Monday, October 26, 2015
Photo Flash: Rubicon Theatre Company's MY FAIR LADY
Rubicon Theatre Company presents a two-piano chamber version of the legendary Lerner and Loewe classic My Fair Lady, directed by James O’Neil. The 17-member cast features Ovation and Indy Award-winner Joseph Fuqua as Henry Higgins, newcomer Kimberly Hessler as Eliza Doolittle, Rubicon veteran Rudolph Willrich as Colonel Pickering, Patrick DeSantis as Alfred P. Doolittle, and Will Sevedge as Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Tickets: www.rubicontheatre.org |
| Joseph Fuqua (Henry Higgins) and Kimberly Hessler (Eliza Doolittle) All photos by Jeanne Tanner |
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| The Company of My Fair Lady |
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| Rudolph Willrich (Colonel Pickering), Joseph Fuqua (Henry Higgins) and Kimberly Hessler (Eliza Doolittle) |
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Labels: rubicon theatre
Photo Flash: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts' RENT
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| John Devereaux, Mark Whitten and Devin Archer. All photos by Jason Niedle |
Jonathan Larson’s RENT, directed by Richard Israel, runs through November 15 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. This all-new production of the inspiring musical about friends and artists struggling with addiction, poverty, AIDS and love is set in New York’s East Village and follows how these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves, and conflicts. Tickets: www.lamiradatheatre.com.
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| Mark Whitten and the Company of RENT |
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| Devin Archer and Cassie Simone |
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| The Company of Rent |
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| The Company of Rent |
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| Mark Whitten and the Company of RENT |
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Labels: la mirada theatre
Thursday, October 22, 2015
MUSICAL NEWS for Thursday, October 22, 2015
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Monday, October 19, 2015
Review: A Tribute to the Master - SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM
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| Barbara Carlton Heart, Kevin McMahon, Josh Wise, Stephanie Fredricks, J ake Novak, and Shaina Knox. All photo by Suzanne Mapes |
He has been studied, copied, emulated, and lauded but one fact is indisputable. Stephen Sondheim is American Musical Theatre royalty. And rightfully so. All of his efforts have been in pursuit of making the work better. Where other writers would bring 20 or 30 options for a word or idea to a meeting with his collaborators, Sondheim would bring 150. That’s one of the things we learn about the man in Sondheim on Sondheim playing at International City Theatre.
The show is a revue that intersperses archival photographs, video clips, and interviews with songs from musicals like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (along with stories of how difficult it was to find the right opening number), Company (and it’s early alternate endings), Gypsy, Follies, Passion, Sweeney Todd, Do I Hear a Waltz (the one he felt was a waste of time) and Sunday in the Park with George (his favorite) sung by a cast of six.
He is the master of crafting a simple lyric or writing a sophisticated harmonic progression, and can suspend a moment in time just long enough for it to land with finesse before moving on. In Sondheim on Sondheim we hear him talk about his process and share stories – some sweet, some poignant, and a few, downright hilarious. It is an enchanting evening that will make every Sondheim lover feel like they have had a personal conversation with Sondheim himself.
Despite much speculation, Sondheim says he only wrote one autobiographical song in his career – “Opening Doors” from Merrily We Roll Along. It’s a song that represents the dreams and determination of three young creative artists trying to make it in show business – a writer, a lyricist and a composer (based on Mary Rodgers, Hal Prince, Sondheim and every other struggling artist he knew at the time). In it, he encapsulates their plight with remarkable specificity and weaves together the lyric and melody so compactly that the form itself tells the story as much as the words and music do.
And that’s what is missing from International City Theatre’s LA premiere. Theirs is a perfectly respectable musical revue nicely staged by director DJ Gray in a very general kind of way. That’s the problem. Sondheim is famous for exploring the underbelly of our emotions. Behind every “normal” looking person is a complicated set of issues and neuroses that play into the decisions a person makes. He is the king of subtext, the master of nuance, and always wrote for specific characters and specific situations.
For a song to work, it requires that the singers be able to reach deep within and, not only find what the song is really saying, but be able to communicate it to the audience with clarity. Translation: you can’t just sing the notes and make them pretty. You have to do the internal work and that takes time. Young singers who haven’t had much life experience are at a distinct disadvantage and must compensate by doing the work.
By the same token, a singer cannot take a song like “Loving You” from Passion, written with long beautiful phrases and specific punctuation, and not honor that phrasing. To breathe every few notes, presumably for effect or because breath support isn’t there, chops up the line and does the song a disservice. Likewise, a comic masterpiece like “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” that has so many changes of thought and rhythm should have the audience in stitches until the bitter undertone takes over the song. But the actor needs to be up to the task to be successful.
Intonation was also an issue on opening night for both solos and ensemble numbers. Everything sticks out when you’re working with these kinds of close harmonies and in only a few of the numbers did the cast really jell. “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story and the second half of “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George where gorgeous.
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| L-R: Jake Novak, Kevin McMahon, Stephanie Fredrics, and Josh Wise |
On the flip side, there are songs in this production that do work, and quite beautifully. Stephanie Fredricks and Josh Wise’s “So Many People in the World” is a lovely example of simplicity that serves the song. The arrangement features Jennifer Li on cello and Roman Solazinka on violin in the accompaniment and, if you listen closely, the strings literally sing in the background. The orchestrations are by Michael Starobin and the arrangements are by David Loud and they are some of the most beautiful and unexpected you’ll hear. Musicians, you’ll find a lot to love.
Fredricks also does a rich and poignant version of “Good Thing Going” and a seductive turn with the boys in “Ah, But Underneath” that are highlights. Kevin McMahon’s emotional evolution in “Being Alive” was heartfelt and brilliantly effective, as was his moving “Finishing the Hat.”
But even if every song had been on point, the star of this show is still Sondheim himself, as well it should be. James Lapine, Sondheim’s longtime collaborator, with whom he wrote some of his best work, conceived the revue as a gift for Sondheim’s 80th birthday. To see how charming he was as a young man, to see the sparkle in his eyes captured in the photographs and hear what he has to say about himself is more than enough reason to not miss the show.
“Art is the other way to have children,” Sondheim says late in the second act. His kind of art will continue as a legacy for musical theatre generations to come. And happily, we will continue to roll along and reap the benefits.
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| The Cast of Sondheim on Sondheim |
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| L-R: Kevin McMahon, Stephanie Fredricks, Josh Wise, Jake Novak, and Shaina Knox |
SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM
October 14 - November 8, 2015
International City Theatre
Long Beach Performing Arts Center
300 East Ocean Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90802
Tickets: (562) 436-4610 or www.InternationalCityTheatre.org
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Labels: international city theatre
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Photo Flash: 3-D Theatricals' THE ADDAMS FAMILY
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| Rachel York (Morticia) and Bronson Pinchot (Gomez) |
3-D Theatricals’ revival of Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s The Addams Family (music & lyrics by Andrew Lippa) starring Bronson Pinchot and Rachel York as Gomez and Morticia Addams, directed by TJ Dawson, runs through Oct 25 at Fullerton’s Plummer Auditorium, followed by a second run Oct 31 – Nov 8 at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. Tickets for both locations are avaialable at www.3dtshows.com. All photos by Isaac James Creative.
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| The Cast of The Addams Family |
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| Micaela Martinez and Dante Marenco |
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| Anthony Gruppuso and the Cast of The Addams Family |
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| Candi Milo and the Cast of The Addams Family |
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| Micaela Martinez and Dino Nicandros |
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| Bronson Pinchot and Rachel York |
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| Tracy Rowe Mutz and the Cast of The Addams Family |
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| The Cast of The Addams Family |
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| Tracy Rowe Mutz, Robert Yacko, Dino Nicandros and Dustin Ceithamer |
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| Rachel York and Micaela Martinez |
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Labels: 3D Theatricals
Saturday, October 17, 2015
First Look: Cabrillo Music Theatre's DAMN YANKEES
Cabrillo Music Theatre’s season opens with Damn Yankees, directed by Kirsten Chandler, playing now through October 25, 2015 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Aging, die-hard Washington Senators baseball fan Joe Boyd will do anything for the Senators to beat the New York “damn” Yankees and win the pennant...even make a deal with the devil. See what happens in the baseball musical that will have you singing and dancing right along with it. Tickets are available at www.cabrillomusictheatre.com. Batter up! |
| Katheryne Penny and the Ballplayers |
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| Renée Marino (Lola) and the Boys |
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| John Sloman (Applegate), John Atkins and Sarah Tattersall (Meg Boyd) |
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| Renée Marino (Lola) and John Sloman (Applegate) |
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| Travis Leland (Joe Hardy) and Renée Marino (Lola) |
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| Katheryne Penny and the Ballplayers |
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| The Ballplayers |
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| Sarah Tattersall (Meg) and Travis Leland (Joe) |
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| Renée Marino (Lola) and the Boys |
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| Katheryne Penny and the Ballplayers |
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Labels: cabrillo music theatre
Friday, October 16, 2015
Review: ANNIE, A Perfect Example of Optimism's Staying Power
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| Gilgamesh Taggett and Issie Swickle. Photos by Joan Marcus |
As I was waiting for my theatre guest to arrive at the Pantages Tuesday night for the opening of Annie, a school bus pulled up. Within seconds, a gaggle of little girls spilled out onto the sidewalk shrieking in anticipation while taking pictures of the sparkly marquee on their smart phones. They were only minutes away from seeing her – that spunky little red-haired orphan, Annie, and they could barely contain themselves.
Their excitement was infectious, their joy real, and in that moment I realized something fairly obvious. It doesn’t matter how much the world has changed, Annie is a musical that will always have an audience. There will always be little girls and little boys breathlessly waiting to hear that much loved (and often reviled) anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow” sung by a plucky adolescent who never loses her ability to look on the bright side.
I would bet that part of the appeal is most of those little girls see themselves as Annie, or see themselves as the Annie they would aspire to be: smart, honest, kind-hearted, and resilient regardless of the challenges life throws in her path. It was comforting to see their innocence.
Thomas Meehan (book), Charles Strouse (music) and Martin Charnin’s (lyrics) Tony Award-winning Broadway musical has been around since 1977. It has had multiple national and international tours, and its regional and school productions must number in the tens of thousands by now. Optimism sells and this is one musical that wears its label “family-friendly” with pride.
Charnin has directed the show 18 times previously, including two of its Broadway iterations – the original which starred Andrea McArdle and Dorothy Loudon, and its first revival in 1997 with Brittny Kissinger and Nell Carter. The most recent touring production playing through November 1st at the Hollywood Pantages marks his 19th time at the helm.
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| Issie Swickle and Lilly Mae Stewart |
For this tour, 10-year old Issie Swickle dons the red wig as Annie and Lynn Andrews steps into the comic shoes of Miss Hannigan. At her young age, Swickle has yet to develop her acting chops but there’s no way you’ll miss her singing voice. Like all of the urchins, her vocal placement is laser-focused right through the nasal cavities and the sound is bright and resonant. The volume is always forte, and the diction is crisper than crisp.
Of course, what is sacrificed in order to accomplish that precision is anything that comes close to nuance, so don’t expect any. This is a straightforward, stand-and-smile-your-way-through-the-song-no-matter-what style of direction from beginning to end. Prepare for that and you’ll be able to appreciate the show’s presentational wholesomeness in the spirit in which Charnin offers it. It’s hokey and cheesy and full of the stuff that makes the younger set scream to the rafters all night long. Musical sugar on steroids – that’s Annie.
Andrews’ Miss Hannigan (my guest and I decided) is a combination of Melissa McCarthy and Nell Carter giving a Mama Rose performance like her life depended on it. She’s a ballsy singer and funny with the shtick. Plus, she can dance like nobody’s business. But playing to the audience so broadly keeps her in superficial territory, even if she is the crowd favorite.
Garrett Deagon (Rooster) can get away with broad for funny’s sake because that’s all the character is. He’s a loosey goosey con man with a vacuous bleached blonde as a sidekick (Lucy Werner as Lily). You don’t expect more so he easily delivers. Gilgamesh Taggett is a likeable, if somewhat predictable, Oliver Warbucks.
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| Issie Swickle and the Company of Annie |
What was unpredictable -- and quite beautiful -- were Beowulf Boritt’s floor to ceiling backdrops of New York City. Like three-dimensional vintage photographs in an antique viewfinder, their intricate detail and vast perspective gave this touring production a much more elegant rendering than I would have thought possible.
So grab a kid or two and dress yourself up in your best smile. Annie is the kind of classic musical that doesn’t apologize for its saccharine sweetness. It embraces it with everything it’s got. And if you need one more reason to go, it has a built-in heart-melter. Sandy, the dog. And you can’t go wrong on stage with a dog. Ever.
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| L-R: Isabel Wallach, Lilly Mae Stewart, LillyBea Ireland, Issie Swickle, Angelina Carballo, Sydney Shuck and Adia Dant |
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| Lynn Andrews |
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| Lucy Werner, Garrett Deagon, and Lynn Andrews |
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| The Company of ANNIE |
ANNIE
October 13 – November 1, 2015
Hollywood Pantages
6233 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Tickets: (323) 468-1768 or www.hollywoodpantages.com
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Labels: Pantages Theatre