Sunday, March 4, 2012
Upcoming March Musical Events
From the studio of Dan Callaway: Dan’s special guest for his March Musical Theatre Workshop is director/choreographer Kirsten Chandler. Kirsten brings years of experience as a working actor to the table and most recently directed a great production of Little Women for the Musical Theatre Guild. The workshop will run Tuesday evenings, March 6, 13, 20, and 27, 7-10 pm at Dan’s studio, 4922 Vineland Ave., NoHo 91601. The cost is $300 and payment can be made by cash, check, or credit card. Class is limited to 8 people. For more info and to register email dan@MyLAVoiceTeacher.com.performances à la carte presents Winter's Thaw, A Benefit Concert for Elizabeth House on Sunday, March 11, 7:00 pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1757 N. Lake Avenue, Pasadena 91104. A mesmerizing and ethereal musical, literary and visual journey from the icy shroud of Winter to the warm rebirth of Spring, Winter’s Thaw, is a multimedia concert weaving literary, musical and visual arts to feature music written by composers including Eric Whitacre, David Downs, Carole Bayer-Sager, and Ennio Morricone and made famous by such renowned artists as Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Celtic Women, Sarah Brightman, Sissel, and King’s Singers. Based on a series of three poems, the concert will feature solo, choral, and instrumental performances set to stunning original imagery. Click Here for tickets.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Review: It's Delicious Thievery in A Noise Within's THE THREEPENNY OPERA
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| Pre-show: A Noise Within's The Threepenny Opera. Scenic Design by Frederica Nascimento. Lighting Design by Ken Booth, Scenic Painter: Orlando de la Paz. Photo by Musicals in LA |
The first thing you notice when you step into the theater for A Noise Within’s The Threepenny Opera is Frederica Nascimento’s stunningly vivid set design. It’s a deconstruction in which none of the elements are hidden: lighting instruments are in plain sight; pieces of scenery hang suggestively from the rails but without trying to make a complete picture; furniture litters the upstage areas and props are scattered about; the band is in plain view tuning up on one side and actors in rags are already roaming the audience.
It’s an immediate in-your-face blow to the forehead to sit up and pay attention for the kind of theatre you are about to see is not meant to whisk you away to a fantasy land where you get lost in a fictional story but instead insists that you as an audience member will never forget you are watching a play.
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| Andrew Ableson (Macheath) and Marisa Duchowny (Polly Peachum). Photos by Craig Schwartz ©2015 |
Brechtian theatre, or epic theatre as it is also called, is named after Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) and many of its revolutionary elements are still employed by theatre companies today. A lifelong Marxist, Brecht intentionally experimented with theatre as a political medium. He wanted to use it to educate audiences by making them think rather than merely entertaining them. Together with composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950), he would write perhaps his most popular work, The Threepenny Opera, which was a turning point in musical theatre in the early part of the twentieth century.
The Threepenny Opera is based on John Gay’s 18th Century The Beggar’s Opera, which also satirized politics, as well as the favorite musical art form of the day, Italian opera. The scenes are episodic, with songs often announced by an actor carrying a large handwritten placard in directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliot and Geoff Elliott’s staging. These musical interludes are meant to interrupt the action and are conveniently titled so there is no doubt as to what they are (e.g. - Love Song, Wedding Song, Pimp’s Ballad, Song of Futility, Jealousy Duet) and how you’re meant to observe them. A Noise Within’s revival nails the stylistic characteristics of the piece, not the least of which is its overriding sense of detachment. There is a moral here but it is delivered in a very unique manner.
It’s Berlin in the Weimar era and Peachum (Geoff Elliott) is in the pity business, preying upon the rich by hiring phony beggars to steal all they can in order to pad his pockets. When his daughter Polly (Marisa Duchowny) runs away and marries the charismatic criminal Macheath (Andrew Ableson), Peachum loses all control over her and vows to have Macheath jailed and out of his way for good. But Mackie’s friend Tiger Brown (Jeremy Rabb) is the police chief and Brown succeeds in keeping his old friend out of jail. Well, until he can’t, and although things may look dicey for Mackie mid-way through, by the time the final brilliantly-written scene plays out and the unlikely ending falls into place, Brecht makes his point and it’s up to the audience to ponder the takeaway.
The cast is excellent, from Elliott and Deborah Strang (Mrs. Peachum) as the greedy emblems of a dog eat dog world to Ableson, who cuts a pointedly angular figure as the anti-hero, Macheath. In a show where voices don’t necessarily need to be beautiful to be effective, the fact that he sings well is an added plus. As Polly, the lovely Duchowny is a bedraggled child bride who drags an actual baby doll around the stage wherever she goes. Her twist on the character is the freshest interpretation I’ve seen of the role and a reinvention that is as comic as it is pathetic. She goes from petulant young waif to spitfire den mother of Macheath’s band of thieves in the blink of an eye and is the best of many reasons for you to see this production. Stasha Surdyke balances smoky sensuality with sad inevitability for prostitute Jenny Diver, the role Lotte Lenya originated in Germany and won a Tony Award for on Broadway, and Maegan McConnell adds a viciously comic edge to the conniving Lucy Brown.
Weill’s score was originally presented by 7 musicians covering 23 instrumental parts and music director DeReau K. Farrar conducts his 7-piece orchestra for A Noise Within presumably to those original specifications. What I can tell you is that they sound great on the difficult music which is a direct departure from the traditions of grand opera and includes the freer elements of jazz, British music hall tunes, and Weill’s characteristic sound-scapes. Gieselle Blair’s stylized make-up design, accentuated by heavy black eyebrows, deep red lips, and white face powder, captures the decadence and eroticism of the 1920’s Berlin cabaret scene with a humorous flair.
The Threepenny Opera’s popularity with audiences and the fact that it is rarely done has proved advantageous for A Noise Within, who announced an extension even before it opened. Intended for the masses and written to elicit a thoughtful response regarding the inequities of society, this is a revival that is worthy of your time and strong enough to leave a lasting impression. See it!
From the Merriam Webster Dictionary: Threepenny -- adjective
1. costing or worth three British pennies (threepence) 2. poor
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| Andrew Ableson (Macheath), Jeremy Rabb (Tiger Brown), and Marisa Duchowny (Polly Peachum) |
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| Stasha Surdyke (Jenny Diver) and Deborah Strang (Mrs. Peachum) |
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| The Ensemble of The Threepenny Opera |
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| Andrew Ableson (Macheath) and Ensemble |
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| The ensemble with Andrew Ableson (Macheath) |
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| Marisa Duchowny as Polly Peachum |
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| Stasha Surdyke as Jenny Diver |
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| Marisa Duchowny (Polly Peachum), Andrew Ableson (Macheath), and Abubakr Ali (Crook-Fingered Jack) |
THE THREEPENNY OPERA
February 15 - May 17, 2015
A Noise Within
East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107
Tickets: (626) 356-3100 or www.anoisewithin.org
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Labels: a noise within
Monday, September 16, 2013
What's Happening Around Town for September 16, 2013
OPENINGS: Radar L.A., an international city-wide festival of contemporary theatre is set to begin Sept. 24. Presented by REDCAT and CalArts in association with Center Theatre Group, and other local and national partners, the festival will highlight 18 influential productions including works from Latin America, the Pacific Rim and Los Angeles. I’ve highlighted four of the productions that will hold special interest for those who love music and dance but for info on all of the shows that are part of the festival, Click Here.
REDCAT (85 minutes)
Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 - More Info
Director & choreographer David Roussève’s dance-driven work is a coming of age story for the Twitter generation, in which the central character never makes a physical appearance. Present only in unanswered texts projected on multiple screens, a gay African-American teenager reaches out with growing urgency as the dark realities of his life become apparent. On stage the dancing unleashes a full-bodied expression of emotional states that contrast the intimate romanticism of Nat King Cole with the rough edges of original hip-hop inflected music by d. Sabela grimes, while Stardust plays out against Cari Ann Shim Sham’s immersive video imagery.
The Palace Theatre (90 minutes)
630 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014 - More Info
Renowned theater artist Lemi Ponifasio and his New Zealand-based company MAU introduce a 10-member ensemble of Maori women who articulate a powerful and undisguised challenge – voiced through the Maori language, genealogy, spirituality and ceremony. Drawing on the tradition of Maori women as the writers of poetry and chant, this courageous work of transmission gives expression to resiliency and outrage in the face of power structures and oppression. Through oratory, choral-work and dance, the performers address issues of being Maori women in this world and turn a mirror to the massive social and political turmoil of our times.
LATC: Theater 1 (75 minutes)
514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 9001 - More Info
Track 3 is Theatre Movement Bazaar’s fast-paced and inventive spin on Three Sisters, Chekhov’s turn-of-the-century play about the decay of the privileged class in Russia, and the search for meaning in the modern world. While this smart, contemporary adaptation by Richard Alger follows the main events of the original play, director and choreographer Tina Kronis incorporates elements of vaudeville, song and dance – from Russian folk to disco – to catapult the play from its Victorian origins into a 21st-century existential extravaganza.
The Million Dollar Theater (90 minutes)
307 Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013 - More Info
El Gallo mixes opera, comedy and surrealist situations to expose the anxieties that fuel creation, from the audition process through to the climactic concert. For the first act, the audience plays witness to a rehearsal process beset with wrestling matches, bared insecurities and exposed underwear. Viewers then experience the “premiere” of the completed performance. It is entirely sung - in an entirely invented language - to a series of tunes ranging from Gershwin to Middle Eastern folk songs, played by a live eight-piece orchestra. Directed by Claudio Valdés Kuri, El Gallo wittily conveys the obstacles and fears that descend on any production, and the sense of triumph that draws people back to the theater.
The Vagrancy presents the west coast premiere of Bottom of the World by Lucy Thurber, a play accompanied by live bluegrass band, Blue Bird Bandits. This quirky, emotional drama unfolds around a young woman dealing with her sister’s sudden death. Sabina Ptasznik directs the life-affirming piece which flashes back to 1910 and takes a heartfelt look at the various characters’ struggle through loss and longing, while striving for human connection. The cast includes Stephanie O’Neill, Natalie Burtney, Anne Butler, Jordan Boughrum, Jeremy Mascia, Steve Madar, Rosemary Stevens, Michael Edelstein, and musicians J Reinke and Peter Blackwelder. After the play patrons are welcome to a Vagrant Hootenanny hosted by Blue Bird Bandits. Fun, dancing and moonshine guaranteed. Oct. 12 – Nov.3 at the The Lounge Theatres in Hollywood. Click Here for tickets.
OVATION NOMINEES: Congratulations to all of the Ovation Award nominees that were announced tonight at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood. For a complete list of nominees Click Here. The Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 3 at 7 pm at San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 320 S. Mission Drive in San Gabriel. For more information, visit www.OvationAwards.com.
CABARET/CONCERTS: Following a sold-out May premiere, A Little New Music comes back to Rockwell: Table & Stage on September 24. The program will showcase music by award-winning writers Chris Miller & Nathan Tysen (Broadway-bound Tuck Everlasing), Carmel Dean & Sarah Underwood, and Ryan Scott Oliver (35MM), among many others and will feature performances by Barrett Foa, Julie Garnye, Tinuke Oyefule, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Gina Coconato, the cast of Third Street Theatre’s The Burnt Part Boys, and more. Jordan Kai Burnett hosts and Bryan Blaskie will be on keys. Doors open at 6:30pm and showtime is 8:00pm. Tickets and information: www.alittlenewmusic.org.
Kritzerland presents The Story Goes On: The Songs of Richard Maltby & David Shire, Monday, October 7 at 7:00 pm starring Heather Barr, Will Collyer, Ashley Fox Linton, Sally Mayes, John Sloman and Shannon Warne, with music director John Boswell. For reservations call (818) 754-8700. Cover charge $15 + $10 food minimum + $3 facility charge. Sterling’s at The Federal, 5303 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601. Click Here for more information.
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Labels: a little new music, kritzerland, ovation awards, radar la, redcat