CLINT BLACK'S LOOKING FOR CHRISTMAS IS A WISTFUL LITTLE HOLIDAY TALE

The young cast of Clint Black's Looking for Christmas
at San Diego's The Old Globe. All photos by Ken Howard.

While it might not become an instant holiday classic like It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story, the new musical "Looking for Christmas," now playing at the Sheryl and Harvey White Theater at San Diego's Old Globe, should find a cozy home in community theaters across the country for years to come.

Country music superstar Black's folksy storytelling is well suited to this story of a battle scarred Army veteran named Mike (played with great charm and considerable vocal prowess by Broadway's Aaron C. Finley) who is facing his first Christmas at home following a tragic incident in Afghanistan that has deprived him of his peace of mind and made him question his faith.

Liana Hunt, Kaylin Hedges
and Aaron C. Finley in
Clint Black's Looking
for Christmas

Mike's wife Jessie (a lovely Liana Hunt) and precocious daughter Ellie (an enthusiastic Kaylin Hedges) struggle to understand the private hell that Mike is inhabiting. It keeps him from connecting with the people he loves the most and traps him in the past.

His best friend Doug (gentle giant Deleon Dallas) and his wife Alissa (sweetly sung by Syndee Winters) have their own tender love story that serves as counterpoint to the main action of Ellie's fervid desire for her father to see her as Caspar the Wise Man in the church Christmas pageant. She is joined in the Christmas Eve production by neighborhood children Joanie, Jimmy, Billy and Melissa,  (played respectively by Veda Cienfuegos, Giovanni Cozic, Bobby Chiu and Reese McCulloch). What this young crew may lack in experience they make up for with high spirited enthusiasm and professionalism.

Syndee Winters and Deleon Dallas in
Clint Black's Looking for Christmas

When Mike's despondency threatens to derail both the pageant and a Christmas party, it takes Doug and Ellie to light the way home.

A strong ensemble features fine supporting performances by Scott Richard Foster, Reanne Acasio, Bryant Martin, Katie Sapper, Lauren Livia Muehl, Jonathan Sangster and Lauren Ellen Thompson.

The technical team at the Globe knows how to utilize the little gem-like space of the White, and keeps things simple and charming. Director Kent Nicholson keeps the action moving along (never easy with a stage full of kids) and choreographer Wendy Seyb created simple yet entertaining dance moves.

As usual, the in-house backstage band, led by Matt Hinkley and Cody Owen Stine, provides solid accompaniment to the 16 original songs by Black and the book by Black and James D. Sasser. The rest of the technical team includes scenic designer Sean Fanning, costume designer Charlotte Devaux, lighting designer Rui Rita, and sound designer Leon Rothenberg.

The ongoing dilemma of how to best support our returning vets - who are often damaged inside while appearing outwardly whole - won't be solved by this charming tale but it shows us how the light from a star in the East can often help heal the world.

"Looking for Christmas" runs through December 31. Tickets start at $39 and can be obtained at the Old Globe box office, or by visiting www.TheOldGlobe.org.

-- Lisa Lyons

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS A MASTER CLASS ON ACTING THANKS TO BRIAN DENNEHY

Brian Dennehy stars in Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie and
Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape at Geffen Playhouse.
All photos by Jeff Lorch.

There’s good things happening again at LA’s premiere Westside theatrical venue The Geffen Playhouse. Change and/and or progress, however, can come at a cost; regret, and pain. But change and growth are part of the human journey be it theatre, or the world of business, or just anywhere.

With the arrival of Matt Shakman, as the Geffen’s new artistic director, there’s been a surge in energy and excitement which bodes well for the two complex – The Gil Cates Main Stage, and the intimate Audry Skirball – theatre in the future.

Actor Brian Dennehy is currently presenting a Master Class in acting with his one-man presentation of two One Acts: Eugene O’Neill’s “Hughie” and Samuel Beckett’s obtuse “Krapp’s Last Tape”. For O’Neill lovers, Dennehy’s performance is the embodiment of what O’Neill must have grappled with all his life. The alcohol fueled highs and lows and their disappointments. It all resonates with working class societies.

In “Hughie”, Dennehy fleshes out the now ‘golden days’ of Erie Smith, a life-long professional gambler who has come to New York City in the summer of 1928, to pay his respects at the funereal of his closest friend Hughie.

The lives of itinerant gamblers are akin to gypsies. They’re always moving on. Winning big here and losing it big there. Their lives are an on-going series of feast or famine experiences and memories. It’s those memories and stories that then become the currency that allows them to eke out a bleak existence before leaving this mortal coil. O’Neill, gifted as he was suffered terribly from depression in his youth and family-life.

Dennehy is a legendary interpreter of O’Neill. I guess it’s the Irish gab in them that is the bond that allows Dennehy to channel our first Nobel Laurette Eugene O’Neill so brilliantly. His pacing and timing is the key in the performance that keeps the audience fully engaged for almost an hour – which whizzes by.

Brian Dennehy and Joe Grifasi in Eugene O'Neill's Hughie
at Westwood's Geffen Playhouse.

The story unfolds in the lobby of a small hotel that has seen better days. Actor Joe Grifasi turned in a little gem of a performance as the sad-sack night clerk the evening I attended (November 15th). He alternates the role with actor Armin Shimmerman.

To non-actors, it appears that the night clerk has little to do or say. 90 percent of the dialogue is spoken by Dennehy. However, actors who play of this type of supporting role have to be constantly engaged with what is being said on stage, yet appear to be a casually going about the business required for their role.

Grifasi has performed the role with Dennehy for four years and the two actors have plumbed their roles respectively, which is why this bittersweet and poignant one act play is so effective and enjoyable to watch. It makes one think about their own lives long after the play is over.

It’s Dennehy’s play, no doubt about that. But as good as Dennehy is, and he’s very good, the seamless directorial hand of Steven Robman adds to the professionalism in these two impressive pieces. He applies it ever so lightly; making it so much more effective. It’s a classic case of less is more effective than too much. Well done by all three gentlemen.

The second piece in this play of two one acts is Samuel Beckett’s obtuse ‘theatre of the absurd’ play “Krapp’s Last Tape”. Here Dennehy’s affinity for Beckett’s POV is a bonus. The play centers around a series of Krapp’s tape recordings he has preserved of his thoughts and his impressions of his life which are stored in rooms in his lodgings. As the play opens Krapp is seated center stage and staring vacantly at nothing in particular. All of his inner thoughts play out on his face in subtle on-stage movements. There is a tape recorder at one end of the desk.

Brian Dennehy in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape

at Westwood's Geffen Playhouse

He decides to retrieve something from his desk drawer. A half a dozen bananas. He carefully peels and places one banana in his mouth and begins eating it and then another, until three are consumed. All these actions are performed in mime taking about 15 minutes in all. We could believe we are at the Commedie Francaise, perhaps, watching a Moliere comedy. No dialogue, all action mimed.

The performance is a masterful study on how to solve the Beckettian riddle of what or who is waiting in “Waiting for Godot”, and why Krapp is so unhappy and irritated to understand the absurdity of his life before he leaves the planet. Alas, to this day we still don’t know where we came from, why we’re here, or where we’re going.

Beckett, of course, wrote all his plays in French first and then had them translated into English to be performed. Dennehy is an acknowledged fan of Beckett, which accounts for his many character performances in Beckett plays. In “Krapp’,” we feel his frustration in his inability to cope. If one is not on Beckett’s wave-length, it is difficult to become engaged as an audience. If all efforts to better understand Beckett fail, look at it this way …”we’ll always have Paris.” Everyone understands what that expression means. Perhaps Beckett did too.

An evening with Brian Dennehy performing “Hughie”, by Eugene O’Neill, and “Krapp’s Last Tape”, by Samuel Beckett, is a treat for audiences of the absurdist genre.

The technical creative credits for both One Acts led by director Robman include: Scene Designer Sibyl Wickersheimer, Costume Designer Leah Piehl, Lighting Designer Daniel Ionazzi, and Sound Designer Cricket S. Myers, complete the creative team.

The Two One Acts starring Brian Dennehy is an impressive production that perform on the Audrey Skirball intimate theatre stage at the Geffen Playhouse, and runs through December 16, 2018.

PALM CANYON THEATRE STAGES EDWARD ALBEE’S ICONIC PLAY “WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF”

Richard Marlow, Phylicia Mason, Yo Younger and Sean Timothy Brown
star in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at the Palm
Canyon Theatre. All photos by Paul Hayashi.

The beauty of theatre, as opposed to film, lies in its ability to present to its audiences a fresh approach to each and every performance night and after night. No two performances are ever the same. As the enjoyment of the stage genre grows and matures the more the actors and artists ramp up their performance magic.

Film is a different medium. It’s a cousin of the theatre in that it’s also a creative, artistic, and a powerful art form. But it doesn’t have the ability to ‘breathe’, or to be continually in the moment. Unlike the stage, film is frozen warts and all, in a celluloid time capsule. If the movie misses the mark for its audiences there is no changing a flaw or incorporating the director’s new input for tomorrow screenings.

The Palm Canyon Theatre (PCT) is presenting a four performance only production of Edward Albee’s iconic, Tony Award-winning play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, directed by Michael Pacas, that stars Yo Younger as Martha, Richard Marlow as George, Phylicia Mason as Honey and Sean Timothy Brown as Nick.

Albee is a three time Pulitzer winning playwright, considered to be one of the five most influential American playwrights of the twentieth century along with Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, August Wilson, and Tennessee Williams. Pretty heady company. All of whom are installed the Pantheon of American literature.

Of the five playwrights Albee is the most controversial and the most theatrically provocative. His stories are designed to force the audience to reexamine their previously held tenets. “All my plays are about people missing the boat, closing down too young, coming to the end of their lives with regret at things not done, as opposed to things done” adding, “I find most people spend too much time living as if they’re never going to die.” he opined in a 1991 New York Times interview.

In another interview with “The Guardian” newspaper in 2004 Albee stated “the job of the writer is to hold up a mirror to people” echoing with a twist, the philosophy of fellow playwright and author Bertolt Brecht, who forcefully penned the quote, “Art is not just a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.”

Albee has certainly hammered his offbeat subject matter material over the years, with such plays as: “Zoo Story”, the enigmatic “Tiny Alice, whom many said was too confusing to understand, and “The Goat, or who is Sylvia?” his most provocative and controversial play about love, marriage and sexual mores. And of course, his masterpiece and crown jewel in his canon “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, which I saw last week at The Palm Canyon Theatre; who are best known for their highly successful musical theatre productions.

Richard Marlow and Yo Younger are George and Martha
in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Albee’s scabrous play centers around a middle aged married couple, George and Martha whose vitriolic verbal battles are defined by hyperbolic bitter exchanges, which underlies what seems like an emotional dependence upon each other. Their verbal abuse toward one another is fueled by an excessive consumption of nature’s truth serum – alcohol.

The story in short, revolves around George (Richard Marlow in a finely judged nuanced star turn) and Martha (played by Yo Younger in a tour de force performance, who recently nabbed two acting trophies at the Desert Theatre League Desert Stars Awards) both of whom should be in therapy but aren’t. George an associate History professor in New Carthage University where Martha’s father is the President adds spice and irony, and an extra dimension to their “no holds barred” vituperative relationship, where in truth, each needs the other.

Late one Saturday evening after a faculty mixer Martha invites Nick an ambitious young Biology professor and hunk (played by Sean Timothy Brown) who is new to the university and his timid wife Honey (Phylicia Mason) over for a nightcap. As the evening progresses, Nick and Honey, George and Martha all of whom have consumed more alcohol than the law legally allows to drive a car, get caught up in George and Martha’s ‘games’ of needing to hurt each other and everyone around them.

Yo Younger, Sean Timothy Brown and Richard Marlow
in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

The ultimate abuse comes in the form of dialogue regarding George and Martha’s unseen sixteen year-old son whose birthday is the following day. The story and plot is well known to the world, thanks to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s tempestuous “private lifestyle” that went public; mimicking the play’s characters in the eponymous movie of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, starring Burton and Taylor.

But no additional spoiler alerts here. Besides, the audience is seeing the play through the staging lenses of director Michael Pacas, who pretty much hews to Albee’s original dialogue along with some twists of his own. For example, Pacas has divided Albee’s original three act play into two acts without altering Albee’s dramatic intention. The PCT production is a visceral snapshot of one couples’ version of domesticity.

In the technical department PCT’s solid creative team led by director Pacas includes: Scenic Designer Kirsten Cunningham, Lighting Designer J.W. Layne, and Costume Designer Derik Shopinski.

The best way to sum up this high energy play of American domesticity is to borrow a line from the 1950 Academy Award winning 20th Century Fox movie “All About Eve”, where Bette Davis utters the now classic line to her party guests, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” What a delicious understatement!

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, is an impressive production that performs at the Palm Canyon Theatre in Palms Springs, and runs through October 21st. Call the box office for ticket information at 760-323-5123

INSIGHTFUL DRAMEDY “THE CAKE” IS TASTY AND SHINES AT LA’S GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

Debra Jo Rupp stars as small town baker at the center of a legal hurricane
in The Cake at The Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, CA.
All photos by Chris Whitaker.

Strong writing and a compelling plot line plus a talented cast of professionals adds up to wining over even the toughest of audiences when it comes to accepting and embracing the new realities in the ever-changing and evolving 21st century American theatrical landscape.

Plays, movies, and TV shows today are not the entertainment fare remembered by our grandparents.  A new century opened up opportunities to explore creative ideas and concepts in all the art forms.

Contrary to the admonitions of George Bernard Shaw, who in the 20th century, penned the witty quip, “It’s a pity that youth is wasted on the young” was not as prescient as he thought he was.  Every age requires that the torches be passed forward. It’s in the natural order of things. The old accedes to the young. The writers, playwrights and creative artist-ranks of today, are filled with bright, talented and intellectual practitioners hungry for venues to present their work. The Geffen is one the venues that is willing to explore and work with these emerging playwrights.

Case in point: the current production of “The Cake” now on stage at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, CA. The story is loosely drawn from an incident that occurred in Colorado in 2012. A same-sex male couple walked into a bakery shop and requested a wedding cake for their impending marriage. The male baker refused to create the cake claiming his religious tenets as the reason for his refusal.  That 2012 legal tussle is finally bound for the Supreme Court in 2019.

Carolyn Ratteray (top) and Shannon Lucio (bottom)

stars of The Cake at the Geffen Playhouse

The story, that playwright Bekah Brunstetter intelligently crafts and Jennifer Chambers deftly directs, revolves around Jen (Shannon Lucio) who lives in New York but has always dreamed of getting married in her rural North Carolina hometown.  So she heads down south with her partner Macy (Carolyn Ratteray) to ask Della (Debra Jo Rupp), her late mother’s best friend, to do the honor of creating a wedding cake from her well known bakery.

Della’s cakes are legendary, even earning her a spot as a contestant on the TV show the “Great American Baking Show”, voiced and hosted, but not seen, by George (Morrison Kedde).  Della is thrilled at Jen’s request, until she realizes there’s not just one bride, but two, forcing Della to re-examine some of her deeply-held beliefs, as well as her own relationship and marriage with her husband Tim (Rod  McLachian).  Faith, family, and traditions are on a collision course in this achingly poignant and insightful written and performed comedy-drama.

Often thorny societal issues, like same-sex marriage, are easier to understand and embrace, for some, when comedy is the vehicle of delivery to an audience. The underlying message of empathy and acceptance by the characters also become easier for the audience to relate to in this era of diversity casting and gender-bending character roles.

There are four finely judged performances – both dramatic and comedic - that shine in this production. Ms. Rupp is a canny show business veteran who knows how to reach and please an audience with comedy timing that cannot be taught.   Either one has it or one doesn’t.  Ms. Rupp definitely has it.  And she has her dramatic side as well in her scenes with Mr. McLachian, who renders a gruff veneer at times, but is a devoted husband.

Rod McLachlan and Debra Jo Rupp in The Cake

at the Geffen Playhouse

Ms. Ratteray’s character Macy is not only riveting to watch but is a study in taking the stage and knowing what to do when upon it.  She has a 5000 watt smile that lights up a room (the same smile I saw when she performed in “Pygmalion” with Bruce Turk at the Pasadena Playhouse a few years ago.

The performances of Ms. Ratteray and Ms. Lucio as Jen, are gold standard performing moments.  Their on-stage chemistry is palpable. One can feel Jen’s insecurities and emotional pain of not being able to ‘come out’ to her mother before she died, plus the disappointment of Della’s decision to not bake Macy and Jen’s wedding cake, all of which strains their relationship as well.

With Macy’s strength and Jen’s desire we root for these two young women to succeed in their life journey together.  Ms. Chambers’ creative directorial touches are everywhere and they are seamless in execution. One of the best compliments a director can receive is that their presence was absent. But Ms. Chambers was not missing in the ‘love scenes’ between Ms. Lucio and Ms. Ratteray.  Her inputs are not gratuitous; they’re tastefully performed without losing any of its impact.

The beauty of this excellent production lies in the full blown honest, authentic, and appealing characters created by Ms. Brunstetter, along with the smart direction of Ms. Chambers that avoids the traps of clichés and the usual cardboard memes and tropes associated with same-sex character stories.

The technical creative team led by director Chambers includes Scenic Designer Hickok who nicely creates three distinct performing areas: two bedroom areas and the main bakery shop space. All areas are lighted by Lighting Designer Pablo Santiago, with Costumes designed by Elizabeth Caitlin Ward, and the Sound Design by Jeff Gardner, complete the creative team.

“The Cake” is a splendid production that performs at the Geffen Playhouse and runs through October 21, 2018. Don't Miss It!

-- Jack Lyons

WORLD PREMIERE DRAMA “THE UNTRANSLATABLE SECRETS OF NIKKI CORONA" AT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

Juan Francisco Villa, Nilah Mendoza, Ricardo Chavira, Onahoua
Rodriguez and Cate Scott Campbell. Photo by Darrett Sanders.

World premiere theatre productions are a roll of the dice not only for the playwright, cast, and director, but for the theater and its audience as well. Sometimes the theatre gods shine down upon a production and sometimes they don’t. Regardless, the effort is always appreciated and worth the attempt along with the blood, sweat, and tears of everyone involved.

Under the aegis of new artistic director Matt Shakman, The Geffen Playhouse in Westwood premieres playwright Jose Rivera’s mystical new work “The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona,” directed by acclaimed, award-winning director Jo Bonney.

Cate Scott Campbell, Ricardo Chavira, Nilah Mendoza.
Photo by Darrett Sanders.

Throughout history, oral storytellers have driven the imaginations of writers. There is something to be said about the craft of writing, in all its various forms, that allows us to capture and appreciate the characters’ experiences and emotions, thus engaging audiences. Without oral history, for example, we wouldn’t have the Bible. It is oft said that everyone has a story to tell. Shakespeare sort of sums it up for us with Hamlet’s comment about ghosts and truth. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” True indeed.

Playwright Rivera’s writing comes down on the side of the ‘magical thinking’ style along the lines and vision of the great Colombian writer/novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

“Untranslatable Secrets..., in short is a play about family relations and connections. One twin sister Nikki Corona (Onahoua Rodriguez) is trying to contact her deceased twin sister Abri (Ms. Rodriguez in a double role). She hires the unusual services of an agency operated by Maren (Cate Scott Campbell) that guides its clients seeking to contact those who have left the planet. The play, takes place in the ‘Here and There’ but is set in the present.

Ricardo Chavira, Onahoua Rodriguez. Photo by
Darrett Sanders.

Zilah Mendoza, Ricardo Chavira. Photo by Darrett Sanders.

Instead of a typical linear road trip premise, there are just five actors who play fourteen parts. In order to keep the characters straight and defined in this astral road trip to the ‘other side’. One has to pay strict attention or one could become lost and detached from the story line.

Actor Ricardo Chavira plays only the character of Orlando, and it’s a nicely nuanced performance. Another strong performance comes from Zilah Mendoza, who plays Noelle/Paloma/ Bobbi/and Maria Sol. Cate Scott Campbell also scores as both Maren, the guide agency’s owner in Act One, and as Lisandra, Orlando’s guide in Act Two. Juan Francisco Villa, performs five characters: Manny/Priest/Eldon/Bernardo and Felipe in support.

“Untranslatable Secrets…” comes across to me as a production that is more style than substance. Granted, Mr. Rivera is in uncharted waters, so to speak. Only in literature have characters ‘gone over and come back’. So dialogue can be whatever the playwright says the characters say. The play, however, is set in the present which makes the basic premise problematical. And it’s talky and the pacing is glacial at times.

Just what are those untranslatable secrets that Nikki Corona knows but won’t let the audience hear? One will just have to come to the Geffen Playhouse to find out. This I can say: We all live in a self-contained, absurdist bubble that is whirling through space for unending eternity. We’re here for only a nanosecond in the scheme of things. We should all make better use of our allotted time.

Perhaps playwright Rivera’s whimsical side is at work here in trying to seduce the audience into believing that there’s something magical and fantastical in an afterlife? Like Hitchcock’s illusive, secret plot device - the ‘MacGuffin - in all his films, that ploy keeps audiences engaged, waiting for more to come. There are echoes here similar to the plight of Beckett’s characters in “Waiting for Godot” as well. However, when one is dealing in ‘magical thinking’ as a leit-motif, maybe it’s okay just to go with the flow and ditch reality as we presently understand it.

The technical credits, however, almost steal the show. The creative team led by director Bonney includes: Scenic Designer Myung Hee Cho, who creatively enlarges the stage and acting space of the Geffen, turning the stage into a veritable Garden of Eden in Act Two. Lighting Designer Lap Chi Chu provides supporting mood-inducing moments. Stephanie Kerley Schwartz costume designs are appropriate as is the sound design by the redoubtable Cricket S. Myers. The clever Projection Designs of Hana S. Kim, definitely enhances the overall ’fantastical’ quality and message of playwright Rivera and the vision of director Bonney.

“The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona” performs at the Geffen Playhouse, and runs through October 4, 2018.

AMBITIOUS REINTERPRATATION OF RICHARD III AT LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE

Luis Vega and Jesse J. Perez (right) in La Jolla Playhouse’s
world premiere of Seize the King. All photos by Jim Carmody.

Ambition supposedly killed Caesar according to Brutus.  It also, however, became a two-edged sword that cut both way.  Literature is bursting with characters who are infected with the ‘ambition’ virus who sometime beat the odds but usually die in the effort. Themes of love and death are intrinsically linked in literature   Thank goodness for that ambitious personality quirk. It’s one of the core values of storytelling; that the arts illuminates and that life imitates or is it vice versa?

Young award-winning playwright Will Power (he’s 37) has made a bold decision to roll the dice of ‘reinterpretation’ with his brassy new play “Seize the King”, directed by Jaime Castaneda, now on stage of the La Jolla Playhouse's Potiker Theatre. Aspiring young actors have for centuries been admonished: One does not improvise the dialogue of the Bard. But playwrights like Mr. Power believe that they are exempt from such strictures and of course they are.

Youth is passionate, and youth must have its say be they actors or playwrights. Well, so much for theatrical traditions.  The result of their passion and urgency, however, made “Hamilton” possible on Broadway and with audiences everywhere. It introduced hip-hop singing and dancing to musicals as a new art form that reflected the changes occurring in American society.  Diversity and artistic gender-bending casting in the last five years or so is slowly being embraced by audiences everywhere. “The Tempest”, starring Kate Burton as Prospera, at The Old Globe this summer quickly comes to mind. In “Seize the King” for example, King Edward V is played by an Asian-American female.

“Seize the King” is a re-imagined “Richard III” production that is tasked with all of the character roles being performed by just five actors.  That’s a big bite out of a Shakespearean dramatis personae cast list that can be fraught with disconnects to an audience that remembers the classic mounting of Shakespeare’s historical plays performed with traditional staging.  All productions staged in the round, as is “Seize the King”, run the risk of having at least one actor speaking with his or her back to the audience some of the time. It’s a thorny issue for all involved and is rarely resolved to suit everyone.  In director Castaneda’s case, he did his best to minimize any dialogue damage for the audience by his staging.

Luis Vega, Jenapher Zheng, Saidah Arrika Ekulona
and Jesse J. Perez in Seize the King

Playwright Power’s newly envisioned story of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” in short, depicts the Machiavellian rise to power through murder, deceit, treachery, and betrayals by Richard, Duke of Gloucester; subsequently becoming Richard III; the last of the Plantagenet Kings.

Most of the contemporary-influenced dialogue and anachronisms are delivered in standard American-English. However, some dialogue is delivered warts and all, in the vernacular of current American street language, which may be a little off-putting for some.  One of the advantages and pleasures of classic Shakespearean traditional delivery lies in its continuity and fluidity of its structure in iambic pentameter. Once on board with the rhythm of the speeches, audiences were transported to an Arden Forest or to a battle in Agincourt, France, or to a Danish castle without ever leaving their theatre seat.

A talented cast of six protean actors tackle all the roles in this “Seize the King” production that is led by an intense, duplicitous, scheming, Jesse J. Perez, in a full-blown energetic performance as the villainous Richard who must become a King.  As Richard, Mr. Perez, not only breaks the fourth wall convention, he interacts with the audience from time to time, chatting about his actions in the play. It’s bold, but does it work? Perhaps, it’s a method of drawing the audience closer to the emotions of his character. But it’s a finely judged performance none-the-less.

Making all the intrigue, backstabbing, and betrayals work falls to the talents of the following: Luis Vega as Lord Hastings, Young Warwick, and Greygor the Tailor.  He has wonderful stage presence and piercing eye contact that commands our attention in his all scenes.

Saidah Arrika Ekulona, as Queen Woodville, Gardner2, and Master of the Royal Wardrobe, is a formidable Royal Queen, who takes on Richard; making no friendship with him in the bargain.

Julian Parker as Lord Buckingham, Gardner 1, and a Royal servant, scores as a sympathetic Buckingham, who favors Henry Tudor as the future King of England, but never lives to see it happen. Parker has a quiet demeanor, amid all the clamor of war and castle intrigue of “Seize the King”.

Jesse J. Perez and Jenapher Zheng in Seize the King

Jenapher Zheng delivers two real shape-shifting performances: as a convincing young Edward V, Richard’s doomed nephew, and as grieving widow Anne Neville, who is being wooed by Richard, the man who killed her husband and her father. In the Greek or Roman theatre, Richard would be wise to dine away from his intended and avoid drinking wine or the eating of the figs.  Poison was the favored method of resolving troublesome issues back then.

The lives of women then and right up to the 20th century have been ruled by men.  Position and beauty may have been helpful in escaping the executioner’s ax in the Middle Ages, but life was tenuous at best.  Those good old days were not so good for most.  Will Power has been quoted as saying about his role as a playwright creating new paradigms, “Shakespeare wrote for his time.  Today, we write for our time.”  Daring and confident words from a young-turk playwright, who has the chops to back up his challenge.

In the technical department; the creative team led by director Castaneda has Scenic Designer Lauren Helpern reconfigure the Potiker stage from a proscenium format into a theatre-in-the-round acting space.  The Lighting Designs of Tyler Micoleau, provide plenty of light for the costumes of Emilio Sosa to be fully appreciated.  Sound Designer Mikhail Fiksel provides the ear-splitting, propulsive, sound effects that punctuate, scene-changing interludes.  Enough cannot be said, however, about the brilliant riffs and finger technique of drummer Richard Sellers during some of those interludes.  The audience loudly applauded following each of his ’performance moments’; deservedly so.

“Seize the King” at the La Jolla Playhouse, is a world premiere presentation, that is performed without an intermission (95 minutes), and runs through September 16, 2018.

NEIL SIMON COMEDY BAREFOOT IN THE PARK ON STAGE AT SAN DIEGO’S OLD GLOBE THEATRE

Kerry Bishe as Corey and  Chris Lowell as Paul in
"Barefoot in the Park" at The Old Globe. Photo by Jim Cox. 

Whenever the subject of comedy comes up in polite company, it’s almost impossible not to include the name and career of America’s unchallenged King of Comedy playwright Neil Simon.  Simon is one of the world’s most successful and prolific playwrights. His stage play canon is huge, diverse, and wide-ranging when it came to subjects, characters, and stories. But he is best known for his comedy genius when it comes to illuminating the plight we humans find ourselves in during the short time we spend on this planet.

The author of some 60 plays, screenplays, and three novels over the years, Simon, at 91 years of age, still takes pen to paper (probably a yellow-lined legal pad).  But his last play writing effort for the stage was in 2001 with “45 Seconds From Broadway”. True theatre patrons and supporters of the American theatre will forgive the great man’s last effort “Rose’s Dilemma”, which ran just 29 performance in 2003. It wasn’t a bad play, it just didn’t connect with the audience or critics. Some say it was due to the culture and changing times. Perhaps, but how then does one account for the ongoing appeal of Shakespeare and the classic plays of the last century still being produced for the 21st-century American theatrical going public?  As the King of Siam might say “Is a puzzlement.”

Simon’s plays have always been relevant and always will be. More theatre companies merely need to produce his plays which address the problems of how to navigate the choppy waters of getting along with one another. Simon offers the palliative of humor to ease the rough edges of dashed hope and dreams that slip through our fingers. Without humor and comedy life would be unbearable. There’s humor everywhere just hiding in plain sight. Playwright Simon just helps us find it in his plays. But I digress.

San Diego’s renowned Old Globe Theatre is currently staging one of Simons’ earlier, highly successful and blisteringly funny romantic comedy plays “Barefoot in the Park”; seamlessly and smartly directed by Jessica Stone.  The story follows a pair of Newlyweds. Corrie and Paul Bratter, as they begin married life in a tiny, 5-story walk-up Brownstone apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in February of 1963.

Paul (terrifically played by Chris Lowell) is a strait-laced young attorney; Corrie (coquettishly and appealingly played by Kerry Bishe) is far more spontaneous and free-spirited individual who refers to her husband as a stuffed shirt from time to time. As the young couple contend with: a lack of heat, a skylight that leaks snow, several breath-challenging flights of stairs, an oddball Hungarian neighbor Victor Velasco (played with flair and elan by Jere Burns), and Corrie’s well-meaning mother Ethel Banks (nicely played by Mia Dillon) who lives in New Jersey, and an empathetic  NYC telephone installer and repairman portrayed by Jake Millgard (in a little gem of a performance), along with the two newlyweds who must now reconcile their own personal differences in how they approach life’s challenges. Adjusting to married life isn’t so easy. Who knew marriage could be so complicated and yet so funny and entertaining at the same time?

Mia Dillon as Mrs. Ethel Banks and Jere Burns as Victor Velasco
in Barefoot in the Park at The Old Globe. Photos by Jim Cox.

As always with the plays of Simon the situations and the dialogue is scintillating and replete what has now become known as “zingers”; a Simon trademark.   The folly and the pathos on the part of Simon’s characters and their plight is what engages and connects the audience.  Everyone can relate to the character’s antics as well as their own past experiences, say, in giving in to a request to dine at a place one normally wouldn’t.

For example, when Paul, Corrie, Ethel, Corrie’s mother, as the guests of neighbor Victor Velasco, with all four dining at an Albanian restaurant on Staten Island consuming menu items recommended by Victor that are so esoteric that when consumed, they prompt Paul to comment “it’s not easy to dig into a black salad”, or enjoy “a sheep dip soup”, followed by numerous glasses of the Greek liquor Ouzu; which according to the characters in the play make ‘their teeth feel soft’.   No one writes hilarious visual-like dialogue like Neil Simon.

However, no more spoiler alerts from me.  You must see for yourself this fresh, breezy, production to fully appreciate the great comedy writing of Neil Simon and the wondrous technical magic that the Old Globe creative team contributes in the apartment setting, along with five pitch-perfect performances by this outstanding cast.

If I were to be picky about performances in this easy-to-like production, it would come in the form of a question: Why do young, but seasoned performers, think all young female characters – or their directors – feel the need for them to act like prancing, young fillies, to express youth when walking into a room?   One should observe how real young people (18 to 22 years-old) act and move whether they’re living in 1963 or 2018.

The technical credits are always first rate, state of the art, in all the venues of the Old Globe Conrad Prebys theatre complex.  Led by director Stone, Scenic Designer Tobin Ost, renders a functional set with some visual surprises for the audience. Lighting Designer Amanda Zieve provides the proper amount of light to see the Costume designs of David Israel Reynoso, and Sound Designer Lindsay Jones completes the creative team.

Director Stone, however, does indeed, mount a clever, fast-moving, wonderfully-paced comedy, that was originally written for a proscenium theatre, which she neatly transforms to fit into the in-the-round acting space of the Sheryl and Harvey White stage. It’s a splendid production.

I am constantly amazed by Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein’s unerring play selections every season.  He has the pulse of his patrons constantly on his personal radar screen as well as those of current events, and the needs of his actors and creative artists to stretch and grow.  There is a backlog of artists waiting in line to become part of the Old Globe experience. How fortunate for San Diego audiences.

“Barefoot in the Park”, performs in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre and runs through September 2, 2018.

NORTH COAST REP THEATRE SCORES BIG WITH HYSTERICAL HILARIOUS COMEDY FARCE MUSICAL

Front: Missy Marion, Omri Schein
Back: David McBean, Jean Schroeder, Luke H. Jacobs, Amy Perkins.
All photos by Aaron Rumley

No matter how many times one sees one of the funniest, most hilarious, musical comedy-farce  productions of the last 50 years, one still cannot help but enjoy the sheer madness and outrageous comedy audaciousness of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” created by the legendary Broadway team of Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove, and Larry Gelbart.

The only comedy writer/playwright with a better comedy track record than Shakespeare is the incomparable legendary Neil Simon, author of more than 33 Broadway smash hits with three of them running simultaneously in a single season!  No one has ever done that before or is it likely to achieve that again. Gelbart created TV’s MASH, Shevelove wrote Radio, TV, and movie comedies with Gelbart, and the Bard’s comedy credits are too numerous to list here.  Need I say more?

Which brings us then to the gold standard of The American musical comedy:  Either “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” or “Gypsy” are the recognized candidates. So choose your pick.  Both are bullet proof when it comes to music, lyrics, and librettos in structure, and execution.  Both are just flat out great entertainment.

So as long as North Coast Repertory Theatre (NCRT) is presenting “Forum” as the final production of its 36th season, it’s proper and fitting to review one of the best examples of a block-buster musical hit for audiences of NCRT.

“Forum” is the result of judicious research of playwrights of yore, by play director David Ellenstein, who  did his homework well; coming up with a favorite of his and mine, in the process. If I were to attempt to boil down a plot synopsis that would make sense of the onstage shenanigans from this gifted cast of top comedy-farceurs, I wouldn’t be able to finish this review in time for my paper. So with a mea culpa to Director Ellenstein, I’m borrowing and paraphrasing some his research notes.

Front: Jason Maddy, Omri Schein, Amy Perkins
Back: Missy Marion, Luke H. Jacobs

This wacky play was originally written and staged by bawdy Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus 2000 years ago. It’s a playabout sly servants, senile skirt-chasers, hen pecked husbands, domineering matrons, lovesick young, and comely courtesans, with hearts of gold; all mixed up in mistaken identities, disguises, double takes and double-entendres.

If Marty Burnett, resident Set Design wizard could take the NCRT production of “Around the World in 80 Days, on their cozy stage imagine what he and Lighting designer Matt Novotny could do with Rome, The Forum, and its environs, replete with the gorgeous gossamer costumes for sexy dancing girl outfits designed by Elisha Benzoni, along with authentic looking togas and robes for the male actors.  The costume for Roman Captain Miles Gloriosus makes one want fall in line and march off to a battle somewhere.  The choreography of Colleen Kollar Smith is tastefully done and is delicious to watch.

In making all the silliness come alive, belongs to a talented and gifted company professional actors, who when they find themselves on stage in a comedy-farce know exactly what to do and how to  do it. There are thirteen splendid actors who make the magic happen.

NCRT artistic director David Ellenstein who is also the director of “Forum” made a smart choice in casting Omri Schein in the lead role of Pseudolus, the slave who will do anything to buy his freedom.  It’s a star turn in a cast chock full of clever, talented, and inventive performers. Mr. Schein has energy and comedy timing to burn.  It’s a very impressive performance.

Chris M. Kauffmann and Noelle Marion

Kevin Hafso Koppman as Hysterium delivers a highly nuanced comedy gem of a performance as the harrassed head servant/slave in the House of Senex;  Andrew Ableson as Senex, the man who can’t quite catch the young Virgin Philia, sweetly  and naively played Noelle Marion; Chris M. Kauffmann as Hero, the love interest of Philia; Melinda Gilb as Domina, ‘she who must be obeyed’ and wife of Senex;  John Greenleaf as Erronius, who keeps searching the Hills around Rome for his two children who were captured by Pirates years ago (Remember, I told you it was a complicated story); Jason Maddy as the commanding Captain Miles Gloriosus of the Roman army; Luke H. Jacobs as Protean/Eunuch; Jean Schroeder as Tintinabula, an exotic dancer from the House of Marcus Lycus; Amy Perkins as dancer Protean/Panacea, also from the House of Marcus Lycus; Missy Marion as Protean/ Vibrata , yes, she too is from the House of Marcus Lycus, and David McBean as the man himself Marcus Lycus, in a terrifically inventive, fresh, scene stealing performance as Rome’s  procurer extraordinaire.

Jason Maddy and Melinda Gilb

There so many inventive directorial touches in this production that have the creative fingerprints of David Ellenstein all over it, makes NCRT attendance mandatory.

This cast is as close as one can get to a nearly flawless production.  The live musicians under the direction of Ron Councell feature: James Beauton, percussion, Sean Laperruque, Violin, Viola, Keyboard 2, Jim George, woodwins, and Ron Councell on Keyboard 1.  In a musical production there is no substitute for live musicians over tracks.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” performs at North Coast Repertory Theatre, Solana Beach, CA and runs through August 12, 2018. Don’t Miss It!

PROVOCATIVE DRAMA EXPLORES IMMIGRANT LIFE IN AMERICA AT LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE

Jolly Abraham as “Aamani,” Xochitl Romero as “Isobel,”
Brenda Meaney as “Renia” and Leslie Fray as “Pelagiya”
in "Queens" at La Jolla Playhouse. All photos by Jim Carmody

The La Jolla Playhouse (LJP) founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer, is one of America’s prestige regional theatres. It has sent more than thirty productions on to the stages of Broadway, nabbing many Tony nominations and Tony Awards in the process.

The Playhouse’s 2017 production-transfer to Broadway, “Come From Away” won the 2018 Tony for Best Director of a musical for LJP artistic director Christopher Ashley.  Ashley has held the creative reins at the Playhouse for the last 11 years. Under his aegis, The La Jolla Playhouse production “Memphis,” also went on to win a Best Musical Production Tony Award in 2010.

With LJP’s current production “Queens”, the playhouse mounts a powerful drama about the plight of both legal and illegal immigrants, and their desperate drive to remain in the United States, in order to make a better life for themselves and their separated families, some of whom remain back in the countries they fled.

For most, ties to their country of origin and families has been severed.  Some cannot or will not go back.  They choose to live in their present situation in the hope that it will change for the better.  Hope is what drives the human soul to keep on going.  Without it, life dies prematurely.

Melissa Miller  as “Lera” and Rae Gray as “Inna”

Written by rising award-winning Polish playwright Martyna Majok, and directed by theatre-savvy veteran  Carey Perloff, the story of six female immigrants living in a basement apartment that is illegally-wired and without approved city permits and building codes is a recipe for the exploitation of many immigrants who have no surrogates to speak for them.

Men don’t seem to have Mother Nature’s support system that females have.  The community of women has learned the hard way the strength that bonding produces.  Women have a 10,000-year head start over men, who were too busy just being food and shelter providers, to say nothing of being wary of male strangers in their midst. (Perhaps, this was the impetus for the union movement?)

Director Perloff has seized the ‘Carpe Diem’ moment, allowing us to peek into a subject matter that almost every female in the audience can relate; delivering the reality of the basic inequality of life on this planet, which in the 21st century is finally being highlighted.

The all-female cast of characters represent the countries of Ukraine, Cuba, Afghanistan, Mexico, Poland, and Russia.  It’s an interesting mixture of cultures and accents involved in the telling of their compelling stories.  I’m assuming, in the case of this outstanding cast, either playwright Majok or director Perloff made the decision to have the actors speak in heavily-accented English.

Brenda Meaney as “Renia” and
Xochitl Romero as “Glenys"

Yes, it’s true to life.  Immigrants have been in America for over 400 hundred years (1607 Jamestown Virginia to the present). But understanding all six characters in heated dialogue, at times, made clarity and communicating the dialogue and the play’s message to the audience a real challenge.  It’s as if one wandered into a foreign language film screening that didn’t have English subtitles. When a production makes it difficult for the audience to connect with what’s taking place on stage, there is a natural disconnect that follows. Alas, some of the theatre audience failed to return for the second act.

For those who did return, the goal for them was to focus more intently on the characters’ accents and body language.  The actors are not only intense, skilled, and committed to the story; they make compelling cases for introspective reflection on the part of the audience.  We have to root for someone or the time invested by the audience will feel like they’ve been short-changed.

The story, in short, revolves around Renia, the landlord of an old building in Queens, NY, who rents out basement spaces in a makeshift apartment setting in 2017 to immigrant women seeking a place to live.  Young Inna arrives at the brownstone tenement where she is met by Renia, who stood on the same stairs sixteen years earlier herself.  The two women are guarded at this first meeting.  Not willing to disclose too much about their pasts or situation but time brings an understanding between them.

Inna agrees to the price of the weekly rental and eventually meets her “neighbors” in the partitioned areas.  The clever set design by David Israel Reynoso provides many nooks and crannies and performing spaces where the action takes place.   Costumer designer Denitsa Blinznakova delivers the thrift store-like costumes that are called for, and the lighting design by Lap Chi Chu imbues the drama with many mood-inducing moments.

Brenda Meaney as "Renia" and Rae Gray as "Inna"

There are no star turns in this poignant drama dealing with a slice of life most of the audience never had to endure.  The beauty of this production lies in the solid and capable performances of the entire ensemble group of actors: Jolly Abraham as Aamani; Leslie Fray as Pelagiya/Dragana; Rae Gray as Inna; Brenda Meany as Renia; Melissa Miller as Agata/Lera; and Xochitl Romero as Isabella/Glenys, whose individual performances inform the production of the American immigrant experience.

It’s compelling stuff that slowly wins one over, but make sure you stay until the end.  Also, I highly recommend reading dramaturg Shirley Fishman’s incisive interview in the Program with playwright Majok before the play begins. It’s fascinating and illuminating.

“Queens” performs on the Hugh Potiker stage at the La Jolla Playhouse theatre complex and runs through July 29, 2018.


L-R: Brenda Meaney as “Renia,” Leslie Fray as “Pelagiya,” Xochitl Romero as “Isobel,” Jolly Abraham as “Aamani”

PALM CANYON THEATRE STAGES THE MUSICAL COMEDY “THE WEDDING SINGER”

Shafik Wahhab and Elizabeth Schmelling star as Robbie and Julia, i
n the musical "The Wedding Singer." All photos by Paul Hayashi.

The Palm Canyon Theatre (PCT) of Palm Springs has a long and winning track record of producing musical theatre productions that please their audiences. The list of award-winning productions and Desert Theatre League (DTL) trophies is too numerous to list here.

All of their winning efforts have come from the pens of strong librettists and musical composers and lyricists.  Most of whom are enshrined in the Pantheon of Broadway Stars and stage productions.

“The Wedding Singer,” the stage musical is based on the Adam Sandler movie of the same name that debuted in 1988.  The current ‘Wedding Singer’ stage musical now on the Palm Canyon Theatre stage has been updated with a total of 20 musical numbers; some of which are new.  The PCT show also retained some the original songs written in 2006.

The production is energetically directed by choreographer/director Anthony Nannini, who challenges his ensemble cast and a few principals to deliver his vision of a musical set in 1985.  Mr. Nannini has the stage awash in the colorful costumes of resident costumes designer Derik Shopinski, amid a set designed by resident design wizard J.W. Layne, who also is the resident Lighting Designer. So, we’re off to a good start.

The story, however, is the weakest component in the production.  After all, it was co-written by Sandler for himself to star as the leading man Robbie Hart as a non-conforming, boorish, wedding singer, society misfit who drinks too much and appears to be stuck in a case of arrested development when it comes to common sense. Just the type of role that Sandler loves to play in his movies.  Not necessarily the qualities or the stuff that we expect of from our leading men as they search for love and some semblance of stability in life.  But alas, we have to root for someone, or we disconnect as an audience.  Aaah, to be young, carefree, and fickle. It’s a case of those pesky raging hormones again.  Were we really that callow back in 1985?  Yeah, I guess we were.

In the PCT musical production, Robbie gets a makeover of sorts. The new Robbie played by Shafik Wahhab, is not as off-putting a character as was Mr. Sandler.  However, he’s still stuck with some of those questionable character’s traits from the movie. Mr. Wahhab makes the best of the role because he’s a fine actor with a nice tenor voice that sounds great in two-part harmony with his leading lady Julia, winningly played and strongly sung by Elizabeth Schmelling.  Their on-stage chemistry works, making the principal supporting players’ jobs easier in keeping this predictable story at least within the zip code of reality and believability.

The story, in short, revolves around Robbie Hart, a New Jersey wedding singer, who really wants to be a rock star.  He’s the life of the party until his own fiancée leaves him waiting at the alter  “shot through the heart”, so to speak.  Robbie from then on makes every wedding he sings at as disastrously as he can.

Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection.  As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street wheeler-dealer and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. It’s a tried and true old story line. It’s just like old wine in a new bottle.

Most musicals are remembered for their songs. It’s the melodies, and/or the lyrics that hopefully the audiences will whistle or hum on the way out or remember later. With all those singer-dancers up on the stage working hard to please the audience, I can only recall one song that is beautifully rendered.  It’s poignantly sung by Mr. Wahhab and Ms. Schmelling at the finale called “Grow Old With You,” written by Mr. Sandler and Tim Herlihy.

As lovely as it is, one song does not, however, make for a memorable musical production no matter how hard everyone tries. Also, the off-stage orchestra needs to ratchet down at least two levels so we can hear and appreciate the dialogue and understand the lyrics, as well as reduce the dialogue delivery from warp-speed to something closer to traditional speech patterns.

There are twenty-five cast members working hard to please. “The Wedding Singer”, will no doubt, resonate with younger audiences more easily than with their parents and grandparents tastes.  Helping to tell “The Wedding Singer” story are: Alisha Bates as Holly; Leslie Benjamin as Angie; Elissa Landi as Rosie; Cameron Merrihew as Glen; Keith T. Nielsen as George; Christian Quevedo as Sammy;, and Tessa Walker as Linda, along with sixteen performers in the ensemble.

The orchestra, led by Music Director Jaci Davis on piano features: David Bronson on drums, John Pagels on guitar, and Bill Saitta on Bass.

“The Wedding Singer” directed and choreographed by Anthony Nannini, performs at the Palm Canyon Theatre through July 15, 2018. For reservations and ticket information, call 760-323-5123.

“WOMEN BEHIND BARS” IS A NAUGHTY NOIR-COMEDY HOOT AT DESERT ROSE PLAYHOUSE

The cast of "Women Behind Bars" at Desert Rose Playhouse. All photos by Mike Thomas Photography.

Co-founders Jim Strait and Paul Taylor of the Valley’s only LBTGQ live theatre company has a winning production on their hands making it a great way to announce their mutual retirement from the award-winning Desert Rose Playhouse (DRP), in Cathedral City. When the time comes, everyone would like to hang out his or her ‘Gone Fishin’ sign and leave their creative endeavors on a high note.

Mr. Strait and Mr. Taylor have done precisely that.  After six years of serving the valley’s LBTGQ community with ‘its ‘blood, sweat, tears, as well as the ecstasy and adrenaline high that only comes with another opening night in a theatre.  They deserve our Mahalo’s for six wonderful seasons of a job well done. Please note: Desert Rose Playhouse will still be producing plays for the LBTGQ audiences of the Coachella Valley.  Messrs. Strait and Taylor have been practicing their Hawaiian Island dialects which, no doubt, will come in handy in their retirement years.

The changing of the guard at the Desert Rose Playhouse, so to speak, comes after the closing night performance of DRP’s current ‘Hot Summer Nights’ annual production series with “Women Behind Bars,” written by Tom Eyre, and co-directed by Jim Strait and Robbie Wayne, and produced by Paul Taylor.

Louise (Ruth Braun) and
Matron (Loren Freeman)
 in 'Women Behind Bars"

Director Strait has assembled a cast of actors that the writers and directors of those 1930’ and 40’s Noir dramas about femme fatales and life in prisons (a staple of Warner Bros. movies back then) would be proud to cast in their films.

The story is a simple ‘boilerplate’ script. In short, it’s all about women in prison sniping at one another and complaining about everyone and everything behind bars, as well as those who are living on the outside.  Most claim to be innocent, btw. The Matron mockingly says they all say that; and what the Matron says goes!  ll the ladies are serving time and just waiting to get out.

The meat and beauty of this over-the-top comedy lies in the sensational performances of the actors.  Comedy-farce productions always walk a very narrow line between being true to script/story, but, still staying within the zip code of reality or believability.

This production is a hoot of a comedy about serious subject matters inherent in their situations and reasons for being in prison. Set in 1950’s when America’s female population couldn’t possibly be anything but the sweet, wives, mothers, and in-laws, and/or our next door neighbors (or so Hollywood would have us believe).

Playwright Eyen, sort of tosses that “Father Knows Best” dialogue out the window with “Women Behind Bars.” The movie version played it as far more believable due to the time setting of the 50’s. This DRP version is a heck of lot funnier in 2018. It was a kinder and gentler America back then, not now, however, There is nothing actors like to do better than to chew the heck out of the scenery.  This talented cast does exactly that to the delight of the audience. “Women Behind Bars,” is chock full of sexual double-entendres, double-takes, and asides to the audience in language that would make a stevedore blush. A word to the uninitiated: there is nudity, and very strong vernacular-of-the-streets language being hurled from the stage. So leave the kiddies and grandma at home.

Adina Lawson as Granny in "Women Behind Bars"

Each cast member brings their special talent and acting gift to the production. They are all a delight to watch and enjoy.  They include are in alphabetical order: Francesca Amari as Ada; Melanie Blue as Guadalupe; Ruth Braun as Louise; Kimberly Cole as Jo-Jo; Loren Freeman as The Matron; Deborah Harmon as Blanche; Adina Lawson as Granny/Warden; Phylicia Mason as Mary-Eleanor; Kam Sisco as Cheri; and Yo Younger as Gloria.

“Women Behind Bars” is a true acting ensemble effort. Individually they’re very talented, but as an acting ensemble unit, they’re a well-oiled, comedy performing machine.

The technical credit for “Women Behind Bars” boasts some of the best techies in the Valley. The Set Design is by Toby Griffin, Lighting Design by Phil Murphy, Sound Design by Jim Strait, Costumes by Jennifer Stowe, and Wigs by Toni Milano.

“Women Behind Bars” is performed without an intermission at Desert Rose Playhouse in Cathedral City, CA. and runs through July 29th.

For reservations and ticket information call 760-202-3000 or go online to desertroseplayhouse.org

A GLITTERING TRIUMPHANT “TEMPEST” ONSTAGE AT SAN DIEGO’S OLD GLOBE THEATRE

Philippe Bowgen as Ariel and Kate Burton as Prospera in the
Old Globe production of "The Tempest" All photos by Jim Cox.

June marks the month the Old Globe Theatre of San Diego launches its internationally famous Summer Shakespeare Festival in the Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Outdoor Theatre.

Opening Nights at the Globe are always eagerly anticipated.  But I feel there is a special sort of electricity that runs through the audience for an opening which debuts in a fitting setting that recreates the outdoor venue of Shakespeare’s Old England, with Arden Forest, a favorite location of the Bard for several of his plays.

Nora Carroll as Miranda and Kate Burton as Prospera in
the Old Globe production of "The Tempest"

This time the play’s setting is wherever our imaginations believe it is.  For me, it was about 600 miles from London on an imaginary island somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.  In short (which Shakespeare’s plays are not), “The Tempest,” centers around Prospera, the Duke of Milan, who has been thrown out of power by her wicked brother forcing her to live in exile on a desert island.

For company, she has only her daughter Miranda, spirits who are native to the island, along with her beloved books.  The books are the source of her dark magic, which she uses to lure her enemies to the island so she can exact revenge.  But her plot could destroy Miranda’s happiness, so Prospera must choose between her own anger and that of daughter’s future.

It’s a Hobson’s choice and dilemma that resonates today in America’s polarizing political machinations of our body politic.  For those who think Shakespeare and his plays are outdated, perhaps it’s time to think again as to their relevancy.

The Old Globe’s prescient Erna Finci Artiti Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, himself a Shakespeare scholar, understands how the hidden magic in Shakespeare’s plays can still inspire and entertain.  His tapping of Irish director Joe Dowling to helm the technically challenging Old Globe production of “The Tempest,” is both a stroke of genius and of timing.

Robert Foxworth as Alonso, Jared Van Heel as Adrian,
Yadira Correa as Francisca, and Lizan Mitchell
as Gonzala in "The Tempest"

Dowling ran the famous Guthrie Theatre of Minneapolis for 20 years and is an experienced stage director of some 50 plays who brings a wealth of theatrical riches and experience to the Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s last great play; underscoring the importance of forgiveness and redemption.

There are twenty-two performers in the 2018 company of players.  Led by the wonderful Kate Burton as Prospera, in a cross-gender performance with several other male characters that are also played by females.  Burton is a classically trained actor who commands the stage when she’s upon it. In today’s theatre, actors of color play all characters, and some in cross-gender performances which is becoming more the norm rather than the exception. Remember, in Shakespeare’s day all the characters were performed by men. We bought the premise then, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for us accept it now.

Sam Avishay as Ferdinand and Nora Carroll
as Miranda in "The Tempest"  

In director Dowling’s splendid production Ms. Burton reigns over her island and those who step upon it.  It’s a bravura performance.  She is both strong and bitter with her existence.  However, in portraying Miranda’s (an appealing Nora Carroll) mother, Burton adds another dimension to her performance: making the resolution of forgiveness and redemption at the end of the play make more sense.

Offering solid support to this glittering, technically brilliant, production is Philippe Bowgen as Ariel, Prospera’s loyal island spirit.  I remember his highly nuanced comedy performance as Pablo Picasso, in the Globe production of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”; also Sam Avishay as Miranda's love interest Ferdinand; Lizan Mitchell as Gonzala, Robert Foxworth as Alonso, Manoel Feliciano as the wonderfully evil Caliban, Rene Thornton, Jr. as Antonio, Eric Weiman as the Shipmaster; Renardo Charles Pringle Jr. as the Boatswain and Daniel Ian Joeck as Sebastian, the scheming brother of Alonso.

Andrew Weems as Trinculo, Philippe Bowgen as Ariel,
Robert Dorfman as Stephano, and Manoel Felciano
as Caliban in "The Tempest"

The character of Sir John Falstaff and his bumbling mates, Shakespeare’s favorite comic foils, are usually inserted into the action of his plays whenever possible.  In this “Tempest” production that ploy falls to the comic characters of the drunk Stephano, and his bumbling, whining friend Trinculo, who play the characters to the hilt by Robert Dorfman, and Andrew Weems, respectively. This stellar production is also blessed with an ensemble cast to die for.

The production under the seamless direction of Joe Dowling is a visual feast for the eyes, and not be missed.  The Old Globe is without equal when it comes, to technical credits for their productions.  Set Designer Alexander Dodge, renders a performance space that is filled with eye-popping glittering, sparkling, and breathtaking costumes designed by David Israel Reynoso.  Philip Rosenberg provides the nuanced, mood-inducing, Lighting Design. Jonathan Deans, Sound Design is appropriate, and the storm scene that envelopes the characters at the beginning sets the tone for what is to follow technically.

The Old Globe’s presentation of “The Tempest” is an impressive production to kick off the Globe’s 2018 season of its Shakespeare Summer Festival in the Lowell Davies outdoor theatre. The production runs through July 22nd. “Much Ado About Nothing,” follows and runs from August 12th through September 16th.