Sunday, November 22, 2009
Love Blooms at Santa Monica Playhouse
Tucked away just off a busy Santa Monica street, down a cobblestone alley, and into a quaint brick-lined courtyard you’ll find the Santa Monica Playhouse, which has been producing theatre and training actors for almost 50 years.
Their current production, running through December 13th, is the new musical comedy Love in Bloom, a tongue-firmly-in-cheek world premiere filled with magic and mayhem, mistaken identities, romance and comedy.
The show combines elements of Commedia dell’arte, mime and classical theatre to bring to life this inventive mash-up of Shakespearean plots, characters and situations; everything from Pyramid and Frisbe, to women disguised as men, to the King and Queen of the Faeries conspiring to make things right with the world. It is written and directed by Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie and features members of the Playhouse’s Actors’ Repertory Theatre: Chris DeCarlo, Serena Dolinsky, Melissa Gentry and Evelyn Rudie, joined by guest artists Liz Eldridge, Jake Levy, Zack Medway and Tyner Pesch.
The cast handles the classical text well, and the six young and engaging ensemble members especially shine throughout the performance. In the end, even the monster Calabasas has his happy ending.
You can catch Love in Bloom at the Santa Monica Playhouse through December 13. For reservations call 310-394-9779 x 1. http://santamonicaplayhouse.com/.
