Friday, May 27, 2011
New Musical iGHOST is Full of Charm
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| Peter Welkin as Sir Simon Photos by Richard M. Johnson |
In Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ’ new musical iGhost, an American art student named Virginia Otis (Rebecca Johnson) travels to England on a work/study program and finds herself in the midst of a mystery. The ghostly resident of Canterville Chase, Sir Simon (Peter Welkin), has been cursed by his wife, Lucinda (Dorrie Braun), upon her death nearly a hundred years earlier. If he does not solve a riddle and break the curse by the 100-year anniversary, which is only days away, he will be trapped at Canterville forever.
The story is an updated retelling of Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost,” which gives the savvy Virginia a technological advantage over Simon and his previous attempts at solving the riddle. Using her computer, iPod, and plenty of ingenuity, she proves that truth wins in the end, love comes when least expected, and fear is really of no use to anyone.
They are lessons the current Canterville heir, Trevor (Zachary Ford) comes to learn too as he transforms from a stuffy, stuttering young man, afraid of Sir Simon, to a hero who must rescue Virginia when she becomes dangerously lost.
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| Zachary Ford and Rebecca Johson in iGhost |
The performances of this trio of actors are the great joy of the evening. Johnson is absolutely delightful as the high-spirited heroine who never gives up. She infuses her down-to-earth practicality with a dreamer’s optimism making it impossible to resist her. Likewise, Ford is irresistible in a role that fits him to a T, or tea, as it were. Watch him in the moments where he is listening to the other characters (as in “Spirits Soar”) and you will see the subtle changes of his thoughts and the way he is slowly swept away by his feelings for Virginia. It’s a lovely transition and a journey well-played over the course of the show. He’s funny; he’s charming; and, watching him dance conjures images of a young Ray Bolger.
In 2010, Peter Welkin gave a commanding performance as Anatoly in the MET Theatre’s concert reading of Chess and his Sir Simon is a perfect follow-up role. He is a menacing presence, powerful and prone to fits of temper, but he also shows the devastated heart of a man who is lost…and he does it with to-die-for soaring baritone vocals that fill the rafters. Luckily composer Adryan Russ has given him some great melodies with which to show his stuff.
Paul Zegler and Bonnie Snyder as Mr. and Mrs. Umney add to the comedy and have a few touching moments of their own, though their vocals lack the polish of the principals, and Braun somehow seems out of place as Lucinda in a dress that doesn’t flatter and a seriousness that feels at odds with the tone of this classic musical romance.
Director Jules Aaron makes excellent use of the rather wide stage and has created a way of levitating objects, including Virginia, which is quite unexpected and ingenious, given the limitations of a 99-seat theatre budget. His enthusiastic ensemble serves the purpose well, and also does fine work with Allison Bibicoff’s lighthearted choreography.
Clever lyrics and beautiful music make this iGhost a lovely evening in which “Anything is Possible.” It is a charming adaptation of a classic ghostly romance.
For tickets and more information go to www.playworksmusic.com/ighost.htm
iGhost is part of the Fourth Annual Festival of New American Musicals.
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Labels: lyric theatre
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Betty Garrett Tribute - Something For the Boys - at Theatre West
Earlier this year, Theatre West mourned the loss of its co-founder, Betty Garrett, who passed away at age 91 on February 12. She starred on Broadway (thirteen shows), was one of the great MGM movie musical stars, was a TV series regular on All in the Family (for which she won a Golden Globe) and Laverne and Shirley. She devoted herself to humanitarian causes.
At Theatre West, she memorably performed n many shows, directed and, importantly, moderated its Musical Comedy workshop for decades, instructing generations of artists in the proper way to perform for musical theatre audiences.
Betty received many honors: the Queen of the Angels Award from L.A. Weekly, career achievement awards from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle, the Valley Theatre League, and the Ovation Awards.
It’s now the turn of her own beloved Theatre West to honor her. On Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 7:00 pm there will be a concert reading of Something For The Boys, Betty’s first Broadway musical from 1943, in which she co-starred with Ethel Merman. The June 19 performance is with the full permission of and encouragement from the Estates of Cole Porter (music and lyrics) and Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields (book).
The cast, directed by Brian O'Halloran, includes some of Theatre West’s best-known performers as well as generations of artists: Andrew Parks, son of Betty Garrett; her grand-daughter, Madison Claire Parks (who will play Betty’s part and sing the song Cole Porter wrote for her, “I’m in Love With a Soldier Boy”); Beau Bridges; his daughter, Emily Bridges; Caitlin Gallogly and Edward Z. Gallogly (daughter and son of Theatre West executive director John Gallogly); Barbara Mallory; her son Elliot Schwartz; Lee Meriwether; Barbara Minkus; Devra Korwin; Anthony Gruppuso; David P. Johnson; Daniel Keough; Andre Landzaat; Robert W. Laur; and Laura Wolfe.
The musical revolves around three cousins who inherit a tract of land near a Texas army base. They contemplate using their new estate for a hotel when one of them comes up with an invention to help the war effort….Something for the Boys, if only the General will take them up on it. One of them has also fallen for a famous band leader now in uniform at the army base, although he’s already engaged to a senator’s obnoxious daughter. Hijinks ensue.
This is the first in a projected series of annual musical presentations by Theatre West in memory of Betty Garrett.
Proceeds from the event will support the continuing work of the Betty Garrett Musical Comedy Workshop. The June 19 event is underwritten in part by the Lloyd E. Rigler- Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, with support from Norman and Lyn Lear.
Tickets are $35 general admission, and $50 for Premium Seating (first five rows, center). Theatre West is located at 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, in Los Angeles, CA 90068. There is free parking across the street.
For reservations call 323-851-7977 or go online at http://www.theatrewest.org/.
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Labels: theatre west
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings at Disney Concert Hall
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| Eric Whitacre |
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| Hila Plitmann |
Featuring Grammy Award-winning Soprano Hila Plitmann and a world-class cast of singers, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings follows the story of a tribe of angels stuck in a post-apocalyptic, Japanese anime and manga inspired world.
The cast of Paradise Lost will feature:
Exstasis: Hila Plitmann
Logos: Damon Kirsche
Ignis: Doug Kreeger
Fervio: Daniel Tatar
Pieta: Sara Jean Ford
Aia: Marie Wallace
Gravitas: Rodolfo Nieto
Greg Chun, DJ
On Ensemble, Taiko
Fang Fang Xu, Cello
Jason Crystal, Sound Designer
Featuring Distinguished Concert Singers International
For tickets and more information go to http://www.dciny.org/2011-season/saturday-june-25-2011.html.
Click Here for a look back at the Theatre at Boston Court’s 2007 production of Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, which was terrific.
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings is part of the Fourth Annual Festival of New American Musicals.
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Tuesday, May 24, 2011
BASH'D! - A Gay Rap Opera Premieres at Celebration Theatre
The cast features Chris Ferro (All My Children, Fugitive Chronicle, NYC and Regional: Noises Off (HomeMade Theater), OnlyThing East (Off-Off-Bway) and Sean Bradford (Broadway debut as the Simba cover in The Lion King and most recently originated the role of Ozie Powell/Ruby Bates in The Scottsboro Boys).
First comes love, then comes marriage, but the possibility of a happy ending is shattered for newlyweds Jack and Dillon after one is viciously attacked by a gang of homophobic thugs. Despair and rage turns the other down the path of vigilante justice with tragic results.
Irreverent rapping troubadours Feminem and T-Bag tell the tale of the star-crossed Romeos as they skewer stereotypes with swaggering comedic flair against a pulsing hip-hop beat. BASH’D! - A Gay Rap Opera is loosely based on the real life spike in hate crimes in Alberta, Canada during the national debate on equal marriage for gays and lesbians. The show explores the effect of homophobic violence and the emotions associated with being any marginalized population. Though the topic is serious, the play itself is fast paced, high energy and full of laughs.
BASH’D! is produced for Celebration Theatre by Ryan Bergmann and Michael A. Shepperd with Nathaniel Mathis, Cameron Faber and Michael C Kricfalusi III. Previews begin June 7 with opening set for June 10 and the show will run through July 22. Celebration Theatre is located at 7051B Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. http://www.celebrationtheatre.com/
BASH'D! - A Gay Rap Opera is part of the Fourth Annual Festival of New American Musicals.
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Labels: celebration theatre
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Kritzerland at the Gardenia Presents The Music of Cy Coleman
Kritzerland at the Gardenia presents Call Me Cy – The Music of Cy Coleman at 9:00 pm Wednesday June 1, 2011 featuring Juliana Hansen, Kim Huber, James Mulligan, Alet Taylor, Andy Taylor and Melody Hollis with a special guest star TBA.
Over the years, Bruce Kimmel has produced CDs containing many Cy Coleman songs, including an entire album devoted to his music, Randy Graff’s “Doing Something Right,” as well as the revival cast recording of Little Me, starring Martin Short and Faith Prince. His musicals include Wildcat, Little Me, Sweet Charity, Seesaw, I Love My Wife, On the Twentieth Century, Barnum, Welcome to the Club, City of Angels, The Will Rogers Follies and The Life. He was the only composer to win consecutive Tony Awards for best score at the same time that the corresponding musicals won for best musical – City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies.
This will be an evening filled with Coleman classics as well as some of his more obscure material along with some fun Coleman stories about the shows, songs, and Coleman himself.
Dinner begins at 7:00 pm and will guarantee you a table. Cover charge is $15 with a two-drink minimum. No drink minimum with dinner. For reservations call 323-467-7444. The Gardenia is located at 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038.
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Labels: kritzerland
Theatre Palisades Presents A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Scott Martin directs, Brian Murphy musical directs, and Alison Mattiza choreographs the production which is produced by Shirley Churgin and Andrew Frew. Forum will run June 3 - July 10 at Theatre Palisades in Pacific Palisades.
Inspired by the farces of ancient Rome, it tells the bawdy story of a slave and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door.
Theatre Palisades is located at 941 Temescal Canyon Rd., Pacific Palisades 90272.
For tickets and information call the box office at 310-454-1970 or go to http://www.theatrepalisades.com/. Parking is free.
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Labels: theatre palisades
The Grove Theatre Presents eLove, a Musical.com/edy
Original cast members Lloyd Pedersen and Bobbi Stamm star in this touching, upbeat contemporary musical love story about a man and a woman searching for that ‘special someone’ in cyberpace. In the end, they discover that love on the internet reveals a little more than either one had expected.
The Grove Theatre is located at 276 East 9th Street, Upland, 91785. For tickets and more information call 909-920-4343 or go to http://www.grovetheatre.com/ or http://www.elove-themusical.com/.
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Labels: the grove theatre
Hollywood Fringe Festival Presents LUCKY: A Burlesque Tragedy
Lucky: A Burlesque Tragedy is written and performed Minerva Vier, directed by Michael Kearns, with musical direction by Big Daddy Zachary and choreography by Amy Danielson, featuring an opening act by Trapeze Freaky Flip.
The show will preview on June 12 - 5:00 pm at Fringe Central, ArtWorks Theatre, 6567 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90038.
Regular performance will take place June 17 and 18 at 8:00 pm and June 19 at 7:00 pm at the Paul G. Gleason Theatre, 6520 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, 90038.
For tickets and more information go to www.hollywoodfringe.com/projects/460 or call 323-455-4585. Tickets are $15 at the door; $12 with discount code TURA if purchased online, and $10 for attendees of The National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival.
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Labels: hollywood fringe festival
Friday, May 20, 2011
Doug Haverty & Adryan Russ and Their Musical Journey to iGHOST
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| Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ |
The Los Angeles based writing team of Adryan Russ and Doug Haverty is getting ready to celebrate opening night of their newest musical, iGhost, May 20th at the Lyric Theatre. Russ provides the music, Haverty the book, and they work together on the lyrics. It’s a partnership that goes back to their meeting years ago in Lehman Engel’s legendary writing workshop.
Haverty says, “Lehman was our instructor. It was his last year on the planet and it was our first year doing that workshop. He ran the BMI workshop in New York and then he came out to LA to see if there was interest in doing it here. The plan was for him to come out every three months and do a concentrated week of workshops. He wasn’t sure if anyone would even come, but at the first meeting 300 people showed up. We were in a rehearsal hall on the fifth floor of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and he was flabbergasted. Then he asked if we were all crazy. He told us to march downstairs and buy a lottery ticket; that we had a better chance of winning the lottery than writing a hit musical. Well, we’re still writing, and he’s a big part of the reason why.”
“Our very first project was a play Doug had written in 1984 shortly after we met,” adds Russ. “Doug asked me to do the theme music for his play In My Mind’s Eye so I wrote a song called ‘In My Mind,’ which we later recorded. That play is currently available through Samuel French.
Another early project was their award-winning off-Broadway musical, Inside Out, about six women in group therapy. It also grew out of the Lehman Engel workshop. The Group Rep in North Hollywood mounted the first production of the musical and it was scheduled to run for five weeks but kept extending until it ran for an unexpected 5-l/2 months. That was only the beginning.
According to Russ, “The Colony Theatre happened to be doing bonus productions for their subscribers at the time and Barbara Beckley was looking for a musical for one of the slots. Inside Out was chosen for the series, Scott Segal directed it, and it ended up being very well received by their audience. Later Barbara was in New York where she ran into a friend at the Village Theatre who was looking for a musical specifically for a cast of women.”
Haverty remembers, “Barbara said the magic words – we just did this and our audience liked it. Well, they called and said they wanted to do it in June,” adds Russ. “We thought they meant June the following year, but they meant a month later.” Haverty continues, “It’s ironic. Barbara hardly ever goes to New York and she hasn’t been back in years. Those are the magical coincidences we love.”
Up next for the longtime writing partners is iGhost, a contemporary twist on the Oscar Wilde classic The Canterville Ghost. American college student and budding young painter, Virginia Otis, goes to London on a work/study program and encounters Simon, the Canterville Ghost, in search of his lost love Lucinda. He may scare everyone else but he doesn’t scare Virginia, who strikes up a dangerous and unlikely partnership with Simon to right some wrongs of the past. As a child, The Canterville Ghost had long been one of Russ’ favorite books. Unbeknownst to her, Haverty had also been a fan of the book. Years later, they saw a notice from Stages in Canada saying that they were looking to commission writers to turn the story into a musical. The pair submitted an outline and four songs and was awarded the commission. In the end, Stages didn’t go ahead with the project but Haverty and Russ decided to finish the show anyway.
“That was about 6-7 years ago and the story has evolved quite a bit from its earliest version,” says Haverty. “Originally the whole Otis family came from America and Virginia was only 8 years old. We decided to age her so there could be a love interest and we discovered that we had to get her to London quickly because that was where the real story was happening.”
It was a conscious decision to set the story in contemporary times and for good reason, he continues. “One of the main themes is connectivity. The two ghosts are estranged to the point that they can’t even hear or see each other so Virginia tries to get them together. The question becomes, how do you connect things that have grown apart?
“And we compare Bluetooth wireless wizardry with ghosts because, when you think about it, they’re not any different. There are signals of music, text, pictures, and words zooming around the room right now. People are picking them up on their laptops but we can’t see them. You have to have the right receiver to pick up those signals. So why would it be any different for ghosts? We assume that when ghosts are haunting the same space they talk to each other but that’s not always true. They can be on different signals.”
Russ adds, “There is a point in the show when the ghost actually reaches for a signal to create a connection with Virginia’s computer so he becomes a ghostly device that links the two worlds.”
iGhost has been through a series of developmental readings; the last one in June of 2009 as part of the Los Angeles Festival of American Musicals at NoHo Arts Center. It was there that an old friend of Haverty’s, Bonnie Snyder, who was also a member of the Lyric Theatre Company, saw the reading and had the idea to connect the writers and the Lyric’s artistic director Dorrie Braun. They set up a meeting and much like it had happened for Inside Out going unexpectedly to New York, iGhost was quickly slated to open on the Lyric’s spring schedule.
Another stroke of luck happened when director Jules Aaron had a break in his schedule between International City Theatre’s recent production of Southern Comforts and his upcoming Broadway workshop that begins in July, so he came on board to helm the new musical in the interim. “Jules and I have worked together since the early ‘80s when we did the first reading of In My Mind’s Eye at his theatre downtown, the Los Angeles Performance Unit,” Haverty says shaking his head. “We go back a long way.”
Aaron also directed Inside Out at Laguna Playhouse after it came back from New York, as well as Haverty’s play Could I Have This Dance at the Colony Theatre. “I’ve worked with Jules as a dramaturg on a number of other plays and he is so knowledgeable. On iGhost he has involved himself in every aspect of the story. He knows every element of it. His vision of the show is very heightened and theatrical so we are presenting it as a stylized musical.”
The duo is also proud of the work the cast has done on their behalf. “New musicals take an amazing amount of commitment and flexibility from everyone involved,” says Russ, “and our actors do us proud. Our three principals are Rebecca Johnson as Virginia, Zachary Ford as Trevor and Peter Welkin as our ghost, Simon. Lyric Theatre artistic director Dorrie Braun plays our other ghost, Lucinda, and Bonnie Snyder is Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper. Her husband, Mr. Umney, is played by Paul Zegler.
Finding actors is tricky but Haverty and Russ say they have a method. “We actor shop!” Haverty laughs. “I’m an Ovation voter so we go see a lot of shows. We saw Zach at the Lyric in Little Women and he was terrific so we got his contact information immediately. Adryan saw Rebecca in Zanna Don’t in Silverlake and Peter had been part of another reading Adryan had previously worked on.
Russ adds, “We have a fabulous ensemble too that includes Andrew Appel, Erin Carter, Kayla Dillman, Courtney Freed, Matthew Frow, Tyler Milliron, and R. Scott Thompson. Allison Bibicoff is our choreographer and Richard Berent is our musical director. Richard is also doing the orchestrations, which is particularly exciting for me, because he’s done them so well.”
The “why” of writing is different for every artist and for these two longtime collaborators, it’s as natural as breathing. “For me it’s like therapy,” says Russ. “I cannot not write. There is something about the writing process that feels like an amazing accomplishment — especially when you can make something challenging work – and when you write a song, give it to an actor to learn, and he or she sings it and it becomes real. That’s my idea of a natural high.”
Haverty adds, “I started out as an actor and then I started writing things I could act in. As a writer, it’s like being all of the parts. When she gets a laugh on that line, I get a laugh. When she made them cry at the end of the play, I made them cry. There is this creative energy that happens when a play works that is so rare. Little moments have a huge satisfaction level. I go to every show of ours because every performance is different and I want to experience that energy with that audience and that cast. Says Russ, “We both love sitting in the middle of the audience and feeling their response to our show because the audience is half of what happens in any presentation.”
There is plenty more to come from these two talented writers. Adryan’s interactive children’s musical The Ugly Duckling is currently playing at Theatre West. In August, Doug’s world premiere comedy Next Window Please opens at The Group Rep, which he describes as “Teller Line…it’s like A Chorus Line but they’re tellers working in a bank that goes through a merger and half the jobs must be eliminated. The pair also has ten songs written for a new historical musical that is waiting in the wings and another musical that was part of the Disney/ASCAP workshop.
For now, they’ll be toasting the theater gods after their sold-out opening night of iGhost and sitting somewhere in the audience learning more about their musical’s journey.
Tickets for iGhost are on sale at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/169940 or by calling 626-695-8283. Performances will continue through June 18. There will be post-show talkbacks with the cast and creative team following the Sunday evening performances on June 5 and 12 at 7pm. The Lyric Theatre is located at 520 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. http://www.lyrictheatrela.com/.
iGhost is part of the Fourth Annual Festival of New American Musicals.
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Labels: lyric theatre
La Mirada Theatre and Upright Cabaret Present Cowboys & Angels
You’ll hear memorable songs like “Crazy,” “I Fall To Pieces,” “Friends In Low Places,” “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Coal Miner's Daughter,” and many more, as well as their own selections, under the musical direction of Gerald Sternbach, in a one night only concert.
Cowboys & Angels takes at the NEW Cabaret Lounge at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada. Tickets are available online at http://www.lamiradatheatre.com/ or you can call the box office at 562-944-9801 or 714-994-6310.
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Labels: la mirada theatre, upright cabaret
Cast Announced for Cabrillo Music Theatre's The Sound of Music
Cabrillo Music Theatre’s Artistic Director, Lewis Wilkenfeld will direct, Darryl Archibald musical directs and conducts the Cabrillo Music Theatre Orchestra, and Heather Castillo will provide the choreography.
The production stars Shannon Warne as Maria, while Tom Schmid (Broadway’s Annie Get Your Gun) makes his Cabrillo debut as Captain von Trapp. Also starring are Michael G. Hawkins as Max Detweiler, Laura Cable as the Baroness, and opera performer/director Marilyn Anderson as the Mother Abbess.
The Sound of Music marked the final collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and boasted a book by playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
It ran on Broadway for over 1,400 performances, won five Tony Awards, and spawned a movie that earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The show’s memorable songs include, “My Favorite Things,” “Edelweiss,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “The Sound of Music.” Cabrillo Music Theatre’s production features two songs written by Richard Rodgers for the movie, “I Have Confidence,” and “Something Good.”
Surrounding Cabrillo’s The Sound of Music will be a variety of special events. In order to accommodate the demand for tickets, an additional performance has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 27, at 11:00 am. This full performance will feature large discounts for seniors, plus free parking at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. In addition, Cabrillo will host sing-a-longs after all matinee performances by the fountain outside the Civic Arts Plaza, continuing the excitement of the show long after the curtain comes down.
Performances will take place at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. For tickets go to http://www.cabrillomusictheatre.com/.
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Labels: cabrillo music theatre
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Marvelous Wonderettes Sing Their Way into La Mirada Theatre
Featuring your favorite songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s, The Marvelous Wonderettes takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom where we meet the Wonderettes - Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts and voices to match. As we learn about their lives and loves, we are treated to the girls performing classics like “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” “It’s My Party,” “It’s In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)” and many more. You’ve never had this much fun at a prom and you will never forget The Marvelous Wonderettes - a must-take musical trip down memory lane.
For tickets and information go to http://www.lamiradatheatre.com/.
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Labels: la mirada theatre
Chance Theater's The Boy in the Bathroom
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| Chris Klopatek and Liz Holt Photos by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
Just as the title suggests, The Boy in the Bathroom, a new musical by Michael Lluberes and Joe Maloney, directed by Oanh Nguyen, and now playing at Chance Theater, is about a boy named David (Chris Klopatek) with obsessive-compulsive disorder, who locks himself in the bathroom to avoid the outside world. His mother Pam (Marina Coffee) supplies him with everything he needs, as long as it fits under the door. That includes food in baggies pressed to a half inch and pages from books that David reads when taking breaks from writing his thesis, which he does on roles of toilet paper.
In due time, mom falls and breaks her hip and cannot continue to provide for David’s needs. Enter his eventual love interest, Julie (the very appealing Liz Holt), a frustrated young woman whose goal is to make money so she can leave town as quickly as possible.
It’s a story that piqued my interest, especially when I heard it had received considerable praise and rave reviews at the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival, including several awards such as Best Book and Best New Musical. With so much going for it, I was surprised that I walked out of the theatre with more questions than when I went in; questions as basic as what happened a year ago that made David lock himself in the bathroom?
The only justification he offers is that “it’s a great place to think” and he is going through a “major existential crisis.” Okay, but there is always an inciting incident and without being let in on what that is, I never get truly invested in his story. Of course I sympathize with his situation and I want him to get out. I’m already pretty sure he will before the musical even begins, but fear and angst as general issues do not stay interesting very long without a more compelling look into the whys and wherefores.
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| Chris Klopatek as David |
So my mind wandered. Why is he writing his thesis on toilet paper when regular paper will fit under the door? I guess because that’s more theatrical. Why doesn’t the bathroom look lived in? His OCD will certainly have him keep the room spotless, but other than the clothes he was wearing, there were no other items of clothing anywhere at all.
How can David be in such perfect physical shape? He takes his shirt off for a good twenty minutes of the show and we can see his perfectly cut muscles flexing with his every movement. It’s a little hard to buy when you don’t see him do a push up or sit up at any time onstage. But, of course he wouldn’t be working out in the bathroom would he, because physical exercise empowers people to face the world, not retreat from it. And where did he get his farmer’s tan if he hasn’t seen the sun in a year?
Underlying causes for David’s predicament are eluded to – dad left when David was seven and mom has OCD tendencies of her own – yet they are only offered as information and neither their relationship to David, nor his feelings about them, are explored except in superficial terms. From the talkback session following the performance I learned that the writers did not want to focus on the OCD element as much as on the relationships between the characters, but it seemed so integral to the story that that was puzzling to me.
Even the music failed to engage me, with melodies that made little sense combined with lyrics that rarely moved the story forward. Conversely, technical production elements are of extremely high quality, with Bradley Kaye’s set design and Brian S. Shevelenko’s lighting design both being particularly effective.
Like David says, “The world is a scary place when you stand still. You have to keep moving.” It’s good advice to remember when writing a new musical too.
For more information and tickets go to http://www.chancetheater.com/.
The Boy in the Bathroom is part of the 4th Annual Festival of American Musicals.
For more information and tickets go to http://www.chancetheater.com/.
The Boy in the Bathroom is part of the 4th Annual Festival of American Musicals.
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Labels: chance theater
Friday, May 13, 2011
Jennifer Leigh Warren is Shirley Bassey
Net proceeds benefit the Center’s programs and services for homeless LGBT youth. For tickets, call 323-860-7300 or go to www.UprightCabaret.com/Events.
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Labels: upright cabaret
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Troubies Are Back With FLEETWOOD MACBETH!
Falcon Theatre is proud to present Troubadour Theater Company’s Fleetwood Macbeth, a classic Troubie mash-up of the Bard’s Macbeth and the rocking sound of Fleetwood Mac directed by Matt Walker. Watch with shock and awe as Macbeth wages war against forces natural, supernatural and spousal.
Will he heed the witches who say, “You Can Go Your Own Way” or will he break The Chain? Will Lady Macbeth become his Gold Dust Woman or will she succumb to her Dreams? See Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane in a Landslide and Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow as the Troubies bring Shakespeare back to summer!
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Previews begin July 1st and the show will open Friday, July 8 at 8:00 pm and continue through August 14. Tickets go on sale June 2nd at http://www.falcontheatre.com/ or call the theatre at 818-955-8101.
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Labels: troubies
Monday, May 9, 2011
Richard Israel on Directing a Stripped Down Version of GYPSY
While Broadway has had several notable productions of the musical Gypsy, with star turns by Ethel Merman, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone, I was surprised to find that Los Angeles has not seen a major production of it since the original national tour in 1961. At the time, Merman recreated her performance for the tour which played the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (now run by Broadway/L.A. at The Pantages).
I later learned, however, that in 1974 Angela Lansbury and company played the now defunct Shubert Theatre for ten weeks in the pre-Broadway tryout of Gypsy (thanks to Richard Sabellico who was a member of that cast!)
I later learned, however, that in 1974 Angela Lansbury and company played the now defunct Shubert Theatre for ten weeks in the pre-Broadway tryout of Gypsy (thanks to Richard Sabellico who was a member of that cast!)
Written by three of musical theatre’s most beloved artists, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents, whom we recently lost at age 93, it is the rags to riches story of Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous stripper in Burlesque history, and her singularly driven stage mother, Rose.
On May 13th, West Coast Ensemble and director Richard Israel will open a much-anticipated intimate staging of Gypsy that will run through July 3rd at the Theatre of Arts Arena Stage in Hollywood. Before he disappeared into tech rehearsals we sat down and talked about the production.What made you decide to do a big musical like Gypsy but in an intimate setting?
We did a production of Three Tall Women as our last show in 2009 and Jan Sheldrick was really remarkable in it. I was watching her work and I had the thought, she could do Gypsy. We actually have a Mama Rose. Now cut to 2011. We were looking at doing our next musical and that was the first one that bubbled up. Nobody’s ever done it small that I know of. Nobody does it big because it’s too expensive to do big. Nobody does it.
And this isn’t going to be a big lavish version with all the glitz and tits.
No, well, there are going to be tits. (He laughs) It’s tits but no glitz, and I feel like that’s right for the show because even though it’s a big classic show biz musical, the only time it goes to a place of glitz and glamour is at the very end when Gypsy is stripping at Minsky’s. Everything up until then is pretty tragic.
Is that why you’re billing the show as “Gypsy…stripped?”
When I initially conceived the show I wanted a ghost light and a brick wall and a curtain, and that is predominantly what we are using, however, we are costuming the cast for real because I don’t want it to look like a workshop. It is set in the early 1920s and ‘30s and I wanted everyone to look like their clothes are too small for them and worn at the elbows and probably just need to be thrown away.I spoke to Rick Starr, our local expert on all things musical theatre, and he was excited about your concept because that’s the way they did the run thrus in 1959 with Ethel Merman – brick wall, ghost light, no costumes, but a few props. The set was still being built. His dad was in the orchestra and he used to say that Ethel would have her dinner break with the musicians between the matinee and evening performances because she couldn’t stand the actors. Instead she would come down and curse with the musicians!
That sounds about right.
This is the first time you’re producing a show in this theatre. How is it working in a new space?
It’s remarkable. When I was shopping around for a theatre I looked at the Arena and it’s like it was built for this show. It’s this gorgeous space that was built as an adjunct to the Egyptian Theatre. It was originally a 150 seat movie theatre that they eventually took down to 99 seats, and it’s got a big, big stage – as big as the Colony.
Who is designing your set?
It’s the usual suspects for us. Stephen Gifford is doing the set. Lisa Katz is doing lights. Rebecca Kessin is doing sound and Zale Morris is doing costumes…and they’re all great.
And your choreographer?
John Todd. He did Merrily We Roll Along with me and I love working with him. When you look at him you just feel better about the world, and it’s not that he’s just easy to work with, because that doesn’t do him justice.
You’ve also worked with Johanna Kent, your musical director, on many, many shows.
Johanna is the best musical director with actors that I’ve ever encountered in my life. She speaks actor and she’s very, very exacting about what she wants the music to be but she doesn’t make actors feel like six year olds. And she gets the storytelling.
That’s important because this story is really about making something out of nothing at a time when people literally had nothing.
To my eye it’s The Grapes of Wrath. These are people who are doing what they can to survive cause times is hard. Every day is a struggle. Mama has made a choice on behalf of the family…we’re going to be in show business and we’re going to be in a form of show business that is on its way out. Now, she didn’t know it was a dying form of show business when she chose it. She says, “I was born too early and started too late,” and it’s true. The problem is she latched onto vaudeville just as talkies came in. The musical starts in the early twenties, when vaudeville was still a very vibrant form of entertainment but it didn’t take long for it to get supplanted by film. Forms of entertainment can very, very quickly become marginalized. It’s a little bit like the record industry, as we know it today, will not be with us in ten years.
That’s an interesting observation. Vaudeville was really unique at the time, wasn’t it?
It was basically a catchall. It would be a dog act and a juggling act and somebody singing, maybe a hoofer. It was really just a bill of these very disparate acts. The problem was once film came in it was tough to get people to spend four bucks for vaudeville when they could spend a quarter for a short. And in vaudeville you never knew what you were getting. Some acts were great and some were awful. It’s a really fine line. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and one man’s entertainment is another man’s filth. It was the advent of film and vaudeville was beginning to descend into burlesque, and what had been a very, very firm line became very nebulous.
Isn’t it interesting how it became an ‘accidental success’ for the other daughter. It’s funny how many times in entertainment that actually does happen.
Absolutely. It was completely accidental and also not an accident at all. Louise happened to be at the right place at the right time. She built a better mousetrap.
Kind of like reality TV.
A little. No pun intended; she was the survivor of burlesque in that she found a new way of doing it. She never fully stripped. She never showed her boobs. That was amazing for burlesque.
And then there is Rose. Every belter on the planet wants to sing her songs yet people sometimes only think of Gypsy as a star vehicle.
The show has become so tied to the personality of who is playing Mama Rose and it is one million times more than that. I don’t think people automatically think of nuance when they think of Gypsy, and when they see this production I think they will see that this actually is a show of great nuance. Arthur Laurents has written the single most genius book of a musical ever. Doing it the way that we’re doing it, in an intimate setting where everything is small, allows us to discover all those wonderful moments.
It sounds like a Gypsy nobody knows.
I hope so. And the thing is we’re not setting out to do a Gypsy nobody knows. We’re setting out to interpret the script and not rely on Mama Rose to come in and knock it out of the park. It’s usually built around the star marching out there in her sensible shoes and barking out a song, and yes, we are going to deliver on that. But I feel like there are peaks and valleys leading up to that, and there’s an honesty to the story that I don’t know that I’ve always seen.
What do you think would have happened if Mama had lived at a different time in history?
That’s a great question and there are a couple of what ifs that go along with that. If she would have been what she could have been, she would have been the star. She would have made the choices for herself instead of living them through her daughters. People like her, if they stay out of their way, are unstoppable.
Do you think she was ever afraid?
I think in the 3AM of her soul she had tons of fears but when she did what she was doing, she was intrepid. She did not understand the meaning of the word ‘no’ and that’s not just a catch phrase. It didn’t register with her. It was about the single minded pursuit of a dream and for her to have accomplished what she did was pretty amazing.
Who will be playing the daughters?
Stephanie Wall is playing older Louise and she is phenomenal. I feel like this is one of those situations where people are going to say, oh my god, who is she? Older June is Kailey Swanson, who will end up doing a very long run of Legally Blonde at some point. She’s that girl, and a really good actress. And then the babies are Caitlin Williams as young Louise, who is utterly heartbreaking, and Kaleigh Ryan as Baby June, who came in and had the routine down at the audition. She came in with her batons, sang “Let Me Entertain You,” twirled the batons, did the split and we said, “Okay, that’s our Baby June.”
What do you hope to accomplish with this production of Gypsy?
I feel like our job as theatre people is to somehow make you different on some level when you walk out than when you walked in. I really feel like this is a show where that’s going to happen, and I think that typically you don’t think of Gypsy as a show that’s going to change you.
And after this, what other shows are on your wish list to direct?
I’m doing Falsettos in the fall and I’m super excited about that. It’s for a new 99-seat theatre called the 3rd Street Theatre and it’s a gorgeous space. Lani Shipman started the theatre and this is their inaugural production. Other shows I’d like to do…The second that they release Grey Gardens for small theatre I need to get my hands on it. I love that show. Violet is also on my list. I directed a reading of it for Musical Theatre Guild and that was one of those shows where I said, my life is different now. I’d also love to do My Favorite Year. It’s another great show that nobody ever does and it's also huge, but it would be great to do it here in L.A.
West Coast Ensemble’s production of Gypsy will run May 13 – July 3, 2011 at the Theatre of Arts Arena Stage in Hollywood, 1625 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90028. For tickets and more information go to http://www.westcoastensemble.org/.
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Labels: west coast ensemble