Leah had a touching vulnerability about her throughout the story; you could see it slowly turning to strength as she lived longer in America. Together, the two had a great chemistry and were a believable couple.

The Perry family was portrayed by Donald W. Sturch (FB) as Milton and Diane Milo as Ima [note that Denee Lewis/FB was Ima for all but our performance day]. Sturch was very good as Milton, portraying both a gruff and a tender side. He was particularly good near the end of the play as the aged, and obviously overcome by stroke, Milton. Milo was also very good as Ima (especially considering that this was her only performance day), showing a character that was initially unsure about the stranger but clearly warming up to the family… especially seeing them more as kindred souls than her husband did.

Overall, the four performances combined with the story to create a truly moving portray. Just excellent. I’ll note you you can find the full program, with all actor credits, here.

Turning to the technical and physical side. First I should note that the Tabard facility is a beautiful one — comfortable chairs and a few tables wrapping around a thrust stage, with a full bar in the back. The scenic artist (Migi Oey (FB)) turned this stage, with just a few props (a door here, a table there, some steps over there) into distinct scenic locales; this combined with Ruth E. Stein (FB)’s very realistic properties very well (they must go through a lot of fruit and veggies each show). Also supporting the overall scenic design were the costumes of Marilyn Watts. The sound design by Robert Lewis had some microphone problems in the beginning, but in general worked well. This was similarly true for the lighting design of Rover Spotts (what a name for a lighting designer): the use of LED lighting and Leikos combined well to evoke mood, although the sudden shift to red in the one fight scene was a bit heavy handed. Technical direction (and presumably, the projections) was by Joe Cassetta, assisted by John Palmer. These worked extremely well to establish the mood and provide the historical context. Kiana Jackson was the stage manager. “The Immigrant” was produced by Cathy Spielberger Cassetta (who I believe was the one that was so kind to let me take a program home; normally, they leave them for the next performance and email the link to the program to the attendees).

Alas, “The Immigrant” at Tabard is no more. The final performance was last night. That’s too bad. However, if that show is indicative of this theatre’s work, I encourage those in the area to see their future shows. I know that if I lived in the area, I would be particularly interested in the musical “Violet“, running April 10 through May 3. Alas, whereas I’ll drive from Northridge to the Anaheim Hills for “She Loves Me” (about 67 miles); driving from Northridge to San Jose (326 miles) is a bit much. Then again, it might be an excuse to spend time with my daughter :-).

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

Theatre continues today with the Dickens Fair (FB) in Daly City. After I return, it is “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. As for December, I just ticketed “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20, and we’ll probably go see “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Nobel Middle School just before ACSAC. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente; additionally we’ll likely have the first show of the REP East (FB) season: “Avenue Q“.  As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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As an author, you hope that your literary creations live on after you; if this occurs, your memory stays alive long after the body is gone. When we think of Oz, we think of L. Frank Baum (even if, as is the case for Wicked, the real author is Gregory Maguire). When we think of Sherlock Holmes, we think of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle’s Holmes has proved remarkably adaptable to many mileaus, as we currently see on our TV screens with both the BBC “Sherlock” and the CBS “Elementary” (which I enjoy). Sherlock has also seen many adaptions for the stage, many of which I have written about (as Repertory East Playhouse enjoys doing Sherlock stories). One of the most recent Sherlock stage adaptions was commissioned by the Arizona Theatre Company in 2011.  There, as the result of a bet between an artistic director and a playwright, a new play was born. The story, as told in the excellent Play Guide for the play from ATC, is this: The artistic director of ATC and author Jeffrey Hatcher were visiting Minneapolis, and went to see one of the many Sherlock Holmes plays. At intermission Hatcher was poking holes in the logic of the play, since of course a Sherlock Holmes play has to have airtight logic. Hatcher said to the ATC director something like, “Well I can write a better Sherlock Holmes play
than anyone.” And he said, “Prove it.” The result: “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club“, a production of which just opened at Repertory East Playhouse (REP East) (FB) in Newhall (and which we saw last night).

To build his play, Hatcher took Doyle’s creations and transported them into a different story, adapting both to create a new hybrid story. This has been done a lot with Sherlock Holmes, to varying results. The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle estate has tried to keep a lid on all stories that use Holmes; I could find no statement that this new play was officially licensed from the estate. I’ll note that it no longer matters, as the Supreme Court just ruled that Sherlock and the characters are in the public domain (so let the Holmes/Watson slash fiction begin, ugh). In any case, the story in the play is not canon. [I will note that the play does require credit be given to the Arizona Theatre Company, so I'll do so here.]

For this play, Hatcher combined the basic Holmes characters and settings (Holmes, Watson, Mycroft, 221-B Baker Street) with a collection of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson written long before Sherlock Holmes. These stories dealt with an organization called “The Suicide Club“, and involved an investigator, Prince Florizel of Bohemia, and his assistant, Colonel Geraldine, having a series of adventures involving the club. I’ll let you read the Wiki page on the stories if you want, as most of the elements of stories remained in the plot of the play. As I noted, Hatcher transformed Florizel and Geraldine into Holmes and Watson, shifted the action to 1916 in London, and brought in some elements of the surrounding geo-political situation. Hatcher drew on his experience as a TV writer for such detectives as Columbo.

As with any Holmes story, you don’t want to give away the plot. Dramatists Play Service, who licenses the play, describes it thusly: “In the heart of London, behind the impassive facade of a windowless house, some of Europe’s most powerful men gather to play a game. The game is murder, and this is The Suicide Club. But the club has a new member, Sherlock Holmes: brilliant, brooding, the greatest detective in the world. Why does Holmes wish to die? Can his friend Dr. Watson save him? Or doesn’t Holmes want to be saved?”

Now you know the background. As with any stage production, assessing it requires looking at three parts (four, if it is a musical): the story, the performance, (the dance and music,) and the technical side. How well did Hatcher do creating this hybrid? Was it a Frankenstein monster, or a long-lived organ transplant?

To me, the story was about 85% there. A friend of mine (who attended with us) noted that a good detective story should be dropping clues along the way as to the final outcome. He didn’t see such clues in the first act; neither did I. He thought that hurt the presentation of the story; I didn’t. I did notice that the story had lots of scene changes (unlike other Sherlock plays), and a lot less of the deductive Holmes reasoning one has come to expect from the play. In fact, there was a lot less Holmes/Watson interplay than one usually sees. This added to the graft-i-ness of the story. But if you set those expectations aside, the story itself was a good one. It had many twists that I didn’t see coming, and although I had figured out some of the end game, I didn’t completely figure it out until the reveal at the end. That’s why I assessed it at 85%; I think an author more skilled in the world of Sherlock Holmes could likely have done better. As such, I don’t think that Hatcher won his bet with the ATC director; this wasn’t a better Sherlock play than anyone else could have written. It might be a good detective story, but the question was “a Sherlock play”.

Let’s turn to the performance side of the question. This production was, in many ways, a REP family affair. Sherlock stories tend to bring the people behind the REP to the stage: In this case, the REP Executive Director, Ovington Michael Owston (FB), was Watson; the REP Artistic Director,  Mikee Schwinn/FB, was Holmes; and the REP Board president, Bill Quinn/FB, returned to the stage to play two minor characters. Additionally, another REP regular, J. T. Centonze (FB), was also back on stage. This didn’t hurt the production; rather, it is one of the times that REP gives the feeling that it is a true repertory company made up completely of people who love being on stage (something, I’ll note, that I could never do, so they have my respect).

As the leads, Schwinn and Owston dropped comfortably back into the characters (having portrayed them on at least two previous REP Sherlock outings). The two are good friends in real life, and that comfort is visible on the stage in the unspoken interplay between the two. Although there were a few line hesitations (not surprising given the amount of dialogue, limited rehearsal, and the fact that this was the 2nd performance), they were quickly forgotten when viewed in the overall. These two are just fun to watch.

Supporting the leads were a variety of different characters. The ones that stand out in my memory are Collette Rutherford (FB)’s portrayal of the club secretary, Jessica Lynn Parson (FB)’s portrayal of Christiane DeLabegassier, and Joey Prata/FB‘s Prince Nikita Starloff. To go into more detail about why they stood out might reveal plot. Rounding out the remainder of the cast were Joe Roselund (FB) (Mr. Williams/Mr. Roundy); J. T. Centonze (FB) (Mr. Richards / Mycroft Holmes); Bill Quinn/FB (Mr. George / Inspector Micklewhite); Paul Nieman (FB) (Mr. Henry), and Nancy Lantis (FB) (Mrs. Hudson / Mrs. O’Malley / Older Woman). The production was directed by Kimbyrly M. Valis (FB). An interesting note discovered while building the links is that Valis is a Holmes purist — I’m curious how much that influenced how she had the actors portray things on stage.

On the technical side, REP did its usual excellent job. The sound design was by REP regular Nanook/FB ; lighting design was by William Thomas Andrew Davies/FB (as REP regular Tim Christianson/FB was unavailable). I’ll note this is the first time I’ve seen extensive use of the LED light bars that were acquired for “Return from the Forbidden Planet“. Projections were by Rick Pratt (FB) and served to augment Mikee and O’s set design. Costumes were designed by Tonya Nelson (FB) and were courtesy of No Strings Designed Costumes. Vicky Lightner/FB was the stage manager. “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club” was produced by Mikee Schwinn/FB and Ovington Michael Owston (FB).

“Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club ” continues at Repertory East (FB) until December 13.  Tickets are available through the REP East Online Box Office, as well as through Goldstar.

Repertory East (FB) has announced their 2015 season: “Avenue Q” (January 16-February 14) , “Doubt” (March/April), “Dinner with Friends” (May-June), “Jesus Christ Superstar” (July-August), “Diviners” (September-October), and “Deathtrap” (November-December). Subscription packages start at $81 for a Flex Pass (4 shows), or $120 for all six shows.

One other note: Last night was the tree lighting in downtown Newhall. Had we known this, we would have picked a different night. Everything was packed, and had not a little birdie (thank you Johnny) told us about this at the last minute, we might not have made the show. As it was, we arrived around 6pm, walked down to a fast-food Mexican place (because the places next to REP had no seating until after 7pm, and the show started at 8pm), still didn’t get to order until 6:40 PM (due to the backup), and didn’t get our food until 7:15 PM. We made it back in time, but next time we’ll avoid the crowds.

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

Theatre continues next weekend when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26, starting with “Harvey” at Palo Alto Players (FB) in Palo Alto for Friday 11/21. That will be followed Saturday afternoon with “The Immigrant“ at Tabard Theatre (FB) in San Jose, and the Dickens Fair (FB) on Sunday in Daly City. Who knows, I might even squeeze in “Rhinocerous” at the UC Berkeley Theatre Department (FB). After I return, it is “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. As for December, I just ticketed “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20, and we’ll probably go see “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Nobel Middle School just before ACSAC. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente; additionally we’ll likely have the first show of the REP East (FB) season: “Avenue Q“.  As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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As you know by now, I love filling my iPod. So when new musicals by composers that I like (in this case, Andrew Lippa) come out, I tend to pick up their cast albums quickly. This happened in March, when I picked up the album for “Big Fish“, a musical that opened and closed relatively quickly on Broadway (open in September 2013, closed in December 2013). When I discovered that Musical Theatre West (FB) was presenting the West Coast Premier of the musical, I decided that this was something that justified the drive to Long Beach, and picked up tickets. Hence, last night saw us down in Long Beach at the Carpenter Center for an opening weekend performance of “Big Fish“.

Before I dive into the review, a word about the venue. This was our first time at the Carpenter Center on the campus of CSULB. A beautiful venue with great sight lines, it has one major problems: the side entrances do not close. This lives you not in a great dark box where your imagination can take over, but with light in the side of your peripheral vision constantly reminding you that you are in a theatrical venue, and distracting you with visible movement of the ushers. Bad, bad design.

On the the musical itself. “Big Fish” features a book by John August, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. It is based on the 2003 movie “Big Fish” which was also written by August, based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, which I have never seen. I emphasize that because reading the Wikipedia description of the movie and the summary of the musical makes clear that there are situations in the movie that were collapsed and combined into the musical, and if you come in expecting to see the movie on screen, you will likely be disappointed. This isn’t the movie, I rarely ever go to the movies, and I judge the stage production on its own merits. There, I’ve said it.

Big Fish, at its heart, is the story of fathers and sons. In this case, the father, Edward Bloom, is an seemingly ordinary traveling salesman in rural Alabama. He loves to tell far-fetched stories to his son Will of his life growing up; stories in which he was always the hero. These stories are meant to inspire Will to be the hero of his story, but children are often the opposite the parents. Will is a pragmatist who believes his father’s stories are fictions; falsehoods leading him astray. The musical opens on the occasion of Will’s wedding to Josephine, and the announcement that Will is to be a father. Shortly we also learn that Edward is dying. The musical then keeps moving back and forth between Edward’s story and Will’s attempts to find out the truth.

Edward’s stories border on the fantastic: Edward charms fish out of the lake. Edward meets a witch who tells him how he will die, giving him confidence because he knows the situation is not the one that will kill him. Edward meets a mermaid who teaches him about love. Edward is the hometown “big man” who always saves the city, destined to marry the head cheerleader (Jenny). Edward rescues his hometown from a giant (Karl), befriending him instead. Edward joins the circus, sees the girl he will marry (Sandra), and spends three years working for the circus owner, a werewolf, to get the clue to the girl. Edward saves a general from death.

On the other hand, Will has this image of what he thinks his father to be — especially as he wasn’t home a lot — and he does his best to confirm it. As Will is going through his father’s records in preparation for his passing, he discovers that his father co-signed a loan for an unknown woman in his hometown. Will believes this to be evidence of his father’s secret life — and secret mistress. When his father refuses to talk about it, Will goes to his father’s hometown, and discovers the truth. This ultimately changes Will’s view of his father, and his entire approach to raising his own child.

When one looks at a show, there are three distinct aspects to assess. The story, the performance, and the technical side. I’ve given you the summary of the story; as I’ve noted, those coming in expecting the movie may be disappointed. I found the story itself charming; presenting an interesting core notion of the relationship between father and son. How does a father convey his values to his children? Some (like me) try to do it by being a role model, living by example. In this case, Edward attempts to convey his value and life philosophy through his stories — his notion that one needs to be the hero in your life, and to recognize your heroism. By the end of the play, we learn that much of the stories are embellishments — but at the center of it all, Edward is still the hero he claims to be. In fact, he is more the hero than he was in the stories, for his actual heroism — his biggest act — was in the story he never told. Its an interesting life philosophy, and theatre is a great medium for transmitting broad philosophies. We saw this last week in Pippin, which gave the philosophical message that fulfillment for extraordinary people may often be found in the ordinary. We see it again this week, in proving that the ordinary people may be quietly extraordinary. It’s quite an interesting juxtaposition.

Before I delve into the performances themselves, let’s address the larger performance aspects: The direction and choreography. This production featured the Broadway sets and costumes, but not the Broadway director and choreographer (Susan Stroman). Reading the reviews of the Broadway production, one gets the idea that the disappointment was less in the show itself, and more in Stroman not being as creative as the critics expected her to be. This production of Big Fish was directed by Larry Carpenter, and choreographed by Peggy Hickey (FB). I didn’t particularly notice the direction — which is a good thing. Story and scene melded reasonably well into the next story and scene; the characterizations of the actors seemed reasonable and believable. Movement and dance integrated well into all of this, and there were many beautiful dances (which might have been based on Stroman). I think this is one advantage of regional theatre — you can move away from the baggage brought by the “name” creatives, and see the story for what it is.

In the lead performance tier in this show were Jeff Skowron (FB) as Edward Bloom and Andrew Huber/FB as Will Bloom. Although not a Norbert Leo Butz (Edward in the Broadway production), Skowron gave a very strong performance as Edward. He sang well, he danced well, and most importantly, he seemed to embody Edward and enjoy being the character. This was clear from the onset in his “Be The Hero” number. Similarly strong was Huber as Will, his son. Strong movement, strong singing (especially in “What’s Next”) — just very well done. Supporting these two men were Rebecca Johnson (FB) as Sandra Bloom, and Kristina Miller (FB) as Josephine Bloom. Sandra gave off the sort of charm that made you see why Edward fell in love with her at first sight, especially in her “Little Lamb from Alabama” number. Kristina was more supporting, but both worked well to ground the family side of the story. Also notable was Jude Mason as young Will.

Supporting the family were the many characters in Edward’s stories. These included Molly Garner (FB) as The Witch, Timothy Hughes as Karl (the Giant), Gabriel Kalomas (FB) as Amos Calloway, Zachary Ford (FB) as Don Price, Michelle Loucadoux (FB) as Jenny Hill, and Marisa Field/FB as the Mermaid (Girl in the Water). Notable performances here were Garner as the Witch, who had a spectacular dancing number in “I Know What You Want” and Hughes in “Out There on the Road”. Hughes’ dance was even more notable given that it was done on stilts!

Rounding out the cast were Richard Bulda (FB) as Dr. Bennet, Jake Saenz/FB as Zacky Price, and the members of the ensemble: Caitlyn Calfas (FB), Rachel Davis (FB,TW), Jessica Ernest (FB), Aaron Felske (FB), Brad Fitzgerald/FB, Annie Hinskton (FB), Morgan McGeehan (FB), Lauren Newman/FB, and Michael Starr (FB).

Musical direction was by Matthew Smedal (FB), who also led the uncredited orchestra of some unknown number of players. At least they got to be in the pit with the mermaid :-).

Turning to the technical side of the equation. Here’s where there were some problems with the show. I’ve already noted the distracting effects due to the building design not creating a fully-darkened box. There were also sound problems with the sound design/mixing of Brian Hsieh — at times mics had incorrect volume, and at times there was a fair amount of static. There were also some large thumps in the second act as scenery was moved. Other technical areas were good: the lighting design of Phil Monat worked well to create the mood; the sets (from the original Broadway production, designed by Julian Crouch) established place well and were reasonably flexible; the costume design of William Ivey Long (again, from the original Broadway production, adjusted locally by Karen St. Pierre) were clever and inventive (especially for the Witch’s dance and the Giant); and the properties (by Melanie Cavaness and Gretchen Morales) worked well. Also very inventive were the projections of John Infante. Additional technical credits: Hair Design – Michael Greene; Technical Director – Kevin Clowes; Stage Manager – Heidi Westrom (FB);   Production Stage Manager/ASM – Mary Ridenhour; Production Assistant – Anna Katharine Mantz; Executive Director/Producer – Paul Garman.

“Big Fish” continues at Musical Theatre West until November 16. Tickets are available through MTW; discount tickets are available through Goldstar.

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

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  November is back to busy. Tonight brings a special tribute to Stan Freberg at the Egyptian Theater.  Next weekend brings “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sun 11/9 (shifting to avoid ACSAC and opening night), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11,  “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. I may also see some theatre when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26. Right now, I’ve scheduled “Harvey” at Palo Alto Players (FB) in Palo Alto for Friday 11/21, and I’m looking at “The Immigrant“ at Tabard Theatre (FB) in San Jose, , “Rhinocerous” at the UC Berkeley Theatre Department (FB), or possibly a show at UC Santa Cruz featuring a family friend in the cast or crew. [As a PS on the above: I’m trying to figure out a way to balance “The Immigrant”, the show at Santa Cruz, and Dickens Fair on one weekend. Am I crazy?] As for December, I just ticketed “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20, and we’ll probably go see “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Nobel Middle School just before ACSAC. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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This has been a weekend for relationship problems. Earlier this morning I wrote about some relationships in flux in Atlanta in 1973; these were portrayed on stage in “What I Learned In Paris” at the Colony Theatre. This afternoon we saw more relationship problems — this time in the 1920s in New York — when we saw the Los Angeles Premier of “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East Playhouse (REP East) (FB) in Newhall.†

I’d been roughly familiar with The Great Gatsby before: I knew of the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (but had never read it); I knew of the two movie versions of the story (but had never seen them); and I used to work next to a restaurant called Gatsby’s in Brentwood (but never ate there). I knew it was about the decadence of the 1920s, and that it concerned a relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. But that’s about all I knew.

As a result, as I sat through the show, I found myself hindered by the confusing exposition and relationships. I liked the characters and the performances, but the story left me cold. Discussing the show on the way home I discovered that was partially the intent: to show the decadence and how there was coldness behind it. I also read the Wikipedia page with the summary of the story, and it very very closely matched what was on stage. I opine that this show will be received at little better by those with a passing familiarity with the Gatsby story — be it from the book, the movies, or even the Wikipedia version :-). That’s not to say that the show wasn’t enjoyable — it was — just that a little more familiarity would have helped (I can’t fault the writer or those who adapted it for the stage, as they followed the original story; rather, I think there is so much meaning behind the elements of the story that the presentation would be enhanced with an understanding of those elements).

The adaption of the story was by Simon Levy, the producing director for the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. It was first produced at the Guthrie Theatre in MN; it had its West Coast premier at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. This production was the Los Angeles premier — it is great to see REP reaching the stature where it brings new plays to Los Angeles.

So what is the story behind Gatsby? Wikipedia summarizes the story as follows (condensed a little), and this is essentially what is portrayed on stage:

The story takes place in the summer of 1922. Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate and World War I veteran from the Midwest – who serves as the novel’s narrator – takes a job in New York as a bond salesman. He rents a small house on Long Island, in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who holds extravagant parties but does not participate in them. Nick drives around the bay for dinner at the home of his cousin, Daisy Fay Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a college acquaintance of Nick’s. They introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, an attractive, cynical young golfer with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. She reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle to an apartment they keep for their affair. At the apartment, a vulgar and bizarre party takes place. It ends with Tom breaking Myrtle’s nose after she annoys him by saying Daisy’s name several times.  As the summer progresses, Nick eventually receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties. Nick encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, an aloof and surprisingly young man who recognizes Nick from their same division in the war. Through Jordan, Nick later learns that Gatsby knew Daisy from a romantic encounter in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion, hoping to one day rekindle their lost romance. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are an attempt to impress Daisy in the hope that she will one day appear again at Gatsby’s doorstep. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. They begin an affair and, after a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans’ house, Daisy speaks to Gatsby with such undisguised intimacy that Tom realizes she is in love with Gatsby. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is outraged by his wife’s infidelity. He forces the group to drive into New York City and confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, asserting that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand. In addition to that, he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal whose fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him. On the way home, Nick, Jordan, and Tom discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Tom’s mistress, Myrtle. Nick later learns from Gatsby that Daisy, not Gatsby himself, was driving the car at the time of the accident but Gatsby intends to take the blame anyway. Myrtle’s husband, George, falsely concludes that the driver of the yellow car is the secret lover he recently began suspecting she has, and sets out on foot to locate its owner. After finding out the yellow car is Gatsby’s, he arrives at Gatsby’s mansion where he fatally shoots both Gatsby and then himself. Nick stages an unsettlingly small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest, disillusioned with the Eastern lifestyle.

The performances of the actors were very good; the direction of co-directors Ovington Michael Owston (FB) and Christopher Chase (FB) worked well to bring realistic performances, although at times there was a little confusion as to what action was where. In the lead positions were Dennis Hadley (FB) as Jay Gatsby and Carole Catanzaro (FB) as Daisy Buchanan. Hadley was affable and gave off the ambiance of the well-to-do well; Daisy seemed appropriately self-centered and not really invested in any relationship — or to put it another way, in whichever relationship could move her forward. It was interesting to contrast Daisy with Ann in the Colony play. Both were torn between two men — one that loved them madly but wasn’t their spouse, and their spouse who was somewhat indifferent to them. The resolutions were very different, but the situations similar. Completing the love triangle was Dustin Emery as Tom Buchanan. Emery’s Buchanan gave off the appropriate violent menace required for the character. Emery played the character in a way that made it clear he did not love Daisy, but had a strong physical (but not necessarily emotional attraction) to his mistress. A friend of ours opined the similarity between Buchanan, a sports hero in the story, and certain characters in the NFL today.

Although I hesitate to call them supporting as they were critical to the action (but supporting in the sense of who you remember) were Cole Shoemaker as Nick Carraway and Alli Kelly (FB) as Jordan Baker. Shoemaker’s Carraway had a bit of cold indifference, but when you consider he was the narrator of the story that is less surprising. At times, I found his exposition a bit hard to follow, but in general I liked his performance as the character. Kelly’s Baker was fun to watch — she had these odd sardonic facial expressions at just the right moment.

Rounding out the cast were Amber Schwinn (FB) as Myrtle Wilson, Jeremiah Lowder/FB as George Wilson, John Lucewich (FB) as Chester McKee, Julie Henderson (FB) as Lucille McKee, and Brent Christensen (FB) as Myer Wolfsheim. Amber was great as Myrtle Wilson, capturing the distaste for her husband and her desire for Tom well; she also plays dead great :-). Lowder captured the mechanic nature of George Wilson well, but otherwise was written superficially. Lastly, I never quite understood Wolfsheim as his character was never given a good explanation; but Brent played him well.

Turning to the technical side. Sound and lights were by the usual REP suspects: Steven “Nanook” Burkholder/FB on sound and Tim Christianson/FB on lights. Both worked well. The set design was by Ovington Michael Owston (FB) and did a reasonable job of establishing place and era; this was aided by the projections by  Mikee Schwinn/FB. Costumes were by Janet McAnany (FB) and seemed reasonably flapper era — plus the suits that she chose for Gatsby were spectacular. Jeffrey Hampton/FB was the production stage manager. “The Great Gatsby” was produced by Mikee Schwinn/FB and Ovington Michael Owston (FB).

“The Great Gatsby” continues at Repertory East (FB) until October 18.  Tickets are available through the REP East Online Box Office, as well as through Goldstar. It is well worth seeing.

Although there is no printed announcement, Repertory East (FB) has announced their 2015 season: “Avenue Q“, “Doubt“, “Dinner with Friends“, “Jesus Christ Superstar“, “Diviners” and “Deathtrap“. Specific performance dates and season subscription information should be available at the next REP show, “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club“, starting November 14.

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

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  October currently has two shows (three if you count Yom Kippur on 10/4): “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) on Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF), and “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25. November is back to busy, with “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sun 11/9 (shifting to avoid ACSAC and opening night), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11,  “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. I may also see some theatre when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26. Right now, I’m looking at “The Immigrant“ at Tabard Theatre (FB) in San Jose, “Harvey” at Palo Alto Players (FB) in Palo Alto, or “Rhinocerous” at the UC Berkeley Theatre Department (FB). As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. Right now, there is only one show booked for January 2015 – “An Evening with Groucho” at AJU with Frank Ferrente. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

†: Plus I did something to upset my wife (although not intentional), starting with not going to her backup restaurant when there was a 90 minute wait at our primary restaurant because there was nothing that looked appealing to eat. Following that, I was less then enthused when we went to an art show/pow-wow after the show (when I had load and loads of stuff to do at home). I’ve apologized, but I’m probably in the doghouse for a while. Back to cooking dinner, for example….

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When I told people that I was going to go see “Bat Boy: The Musical“, most thought I was going to see a musical about Batman. After all, there have been musicals about Superman and Spiderman, so a musical about  the caped crusader as a boy isn’t that farfetched. Farfetched, after all, would be a musical drawn from the pages of the Weekly World News, that crusading paper that is more accurate than Fox News, brings you headlines such as “Saturn is a Giant UFO“, “Chicago to be Renamed Obama City“, and, yes, “Bat Boy: Going Mutant“.  But it is just that paper — and in fact, that last story — that was the inspiration for the musical “Bat Boy: The Musical“, drawn from the pages of the Weekly World News, that we saw last night at the CSUN Experimental Theatre.

For those not familiar with the Bat Boy, he was a creation of the Weekly World News — a news source much like the Onion of today, only weirder. Half-man, half-bat, he was discovered in a cave in West Virginia. Constantly hunted by the government, he is regularly captured but escapes. The story first appeared in the pages of the WWN in 1992; by 1997, the Actors Gang had created a musical based on his story. This musical, with story and book by Keythe Farley (FB) and Brian Flemming, and music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe, made it to an off-Broadway production (which was recorded, permitting me to learn about it) and a London production. This fall, Janet Miller (FB) [who has done a great job with Good People Theatre Co (FB) productions of "A Man of No Importance" and "The Fantastiks"] selected “Bat Boy” as a production of the CSUN Theatre Arts Department. I learned about this production when I saw a poster for it while attending the Operaworks Advanced Artist production this summer. Having heard the music (which is great), loving the story (which has a great message), and knowing the quality of the director made this a must see. As soon as the ticket office opened in late August, I purchased my tickets for opening night.

[I'll note an odd coincidence: Last night, I added yet another album to my iPod: the cast album for Heathers: The Musical, which just closed on Broadway. It turns out that Laurence O'Keefe did the music for that show, as well as for the Legally Blonde: The Musical. You'll like the music to Bat Boy, especially the main song ("Hold Me, Bat Boy") which is a definite ear worm.]

“Bat Boy: The Musical” takes place in Hope Falls, WV. As the production opens, Rick, Ron, and Ruthie Taylor are exploring some deep caves near the town. In one cavern, they discover the Bay Boy; as Ruthie tries to make friends with it, he bites her on the neck. They kick and capture the Bat Boy and take him to the Sheriff and Ruthie to the hospital. The Sheriff decides to take the Bat Boy to the local veterinarian, who will know what to do with him. The vet, Dr. Thomas Parker, isn’t home so they leave the boy with his wife, Meredith and their daughter, Shelly. Although Meredith wants to take care of the boy and make him part of the family, the daughter wants nothing to do with him. Mom wins out, and slowly starts educating the boy (who is a fast learner). When Dr. Parker comes home, he wants to put the boy down, but Meredith dissuades him from doing so with the promise of sex with her (which hasn’t been happening for a while). Meanwhile, the town is becoming agitated: not only is Ruthie Taylor not getting better, the coal mine has closed, and all of the cattle around the town are getting sicker and thinner. The town, naturally, blames the Bat Boy and believes that killing him will solve all their problems. Back at the Parkers, the Bat Boy (now renamed Edgar) and Shelly are growing closer, and Edgar is learning fast — he already has his high school equvalency diploma. He wants to attend the big revival meeting but the town doesn’t want him to. When Meredith and Shelly take him anyway, he wins the town over. But when Rick Taylor attacks Shelly, Edgar goes crazy and bites Rick. This starts the hunt for the boy, based on some turn of events and resulting in some disclosures which I won’t reveal (as they are spoilers)… but you can find them in the Wiki synopsis.

The story is a good one, and quite time. At its heart, it explores xeonphobia in a funny and touching way. The Bat Boy is the stranger in our midst — an uglier reflection of ourselves. Seemingly uncivilized, yet some can see beyond that to discover the civilized person underneath. Are they human? Are they animals? Do we blame the stranger for our problems, or are our problems often created by our own actions (after all, you can’t feed cows on a coal mine). Take this musical, which was written in 1997, and look at it through 2014. Muslims in our community are the Bat Boys of today — misunderstood aliens, seen by some as civilized members of society, but seen through ill-informed and ignorant eyes as all evils, prone to attack when provoked. I think this musical is much more timely today than when it was first performed.

This production — like many CSUN theatre productions — was excellent (I still have fond memories of an excellent production of Hair many years ago). Director and Choreographer Janet Miller (FB) worked with the students to bring out excellent dramatic performances — you could see that were intensely into each character they played. That’s not to say the production was 100% perfect, but it was very very good. Let’s look at the players.

In the lead position was Skylar Keck/FB as Edgar, the Bat Boy. Keck nailed the dramatic side of the performance, from his movement as the uncivilized Bat Boy to his maturation as the civilized Edgar. In the beginning you see Keck on all fours, running around and screaming gibberish. As the story progresses you see him grow into an Oxford-English speaking young man (BBC language tapes). He was really spectacular to watch. He also moved well during the dance numbers. If he had one drawback, it was that his singing voice was a little off on some of the numbers; I believe that will improve with time and practice. I look forward to seeing him in future professional productions.

In the other lead positions were Aubrie Alexander (FB) as Meredith Parker, Jessica Patterson/FB as Shelly Parker, and Jared Tkocz/FB as Dr. Thomas Parker. All three had strong characterizations of their characters — I was particularly taken by both Alexander and Patterson in their characters. Tkocz had the evil side down well as well. All three were also strong in their singing and dancing numbers.

Much of the remainder of the cast doubled or tripled roles, some going cross-gender. This initially confused me; my wife thought it had to do with the diversity statement in the program. It turns out neither was the case: it appears to be intentional double casting from the original production. In any case, given the multiple casting it is difficult to single out many performances. Some, however, are worthy of special note. I was very taken by Nick Bruno/FB‘s performance as Pan during “Children, Children”. He had a very strong singing voice combined with a winner personality that shone through the character. Bruno also doubled as Bud, one of the ranchers whose cattle were dying. Also strong was Matthew Kesner/FB as Reverend Bill Hightower in the “Joyful Noise” number — again, a strong singing voice combined with good movement and the ability to be humorous worked well. Kesner also doubled as Daisy, a schoolteacher, with a very incongruous look (I’d say you could guess why she was a spinster, but then again, this is West Virginia). Lastly, I liked Benjamin Schwartz/FB‘s portrayal of Sheriff Reynolds. My wife felt that Mrs. Taylor (Logan Allison/FB) deserved an award for overacting, but I think the character was intentionally written that way to play up the nature of the Bat Boy threat. Allison also doubled as Roy, a rancher.  Rounding out the townsfolk and remaining cast were: Steve Brogan/FB (Rick Taylor, spelunker; Mr. Dillon, a rancher); Rachael Johnson/FB (Ron Taylor, spelunker; Maggie, senior Town Council rep); Julia Alix Ober/FB (Ruthie Taylor, spelunker; Ned, a rancher); Sarah Kline/FB (Lorraine, a rancher’s wife; Clem, a townsman); Hyungwood Jang/FB (a doctor, ensemble/townfolk); Jessamyn Arnstein (FB) (a doctor, ensemble/townfolk); Chelsea DiBlasi/FB (Institute Man, ensemble/townsfolk); and Alexander Cody Phaphol/FB (ensemble/townfolk).

The actors were supported by an on-stage band behind the main set. This band consisted of Philip Matthew Park (Musical Director, Keyboard I), Paul Duffy (Keyboard II), Andi Moresi (FB) (Guitar), Dustin Morgan/FB (Bass), and Wayne Hildenbrand/FB (Drums). The band had a great sound quality, and about the only quibble was the reflection of the “Exit” light in the plexiglass surrounding the drummer.

Turning to technical side, where my main quibble with this production lies. Let’s start with the problem, and then move on to what worked. What didn’t work was the sound design by Kenji Kang/FB. When the microphones worked there was an odd echo quality to them; later on in the show there were numerous static and glitch problems. This could just be opening night problems — I see that Kang was a Van Nuys HS graduate, meaning he should have learned from the best (Marque Coy (FB)). Hopefully, they will get things tuned for subsequent productions. In contrast to the sound, the lighting design of Kevin Vasquez/FB worked quite well, creating a mood, illuminating scenic queues, and making good use of moving lights and LED lights. The costume design of Bich Vu worked well and appeared suitably West Virginia-y to me, although my wife had some problems with the footware on some of the actors. The costuming for the Bat Boy was particularly good. The scenic design of Christopher Scott Murillo (FB) was simple but effective, and made good use of the CSUN Experimental theatre black box space. Heidi Dippold was the dialect coach; her work was particularly notable in the Bat Boy’s gibberish and later BBC accent (I can’t speak to WV accents). Shad Willingham (FB) was the Fight Choreographer. Lindsey Martin/FB (as opposed to Lindsay Martens/FB) was the stage manager (yes, I did a double take for a minute).

“Bat Boy: The Musical” continues at CSUN (CSUN Theatre Arts Department (FB) through September 28, 2014, with performances today (9/20), tomorrow (9/21), and next weekend (9/24-9/28).  Tickets are available through A.S. CSUN at 818/677-2488. You might be able to get them online through Ticketmaster, but the fees will be less through the phone. Tickets are not available on Goldstar. You’ll have a great time if you go.

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

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  Next weekend brings  “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 9/27, and “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB) on Sun 9/29. October currently has two shows (three if you count Yom Kippur on 10/4): “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) on Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF), and “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25. November is back to busy, with “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sun 11/9 (shifting to avoid ACSAC and opening night), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11,  “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. I may also see some theatre when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26. Right now, I’m looking at “The Immigrant“ at Tabard Theatre (FB) in San Jose, “Harvey” at Palo Alto Players (FB) in Palo Alto, or “Rhinocerous” at the UC Berkeley Theatre Department (FB). As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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Normally, I pick the shows that we see. So when my wife points to an ad for some shows and says “Get tickets for this”, I do it with nary an additional question. Recently, this happened with an ad for Muse/ique (FB), a counter-cultural orchestra event. She was reading the LA Times when she saw an ad for a concert event with Savion Glover (with a half-off discount code). She brought it to me and asked me to get tickets. I did, and Sunday evening saw us on the lawn at Beckman Mall at CalTech for a concert titled “Earth/quaked: Dance Changes the World“. I’m very pleased that I went. I do, however, need to apologize in advance for two things: First, I apologize for for the delay in this writeup — I’ve been busy with MoTAS business the last two nights. Secondly, I apologize for the briefness of the summary of the show and lack of complete credits — the closest thing to a program that was provided was a fan with some information, and I’m going from memory for the rest.

Let me start with some observations about the setup, which was remarkably civilized. One hears “concert on the lawn”, and one things this means bringing blankets and folding chairs. Not for Muse/ique (FB). There were tables set up on the lawn in distinct seating areas: upfront for the special patrons, in the middle for the premium assigned seats, and even tables of 6 for the festival seating (where we were) in the back. You could buy food at the catering tent in the back, or you could bring your own food in. Unlike the Hollywood Bowl or other such venues, there was no bag check — no limitations on bottles or what you could bring in. Further (and this really surprised me), no one ever asked to see my ticket! Each of our festival seating tables had a small bag of hard candy and a few fans that served as the concert program. Very, very, civilized.

The show itself had a wide variety of music, presented by the Muse/ique Counter-Conventional Orchestra. I’m going from memory, but the compositions (in order were): A medley by Lennon/McCartney, A medley from “West Side Story” (Bernstein), a clip of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson dancing with Shirley Temple, a recording of Mr. Bojangles sung by Sammy Davis Jr., a composition or two by Alan Steinberger, a longer medley of music by Duke Ellington (one of his suites), concluding with a long medley of Vivaldi. Starting with Mr. Bojangles, Savion Glover joined the orchestra. Glover, if you recall, was the man behind “Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk“, and his dancing during this show exemplified his philosophy of tap: that tap dancing is a form of music and that one can create music with the feet. Bojangles was straightforward emotional tap, but by the later numbers (especially in the Vivaldi piece), Glover’s feet were a part of the orchestra. Of course, being the back we could only see the dancing through the few big screen monitors that had been set up; but with Glover, this is dancing meant to be heard. I’ll also note that there was one segment that featured a display of artwork by davidkremers, a visitor in Aerospace at Caltech…. which was accompanied only by the sounds of Glover’s feet dancing.

The orchestra at Muse/ique was under the direction of Rachael Worby (FB), the artistic director of Muse/ique. It was a very large orchestra featuring the following artists: VIOLIN I / Roger Wilkie, Agnes Gottschewski, Grace Oh, Mei Chung, Shelly Shi, Hana Kim / VIOLIN II / Tammy Hatwan, Neel Hammond, Alwyn Wright, Simeon Simeonov / VIOLA / Shawn Mann, Rodney Wirtz, Brett Banducci / CELLO / Kim Scholes, Joo Lee, Ginger Murphy / BASS / Mike Valerio, Geoff Osika / FLUTE / Sara Weisz, Sal Lozano / OBOE / Jennifer Johnson / CLARINET / Amanda McIntosh, Damon Zick / BASSOON / Anthony Parnther, Samantha Duckworth / HORN / Kristy Morrell, Amy Sanchez / TRUMPET / Marissa Benedict, TJ Tesh / TROMBONE / Mike Hoffman / TUBA / Blake Cooper / TIMPANI / Theresa Dimond / KEYBOARD / Alan Steinberger / PERCUSSION / Jason Goodman / DRUM / Jamie Tate / ELECTRIC BASS / Mike Valerio… and of course, as Worby noted, / FEET / Savion Glover :-).

There were no technical credits, which is too bad because the sound designer ensured that the sound was clear throughout the mall, and the lighting designer used LED lighting very effectively to convey mood.

This was the end of the Muse/ique performances for the summer, but they do plan on activities over the year. Next summer’s program will focus on Leonard Bernstein, and we plan to be back. For future reference, they do appear to list tickets on Goldstar.

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

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  This coming weekend bring “Moon Over Buffalo” (Goldstar) at the GTC in Burbank. The remainder of September brings  “Bat Boy: The Musical” at CSUN for the Friday night before Slichot (9/19),  “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 9/27, and “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB) on Sun 9/29. October currently has two shows (three if you count Yom Kippur on 10/4): “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) on Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF), and “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25. November is back to busy, with “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sun 11/9 (shifting to avoid ACSAC and opening night), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11,  “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. I may also see some theatre when I visit my daughter Erin in Berkeley between 11/20 and 11/26. I’d love to get down to San Diego to see either (or both) of “Bright Star“, the new Steve Martin/Edie Brikell musical, at The Old Globe Theatre (FB) (September 13-November 2), or “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (based on the Disney film) at The La Jolla Playhouse (FB) (October 25-December 2), but I’m not sure either would work in the schedule.  As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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All summer, I’ve been reading about the off-Broadway musical “Pageant“, which has been getting strong reviews. When I started planning our vacation (which, of course, includes investigating the theatre in the area), I discovered that “Pageant” wasn’t only running off-Broadway, it was running off-Los Angeles. Translation: the Cygnet Theatre (FB) in Old Town San Diego was presenting “Pageant“, and it was running during our vacation window. Furthermore, discount tickets were available through San Diego Arts Tix. I booked it, and last night saw us in Old Town watching a bunch of beauty queens on stage… and when I say “queens”… you’ll see…

“Pageant” is a musical about a beauty pageant. Now there aren’t too many musicals focused on that narrow subject; the only other one that comes to mind is Ashman and Hamlisch’s 1986 flop “Smile“, a musicalization of the 1975 Michael Ritchie comedy movie starring Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon. “Pageant” is much less story driven — there is no overall arc to the characters, there is no character growth, there is no conflict, there is no backstage drama. “Pageant” is simply what it appears to be — a beauty pageant on stage sponsored by a cheezy beauty product company, with the requisite pageant components (opening walk, evening gown competition, swimsuit competition, talent competition, spokes-model competition) all presided over by a swarmy host. So what makes “Pageant” special? First, the winner is not pre-selected but is chosen by audience members.  More importantly, all of the female beauty contestants… are played by men. It is this latter aspect that drives much of the humor of the show. It creates the double entendres, it adds to the cheesy talent portions, it makes the spokes-model portions hilarious. But it is, at its heart, a gimmick. It’s funny, but in a “if you find that sort of thing funny” kind-of way.

If one was to look at “Pageant” without the gender-bending aspect, what would remain? There would still be a fair amount of skewering of the beauty pageant conventions, from the production numbers that make no sense to the warped notions of beauty that beauty product companies promote. There would be the talent competitions that, often, contain little to no talent. There would be the inside jokes that only those familiar with the pageant word (or those that have watched a lot of pageants) would understand. There would also be the music. What there wouldn’t be was… story. As noted earlier, the book by Bill Russell (of “Side Show” fame) and Frank Kelly (of “The Texas Chainsaw Musical“, umm, fame) (conceived by Robert Longbottom) creates very one dimensional characters — really caricatures — of some broad types and leaves it at that. The evangelical bible belt girl. The kooky California girl. The Southern belle. The musicalization (lyrics by the book writers; music by Albert Evans (of “The Texas Chainsaw Musical” and “Nite Club Confidential” fame)) provides cute production numbers, but nothing that sticks with you as you walk out, or that even provides a modicum of character development. In short, I think the skewering of beauty pageant conventions was handled much better in “Smile” — this is really a gimmicky farce, and it is best to go into the show understanding and expecting that farce is what you are going to get.

As for the gimmick itself, I question its use in this day and age. Contrast the two shows we saw this week in San Diego. In “Two Gentlemen of Verona“, we have a women dressing up as a man to pass as a man, not for humor. In Pageant, we have men dressing as women because it is ostensibly funny. After all, it was funny when Alban did it in La Cage, and it was funny when the two leads did it in Sugar, so we’ll just go with the trend. But Sugar (the musicalization of Some Like It Hot) was done in the 1970s; La Cage in the 1980s. This is 2014; it is the era of RuPaul, drag-queen chic, and acceptance of transgendered and gender-changing people. So is this show a relic of when it was written (1991)? Do our contestants need to be as close as possible to real women, or is the joke that they think they look beautiful? Then again, the point could just be that we’re judging too much — as pageants often do — on the superficial features.

When viewed as a flat farce, the show does much better. Perhaps the best judge of the farcical nature of the show was the audience at our show, where the entire front row consisted of contestants/winners from the Royal World Beauty Pageant (FB). These gals were cracking up and laughing throughout the show. Their handlers, however, appeared less amused. Sitting across from us were two women in purple — one who was really enjoying the show, and the other (who may have been the president of the RWI organization) who seemed to go back and forth from enjoyment to a “grumpy cat” look. As for us, there were portions that were laugh out loud funny, and there were portions that made you feel like the audience at “Springtime for Hitler” (i.e., did they really do “that”). In short, I believe this is humor aimed at a particular audience.

After all of this, I guess I should describe the show. As the show opens, we meet our master of ceremonies, Frankie Cavalier, and the Glamouresse Pageant Girls: Miss Industrial Northeast, Miss Bible Belt, Miss West Coast, Miss Deep South, Miss Texas, and Miss Great Plains. Frankie selects 5 audience members as judges. The competition then starts in earnest, with evening gowns (pictured below in the image I grabbed from the Cygnet Press Site). We then go through the talent competition for each of the girls, interspersed (every 2 girls) with a spokes-model pitch of some ridiculous Glamouresse product. After all the talent segments are done, there is another production number done by Frankie Cavalier about the pageant in the future (which has him in a very odd costume with a very large codpiece). This number ends with the girls in their white, one-piece swimsuits for the swimsuit competition, which also provides the opportunity to hear their inner thoughts. Once this is done, the “Miss Congeniality” prize is given and the six girls are down selected to five. There is then a tribute to the outgoing queen (the downselected girl, redressed), and a final competition. This last competition consists of the girls answering questions from the “Glamour Help Line”. At this point, the audience judges are polled to determine 2nd runner up, 1st runner up, and the winner. There is the winner presentation and the closing song, and the show is done.

The picture to the right shows the cast of the show: Miss Deep South (David McBean (FB)), Miss Bible Belt (Ryan Fahey (FB)), Miss Texas (Charles Osborne (TW, FB)), Frankie Cavalier (Phil Johnson (FB)), Miss Industrial Northeast (Max Cadillac (FB)), Miss West Coast (Luke Jacobs Harvey/FB), and Miss Great Plains (Conor Tibbs (FB)) [photo by Daren Scott from the the Cygnet Press Site]. Let’s look at each of the girls closely, and what I remember the morning after the show.

• Miss Deep South (David McBean (FB)) had, for me, one of the funniest talent portions with a great ventriloquism routine. At our performance, she didn’t win, and she had a wonderful display of bad sportsmanship (which was fun to watch). IIRC, she was our second runner up.
• Miss Bible Belt (Ryan Fahey (FB)) came off as a little too preachy (sorry, I couldn’t resist). I particularly liked her Glamouresse spokes-model segment with the beauty spackle (and the cross drawn into it), and her response on the help line. She also had a good gospel number for her talent routine. She was our first runner-up
• Miss Texas (Charles Osborne (TW, FB)) was the winner at our show, although when she first came out, I thought she had a mustache (it turned out to be lighting and bad upper lip makeup). Her tap dancing talent segment was wonderful.
• Miss Industrial Northeast (Max Cadillac (FB)) was my least favorite girl of the piece, with a strong overdone Spanish accent. Her spokes-model segment was quite funny, as was her phone response. Warning: In her talent segment, she plays the accordion.
• Miss West Coast (Luke Jacobs Harvey/FB) had a hilarious talent segment (I need some brain bleach for that birth scene), followed by a great spokes-model segment.
• Miss Great Plains (Conor Tibbs (FB)) had a really strange poem about the land for her talent segment.

As the swarmy host, Frankie Cavalier, Phil Johnson (FB) did an excellent job, and was hilarious in the Venus 3000 number.

The production was directed and choreographed by James Vasquez (FB), who turned these men into somewhat believable beauty contestants (although my wife felt that RuPaul was needed to get the female mannerisms down right for all but Miss Deep South).  Don Lemaster (FB) was the musical director.

Turning to the technical side: The set design by Sean Fanning (FB) was a suitably glamorous pageant stage with the appropriate amount of shimmer and steps. The lighting design by Michelle Caron (FB) demonstrated very clever use of moving mirror lights — they were used in a manner equivalent to normal movers, which I’ve never seen before. The other lighting worked well to focus attention. General properties were designed by Angelica Ynfante (FB), with the special Glamouress properties designed by Michael McKeon (FB). These were extremely clever — both the talent show props such as the “target” for Miss Texas, to all the wonderful Glamouress products that were demonstrated — the lip gloss food, the double ended aerosol can, the facial powder vacuum, the snap odor eliminators. Costumes were by Shirley Pierson (FB) assisted by Kate Stallons (FB) and Kristine Kerr (FB); makeup and hair was by Peter Herman (FB). The costumes, in general, were cute and clever and served to conceal that which must be concealed if one is a man playing a woman (especially in a swimsuit). Some, such as Cavalier’s Venus 3000 getup, were just inspired (especially the codpiece). Makeup was a little less inspired, simply because these faces were not done up in a manner that preserved the female illusion. Perhaps that was intentional, but sometimes it was over or under done to distraction. The wigs, in general, worked well (at least I couldn’t tell they were obviously wigs). Taylor Wycoff (FB) was the Dramaturg, although I have absolutely no idea what a dramaturg does on an established show like this. Heather M. Brose (FB) was the stage manager, assisted by Marguerite Sugden/FB. Sean Murray (FB) is the Artistic Director of Cygnet.

“Pageant” only has a few more shows left; it closes on August 31. Tickets are available through the Cygnet Theatre Box Office; they may also be available through San Diego ArtsTix or through Goldstar.

Dining Notes: You’re in Old Town. There’s tons of reasonable Mexican places at which to eat.

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

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  August will end with “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” at REP East (FB). September is filling out. So far, the plans include “Earth/Quaked starring Savion Glover” as part of Muse/ique in Pasadena on Sun 9/7,  “Moon Over Buffalo” (Goldstar) at the GTC in Burbank on Sat 9/13, “Bat Boy: The Musical” at CSUN for the Friday night before Slichot (9/19), “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB) on Sun 9/21,  “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 9/27. October, so far, only has one show: “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25, although I’m looking at “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) for either Sat 10/11 or Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF). November is back to busy, with dates held or ticketed for “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 11/8 (shifting to avoid ACSAC), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11,  “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. I’d love to get down to San Diego to see either (or both) of “Bright Star“, the new Steve Martin/Edie Brikell musical, at The Old Globe Theatre (FB) (September 13-November 2), or “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (based on the Disney film) at The La Jolla Playhouse (FB) (October 25-December 2), but I’m not sure either would work in the schedule.  As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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How do you celebrate your anniversary? Dinner? Flowers? Expensive trinkets? This year, we celebrated by going to the theatre, and what we saw turned out to be the perfect anniversary love story to see. It was a story about a quest to find true love, even when the government is after you. Perhaps I should explain…

Two weeks ago, when we were at The Colony Theatre (FB), we saw a postcard for a limited run (8 performances) of a new musical being workshopped by New Musical Inc. This musical won the 2014 Search for New Musicals, as well as the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2008, and the Festival of New Musicals in 2007. Further, it looked like one of those “outer space alien attack” musicals we’ve grown to love, in the genre of “Brain from Planet X“, “It Came From Beyond“, “Zombies from the Beyond“, or even “Return to the Forbidden Planet“. It was playing on our 29th wedding anniversary, and so we thought it might be a kick to go to the show.  So last night, after a wonderful dinner of Puerto Rican food, and even though I was recovering from a migraine, we were at the NoHo Arts Center to see the developmental workshop production of “It Happened in Roswell: An Intergalactic Musical“.

Going in, I expected this musical to be similar to the others we’ve seen — loosely based on a pre-existing cheesy movie, with songs that were more in the novelty vein than moving the story forward. The plots tend to be similar: in act I the alien comes to earth with the intent to attack and enslave the humans, in act II the humans triumph over the aliens. That wasn’t Roswell; at least to me, Roswell was a new and clever twist on the alien visit approach. Here’s the story of It Happened In Roswell, which has book, music, and lyrics by Terrence Atkins (FB) and Jeffery Lyle Segal (FB):

Down on his luck Weird World News reporter Joe “Scoop” O’Reilly and his photographer, Frank, break down outside Roswell, NM. His latest story having been a bust and hearing a report about a flying saucer on the radio, they decide to fabricate a story by taking a picture of a hubcap in the air and pretending there was a saucer. This they do, and they head into town to transmit the picture to their editor. When they arrive they go to Mabel’s Diner, where Mabel Brown and her daughter, Betsy, work. Betsy has been fending off the advances of the Deputy Sheriff Rusty Dobbs with a story of another man (when she really lusts after the flat-footed mechanic, Floyd Dimwitty). When Scoop and Frank arrive, they convince Floyd and Betsy to go to the outskirts of town and tow in their car, while Rusty and another women customer, Edna, go off to find the aliens. When Floyd and Betsy arrive at the car, they discover the actual flying saucer, and the female alien, Nine-O. Nine-O explains that she has come to the planet to find out about love. After making some advances on Floyd, Betsy convinces her to come back to the diner where they will pass her off as her distant cousin, Aileen. This starts a number of sequences in motion including the hunt for the alien, including Frank inventing a hideous-looking alien with tenticles. Scoop wants to get a picture of someone being attacked by the fake alien, so he romances Aileen… with predictable results. Yes, they fall in love with each other. The remainder of the story addresses how they resolve that love, how the various other romances resolve, and how they survive while being changed by Major Nails.

As I stated above, this was a developmental workshop. Every expense was spared in developing the set and props — and it worked to the advantage of the show. The production was presented on the existing set of the NMI musical “Max Factor”, and so the only “scenery” was a “Welcome to Roswell” sign and a few 2x4s that formed a little table. Additionally, there was a table in the back where the actor who played Major Nails set with the script, making all the sound effects. The only props were a flying saucer on a stick, the alien tenticle costume, and loads and loads and loads of loads of little white signs on sticks. These signs had pictures of ray guns, real guns, food, and anything else they needed as a prop… including words and instructions to the audience. We understand the necessity of this due to the workshop nature of the show… but guess what… it worked great. If this show moves on, we recommend they keep this approach for the props — realism might hurt the show (well, unless it really makes it to Broadway, but then it would need the Little Shop of Horrors treatment with full orchestrations and five part harmonies and circles and arrows and paragraphs on the back… oh, wrong song).

So far, we have a unique story and a unique staging. There also was a top-notch cast. In the lead positions (which you know from the opening number) were Julie Tolivar (FB) as Nine-O/Aileen and Rory Dunn (FB) as Scoop. Tolivar’s alien was a delight — she had a lovely naivete combined with an underlying seriousness of purpose that was fun to watch, combined with a very cute and slghtly-sexy costume. She sang very well and had a lovely voice on numbers such as “Nothing Is Stopping Me”, although she would benefit from a bit of amplification. She also danced very well. Equally strong (and according to my wife, sexy) was Dunn’s Scoop. He, too, had an excellent voice and a personality that shone through the character; the two actor’s voices blended beautifully in “Shooting Star” — you could believe these two as a couple. Just fun to watch.

However, I must admit that Tolivar wasn’t my favorite actress in the piece. That honor goes to Amy Bloom (FB) as Betsy, who had a look and a voice and movement that just melted me. It was just a delightful innocence that she portrayed. Of course, it didn’t hurt that she sang wonderfully — especially in combination with the other female voices — Carrie Madsen (FB) as her mother Mabel, and Emma Sperka (FB) as the oversexed Edna. When the three of them sang together in the early number “When Will the Ice Man Come?” — the blending of the voices was just spectacular. Bloom used her delightful innocence quite well, but especially in her scenes with Nathan Ondracek (FB) as Floyd. Ondracek had a light voice that my wife also liked (I’m not a great judge of men’s voices), and it too worked very well in his numbers with Bloom such as “As Free as the Stars”.

Rounding out the cast, as I mentioned before, were Carrie Madsen (FB) as Mabel Brown, and Emma Sperka (FB) as Edna. Both sang and acted well; Madsen had a particularly nice number in “Every Day”. Emerson Boatwright (FB) was a wonderful comic sidekick as Frank, especially in his scenes as the tentacled alien. Matthew Herrmann (FB) played the deputy sheriff with the hots for Betsy very well. Lastly, John McCool Bowers (FB) (who we’ve seen before at both Simi Valley ARTs and Cabrillo), was a hoot #1 as Major Nails, but even more of a hoot (#2) as the sound effects guy in the background during the first act.

Lastly, I want to applaud the actors for having fun with this musical… and for letting the audience share in their joy of performing it. When the actors enjoy the show and the work, it is broadcast to the audience and everyone wins (and an additional thank you to those actors who gave their websites in their bios!)

I’ve said before that It Happened in Roswell, was a musical… so how was the music? I should note that, as a workshop, the sole musical accompaniment was a single piano off to the side. I’m guessing it was Ron Barnett, the Music Director, tickling the ivories. The songs in the show ranged from nice character songs to lovely ballads. There was only one number that was really a novelty number (“The United Forces of Dancing”), but it proved later to be integral to the plot (although not, as you might think, through dancing). It would be interesting to hear the numbers with full orchestration; still, I love rinky-tinky piano and piano only scores (the piano-only version of “I Do! I Do!” is much nicer than the full orchestration).

The choreography was by Susanna Young (FB), who created some lovely dance moves for a workshop production.

Turning to the remaining creatives…  as noted before, there was no set and thus no credited scenic designer. There were master carpenters, however, consisting of the co-author, Terrence Atkins (FB); the Marketing Manager, Gavin Atkins/FB; and Wade Clegg. The inventive props were by Scott Guy, who also co-directed the production (together with Terrence Atkins (FB)). The costumes were by Abel Alvarado (FB) and were quite good for a simple workshop (although, if this were a real production, the Major needed proper boots). The alien tentacled costume was particularly inventive. Jules Bronola was the wardrobe head. Lindsey Mixon (FB) was the casting director (and has the cutest baby, who was visiting at intermission). Pat Loeb was the stage manager.

As this is a developmental workshop, I tried to figure out what requires improvement before it is produced. In fact, it was one of the topics of discussion between my wife and I on the ride home. The answer really depends on where the musical wants to go. In its present form, it is about perfect for an intimate to small-midsize house (e.g., something the size of the Mark Taper Forum, Colony Theatre, or Kirk Douglas). Work might be required were it to go into a larger house, but this would be more fleshing out the movement, choreography, and orchestrations. The larger problem would be one of depth, as this is not a “serious” musical or play. Houses — even intimate venues — that go for the more established and deep stories might be less inclined to produce this. I’m not sure how to fix this, as I feel what makes this musical so fun is the tongue-in-cheek nature. If I had to compare it with something, it might be the “39 Steps” quasi-parody that was on Broadway. It had a sense of manic silly earnestness that helped it succeed, and the approach with the signs created that here. I hope this musical does well; we certainly enjoyed it.

The developmental workshop production of “It Happened in Roswell” has (looks at watch) 3 more performances: tonight at 8pm (better hurry), Sunday August 24, and Monday August 25. Purchase tickets through nmi.org, or visit the show website.

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

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:  Next weekend we’ll be on vacation in Escondido, where there are a number of potential productions… and out of the many available, we have picked “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Old Globe on Sunday, 8/24, and “Pageant” at the Cygnet in Old Town on Wednesday, 8/27.  I’ll note that what they have at the Welk (“Oklahoma“), Patio Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof“), and Moonlight Stage (“My Fair Lady“) are all retreads and underwhelming. August will end with “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein” at REP East (FB). September is filling out. So far, the plans include “Earth/Quaked starring Savion Glover” as part of Muse/ique in Pasadena on Sun 9/7,  “Moon Over Buffalo” (Goldstar) at the GTC in Burbank on Sat 9/13, “Bat Boy: The Musical” at CSUN for the Friday night before Slichot (9/19), “The Great Gatsby” at Repertory East (FB) on Sun 9/21,  “What I Learned in Paris” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 9/27. October, so far, only has one show: “Pippin” at the Pantages (FB) on 10/25, although I’m looking at “Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married” at the Group Rep (FB) for either Sat 10/11 or Sat 10/18 (when Karen is at PIQF). November is back to busy, with dates held or ticketed for “Big Fish” at Musical Theatre West (FB) on Sat 11/1, “Handle with Care” at The Colony Theatre (FB) on Sat 11/8 (shifting to avoid ACSAC), a trip out to Orange Empire Railway Museum to see my buddy Thomas on 11/11,  “Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide Club” at REP East (FB) on Sat 11/15, the Nottingham Festival on Sun 11/16, and “Kinky Boots” at the Pantages (FB) on Sat 11/29. As for December, right now I’m just holding one date: “She Loves Me” at Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim on 12/20. As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

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

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