Friday, March 8, 2019
Review: The Epic Adventure of THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON
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| Matt Nuernberger, Ryan Melia, and Curtis Gillen. All photos by Kevin Parry |
Remember the joy of being a kid and spending hours upon hours acting out stories using whatever you could find? When two sticks stood in for a swordfight to save the day or a towel became the mantle of a king? That’s what it feels like watching PigPen Theatre Co. in The Old Man and the Old Moon at The Wallis.
The seven energetic lads who make up the troupe may have grown up a bit since the days of short pants and catching tadpoles but the enchanting alchemy of their performance has as much wit and whimsy as you’d find in any backyard adventure. For, in their hands, a sheet becomes a sailing ship, a tube attached to a cooking pot turns into a quacking duck, and a story unfolds that will touch the heart as much as stir the imagination.
There once was an Old Man (Ryan Melia) whose job it was to fill the moon each night but, after years of faithfully completing his task, the routine had taken its toll. He had forgotten all about the promise he made to his wife when they first got married, that they would live a life filled with wondrous travels. One night, he came home to find the Old Woman (Alex Falberg) humming a strange but familiar melody he couldn’t quite place. She asked him to go into town with her and dance, but the tired old man refused. In the morning, he awoke to find that she had taken their boat and was gone.
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| L-R: Ryan Melia, Curtis Gillen, Ben Ferguson, Matt Nuernberger, Dan Weschler, Arya Shahi, and Alex Falberg |
So begins his epic journey across the sea to find her and, in the process, reclaim what he himself had lost. It means leaving behind his responsibility to the moon (which will cause its own complications later) but love is a powerful motivator, even when it has long been neglected. In addition to Melia and Falberg, the versatile company includes Matt Nuernberger, Dan Weschler, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Gillen, and Arya Shahi. Collectively, they create breathtaking sounds and poignant visuals that whisk you away to a land suspended in time. Part theatre, part concert, it’s a delight from beginning to end.
What is most striking about the production is how in sync with each other these likable artists are. It isn’t surprising since they all met while attending Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and over the last decade have forged a creative alliance that makes use of all their many talents. One of their former professors (Stuart Carden) even co-directed the piece. To watch how seamlessly they pass the ball on stage is dizzying, given the various elements they incorporate into the show and how quickly it all moves along.
Shadow puppets add depth to a scene as easily as a lighting change transports the action into the belly of a giant fish or the sound of an accordion conjures up sailors at sea. And the storytelling always feels intimate even within the grander scale of the whole. It may dissolve into mayhem at times but you still come away satisfied and feeling like you know each of them by how they create their characters and make their music.
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| Curtis Gillen, Dan Weschler, Matt Nuernberger, Alex Falberg, Arya Shahi, Ben Ferguson, and Ryan Melia |
Yes, in addition to being known as a theatre troupe they’ve also made a name for themselves as an alternative folk rock band. They released their first album Bremen in 2012 and the score to The Old Man and the Old Moon is quintessential PigPen, riding on wisps of gorgeous harmonies and haunting solo vocals along the lines of The Lumineers or Mumford & Sons. The sound is sophisticated but never ostentatious and does as much to tell the story as any other aspect of the show.
Bottom line: it’s playtime for the kid in us all. I couldn’t stop smiling.
THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON
March 2 - 17, 2019
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets and info: www.thewallis.org
Recommended for all ages
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission
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| The Old Man and the Old Moon |
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| L-R: Ryan Melia, Dan Weschler, Curtis Gillen, Matt Nuernberger, and Alex Falberg |
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| The cast of The Old Man and the Old Moon |
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| Matt Nuernberger and Ryan Melia |
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| Alex Falberg |
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| Ryan Melia |
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Labels: pigpen theatre co, the wallis
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Review: WITNESS UGANDA, Changing the World One Life at a Time
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| The cast of Witness Uganda |
The need for human connection runs deep in Witness Uganda, a musical by Griffin Matthews and Matt Gould based on Matthews’ real-life experiences in Uganda. At its center is the idea that we are all part of a global family – one world, one heart – connected by an invisible thread that never lets go.
That may sound a bit lofty but the musical was born out of a sincere desire to make a difference by raising money for the couple’s Uganda Project, a nonprofit organization that funds education for students in one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Proof of the good they’ve done can be seen today in the youths whose lives have been changed by their efforts. According to the organization’s website, success stories include a doctor, a nurse, several computer experts, and one young man who opened his own non-profit that supports Ugandan orphans.
It all started in 2005 when Matthews, an unemployed actor, traveled to Uganda on a volunteer mission, in part, to prevent his church community from finding out he was gay. His destination wasn’t an obvious one, given that the persecution homosexuals face in Uganda can be sizable. But, when the universe delivers an opportunity, it often does so without giving you enough time to second guess yourself. All it really requires is a leap of faith, and Matthews was ready to take it. So, Witness Uganda is his story.
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| Jamar Williams and the ensemble |
Like any original musical, it has seen changes since its initial workshop. It premiered in 2014 at Harvard’s American Repertory Theater directed by Diane Paulus and, a year later, a revision opened Off -Broadway under the title Invisible Thread. The character of Ryan, Griffin’s best friend, has gone from being a woman, to his boyfriend at the time (Gould), and back to a woman (both times played by Emma Hunton). It has also returned to its first title for its run at The Wallis.
Two Richard Rodgers Awards and two ASCAP Awards show the promise in the piece. A striking cast (which includes Grammy nominated R&B artist Ledisi) and at least twelve producers (among them Leslie Odom, Jr., original cast member Nicolette Robinson, Cynthia Erivo, and Abigail Spencer) have also stacked the deck in the show’s favor.
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| Ledisi. Photo by Dan Steinberg |
Yet for all its pedigree, Witness Uganda still feels like a work in progress, albeit a well-polished and fully-committed one.
Originally, Matthews played himself in the show but, with another musical based on his and Gould’s real-life love story in the works, his character is now played by Jamar Williams (in a sweet, heartfelt performance) while Matthews has transitioned to director.
Griffin arrives in Kampala, Uganda to help build a school for local children. He befriends a young worker named Jacob (Kameron Richardson) whose life is controlled by his angry, overbearing sister, Joy (Amber Iman). A few days later, Griffin loses faith in the mission when he learns their leader, Pastor Jim, plans to sell the school for his own gain, upon its completion. At the same time, he crosses paths with a group of poor orphans who are unable to pay for school but are eager to learn. One of them steals his backpack, which forces Griffin to chase them up a hill to get it back. It is there that his mission shifts from building a school to being a teacher, and he leaves Pastor Jim’s worksite behind.
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| Jamar Williams and Kameron Richardson with the cast |
As expected, the fallout has consequences, however, not for him. And that is perhaps the biggest problem with the show. While the story is about Griffin, nothing really happens to Griffin. Jacob suffers and the children Griffin teaches will endure a huge loss but our hero’s journey has little dramatic tension or personal conflict. His internal struggle alone isn’t enough to sustain the narrative and keep the audience invested. We need higher stakes.
To compensate, the creative team has packed the show with powerful performances, explosive choreography, and exciting vocals that intersect with gale-force intensity. The result can feel somewhat over-produced for the size of The Wallis’ Lovelace Studio Theater but it’s a thrilling combination of elements nonetheless. It’s also a great example of how talented artists can elevate material and make it seem better than it is.
Audience members are positioned on two sides of the stage opposite each other in an effort to create an inclusive experience but instead it only limits the playing area. Technical aspects take a necessary minimalist approach. Other than a few props, a couple of platforms, black boxes that can be repositioned to create the different locales, and some good lighting effects (using LED lights for a disaster scene are a particularly smart solution), the actors and dancers tell the story.
On one of the platforms, Gould conducts the band while playing an electric keyboard housed inside a baby grand with the guts removed. Near the end of the show, the whole unit moves across the length of the stage while he bangs out a highly-charged song. The staging doesn’t have anything to do with the storytelling however it is a cool effect.
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| Dexter Darden (center) and cast |
Gould’s score is a tantalizing mix of pop rock, African rhythms, power ballads, and percussive beats, and he definitely knows how to write a memorable hook. The songs create an impact with their overall style and sound, and it’s easy for a lover of beautiful music to get swept away by their pop sensibility but for theatre that isn’t enough. They need lyrics that will advance the action or engage us in the story. Otherwise we sit back instead of lean into the show. And yet, the beating heart of the piece is never in question.
Witness Uganda may still be searching for the best way to tell its inspiring story but it is a worthy journey we do want to take. Clarity, and a stronger point of view, would make all the difference.
WITNESS UGANDA, A DOCUMENTARY MUSICAL
February 5 – March 3, 2019
Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts
Lovelace Studio Theater
9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets: 310.746.4000 or www.TheWallis.org/Witness
Photo credit: Kevin Parry, except where noted.
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| Jamar Williams and Amber Iman |
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| Antwone Barnes and the cast |
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| Jamar Williams and Kameron Richardson |
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| Emma Hunton and Jamar Williams |
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Labels: the wallis
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Review: Love is Everywhere in LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE at The Wallis
The countdown to Christmas begins and ends with an all-out love blitz this year in For the Record’s latest world premiere, Love Actually Live a hybrid entertainment that blends scenes from Richard Curtis’ 2003 film Love Actually with live performances of the movie’s soundtrack. Co-produced by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, it is a celebration of love in all its messy, complicated, wonderful glory in a Las Vegas-style vision designed to impress.
Multiple screens are incorporated into an enormous breakaway set (scenic design by Matt Steinbrenner, lighting by Michael Berger, video design by Aaron Rhyne) that opens up in a number of exciting ways to create the many interiors and exteriors, intimate moments, large production numbers, and quirky configurations needed for the performance. An exceptional 15-piece orchestra frames the stage with most of its members positioned on a raised landing on either side of a twinkling Christmas tree. Strings, and conductor Jesse Vargas (who is also responsible for the musical supervision and terrific arrangements and orchestrations), are located downstage in their own box. The effect is overwhelmingly beautiful.
Add 17 singers whose American Idol-ized vocals drew catcalls and much applause on opening night and the result is a fusion of elements that embodies what For the Record does best - create uncommon theatrical entertainment that begins and ends with a film and its music.
This is a continuously moving performance, which doesn’t often stop for a breath, as film sequences cut to snippets of live singing, or overlap in a layered set of simultaneous scenes and songs. The downside is a tendency for ensemble singers to overdo their facial expressions and push their vocals in a desire to make the most out of their short stage time.
On the plus side, you get an Aurelia (Olivia Kuper Harris) whose smoky, indie sound is a luscious surprise as Jamie’s (Steve Kazee) Portuguese housekeeper, and a jazzy “White Christmas” sung by B. Slade (Peter) that will take your breath away. Rumer Willis disappears into her dual roles of Peter’s fiancée Juliet (played by Keira Knightly in the film) and office vixen Mia with chameleon-like skill (and an assist from two great wigs by Cassie Russek). Zak Resnick will break your heart as Daniel (Liam Neeson’s role), the stepdad navigating fatherhood on his own. Carrie Manolakos power belts her way to the end of Act I on Kelly Clarkson’s “The Trouble With Love Is” leaving the audience on a blistering high.
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| Rex Smith and backup girls |
But the character who wraps the audience around his little finger every time he steps on stage is lovable Rex Smith as aging rock star, Billy Mack (played by Bill Nighy in the film). Smith pulls out all his star power and comic gusto for a show stopping opening number and final scene you’ll be talking about all the way out to the parking lot.All of the characters are represented - yes, even the porn couple - so if you’ve only watched the film on cable recently rest assured they don’t get edited out here.
Director Anderson Davis has an elegant solution for their scenes which makes the production appropriate for ages 13 and over but note that there is still brief nudity on screen. Davis also incorporates some of the film’s most charming surprises into his direction and the results live are equally as lovely on stage. Even if you know they’re coming, in the moment they will delight you.
As entertainment goes, For the Record’s Love Actually Live is a dazzling spectacle of celluloid and sound, music and magic, brightly packaged for the romantic in us all and best shared with someone you love.
LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE
December 4 – 31, 2018
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets: www.thewallis.org
Photos above by Lawrence K. Ho
Photos below by Kevin Parry
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| Rumer Willis |
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| B. Slade |
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| Steve Kazee |
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| Sean Yves Lessard and Carrie Manolakos |
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| Love Actually Live |
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Labels: for the record, the wallis
Friday, May 4, 2018
Review: BLUES IN THE NIGHT, a Spectacular Showcase for Three Incredible Women
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| L-R: Paulette Ivory, Bryce Charles and Yvette Cason. All photos by Lawrence K. Ho |
Somewhere in a cheap hotel in Chicago, circa late 1930s, three women are singing the blues. Two have been around the block and seen it all. One is woefully wise beyond her years. All have been burned by the flames of desire and lovers who have done them wrong.
This is the set-up for Blues in the Night, the musical revue conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, playing through May 20th in the Lovelace Studio Theater at The Wallis. Epps first directed it in 1980 at Playhouse 46 in New York where it was intended to be a late-night companion piece to a jazz play the theatre was producing. A brief run on Broadway followed in 1982, which scored it a Tony nomination for Best Musical.
Gregory Hines originally assisted with the choreography and for the Los Angeles production it is Jeffrey Polk who adds his unique flair to Epps’ sleek staging. It isn’t a dancy show but the two have found a simple yet extremely effective way of physically communicating humor and innuendo. And because Epps also starts the show quietly, it leaves the piece room to grow, both in volume and emotional intensity.
With no dialogue or plot to speak of, the show rests on the singers’ ability to sell a song. Lord know the blues ain’t easy. You need life experience and a voice that can deliver a universe of pain, passion, and pride in a single note. If you don’t feel it, you can’t sing it, and these three leading ladies have got the goods.
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| Yvette Cason |
Each embodies a particular type. Yvette Cason is the aging Lady from the Road, a performer living on memories stashed in her steamer trunk along with old show costumes. She’s loaded with personality and is as adept at comedy (“Take Me For A Buggy Ride” and “Kitchen Man” will have you shaking your head) as she is in bringing out the sorrow in a song like Bessie Smith’s devastating “Wasted Life Blues.” Best single musical moment of the night, pianist Lanny Hartley’s one chord transition in “Lover Man” that spins the song from wistful longing to sultry despair, which Cason uses to splinter her heart across the floor of her tiny room.
Paulette Ivory’s stylish Woman of the World is a looker whose appetite for romance and liquor has left her constantly disappointed. She has a luscious, creamy voice, and she can bend a note and pull it back from the air like the sound is bridging worlds. The muted trumpet and upright bass intro to “Stompin At The Savoy” tells you everything you need to know about her character in only two bars. Her “Lush Life” is a rich dish served elegantly steamy and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” is a vulnerable acknowledgment of the illusory life she’s created that could be a whole musical by itself.
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| Bryce Charles |
Bryce Charles is the sweet, sad-eyed Girl with the Date, too young to already be so misused by love. She’s two parts sunshine, one part baby doll, with a sparkling voice that is delicate one moment and sassy the next. She’s young but her career will be one to watch.
When the three of them sing in harmony, it is divine. They’re backed by Hartley’s 6-piece jazz combo (Kevin O’Neal on bass, Randall Willis and Louis Van Taylor on reeds, Fernando Pullum on trumpet, Lance Lee on percussion, and Hartley on piano). Act Two opens with the group jamming and soloing on “Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues,” a theme that runs throughout the show. Music direction by Abdul Hamid Royal unites all musical elements - voice, instruments, tone, character, and emotion - to create one of the most luxurious musical experiences on a stage in Los Angeles. It may be the blues but there is as much joy, fun, and fortitude in Blues in the Night as there is suffering.
Attractive period costumes by Dana Rebecca Woods flatter each woman’s assets. If they never sang a word you’d know exactly who each one was by the garments she wears - a sensual satin peignoir for Ivory, a young girl’s day dress for Charles, and an endless array of theatrical accents for Cason to charm the audience with.
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| Chester Gregory and Paulette Ivory |
The cast also includes one man (Chester Gregory) who represents a tunnel-visioned male perspective on the trio’s love troubles, but he is negligible. Though he has a few smooth moves, this show belongs to the ladies.
Jared A. Sayeg floods the stage with jewel-toned lighting to intensify the emotional punch of each character’s inner life. John Iacovelli creates the “Four Walls (And One Dirty Window) Blues” setting as three distinct rooms fitting each woman’s present circumstances connected by a central “memory” world they step into to connect with the audience or to wander back into a dream. Since music is the lifeblood of the show, the band is always visible behind the women, as if to call them home.
Blues in the Night is a decadently rich musical experience built on some of the best early jazz and blues standards you’ll ever hear. Guaranteed to satisfy a lover of great songs, in my book, it’s two hours of musical heaven.
BLUES IN THE NIGHT
April 27 – May 27, 2018
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Lovelace Studio Theater
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210
Tickets: www.thewallis.org
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| Bryce Charles and Paulette Ivory |
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| Chester Gregory |
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| Yvette Cason |
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| Bryce Charles, Yvette Cason, Paulette Ivory and Chester Gregory |
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Sunday, March 18, 2018
MUSICAL NEWS - Mark Your Calendars Now
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| Hamburg Company of Love Never Dies. Photo courtesy of Brinkhoff/Moegenburg |
Love Never Dies – Hollywood Pantages Theatre
April 3 – 22, 2018
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera begins its North American Tour at the Hollywood Pantages next month. This new production reflects changes made since the Australian premiere in 2011 and is directed by Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical). The year is 1907, ten years after the Phantom escaped from the Paris Opera House and made a new life for himself among the screaming joy rides and freak shows of Coney Island. With Christine’s marriage to Raoul on the rocks, the Phantom seizes one last opportunity to win back her love with an invitation to perform at a New York Opera House. www.hollywoodpantages.com
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| L-R: Playwright David Henry Hwang, Conrad Ricamora, Billy Bustamante, Jon Hoche, Kendyl Ito, and Francis Jue |
Soft Power – Ahmanson Theatre
May 3 – June 10, 2018
Center Theatre Group has announced the cast for its upcoming world premiere of Soft Power by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics) produced in association with East West Players. Leigh Silverman directs, choreography is by Sam Pinkleton and musical direction is by David O. The title comes from China’s current quest for international cultural influence, known as “Soft Power” and tells the story of a visiting Chinese executive who falls in love with a good-hearted U.S. leader following the 2016 election. The cast includes Billy Bustamante, Jon Hoche, Kendyl Ito, Francis Jue, Austin Ku, Raymond J. Lee, Alyse Alan Louis, Jaygee Macapugay, Daniel May, Paul HeeSang Miller, Kristen Faith Oei, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Geena Quintos, Conrad Ricamora, Trevor Salter and Emily Stillings. www.centertheatregroup.org
April 27 – May 20, 2018
Yvette Cason stars in Blues in the Night, conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, a production he originally staged in a small Off-Broadway theater in the early 1980s and at Donmar Warehouse in London. Now Epps returns to bring the soul of the blues back to life in The Wallis’ Lovelace Theatre. Joining Cason are Bryce Charles, Paulette Ivory, and Chester Gregory in 26 hot and torchy numbers by the likes of musical icons Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, and Harold Arlen that fuel the story of three women and the men who have done them wrong. You know it’s the blues so the night is sure to sizzle. www.thewallis.org
April 20 – May 13, 2018
Glenn Casale will direct Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts this April. John Cudia stars as French plantation owner Emile De Becque and Stephanie Wall as Navy nurse Nellie Forbush in this classic musical theatre masterpiece dealing with romance and racism in the South Pacific during wartime. Musical direction is by Brent Crayon and choreography by Peggy Hickey. The cast also includes Jeff Skowron (Luther), Jodi Kimura (Bloody Mary), Matt Rosell (Lt. Cable), and Hajin Cho (Liat). Prior to its run in La Mirada, it will play four performances at The Soraya in Northridge, April 13 - 15. Tickets: www.lamiradatheatre.com and valleyperformingartscenter.org/SP
April 20 – 27, 2018
5-Star Theatricals in Thousand Oaks presents The Hunchback of Notre Dame (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Peter Parnell), starring managing director Will North in the title role, at the Kavli Theatre. This gorgeous musical is based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel and the Disney film of the same name, and contains some of Menken’s most beautiful music The cast also includes Cassandra Murphy as Esmeralda, Justin Michael Wilcox as Clopin, Gregory North as Frollo, and Adam Hollick as Phoebus. Musical direction is by Dan Redfeld, choreography by Michelle Elkin, and Misti B. Wills directs. A signed performance for the deaf and hard-of-hearing will take place on Saturday, April 21 at 2pm, followed by a post-show discussion with the cast and staff. 5startheatricals.com
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Labels: 5-star theatricals, ahmanson, center theatre group, la mirada theatre, pantages, the wallis
Saturday, March 10, 2018
The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Your Sunday Recommendation
There are only two more performances left of this poetic flight of fancy but, if you can take the time, I highly recommend you get to The Wallis and see it. The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk is the theatrical love story of early twentieth century Russian artist Marc Chagall and his wife Bella told with a feather-light whimsy and lyrical sophistication that will take your breath away. Marc Antolin stars as Chagall and Daisy Maywood as his wife in this intoxicating production written by Daniel Jamieson, directed by Emma Rice, and produced by Kneehigh and Bristol Old Vic. Passionate, and full of thrillingly optimistic theatre magic, it captures the couple’s romance set against a dramatically changing world in a time of war and revolution. The original score performed by composer/musical director Ian Ross and James Gow is light as air and as poignant as Chagall’s own journey. The entire 90 minutes was a lovely surprise. Tickets: www.thewallis.org
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| Marc Antolin and Daisy Maywood. All photos by Steve Tanner |
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Labels: kneehigh, the wallis