ASR News ~~ SF’s PlayGround Announces “Innovator Showcase” New Works Festival

(September, 2024)  San Francisco’s PlayGround has announced the 6th annual Innovators Showcase, a three-week festival of new works by the 2024 Innovator Incubator cohort.

The Innovators Showcase runs November 4-24, 2024, and all performances are free to attend or can be viewed via simulcast or on-demand.

Launched in 2019, PlayGround’s Innovator Incubator fosters new innovative theatre companies and productions that present a commitment to historically marginalized or excluded communities.

According to media dispatches, the 6th annual Innovators Showcase will include the following:

UNPLANNED — an anthology of shorts about reproductive health. Network Effects Theater Company, Nov 4 at 7 pm, Nov 5 at & 7 pm. This event will explore reproductive health through the lens of four short plays written by four writers and expressed through an ensemble local cast. The anthology will raise money for organizations serving family planning across the country.

ABBY NORMAL a world premiere musical. House Theater, Nov 9 at 7 pm, Nov 10 at 2 pm & 7 pmAbby Normal is a musical about epilepsy.  With 70 million people worldwide suffering from epilepsy, it is one of the least researched or understood brain disorders in this country.  “This musical plans to change that. In the play, Abigail battles it out with Seizure to find her community with a brain disorder that at present has no Cure. It will uplift and enlighten you, and the songs will stay with you long after you leave the theater.”

FOUR SEASONS IN THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE — readings of four plays focusing on politics, civil rights, and governance. Oakland Public Theater,  Nov 15 at 7 pm, Nov 16 at 2 pm. Four Seasons in the Political Landscape is a collection of staged readings of short plays from local writers, including:

Judicial Process by Reg Clay — a Kafkaesque look at ICE officers and judicial tampering.

Cinquo de Mayo Compared to What by Richard Talavera — a city council debates ethnic holidays.

The Stick and the Ball by Neil Harkins — global warming, extreme polarization, and the so-called “Overton window.”

And Untitled by Kristi Lin Billun.

DESERT WIND — the story of a Yemenite Jewish couple caught in the violence of the Houthi uprising in Yemen. The American Jewish Theatre, Nov 23 at 7 pm, Nov 24 at 2 pm & 7 pm. In this Houthi takeover, a husband is thrown into prison, while his wife is forced to flee through the desert on foot because they are Jews. In the delirium of his torture, the husband reaches out to his wife, and — with her soul — she connects with him.

About the Innovator Incubator

PlayGround’s multi-year intensive incubation program provides access and opportunity for emerging theatre companies by offering financial support, fiscal sponsorship, free space, and mentorship to bolster the diverse voices of participating organizations.

To date, more than 14 companies have been launched through the Innovator Incubator, helping to employ more than 400 local theatre artists and fostering the development of over 30 new works for the stage. Last year’s initiative supported nine production companies and provided more than $50,000 in tools and resources, including fiscal sponsorship, one-on-one mentoring, support for free and discounted performances, rehearsal space, and co-marketing.

Past participants of the Innovator Incubator include Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project, Theatre Cultura, Native Writers’ Theater, Epic Party Theatre, The Forum Collective, Kunoichi Productions, The Moonrisers, and Queer Cat Productions.

About PlayGround

Founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins, and Denise Shama, PlayGround has grown into one of this nation’s leading playwright incubators and theatre community hubs, with a core commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, helping to uplift and center artists from historically underrepresented communities.

Over three decades, PlayGround has supported more than 300 early-career playwrights, developing and staging over 1,500 of their original short plays through PlayGround’s signature programs, Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival of New Works. PlayGround has also commissioned 100 new full-length plays by 60 of these writers through its Commissioning Initiative and has directly facilitated the premiere of 36 of those works through its innovative New Play Production Fund.

Additionally, PlayGround has developed a unique model for identifying and nurturing some of this country’s best new writers, while helping them to build a significant body of original work and lasting connections with the artistic collaborators they need to know to ensure their success. PlayGround expanded to Los Angeles in 2012, NYC in 2021, and Chicago in 2022.

PlayGround’s alums have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Steinberg Awards, Glickman Awards (including 6 of the last 10), Humana Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, New York International Fringe Festival, and others. PlayGround received the 2009 Paine Knickerbocker Award for outstanding contributions to Bay Area theatre, 3 BATCC Awards for Best Original Script for PlayGround commissions, a 2014 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (founder of the Tony Awards®) and a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.

For more information about PlayGround, visit https://playground-sf.org.

— from media reports.

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ASR News ~~ AGMA Choristers of SF Symphony Strike

(September 2024) AGMA Choristers of the San Francisco Symphony have officially gone on strike, effective September 19th, 2024.

On September 16, AGMA leadership and the AGMA members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. The Choristers voted 100% in favor of the authorization. 98.1% of eligible members participated in the vote, and 81.1% of the unpaid singers from the Verdi Requiem chorus have pledged to honor an AGMA picket line.

” … I cannot recall the last time AGMA went on strike.” — AGMA President Ned Hanlon …

“The AGMA Board of Governors and Artists around the country stand firmly behind all the Choristers of the San Francisco Symphony,” said AGMA President Ned Hanlon. “I cannot recall the last time AGMA went on strike. We urge (both parties) to … work toward a real solution that honors the work of these dedicated artists and gets everyone back to creating beautiful music.”

The AGMA Negotiating Committee also issued a statement: “We did not take the decision to strike lightly. We would much rather be opening the season. Our goal has always been to protect the rights of the AGMA Choristers and secure a contract that allows us to continue to thrive artistically and financially.”

The AGMA Choristers of the SF Symphony invite interested parties to join them on the picket line Friday (tonight, 9/20) and Saturday night (9/21) at 6:00 p.m. PT along Grove Street in front of Davies Symphony Hall.

— From media reports.

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ASR News ~~ Santa Cruz Shakespeare Unveils Lineup for 2025 Season!

August 2024– SANTA CRUZ, CA—Santa Cruz Shakespeare (SCS), celebrating 12 years as a nationally recognized non-profit professional repertory theater company with history in Santa Cruz County going back more than 40 years, has announced its lineup of four productions for its 2025 season.

Performances will take place from July 13 to September 27 in the Audrey Stanley Grove (The Grove) in Santa Cruz’s DeLaveaga Park.

” … this season looks to bring our incredible community closer …”

The productions of the 2025 season include:

      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
      • Pericles by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins
      • Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard
      • Into the Woods, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, licensed by Music Theatre International

“This season’s unifying theme is No One is Alone, as the four masterpieces we’re producing all examine the threads that tie us together, from love, marriage or lust to adventure, catastrophe or redemption,” said Charles Pasternak, SCS artistic director.

“Whether it be threads woven by gods or giants or threads woven by the discovery of our shared humanity, in each of these plays the world is torn apart, sometimes quite literally. But it is knitted anew by recognition – recognition of ourselves in each other, in our need for each other. None of us is an island.

We hope the 2025 season helps us consider ourselves in a larger context than that of the individual. We need each other – now more than ever – and through both laughter and heartbreak, this season looks to bring our incredible community closer together.”

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ASR News ~~ A September Evening Celebrating Lily Samii: A Tribute to a Fashion Icon at SF’s de Young

SAN FRANCISCO (August 2024) – An Evening Celebrating Lily Samii: A Tribute to a Fashion Icon, honoring the illustrious career of haute couture designer Lily Samii, will be presented at an exclusive reception with the artist Thursday, September 12, Piazzoni Murals Room at the renowned de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park.

The event will be co-chaired by Sherene Melania and Mary Poland, two prominent figures in the San Francisco fashion and arts community. Their dedication and passion for celebrating artistic excellence make them the perfect hosts for this glamorous evening.

” … Each gown reflects Samii’s unique artistic vision, blending classic haute couture techniques with contemporary flair …”

The distinguished Honorary Event Co-chairs are former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Gretchen B. Kimball, and David H. Spencer. Honorary Committee members include The Honorable Wille L. Brown, Jr.; David Gockley and Linda Kemper; Denise Hale; The Honorable Barbro Osher; Matthew and Kate Shilvock; and Roselyne Chroman Swig.

The soiree will begin at 6 p.m. with an elegant cocktail reception, where guests will have the exclusive opportunity to view original gowns from Lily Samii’s private collection spanning her remarkable career. Each gown reflects Samii’s unique artistic vision, blending classic haute couture techniques with contemporary flair.

These creations showcase her exceptional talent and dedication to the art of fashion design. In addition to her personal collection, the pieces displayed will include an array of gowns worn at prestigious national and international events, ranging from The White House and global red carpets, to Nobel Prize Ceremonies and the acclaimed 100th Anniversary celebration of Perrier-Jouët, in Éparnay, France.

The event will mark a significant moment in fashion history as Samii will donate her resplendent creations to the impressive costume collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. This generous donation will ensure that her legacy of masterfully executed designs, her choice of colors and textiles, will continue to inspire future generations of designers and fashion enthusiasts.

 Lily Samii commented “As a young designer, I always dreamt of having my work displayed at the de Young. This event is truly a dream come true and I am so delighted that my creations will be shared for generations to come at the museum. Thank you to everyone who has shared in my artistic vision and provided me with such inspiration. I am forever grateful.”

Exhibit highlights will also include pieces from Lily Samii’s iconic first collection, which was unveiled at the San Francisco Symphony’s Black and White Ball, in 2001. This inaugural collection received rave reviews, solidifying Samii’s position as the Bay Area’s preeminent haute couture designer.

Born into a family of nobility in Isfahan, Iran, Lily Samii’s early training began with legendary Hollywood designer Edith Head on several films, and later with renowned designer James Galanos. She has been a cornerstone of the San Francisco Bay Area fashion scene for over four decades. Highly praised for her exquisite designs and impeccable craftsmanship, Samii has dressed countless women in the Bay Area and nationwide, earning a reputation for chic elegance and sophistication. Lily Samii has also lent her impeccable design support to the internationally recognized and often awarded Presidio Dance Theatre as Artistic Advisor, earning her an induction as a member of UNESCO’s International Dance Council.

“Lily is the jewel in the crown to our fair city and community. We are honored to host this important evening, celebrating Lily’s tremendous legacy and the numerous ways in which she has enriched our lives with her vibrant spirit and magnificent creations,” said event co-chairs Sherene Melania and Mary Poland.

Sherene Melania, internationally acclaimed, Executive & Artistic Director of the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation and former Vice-President of the San Francisco Arts Commission, has been a longtime global advocate for arts and culture. Her commitment to preserving and promoting artistic heritage aligns perfectly with the spirit of the event.

Mary Poland, a well-known philanthropist and former President of the San Francisco Opera Guild, brings her deep appreciation for the arts to the evening’s celebration. Her involvement with Lily Samii spans decades, underscoring the synergy between fashion and multiple artistic disciplines.

Guests attending An Evening Celebrating Lily Samii can look forward to an enchanting night filled with elegance, style, and cultural enrichment. With curated culinary delights by McCall’s Catering & Events, this special occasion will provide a sophisticated backdrop for guests to mingle with fellow fashion aficionados, industry professionals, and notable personalities.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are renowned for their commitment to presenting the work of extraordinary and diverse artists and designers. Lily Samii’s creations will join an extensive collection that includes works by some of the most influential designers in history, solidifying her place among the greats.

Hosted by the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation, tickets for An Evening Celebrating Lily Samii begin at $250 and may be purchased online at www.presidiodance.org.

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Coming Soon ~~ SF Playhouse to Stage Slapstick Silliness With “The Play That Goes Wrong”

By Team ASR

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (12 August 2024) — San Francisco Playhouse kicks off its 2024-25 season with the Olivier Award-winning comedy The Play That Goes Wrong.

This fast-paced farce packed with inventive theatricality finds the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society on the opening night of its newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor.

As the incompetent theatre troupe attempts to stage this 1920s murder mystery, their production devolves into madcap mayhem. Lost props, forgotten lines, and poorly constructed scenery conspire against the clumsy cast, who fight for the show to make it to the final curtain call.

” … The New York Times deemed it a “gut-busting hit …”

Entertainment Weekly said, “The Play That Goes Wrong is just right: a ridiculously entertaining disaster.” The New York Times deemed it a “gut-busting hit. One of those breakneck exercises in idiocy that make you laugh till you cry. It starts off punch-drunk and just keeps getting drunker.”

San Francisco Playhouse Producing Director and co-founder Susi Damilano, who has staged sidesplitting spoofs at the Playhouse, including Noises Off, Clue, and most recently, The 39 Steps, helms this hilarious whodunit.

The Play That Goes Wrong will perform at San Francisco Playhouse 450, Post Street. For tickets ($35-$135) and more information:

Web:  sfplayhouse.org

Phone: (415) 677-9596

…and tell ’em Aisle Seat Review sent you!

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ASR Theater ~~ SF’s African-American Shakespeare Company Parts Ways with Artistic Director L. Peter Callender

By Team ASR

AASC has announced its separation from the visionary actor/director who guided many productions during his 15 years at the helm. A press release from Liam Passmore follows:

 SAN FRANCISCO, CA July 29, 2024 – The African-American Shakespeare Company (AASC) today announced that the Board of Directors and Artistic Director L. Peter Callender have mutually agreed to part ways after more than 15 years of consistent artistic excellence.

A Celebrated Tenure
L. Peter Callender’s tenure with AASC has been marked by a rich legacy of innovative productions and artistic achievements. Under his direction, the company has explored a diverse range of plays, bringing classical works to life through the lens of the African-American experience. His contributions have been instrumental in establishing AASC as a prominent cultural institution within the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

“It’s been a very long and fruitful collaboration,” says Executive Director Sherri Young. “Peter’s understanding of Shakespeare and how to shape it for our audiences is something that is an enduring part of the company’s DNA. Our intention is to take all the time necessary to find a worthy successor, one who will lead the company into the future.”

” … It’s been a very long and fruitful collaboration …”

A Time for New Opportunities
“While we have enjoyed over 15 years of artistic excellence with L. Peter Callender, we both have come to the conclusion that it is time to explore other opportunities,” said Everett “Alx” Alexander, Board Chair of AASC. “We are deeply grateful for his dedication and contributions to our organization and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”

Looking Ahead
Moving forward, the African-American Shakespeare Company will undertake a comprehensive and careful process to identify a new Artistic Director. This process will involve a committee of industry professionals who will explore new opportunities for plays, directors, and artists to collaborate with the organization.

“Our goal is to continue building on the strong foundation that L. Peter Callender has established,” says the board. “We are excited about the future and the potential for new artistic partnerships that will further our mission of bringing classical theater to diverse audiences.”

“During his more than 15-years tenure as Artistic Director, Mr. Callender’s contributions, including numerous roles as actor and director, have been instrumental in establishing the company as a prominent cultural institution both within San Francisco and beyond. The Board of African American Shakespeare Company as well as founder and Executive Director Sherri Young express their deepest appreciation and gratitude for his brilliant and inspiring efforts to always elevate the work that our theater presented. We wish him great success in his future ventures.”

Due to these relatively late changes in organization and direction, the 2024-2025 season will be shorter than in years past with Cinderella being the first in December followed by a Shakespeare play in the Spring.

In addition the company will be hosting an international Shakespeare Theatre Association conference in January with attendees from Europe, South America, Canada and the Caribbean. More information at stahome.org

About African-American Shakespeare Company
Founded in 1994, the African-American Shakespeare Company creates opportunities for actors of color in classical theater.

By offering unique interpretations and innovative performances, the company seeks to educate, enrich, and entertain diverse audiences while addressing social issues and promoting cultural equity in the arts.

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Team ASR.

 

ASR Theater ~~ SF Playhouse Launches “Evita”

By Team ASR

San Francisco Playhouse has a tradition of selecting and producing one classic musical blockbuster and running it all summer long. It’s a great gambit that takes advantage of tourist traffic in the Union Square neighborhood — and is a strategy other theaters might follow to their advantage.

This year’s offering is the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice phenomenon Evita, running at 450 Post Street through September 7th. Several ASR contributors were at the July 3 opener. We’ve collected their comments here to offer diverse viewpoints rather than running a singular review. Enjoy!

“… It should enjoy a successful run …”

The production overall:
Cari Lynn Pace: Evita begins with her funeral and ends with her casket surrounded by wailing mourners. In between, an homage to an ambitious woman driven by her unquenching thirst for power and adoration.

Susan Dunn: A difficult musical to fully embrace, but delivered with style, talent, and pizzazz for an exciting and compelling evening.

Barry Willis: First things first: the show is beautifully produced, no question about that. And its historical aspect is really intriguing.

But, the music (well performed by Dave Dobrusky’s backstage orchestra) is bombastic, repetitive, and atonal. Evita was the precursor to other atonal musicals, such as Next to Normal. Other than “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,”  one has, in this reviewer’s opinion, to search for another memorable song in the entire show. It didn’t make me want to rush out and buy the soundtrack recording.

Jeff Dunn: It’s very engaging, especially because of the pacing, artistic commitment, and Nicole Helfer’s choreography.

Staging and set design:
SD: Clever use of lights, movable sets, rotating floor, and projections transform a black box into the saga of an iconic figure. A critical moment occurs with all lights down when we just hear the roar and surge of the crowds reacting to their icon.

BW: SF Playhouse has long leveraged its big turntable stage for dramatic effects, especially with huge imposing sets by Nina Ball or Bill English. In this one, set designer Heather Kenyon opts for a more austere presentation, with roll-around scaffolds serving as set pieces, backed by black-and-white projections that give the show an early-1950s feel. It works very well with the mid-century costumes.

JD: Minimalist staging goes with the abstract nature of much of the show, and allows for quick changes.

CLP: Clever use of minimal stage settings allows the narrator Che to pop in and out, propelling the story line. The onstage news photographer lends credibility to the action, especially as Evita’s casket begins its mysterious 17-year disappearance.

Sophia Alawai as “Evita” at SF playhouse. Photo: Jessica Palopoli

Performance:
SD: Alex Rodriguez as Che and Sophia Alawai as Evita deliver non-stop power, superb vocals and sympathetic portrayals. The ensemble mutates appropriately from peasantry to Argentinean high society. Nicole Helfer’s choreography shows variety and polish.

JD: Alex Rodriguez is outstanding as narrator Che. Sophia Alawi, a superbly sweet Maria in Hillbarn’s Sound of Music last year, seemed to this reviewer to perhaps be a bit light for Evita. She’s wonderfully expressive, but has trouble with many of the high notes that Mr. Webber forces on the character. Ensemble is excellent. The orchestra is energetic but, perhaps, a bit unsubtle.

CLP: Voices are clear and enable most of the complex lyrics to be understandable, always a challenge in a Lloyd Webber musical. Sophia Alawi as Evita channels her calculating and controversial figure. Alex Rodriguez pours explosive energy into his role as Che. Chanel Tilghman has a haunting role and voice as Peron’s cast-off mistress.

The cast of San Francisco Playhouse’s “Evita,” performing June 27 – September 7, 2024. Photo: Jessica Palopoli

BW: The show is well performed, even to the point of this reviewer believing that some of the leads were somewhat outclassed by some of the supporting cast. Malia Abayon and Jura Davis are especially compelling. Peter Gregus as Juan Peron embodies the style and look of an autocrat but his recitativo vocalizing left this reviewer wishing for a bit more… Helfer’s athletic choreography is superb — as always.

Script and storyline:
BW: Evita is a tale of celebrity worship driven to the realm of religiosity. Many of Eva’s fans called her “Santa Evita” and even asked for her blessings. But — it’s also a cautionary tale about grift on a massive scale. Argentina once had one of the world’s strongest economies. In the post-Peron era, the nation has regularly been on shaky financial ground. This is depicted effectively in a scene where soldiers are passing packets of cash hand-to-hand across the stage, symbolic of the Peron policy of taking national assets private.

SD:  In this reviewer’s opinion, one weakness in Evita is the essentially narrated storyline which often prevents events from fully coming to life. The complex and fascinating historical details come to us through Che, whose narration is a bit like getting historical postcards instead of really being there. The ensemble does help to fill out social divisions, which become stepping stones for the ascension of Eva Peron.

The crowd cheers for Eva & Juan Perón in San Francisco Playhouse’s “Evita,” performing June 27 – September 7, 2024. Photo: Jessica Palopoli

JD: This reviewer found this production to be a bit hard to follow if you’re not familiar with the narrative. Almost all the words are sung, making this really a rock opera. The sound design seems perhaps to obscure some of the text. Tip: for newcomers, it would improve the play going experience to gain some familiarity with the show in advance.

CLP: Evita Duarte Peron will always remain a controversial figure. Beloved for her selective charities and adored by the shirtless as a glamorous leader, “Santa Evita” started Argentina on the path towards bankruptcy, a politically muzzled press, and chronic food shortages. In this production, she expresses love for all her people, proclaiming “Every word that I say is true.”

Aisle Seat Takeaway: 

Evita might be considered an atypical undertaking for SF Playhouse, but this production — wins our recommendation. It should enjoy a successful run!

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For this review, Team ASR’s members consists of: Cari Lynn Pace, Susan Dunn, Jeff Dunn, and Barry Willis — all voting members of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

Susan Dunn4.0 out of 5.0
Jeff Dunn3.8/5.0
Cari Lynn Pace3.8/5.0
Barry Willis3.5/5.0
Average is...3.8/5.0

PICK ASR! ~~ Damilano Shines in “The Glass Menagerie”

By Cari Lynn Pace and Barry Willis

San Francisco Playhouse has launched an ambitious new production of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, which will run through June 15.

Set in a shabby apartment in St. Louis in the spring of 1939, on the verge of World War II, the classic mid-century family drama gets an unusual treatment by director Jeffrey Lo. Instead of an intimate or nearly claustrophobic setting, the Wingfield family residence is on a high open platform atop SFP’s famous turntable stage, a feature that worked supremely well in Guys and Dolls and Nollywood Dreams.

“… Susi Damilano … anchors this Glass Menagerie …”

Whether a rotating stage is appropriate for this production is a matter of personal opinion. Lo also has his actors sit stage-left and stage-right when they are not in a scene, like basketball players on the sidelines waiting to return to the game.

Tom (Jomar Tagatac), Jim (William Thomas Hodgson) and Amanda (Susi Damilano) toast to their meal in San Francisco Playhouse’s “The Glass Menagerie,” performing May 2 – June 15. Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli

The Wingfields—matriarch Amanda (Susi Damilano), asocial daughter Laura (Nicole Javier), and disaffected son Tom (Jomar Tagatac)—struggle to survive in the wake of a long-ago departure by an unnamed father and husband, whose vandalized portrait presides over everything in the household. Behind it is a huge neon sign for the Paradise, a music club across the alley from the Wingfield apartment. The sign is beautiful, beckoning, and aspirational but we hear little music from the club.

Amanda is an aging Southern belle who has never let go of her glory days attending cotillions in the Mississippi delta, where she was courted by—in her memory—a seemingly endless procession of “gentlemen callers.” Laura is a high-school dropout with a limp, who pretends to be attending secretarial school while doing little more than wandering around town, playing old records on the family’s Victrola, or managing her collection of glass animal figurines—the “glass menagerie” of the show’s title.

Tom is a would-be writer toiling away in a shoe warehouse, and the tale’s narrator in Williams’ gorgeous prose. He and Laura both chafe under pressure from their mother, but Tom alone displays open rebellion, much of it self-defeating, such as spending money for the household’s monthly expenses on personal frivolities—including making his first payment for merchant mariners’ union dues.

Lo introduces Laura’s only gentleman caller, Tom’s co-worker Jim O’Connor (William Thomas Hodgson), immediately in the first scene, although he doesn’t appear in the drama until much later, when his tentative introduction to Laura appears promising but goes awry when he recognizes that the Wingfield family dysfunction isn’t to his liking.

Javier brings a weary lack of confidence to her character, but director Lo doesn’t give her much opportunity to mine Laura’s nuances. In the entire production, we don’t see her at the Victrola or playing with her glass collection until her encounter with Jim. Javier is underutilized in this production—she could contribute much more with directorial encouragement.

The set, in fact, doesn’t include a Victrola at all, but stage-right there’s an oddly-positioned 1980s-style record player—clearly not part of the Wingfield residence—to which Tom returns several times to cue up a 12” vinyl record, which also didn’t exist in 1939. The Glass Menagerie is what Williams called “a memory play,” so it’s possible that this gambit is a visual reference to a time in the future when Tom is recalling his past.

Amanda (Susi Damilano) is concerned for her children in San Francisco Playhouse’s “The Glass Menagerie.” Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli

Even so, it’s one of several anachronisms in the show. Another is the ultra-long cigarette that Tom habitually smokes, a product that didn’t hit the market until the 1980s. Jomar Tagatac is a fabulous actor with wonderful delivery. He appears frequently at most major SF and Bay Area theaters, but it’s a big leap of faith to accept him as a 20-something aspiring writer. He’s more like an uncle to Laura than a brother and former high-school classmate. Hodgson is also a talented prolific actor and nails the subtlety of the Jim O’Connor role, without bringing anything new.

But it’s Susi Damilano who anchors this Glass Menagerie. She absolutely shines in the role of Amanda, a character often portrayed as bitter, delusional, and manipulative—a fearsome harridan. Damilano turns this tradition on its head—yes, her Amanda exudes worry, frustration, annoyance, insistence, and pathos, but is also infused with love, whimsy, good humor, and self-awareness. Damilano mines hidden comedy in the Amanda role. She has always done great work, but she finds new depth is a character that other performers have been prodding for eighty-some years. Her performance alone is worth the price of admission. Brava!

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ASR Senior Writer & Editor Cari Lynn Pace is a voting member of SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and writes theatre and lifestyle reviews for the Marinscope Community Newspapers throughout Marin County.

 

 

ASR NorCal Executive Editor Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: barry.m.willis@gmail.com

 

ProductionThe Glass Menagerie
Written byTennessee Williams
Directed byJeffrey Lo
Producing CompanySan Francisco Playhouse
Production DatesThru June 15ht
Production AddressSF Playhouse
450 Post Street
San Francisco, CA
Websitewww.sfplayhouse.org
Telephone(415) 677-9596
Tickets$30-$125
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall4/5
Performance4/5
Script4.75/5
Stagecraft3/5
Aisle Seat Review Pick?YES!

ASR Theater ~~ ASR’s Favorites of 2023

by Team ASR

2023 was a wonderful year for live theater in the Bay Area. Although many companies are still struggling financially, it’s clear that artistically most have bounced back from the pandemic. Rather than a “best of” list, here are ten of the past year’s favorites submitted by ASRians.

Dinner with Friends: In June, Sonoma Arts Live served up a Pulitzer Prize-winning treat. Director Carl Jordan had the perfect recipe for casting Ilana Niernberger, John Browning, Katie Kelley, and Jimmy Gagarin. Recipe?

The play’s friends are foodies, couples who uncouple and all but food fight on a multi-stage set by Jordan and Gary Gonser. The play had just the right amount of both relationships’ spice to flavor any postprandial discussion. — Cari Lynn Pace

Dragon Lady: Spanning most of the life of Maria Senora Porkalob, the playwright/performer’s grandmother and a first-generation Filipina immigrant, Marin Theatre Company’s Dragon Lady was an inspiring, entertaining survival yarn and a master class in solo storytelling. Part biography, part autobiography, part cabaret musical, and part comedy, Dragon Lady was a tour-de-force written and performed by Sara Porkalob, with wonderful instrumental backing by three members of the Washington-based band Hot Damn Scandal.Barry Willis

 … 2023 was a wonderful year for live theater in the Bay Area …

Stones in His Pockets: Spreckels’ production of this whip-smart Irish comedy was touching, insightful, and laugh-out-loud funny. It demanded the utmost from only two actors, playing no fewer than fifteen characters of varying ages, cultures, social classes, and genders.

All that and no costume changes, no props beyond two simple wooden crates, and a bare-bones stage with only a small stone wall and a projection screen to serve as a backdrop. A brilliant exercise in theater done right. — Nicole Singley

Crowns: Walnut Creek’s CenterREP presented an exhilarating, uplifting celebration of life with this serio-comedic musical. A coming-of-age story about a hip-hop girl from Brooklyn on a journey of discovery in a small South Carolina town, the revival-meeting production starred Juanita Harris as the town’s no-nonsense matriarch and queen bee of a bevy of church ladies, each with a collection of elaborate fancy hats mostly reserved for Sundays, when they want to look their best “to meet the king.” — Barry Willis

Silent Sky: Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions gave us a lovely rendering of Lauren Gunderson’s biographical tale about pioneering mathematician/astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, who toiled at Harvard University Observatory for approximately twenty years until she was finally allowed to look through the telescope. She faced opposition from the scientific establishment of the era, but Leavitt’s insights led to major breakthroughs in human understanding of the universe. — Barry Willis

The People vs. Mona: Pt. Richmond’s cozy Masquers Playhouse delivered a delightfully interactive comedic musical about a trumped-up murder case in the tiny south Georgia town of Tippo. The engaging Nelson Brown served as both MC and inept defense counsel Jim Summerford, who comes to the trial having never won a case. Shay Oglesby-Smith was tremendous as the town’s prosecutor and manipulative mayoral candidate Mavis Frye, matched by Michele Sanner Vargas as the accused Mona May Katt. — Susan Dunn

Clyde’s: Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre was the scene for this scathing comedy by Lynn Nottage, in which four parolees try their best to thrive under an oppressive boss.

April Nixon was brilliant as the voluptuous, wise-cracking owner of the roadside diner named for her character—a deliciously malicious force of nature. An uplifting, uproarious, and realistic tale about hope, Clyde’s was among the best comedies of the year. — Barry Willis

Hippest Trip—Soul Train, the Musical: The stage of ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater was transformed into both a giant 1970s television set and the production studio for Soul Train, reportedly the longest-running music-and-dance show ever made. Dominique Morisseau’s dazzling retrospective of the groundbreaking television show was wonderfully directed by Kamilah Forbes. Played by confident Quentin Earl Darrington, Soul Train founder Don Cornelius was a former Chicago crime reporter who envisioned a TV show that would uplift his community. Through sheer willpower, he made it a reality, and so did ACT. — Barry Willis

The Wizard of Oz: The Emerald City met Beach Blanket Babylon in ACT’s spectacularly goofy psychedelic The Wizard of Oz. The wild production adhered closely to the beloved original, including story and songs, but was as far removed from a 1940s Saturday afternoon movie matinee as you can imagine—a hilariously gender-bending extravaganza just perfect for Pride Month in San Francisco.  — Barry Willis

The Glass Menagerie: Ross Valley Players returned to the essence of mid-century theater with a sobering production of Tennessee Williams’ classic family drama. Directed by David Abrams, who also played the role of disaffected son Tom Wingfield, the show starred Tamar Cohn as his delusional, manipulative mother Amanda, Tina Traboulsi as his asocial sister Laura, and Jesse Lumb as the good-natured gentleman caller Jim O’Connor, who arrives late in the tale and quickly discovers what a dysfunctional morass he’s stepped into. Tom O’Brien’s austere set, period-perfect costumes by Michael Berg, evocative lighting design by Michele Samuels, and music collected by sound designer Billie Cox all made significant contributions to one of the year’s most compelling dramas. — George Maguire

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Pick! ASR Theater ~~ Rags to Riches Hilarity: “Nollywood Dreams” at SF Playhouse.

By Susan Dunn and Barry Willis

An aspiring actress gets her chance in Jocelyn Bioh’s uproarious Nollywood Dreams, at San Francisco Playhouse through November 4.

Ayamma Okafor (Angel Adedokun) works at her family’s travel agency in Lagos, Nigeria, where the entire story takes place. Probably not a well-known fact among Americans, Nigeria’s thriving film industry is one of the world’s most prolific.

Ayamma (Angel Adedokun) is starstruck as she meets Wale (Jordan Covington) and Gbenga (Tre’Vonne Bell) in San Francisco Playhouse’s “Nollywood Dreams,” performing thru Nov 4, 2023.
Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli

Ayamma hopes to lift herself out of the tedium of her daily work and venture into the glitzy world of film—and fame. Her lackadaisical sister and workmate Dede (Brittany Nicole Sims) has no such aspirations, but does worship film stars, especially the handsome charmer Wale Owuso (Jordan Covington).

…Nollywood Dreams is exactly the feel-good antidote we need today…

The Playhouse is lit with neon and splashy patterns, accompanied by throbbing rhythms of Africa. Your heartbeat is up even before the actors appear. The production is significantly interactive: we are invited to let the actors know how we feel about them and their story by joining in with our own reactions. Breaking the “4th wall,” one scene includes an actor sitting with the audience.

On a huge revolving set by Bill English, Nollywood Dreams features continual scenes across three different locales: the travel agency, a TV studio, and the office of film director Gbenga Ezie (Tre’Vonne Bell). Initially we meet our protagonist, wannabe actress Ayamma—slim, intense, and sincere—who pours her heart out to older sister Dede, an outrageous, outspoken, but unmotivated couch-potato. Their dynamic is loving and hilarious at each turn.

The stage turns and a TV interview is in progress. Now we (the play’s audience) become the vocal audience of a daytime TV show hosted by the queen bee of Nigerian celebrity gossip, the brightly-swathed and head-dressed Adenikeh (Tanika Baptiste), a character partly modeled on America’s own Oprah. Baptiste is totally engaging and effusive as she prods interviewee Gbenga about auditions for his next film, a romantic comedy called The Comfort Zone.

Adenikeh (Tanika Baptiste), the Oprah of Lagos, dishes on her talk show in San Francisco Playhouse’s “Nollywood Dreams.” Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli

Her outsized female persona foils his suave, understated but sweeping masculinity. Our verbal reactions to his story of marital and extramarital love up the ante of our emotional engagement. Through some Nigerian film history projections we meet the final two characters in this play: Wale the endearing lover-boy actor already well-known to Nigerian audiences, and Fayola (Anna Marie Sharpe), an established actress whose career has hit an impasse. Sharp’s wise-cracking subtlety must be seen to be believed.

Who will be cast in this next movie? How will previous dating relationships, careers (or lack thereof) and political machinations solve the casting choices? The set revolves to reveal the director’s office, where auditions of a kind, amid spats and jealousies, play out evoking old loves and new emotional blooming. A favorite scene involves Dede’s curse on the rival actress to aid sister Ayamma’s chances for snagging a role.

Nigerian film director Gbenga (Tre’Vonne Bell) dishes on a talk show in San Francisco Playhouse’s “Nollywood Dreams” Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli

Nollywood Dreams is a terrifically paced production of a laugh-out-loud script, filled with characters who pop with iconic familiarity. The show is blessed with performing excellence, directorial finesse and assurance and production values that excel in every scene. As fabulous or ordinary costumes (Jasmine Milan Williams, designer) change from one quick scene to another we wonder how they can top the previous look.

Theater veteran and director Margo Hall has coaxed the utmost from her richly talented cast. The eye-candy set and projections, and especially the unexpected finale, deliver a luscious dessert of a play that on opening night provoked a sustained standing ovation. Nollywood Dreams is exactly the feel-good antidote we need today.

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Since arriving in California from New York in 1991, Susan Dunn has been on the executive boards of Hillbarn Theatre, Altarena Playhouse, Berkeley Playhouse, Virago Theatre and Island City Opera, where she is a development director and stage manager. An enthusiastic advocate for new productions and local playwrights, she is a voting member of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, and a recipient of a 2015 Alameda County Arts Leadership Award. Contact: susanmdunn@yahoo.com.

ASR NorCal Executive Editor Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: barry.m.willis@gmail.com.

 

ProductionNollywood Dreams
Written byJocelyn Bioh
Directed byMargo Hall
Producing CompanySan Francisco Playhouse
Production DatesThru Nov 4th
Production AddressSF Playhouse
450 Post Street
San Francisco, CA
Websitewww.sfplayhouse.org
Telephone(415) 677-9596
Tickets$30 - $125
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall4/5
Performance4/5
Script4/5
Stagecraft4/5
Aisle Seat Review Pick?YES!

PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Sonoma Arts Live Showcases America’s Country Star

By Sue Morgan and Cari Lynn Pace

Director Michael Ross’ self-proclaimed “love letter to the theater community,” Always…Patsy Cline is based on the true story of Patsy Cline’s relationship with Louise Seger, a fan who became Patsy’s friend and with whom Patsy maintained a close correspondence until Cline’s untimely passing, at age 30, in a plane crash. The show runs at Sonoma Arts Live through December 18.

ASR contributors Sue Morgan and Cari Lynn Pace comment below:

CLP: SAL captures the spirit and voice of Patsy Cline by casting Danielle DeBow as the young American star of country music. DeBow has the stunning looks and the honeyed earthy voice that vaulted Cline to the top of the charts in the late 50s and early 60s. DeBow even captures the famous sad catch in Cline’s voice, so wonderfully evocaive in her hits “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and “Walkin’ After Midnight.”

Danielle DeBow as Patsy Cline.

SM: Reprising their roles in SAL’s second production of the play, both Danielle DeBow (Patsy) and Karen Pinomaki (Louise) create the magic necessary to bring the audience back to mid-century America when Cline’s astonishingly numerous hits were pervasive on radio and TV, not merely for country music fans but for many others across the nation. You’ll find most of those hits faithful to the originals and beautifully performed by DeBow in this production.

… It’s an enjoyable – and laughable – tribute…

CLP: Who knows how far Cline might have gone had she not tragically died in that airplane crash before she was even 30 years old?

SM: DeBow is not only a world-class singer but also drop-dead gorgeous. Michael Ross has an impeccable eye for costuming and uses her beauty to great advantage. DeBow first appears as Patsy onstage at the Grand Ole Opry, wearing an accurate recreation of Cline’s iconic red-fringed cowgirl dress. Ross then adorns DeBow in an array of period-perfect and stunning confections which enhance and contribute to the overall appeal of the production.

CLP: The thin plot is based on the true story of Louise, Cline’s enthusiastic fan, and the friendship that developed between them. It‘s an amusing and heartfelt retelling, narrated by Pinomaki and based on letters the two women shared over several years. Pinomaki is an outrageous force of energy on stage, delightfully down-to-earth as she cavorts around the entire theater. She’s the perfect fearless foil against the cool smooth presence of DeBow.

SM: Pinomaki’s high-octane performance is both energizing and engaging, frequently eliciting appreciative laughter. Use of a thrust stage (the audience on three sides) works well to create a sense of intimacy as we observe Louise puttering in her kitchen, calling her local radio DJ to request her favorite Cline songs, or narrating and enacting the story of how she came to befriend her musical idol.

DeBow’s magnificent voice and stage presence, as well as the warmth and easy authenticity in her interactions with superfan Louise make her a wholly believable Patsy.

CLP: The six-piece band onstage is pure country, complete with pedal steel guitar and fiddle. At some moments the piano overwhelmed the vocals. Those unfamiliar with the songs may not grasp some of the poignant stories told in the lyrics. This reviewer, who has excellent hearing and sat in the second row, just went with the flow of the music.

Many of DeBow’s vocals are backed up by the harmony quartet of Sean O’Brien, Jonathen Blue, Steve Cairns, and Alexi Ryan, as the Jordanaires. They lend an authenticity to Cline’s original songs that is country-fine fun.

SM: The Jordanaires do a fine job as backup singers for Patsy, including a somber lament after her passing. The band was tight and on point and drummer Elizabeth Robertson collaborated well with Louise during a staged bit on tempo.

SM: Despite the tragedy of Cline’s early demise, Always… Patsy Cline does not devolve into melodrama, but maintains its focus on the friendship of two women of vastly different circumstances, brought together serendipitously and steadfastly connected through mutual affection and appreciation.

Danielle DeBow (Patsy) and Karen Pinomaki (Louise) create the magic at Sonoma Arts Live.

CLP: It’s no mere jukebox musical. It’s an enjoyable – and laughable – tribute from an energetic housewife to a budding superstar. Two down-home gals who once bonded and became friends … always.

SM: This production will make believers of those unfamiliar with Ms. Cline’s music and will renew the enthusiasm of long-term fans through its outstanding combination of theatricality, virtuoso musical performances, gorgeous costuming and heart-warming true-life subject matter. An exhilarating, riveting, joyful piece of musical theatre!

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Contributing Writer Sue Morgan is a literature-and-theater enthusiast in Sonoma County’s Russian River region. Contact: sstrongmorgan@gmail.com

 

 

ASR Writer & Editor Cari Lynn Pace is a voting member of SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and writes theatre and lifestyle reviews for the Marinscope Community Newspapers throughout Marin County. Contact: pace-koch@comcast.net

 

ProductionAlways, Patsy Cline
Written byTed Swindley
Directed byMichael Ross
Producing CompanySonoma Arts Live
Production DatesThursdays thru Sundays until Dec. 18, 2022
Production AddressRotary Stage: Andrews Hall, Sonoma Community Center
276 E. Napa Street, Sonoma
Websitewww.sonomaartslive.org
Telephone866-710-8942
Tickets$25 – $42
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall4/5
Performance4.5/5
Script4/5
Stagecraft3.5/5
Aisle Seat Review Pick?YES!

PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Compelling, Controversial “Wuthering Heights” at Berkeley Rep

By George Maguire and Barry Willis

Writer/director Emma Rice has deconstructed one of the most beloved English novels of the 19th century and has remade it into a pop-rock extravaganza, delighting some critics and outraging others. Her Wuthering Heights runs at Berkeley Repertory Theatre through January 1, 2023.

Traditionalists expecting a stage production of the dark 1939 film starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier are likely to be disappointed. This frenetic, high-energy show is geared to a younger generation with a different aesthetic, but it can work equally well for those not necessarily tethered to the past. Innumerable classic stories have been reinvented for the sake of stage and screen entertainment. There’s certainly no reason why Wuthering Heights shouldn’t suffer the same fate, just as Hamlet can be reinterpreted as a modern business drama, or Romeo and Juliet reconfigured as a rock opera.

…The movement work in this show is inspiring. So is (the) mining of humor…

Controversy swirled at Berkeley Rep’s November 22 press opener. Some critics raved to their colleagues about Rice’s stunning production while others dismissed it as an abomination. ASR’s George Maguire and Barry Willis comment here:

BW: This is an amazing, dynamic production with multi-threat performers who can act, dance, do gymnastics, and in some cases, play instruments. Especially impressive are Jordan Laviniere, who plays the leader of the Yorkshire Moors, and Leah Brotherhead as Catherine. She’s also a great rock singer. TJ Holmes, who plays Dr. Kenneth, performs on cello and accordion when he’s not stage center. He’s a delightful comic actor, one of a cast of eleven, most of whom tackle multiple roles. Theatrical talent is everywhere in this show but the multi-casting can cause confusion among viewers because most of the characters are cousins with similar names.

GM: Yeah, Barry! It is a fairly faithful adaptation of Emily Bronte’s novel, and if you can stop conflating the story with her sister Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, you’re a winner. The story itself is weighted down with so many generations of relationships, and births and deaths, with eleven actors playing all the roles. It’s often highly confusing.

Leah Brotherhead as Catherine and Liam Tamne as Heathcliff in the West Coast premiere of Wise Children’s “Wuthering Heights” at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Photo by Kevin Berne.

BW: I’m no Bronte expert, but it looks to me like Emma Rice has adhered to the original plot, but uses story elements and characters to create something entirely new. I’m generally approving of prequels, sequels, and reinterpretations of classic stories — with the exception of Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma!, a real horror show.

Rice’s Wuthering Heights isn’t really the Bronte classic. I attended with my friend Marcia Tanner, an art curator with a degree in English Literature from UC Berkeley. She quipped: “It’s misleading to title this show Wuthering Heights . . . it should be Something Based on Wuthering Heights.” That’s a fair assessment.

GM: My biggest challenge was not hearing the play (technically, a musical), but frankly, it was not understanding what the cast was saying and singing.

BW: That was a problem for many in the audience, I believe. Thick Yorkshire accents were tough enough to understand during dialog, and impossible to decipher during the show’s many songs. I loved the music but couldn’t tell you what any of the songs are about. Marcia astutely observed, “They need superscripts.” The only words that appear on the large backdrop are a few lines from the novel.

GM: Etta Murfitt’s choreography is wonderful and eclectic, ranging from almost hoe-down, to Irish jig, to nonspecific elegance. A lovely and diverse musical score by Ian Ross keeps the play moving. The casting of eleven very accomplished members of the Wise Children’s troupe was a joy, as was watching them effortlessly morph into the manifold characters in the novel. Heathcliff (Liam Tamne, of multi-national background) is particularly inspired casting, making the orphan Heathcliff the dark, brooding, and very sexy creature he was — unlike anyone else in the Yorkshire moors.

BW: I was knocked out by the performers and the quick-moving stagecraft, especially the rolling doors-and-windows pieces that transformed into beds and other devices. The books-on-sticks-as-fluttering-birds bit is brilliant low-cost theatricality. So are the chalkboards that serve as erasable tombstones.

GM: The movement work in this show is inspiring. So is Rice’s mining of humor — she finds comedic potential in many of Bronte’s situations, something that to my knowledge has never been done. But this Wuthering Heights is no spoof — it’s an inspired reinterpretation.

BW: Was the love affair between Heathcliff and his adoptive sister Catherine considered scandalous when the novel was published? It might be seen as close to incest today even though the two were not biologically related. Save Dr. Kenneth and the narrator Mr. Lockwood, almost all the other characters in the production are cousins, nothing unusual in an isolated community.

Jordan Laviniere as the Leader of the Yorkshire Moors; Eleanor Sutton, Katy Ellis, Tama Phethean, Stephanie Elstob, and Ricardo Castro as The Moors in the West Coast premiere of Wise Children’s “Wuthering Heights” now showing at Berkeley Rep. Photo by Kevin Berne.

GM: A community that’s cold, damp, and dark! Rice and set designer Vicki Mortimer went over the top portraying that.

BW: I had no expectations about this show, and was delighted — especially by the incredibly dynamic first act.

My only prior exposure was reading the novel in ninth grade — required reading — and having watched the movie at some point not long after that on late-night TV. The subject matter wasn’t something that resonated for me and wasn’t anything I cared to revisit.

I have difficulty relating to the social structure and morality of the time, which makes playwrights like Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekov, and their contemporaries something of a slog for me. I never liked G. B. Shaw until I saw Major Barbara, but I hope to live a thousand years without enduring another Mrs. Warren’s Profession.

But I understand the appeal of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, especially for women. In their time, the only path to a better life was through choosing the right marriage partner. Mothers often bled to death after childbirth. Infant and childhood mortality were rampant, from conditions easily treated today. This whole pathetic milieu is background for Wuthering Heights, but Emma Rice makes it entertaining and enjoyable..

GM: In all, this Wuthering Heights is a truly nifty addition to the repertoire of Wise Children, a new theatre company founded by Ms. Rice, whose group brought The Wild Bride to life at Berkeley Rep a few years ago. Imaginative, enthralling and chillingly-thrillingly theater.

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ASR Contributing Writer George Maguire is a San Francisco-based actor-director and is Professor Emeritus of Solano College Theatre. He is a voting member of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: gmaguire1204@yahoo.com

 

ASR NorCal Executive Editor Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: barry.m.willis@gmail.com

 

ProductionWuthering Heights
Written by Emily Bronte
Adapted by Emma Rice
Directed by Emma Rice
Choreographed by Etta Murfitt
Saheem Ali (Conceiver/Director)
Producing CompanyWise Children / Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Production DatesThrough January 1, 2023
Production Address2025 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704
Websitewww.berkeleyrep.org
Telephone(510) 847-2949
Tickets$24 - $119
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall4/5
Performance5/5
Script4/5
Stagecraft4/5
Aisle Seat Review Pick?YES!

ASR Theater ~~ Darkness Rules in “One Flea Spare” at Main Stage West

By Nicole Singley and Barry Willis

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut sometimes joked about his “vector analysis” approach to understanding stories, in particular the trajectories of primary characters.

For example, Cinderella’s personal vector moves like a rollercoaster through peaks of hope and valleys of despair, ultimately ending on a high note. Her arrow repeatedly goes across the “zero axis” between darkness and light. Many other stories take place entirely in the dark, without ever entering the light. Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” is one, in which a young man named Gregor Samsa, despised and reviled by his entire family, wakes up one morning to discover that he’s been transformed into a giant cockroach.  The murderous rampage that is Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” similarly takes place entirely in the dark. There’s nothing uplifting in the script, and no possibility of a happy outcome. The fact that the whole affair is miserably depressing hasn’t hampered the play’s enduring popularity. Nor has it impaired “Sweeney Todd,” a show that’s performed with inexplicable regularity.

 “One Flea Spare” is a deep probe into the dark side of human existence….

Naomi Wallace’s “One Flea Spare” is in this tradition.  A depiction of four people forced to quarantine in an upscale London home during the Bubonic Plague of the 17th century, it begins morosely and gets darker from there. Director David Lear and his excellent group of performers at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West don’t try to gussy up Wallace’s dim view of humanity but bore into the historical and emotional darkness like coal miners eager for work. Allusions to the COVID pandemic weren’t intended by the playwright, but are more than appropriate today.

The setup is simple: people are dying in droves and the city has commissioned some enforcers to keep those still symptom-free indoors at home until officials deem it safe for them to come out. Kevin Bordi plays one such enforcer, a good-natured oaf called Kabe, who visits the Snelgrave home to nail closed the shutters so that no one can escape.

Matthew Cadigan, left, rehearses with director David Lear for “One Flea Spare” at Main Stage West. (Photo by Main Stage West)

He converses amicably with the homeowners—superbly played by North Bay theater veterans John Craven and Elly Lichenstein—who are harboring two fugitives, a sailor named Bunce (Matthew Cadigan) and a young servant woman named Morse (Miranda Jean Williams), who have taken unapproved refuge in the Snelgrave home.

The four spend the next 28 days together in the dank house (set design also by Lear) getting to know more than they ever wanted to learn about each other, confessing things that might best be kept unspoken, and violating all kinds of social norms. Familiarity leads to contempt, as the old adage has it, and contempt leads to malicious violence, details of which won’t be shared here.

“One Flea Spare” is a deep probe into the dark side of human existence, offset somewhat by moments when the characters connect and seem to share some humanity with one another, usually in the context of revealing past hurts and painful secrets, such as Mrs. Snelgrave’s sad story about a fire that killed her horses and left her scarred and in a lonely marriage. Morse and Bunce have their own unhappy tales, but there’s palpable erotic tension and longing between Bunce and Mrs. Snelgrave.

Such scenes add dimension to the overwhelming darkness. Some viewers may feel compassion for all but the house’s master, and may enjoy a strange sense of delight when the others band together to strip him of his power.

It’s a beautiful bit of symbolism. All three had suffered greatly under men such as Snelgrave—the sailor’s forced military service destroyed his personal life, the servant girl literally lived under the control of her masters, and the wealthy lady of the house spent her life trapped in a dead and hostile marriage. The bizarre quarantine situation throws these three unlikely people together and enables them to challenge the power structure that has ruled their lives. Their joy, of course, is terribly short lived.

“One Flea Spare” is not a fairytale, but there is a bit of light peeking through the darkness. The production doesn’t feel like a month in quarantine, but theatrical magic does its work to convey an overriding sense of fear and claustrophobia, stretched out long enough to give the audience a taste of house arrest and an appreciation for the freedom of simply walking outside into the open air.

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Aisle Seat Review NorCal Executive Editor Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: barry.m.willis@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicole Singley is a Senior Contributing Writer and Editor at Aisle Seat Review and a voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Sonoma County’s Marquee Theater Journalists Association, and the American Theatre Critics Association.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ProductionOne Flea Spare
Written byNaomi Wallace
Directed byDavid Lear
Producing CompanyMain Stage West
Production DatesThru April 30th
Production AddressMain Stage West
104 N Main St
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Websitewww.mainstagewest.com
Telephone(707) 823-0177
Tickets$20– $32
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall3.5/5
Performance4/5
Script3.5/5
Stagecraft3/5
Aisle Seat Review PICK!-----

 

ASR’s Year in Review: Our “Best of the Best” from 2019 – by Nicole Singley and Barry Willis

Better late than never, the old adage has it. Here (in no particular order) are some memorable productions from last season, a year full of four- and five-star achievements.

The Jungle (Curran Theatre): San Francisco’s renovated Curran Theatre was re-renovated for an immersive recreation of a 2016 crisis in a refugee camp in Calais, France. A huge and hugely talented multi-ethnic cast made this show last season’s most profound and moving theatrical experience. (BW)

After Miss Julie (Main Stage West): Ilana Niernberger and Sam Coughlin paired up for a thrilling pas de deux in Patrick Marber’s evocative spin on “Miss Julie,” transplanting Strindberg’s classic story to a summer night in 1945. A stunning set, great lighting, and white-hot performances brought class and erotic tensions to a boil, culminating in a seriously steamy tango scene that won’t be soon forgotten. (NS)

Rocky Horror Show (Marin Musical Theatre Company): MMTC took this Halloween favorite far over the top at the San Anselmo Playhouse, thanks to stunning efforts by Jake Gale, Nelson Brown, Dani Innocenti-Beem, Pearl Fugit and many others. (BW)

Barbecue Apocalypse (Spreckels): The laughs were served well-done in this quirky comedy, thanks to a witty script marinated in millennial-centric humor and a talented ensemble. Clever costumes, strong technical work, and excellent casting proved that all it takes to survive the end of days is a little raccoon meat and some serious comic relief. (NS)

Romeo and Juliet (Throckmorton): Mill Valley’s Throckmorton Theatre and the streets around it became Verona, Italy, in a sweetly evocative, imaginative, and fully immersive production of Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy. (BW)

Sex with Strangers (Left Edge Theatre): Left Edge Theatre turned up the heat in “Sex with Strangers,” a seductive modern romance that broaches big questions about love, ambition, and the price of success in the digital era. Dean Linnard and Sandra Ish brought the story’s unlikely couple to life with electric chemistry and powerful, nuanced performances. (NS)

Incidents in the Wicked Life of Moll Flanders (Ross Valley Players): RVP gambled and won with Jennifer LeBlanc’s adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s 1722 novel. Amber Collins Crane stole the show as the lead in a compelling tale about a beautiful, quick-witted woman who rose from miserable circumstances to respectability through petty crime, stealth, charm, and unusually good luck. (BW)

Drumming with Anubis (Left Edge Theatre): Left Edge Theatre invited us along to the Neo-Heathen Male Bonding and Drumming Society’s annual campout, where a group of aging death metal fans communes in the desert to beat their bongos. Things got a little dark, a lot hilarious, and surprisingly touching when the Egyptian god of death crashed the party. Local playwright David Templeton’s brilliant new show earned a 5-star reception, featuring a phenomenal cast and beautiful scenic design. (NS)

How I Learned What I Learned (Marin Theatre Company): Director Margo Hall coaxed a tremendous performance from Steven Anthony Jones, who brought grandfatherly wit and wisdom to the role of playwright August Wilson. A master class in story-telling. (BW)

Faceless (6th Street Playhouse): Former artistic director Craig A. Miller returned to helm this riveting courtroom drama about an American teenager caught running away to join her internet boyfriend in ISIS. Razor-sharp dialogue and powerhouse performances made for an intense and memorable experience in 6th Street’s intimate studio theater. (NS)

The Year of Magical Thinking (Aurora Theatre Company): Stacy Ross glowed in a masterly solo recital of Joan Didion’s play from her book of the same name. (BW)

Home (Berkeley Repertory Theatre): In this stunning piece of performance art by Geoff Sobelle, audiences watched a two-story house materialize from the shadows of an empty stage as if by magic. A spectacle of epic proportions, this visual feast reminded theatergoers that a house is just a space in which we come together to make a home. (NS)

Fully Committed (6th Street Playhouse): Patrick Varner channeled 40-some characters in his hilarious one-man depiction of a scheduling manager at his wits’ end in a high-end NYC restaurant, at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse. (BW)

Merman’s Apprentice (Sonoma Arts Live): Daniela Innocenti-Beem brought Broadway legend Ethel Merman back to the stage with a larger-than-life performance in this sparkling world premiere, brimming with catchy tunes and colorful humor. Innocenti-Beem and teenaged costar Emma Sutherland boast some serious pipes, which made this charming new musical all the more fun. (NS)

Mother of the Maid (Marin Theatre Company): A mother’s love and devotion were never so well depicted as in this lovely, heart-rending piece about Joan of Arc’s mother Isabelle (Sherman Fracher). (BW)

Eureka Day (Spreckels): Laughter proved contagious in Jonathan Spector’s whip-smart “Eureka Day,” pitting parents at a Berkeley charter school against each other in the wake of a mumps outbreak. An all-star cast, elaborate set design, and top-notch technical work combined to make this a 5-star production. (NS)

Cabaret (San Francisco Playhouse and Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions): Both of these productions were excellent and amazing versions of this dazzling but starkly disturbing cautionary tale. (BW) 

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Spreckels): Theatergoers were dazzled by this cleverly written and superbly acted continuation of Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice, containing everything an Austenesque story should: delicious drama, a heartwarming romance, and an abundance of humor and witPitch-perfect direction and exemplary casting made “Miss Bennet” the ultimate holiday treat. (NS)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Curran Theatre): Nonstop high-intensity theatrical magic is the only way to describe this extravagant production, running into next July. (BW)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Spreckels): Hilarity ensued in this madcap musical about a man clawing his way to the top of the family tree. Tim Setzer stole the show as all nine members of the D’Ysquith family, all of whom meet their ends in some of the most creative and comical ways imaginable. Excellent ensemble work, cute choreography, and clever projections made this one killer production. (NS)

Barry Willis is the Executive Editor at Aisle Seat Review, a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, and president of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: barry.m.willis@gmail.com

 

Nicole Singley is a Senior Contributing Writer and Editor at Aisle Seat Review and a voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Sonoma County’s Marquee Theater Journalists Association, and the American Theatre Critics Association.

 

AN AISLE SEAT THEATER REVIEW PICK! Praise for Hershey Felder’s “A Paris Love Story” – by Victor Cordell

Hershey Felder occupies a unique and enviable position in the world of live entertainment. He has created a series of solo theatrical performances that draw on his powerful strengths of master story telling and piano playing. And if the subjects of the shows aren’t all personal heroes, which they probably are, each is a brilliant star in the constellation of great music composers. He has written and performed music biographies for the stage of Gershwin, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and more at some of the finest performance venues in the country, often breaking box office records.

He now takes on the life and works of Claude Debussy in a world premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. The great turn of the century composer is credited as the originator of the classical music genre of impressionism, though he didn’t care for the term. But his compositional style led to the designation because of its parallel with impressionist painting with its shimmering, ethereal quality like the dizzying, elusive mix of colors on canvas representing tangible items.

As with his previous successes, Felder weaves together a composer’s music with biographical highlights, but the structure of his newest work differs. He avows that Debussy actually is his favorite composer. At the age of 19, Felder visited Paris and haunted the places and followed the footsteps where Debussy trod, including a pilgrimage two hours on foot each way to visit the composer’s apartment. Because of this special connection with Debussy, Felder’s theatrical conceit is to insinuate his own story in with that of the composer. The device works well both because Felder himself has a following and because of his personal passion for the composer and the city. The one jolting aspect of the new production is that in Felder’s catalog of titles written for the stage, Debussy’s name does not appear except in the likely ignored third line of the title.

Felder (Photo Credit: Christopher Ash)

The performance takes place on a darkened stage, with a few props emblematic of Paris. Animated chalk figures festoon a black backdrop to further depict the architecture and the ambiance of the city. Hershey Felder plays with brio at the black Steinway grand and regales, often with great humor. Interspersing his own growth and his travelogue with the compositions and many loves of Debussy, he details many vignettes, including attempted suicides by two of his love interests.

Despite his esteem as a respected composer, Debussy works are perhaps not as broadly popular as Felder’s other honorees. Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and La Mer are well known, and opera aficionados will know the important opera Pelléas and Mélisande, though it is seldom performed or excerpted onto recordings. But the musical extracts that Felder plays charm and scintillate, including those less likely to have been heard by audience members before. The jaunty piano solo for children, Golliwog’s Cakewalk, is a fine example that also reflects the composer’s iterative relationship with African-American musical forms.

…clever and enticing… engenders anticipation…”

Felder does note the critical role that Debussy’s innovativeness played in directing classical music away from the weightiness of Wagnerian romanticism. Debussy felt that music should reflect the delightful way people feel when they engage with nature. Influenced by a Javanese gamelan performance he witnessed in 1889, he adopted the whole note scale, which facilitates the dreamy sound that is associated with impressionism. With this change, he not only disrupted the direction of classical music but also developed the musical vocabulary that led to improvisational jazz as best realized by the great pianist Art Tatum.

Felder (Photo Credit: Christopher Ash)

Of course, Debussy’s signature piece which makes him a household name and exemplifies his dream-like musical style is Claire de lune. Felder’s treatment of this piece is clever and enticing. He opens the performance with the story of how he learned the piece, his mother’s favorite, at age six. By playing only a brief but familiar phrase from it, he engenders anticipation for the work throughout the performance. It comes as the finale, and it is played with such grace and delicacy that it quieted the venue and had the audience on the edge of its seats – a worthy finish to a fine confection.

This review must close on a tragic note. As I write on April 15, 2019, one of the world’s great architectural masterpieces and cultural assets for all of civilization, Paris’s Cathédrale de Notre Dame, is engulfed in flame. This is a great loss to humanity. Indeed, this landmark is significant to A Paris Love Story, as the author speaks warmly of Notre Dame and of the magic of point zero, the designated spot in front of the cathedral that represents the symbolic center of Paris. The spot will remain, but can any of the cathedral be saved or reclaimed for posterity?

ASR reviewer Victor Cordell is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association, and a Theatre Bay Area adjudicator.

 

 

ProductionA Paris Love Story
Written byHershey Felder
Directed byTrevor Hay
Producing CompanyTheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Production DatesThrough May 5th
Production AddressMountain View Center for Performing Arts
500 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
Websitewww.theatreworks.org
Telephone(650) 463-1960
Tickets$35 – $113
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall4.5/5
Performance4.5/5
Script4.5/5
Stagecraft4/5
Aisle Seat Review PICK!Yes!

AN AISLE SEAT THEATER REVIEW! Foothill’s “Bullets over Broadway” Hits its Mark – by Victor Cordell

At the core of his comic genius, Woody Allen creates fictional lead characters who share his neuroses. He then places them in situations rich with local color based on his own experience and observation.

With Bullets over Broadway, he wrote a highly successful screenplay for a movie that received considerable award recognition. In transitioning the story to the stage and adding music, it was honored with six Tony nominations, but its box office outcome was modest at best. Perhaps its failure to earn a long run is because it entertains but doesn’t wow.

Rejection and crises of confidence plague authors, and in this instance, the Woody Allen proxy is a young playwright, David Shayne, whose break to get financing for his first Broadway-destined play comes with a catch. Borrowing a theme that Allen and many others have used before, the finance depends on giving a role in the play to the girlfriend of the money man.

Oh, and in this case, the money man happens to be a gangster. Needless to say, the girlfriend is as talentless as she is witless, and with a whiny-screechy voice that is the reincarnation of Jean Hagen in the movie Singin’ in the Rain. To make matters worse, rehearsals reveal great inadequacies in David’s manuscript. But an unlikely source will put the project on the right path and dramatically alter the future of David and his collaborators.

Allen resisted the theatrical conversion of this property but having a taste for pop standards, was finally convinced by the suggestion that the musical score be comprised of songs from the period of the action. This strategy works in giving the music an authenticity and a pleasant familiarity with tunes like “Let’s Misbehave,” “Up a Lazy River,” and “There’ll be Some Changes Made.” Many updated lyrics enliven the old chestnuts, fit the plot line, and are quite funny.

…Foothill Music Theatre’s production offers … gusto and … humor … for a fun evening…

At the same time, its period characteristics may be what prevents Bullets from unqualified success, especially with younger audiences. In addition to its ‘20s music, the plotline intersection of Broadway and gangsters evokes Damon Runyon’s stories that were used as the basis for the musical Guys and Dolls and may seem dated.

However, Bullets contains a bevy of stereotyped characters that provide charm – from the fading diva to the actor whose food urges undermine his career – and stock situations like the playwright resisting script changes to maintain his integrity and the younger man being seduced by the lure of an older woman.

Overall, Foothill Music Theatre’s production offers enough gusto and extracts enough humor from the material for a fun evening. Not to say that it meets professional standards, but as a community theater offering, it satisfies. Most performers have peaks and valleys in both singing and acting, but each has high points that are quite worthy. Singing voices tend to have strong sweet spots that diminish outside that narrow range. And while the situational humor is uneven, the many one-line zingers uniformly hit the target.

Early on, Adam Cotungno as David seems caught between channeling Woody Allen and establishing his own role interpretation. By Act 2, both his acting and vocalizations exude confidence, and when he frantically delivers “The Panic is On,” he nails it. His nemesis is Olive, played convincingly by Jocelyn Pinkett, who inhabits the lower-class floozy with flair. Carla Befera hits her stride as the prideful and self-indulgent older actress, Helen, with a fine rendition of the appropriate “I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle.” Finally, Nick Mandracchia masters the role of Cheech, the man in the shadows.

Milissa Carey directs commendably considering the resource requirements of the production. Bullets contains a huge number of scene changes. Andrew Breithaupt’s basic set is complemented by a revolving platform and a cache of movable props to give simple scenic suggestion, while Lily McLeod’s lighting effectively evokes mood shifts. Dance elements are demanding, and Claire Alexander’s choreography generally works, but execution is often out of kilter. Sharon Peng deserves a nod for the scope of costumery required for the production.

ASR reviewer Victor Cordell is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association, and a Theatre Bay Area adjudicator.

 

 

ProductionBullets Over Broadway
Written byWoody Allen
Directed byMilissa Carey
Producing CompanyFoothill Music Theatre
Production DatesThrough March 17th
Production Address12345 El Monte Rd.
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Websitehttps://foothill.edu/theatre/bullets.html
Telephone(650) 949-7360
Tickets$15 - $36
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall3.5/5
Performance3.5/5
Script4/5
Stagecraft3.5/5
Aisle Seat Review Pick?----

 

An Aisle Seat Theater Review! “Spending the End of the World on OK Cupid” – by Victor Cordell

For anyone who has been diagnosed with a fatal disease, the period leading to death can be painful and profound. If one can carry out normal activities under the sentence of death, the person often makes a conscious decision whether to live as routinely as possible; whether to surround one’s self with what is most cherished; or whether to splurge on very special and perhaps extravagant experiences.

In any case, philosophical reflection is inevitable. But what if one knows that life will end for all of humanity at a prescribed time? Say, an asteroid large enough to obliterate life hurtles inexorably toward earth.

In Jeffrey Lo’s new comic farce, Spending the End of the World on OK Cupid, a prophet of doom named Alfred Winters had accurately predicted “The Vanishing” in which half of humanity recently disappeared at once without a trace. Now Winters has assured those who have survived that the world will end at midnight on the day that the action of the play takes place. By the way, for those like me who have trouble deciphering the title, you probably don’t know that “OK Cupid” is an online dating site. Now it should make sense.

The narrative centers on two couples and several other characters whose lives intersect. Each couple has just met on the fateful day through OK Cupid, which should suggest that the characters are not exactly Homecoming King and Queen material. These young adults, as couples and with others, go through relationship rituals and the memes of daily life – from hypnotically gazing into cell phones to confronting the condescending barista at the coffee shop over a $20 cuppa.

…in the notable words of Caitlyn, “Before we learn to die, should we learn to live?”

Although some aspects of the play are universal, many themes and characters will speak more effectively to a younger audience. Millennials (and stoners?) may find the comedy-club and sketch-type humor funny throughout, but much of it seems strained, even though the actors animate the dialogue as well as can be expected. Humor in the script needs to be fine-tuned, and strands need to be tightened, as some of the segments never connect well with the overall arc. In fact, the funniest segment, a Scotsman, played by Flip Hofman, who reveals his OK Cupid self-summary and six things he can’t live without, fails to integrate at all.

Tasi Alabastro as the hyperkinetic Ben and Michelle Skinner as the depressive Caitlyn bring energy to the lead roles and are effective overall, while Keith Larson seems at risk of blowing out his carotid artery from his frenzied depiction of Winters. At the other extreme, Michael Weiland seems totally natural as the relaxed Bong, and in a small bit, Tyler Pardini nails it as the low affect open-mic, poetry emcee.

The staging suits the vignette-driven nature of the story. Open staircases, platforms, and catwalks comprise Paulo Deleal’s set, with the occasional addition of cafe tables and chairs. Director Michael Champlin aptly isolates scenes on the stage, and actors who are not performing can comfortably hang out in other locations (and fiddle on their cell phones!). Megan Souther’s lighting complements the overall effect. Generally, low lighting is supported by spots and mobile area highlights. Cell phones are particularly effective for facial illumination.

The driving motives of the play are strong. Although the situations are intimate and farcical, existential matters are broached. What is the point of life and why do things remain important to us once we know the end is imminent? Yet, in the notable words of Caitlyn, “Before we learn to die, should we learn to live?”

Spending the End of the World on OK Cupid by Jeffrey Lo is produced by Pear Theatre and plays at its stage at 1110 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA through February 17, 2019.

ASR reviewer Victor Cordell is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association, and a Theatre Bay Area adjudicator.

 

 

 

ProductionSpending the End of the World on OK Cupid
Written byJeffrey Lo
Directed byMichael Champlin
Producing CompanyPear Theater
Production DatesThru Feb. 17th
Production AddressPear Theater
1110 La Avenida St.
Suite A
Mountain View, CA 94043
Websitewww.thepear.org
Telephone650.254.1148
Tickets$28-$32
Reviewer ScoreMax in each category is 5/5
Overall
Performance
Script
Stagecraft
Aisle Seat Review Pick?-----

 

ASR Theater Review! “Tinderella” Delights at Custom Made Theatre Co. – by Nicole Singley

Tinderella: Tinder Creeps

What if Cinderella were alive today, resigned to searching for her kale-munching, kombucha-swilling, flannel shirt-donning prince on an Internet dating app, adrift in a sea of creepy stalkers and unsolicited ‘dick pics?’

Running through May 26th at San Francisco’s Custom Made Theatre Co., modern musical “Tinderella” puts a wildly entertaining spin on an age-old classic, thrusting our beloved Disney princess into the harsh realities of 21st-century online dating. FaultLine Theater has partnered with Custom Made for the world premiere of a brilliant show three years in the making, attracting a remarkably young, enthusiastic audience with a story acutely relevant to millennials and Bay Area living, and poking plenty of fun at our newfound reliance on all things digital. (Boomers, be warned – some generational references may be lost in translation.)

Tinderella: Dylan & Meg

Once upon a time, (shortly after the release of the iPhone 5, but before the release of the iPhone 5C, we’re told), our princess Meg (Juliana Lustenader) naively yearns for the fairy-tale romance she grew up believing she was destined for. Her ordinary life feels inadequate when measured against the glamorous Facebook facades of her social media-savvy stepsisters, whose virtual personas exude the confidence and fulfillment Meg aspires to. But when gay fairy-god-roommate Dylan (the magnificent Branden Noel Thomas) introduces her to popular dating app Tinder, it seems as though her luck may be about to change. “If you’re straight, hot, and white,” he tells her, “Tinder is like magic, (more or less).”

Tinderella: Julie & Marcus

Meanwhile, in couples’ land, Julie (the exquisite Sarah Jiang) and Marcus (Jackson Thea) are at a crossroads. Marcus wants to settle down with Julie, move to Texas, buy a dog, and crank out a couple of kids. Julie, on the other hand, wants… well, she doesn’t exactly know yet, but she’s pretty sure it isn’t that. She urges him to take a step back and explore other options. Marcus does just that, inviting his new Tinder match Meg to a “super cool party” at his San Francisco apartment. Full of hope, Meg sets out to meet her prince, win his heart, and catch the last BART train back to Oakland before midnight. But in a world where success is measured in “likes” and love is found by “swiping right,” all bets for a happy ending are off.

The cellphone-toting ensemble is well balanced and superbly gifted, and vocal talent abounds. Thomas is dynamic, empathetic, and often hilarious as quesadilla-making, tough-loving Dylan, with a powerful voice and a flair for delivery. In lead roles, Thea and Lustenader are both convincing and cute and remain lovable despite lapses of self-centered blindness.

Tinderella: Selfies with Stepsisters

Adielyn Mendoza and Alex Akin are well cast as New York fashionista Allie and world-traveling, do-gooder Tanya (Meg’s not-so-evil stepsisters). Their excellent voices, though regrettably underutilized, are put to good use in “Picture Perfect” and “Reality Check,” calling out our obsession with ‘selfies’ and the false images of perfection we project online.

Jiang shines in a standout performance as undecided Julie, questioning whether she’s in the best place she can be (“The Best Place”) and ultimately helping lead us to one of the night’s most insightful revelations – that we are all sometimes guilty of forcing others to play a role in our own stories. It takes courage to shed our misguided fairy-tale notions and break free from the pressure to conform. “I’m not giving up on my dreams,” Julie explains to Marcus, “but I’m giving up on yours.” Jiang’s beautiful voice only accentuates her knack for acting and reacting to the other cast members throughout the show.

The production is punctuated by riotous, foot-tapping musical numbers like “Old School Chivalry,” “Slow Grind Love Song,” and “(You’re Gonna) F***ing Rock It.” Weston Scott’s lyrics are funny and sharp, pairing perfectly with Christian B. Schmidt’s hip, vibrant score. Meredith Joelle Charlson’s choreography adds much to the tear-inducing hilarity of lighter-hearted acts. The more solemn, introspective pieces are lovely, too, spotlighting some of the incredible voices on stage.

“Tinderella” is the sexy, hilarious, and highly enjoyable triumph of an immensely talented cast and creative team. You, too, may fall in love at first swipe.

Nicole Singley is a Contributor to Aisle Seat Review.

 

“Tinderella: The Modern Musical” by Rose Oser, Christian B. Schmidt, and Weston Scott, in partnership with FaultLine Theater

Custom Made Theatre Co., 533 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Through May 26, 2018

Tickets: $25—$49

Info: (415) 798-2682, custommade.org

Recommended for mature audiences

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

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ASR Technical Review! “Born Yesterday” at SF Playhouse Mostly Hits Technical Notes — by Team ASR

Note: These commentaries are primarily focused on the production, direction, and technical aspects of theater and performing arts.

Set in a $235-a-day hotel suite in our nation’s capital after WWII, “Born Yesterday” revolves around one Harry Brock, a self-made scrap-metal tycoon-cum-moneybags who comes to D.C. to buy himself a U.S. Senator. Along the way, he also buys (or so he thinks) a New Republic reporter named Paul Verrall to teach culture and manners to his mistress of eight-plus years, Emma “Billie” Dawn, a mink coat wearing former hoofer from the “Anything Goes” chorus line.

Simple enough. But as they often do in D.C., things go awry.

Because as Billie and Paul (quite quickly and with very little ramp-up) bookworm their way towards a romance, Billie morphs into the best looking, best educated dancer-cum-librarian in these forty-eight states (remember: the play takes place in 1946.)

She also turns a now knowing eye towards the ways Harry has been using/treating her – particularly as a “silent partner”, who, it turns out, owns 160 of what-were-Harry’s-but-are-now-Billie’s junkyards, since Harry insisted that she rather than he sign all the ownership documents (mostly unread.)

To Harry’s horror, Paul’s new student turns into a polished (as opposed to unpolished) dumb blonde, a well-read whistle-blowing crusader-cum-moralist who is in love with said reporter-tutor and not the least bit adverse to some not-so-subtle brink-womanship/blackmail regarding said scrapyards.

Next thing you know, love wins triumphant for Billie and her new beau while Harry has (we’re left to hope) learned his lesson(s) and is licking the wounds of his comeuppance. Curtain calls all around.

Not quite.

There are two flies in the ointment of the SF Playhouse production. As a character, Harry is a bully, a shark who is used to getting his way even if it involves slapping a few people around. That’s a given; no doubt. But, and it’s a BIG but, this play is written as a light comedy and the actor portraying Mr. Brock presents his character as a totally unlikeable, snarling woman (and man) beater. And since he’s such an obvious boob, no self-respecting graft-oriented Senator would get within strongarm (or bank deposit slip) distance of this walking Grand Jury deposition. So, if there is nothing at all likeable about Harry, we’re left with two holes in the plot:

  • If he’s such a relentless bully, hoodlum, and bruiser, why has Billie stayed with him for 8+ years? She may start the play as a “dumb blonde” but she’s obviously way smarter than to sign-up for endless abuse, even at Act 1-Scene
    1.
  • For the play to reach its intended comedy payoff, the audience should/must be laughing at Harry’s final comeuppance at the hands of these “born yesterday” newbies, Billie and Paul. Without his outraged sputtering, day-late-and-dollar-short, speechless hair-tearing, aghast flummoxing and proverbial pie-in-the-face downfall the audience is robbed of the comedy crescendo to which this tight script leads. He’s the real country bumpkin boob in this show.

Absent those two points, we’re left with a morality play.

***

Editor’s Note: One thing that’s interesting about “Born Yesterday” — As of February 2018, if you remove musicals from the equation, ”Born Yesterday”, based on its 1946-1949 run of 1,642 performances, remains inside the Top 10 Longest Running Broadway Plays list. And inside the Top 50 Longest Running Broadway Plays list even with musicals in the mix. Wow!

***

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:
SF Playhouse is known for nice sets. This one is, in a word, fabulous. Multi-layered, including a 2 or 3 story window with rear projection of The Mall in Washington, D.C., this is a set among sets. Major marks to Scenic Designer Jacquelyn Scott. Special nod to Projections Designer Theodore J.H. Hulsker. (Score: 9.5/10)

Set Construction:
Nice. Doors close nicely without shaking the two/three story walls. Two center stage columns impress without swaying as people and or doors move. The impressive stairway is quiet and its rails and balusters are sweet. Wall fit, trim and paint details are very, very well executed. The painted floor is also very nice. In short, very nice work all around and kudos to Maggie Koch (Production Manager), Zach Sigman (Technical Director) and all the SF Playhouse production technicians involved. (Score: 9.5/10)

Stage Management:
High-five to Beth Hall, the Stage Manager: the action behind the scenes was almost flawless. Cues were on their mark, entrances snappy, scenic (and projection) transitions timely. Nice work Beth — and Emily Kovalcik, stage management intern. (Score: 9/10)

Sound:
The show doesn’t have an especially large sound cue list, but all of the ever-present Mr. Hulsker’s sounds were executed and voiced well. (Score: 9/10)

Props:
Speaking of omni-present, Ms. Scott of Scenic Design fame also serves as Properties Manager for this production and did yeowoman’s work on this front as well. The furniture was tasteful, the props as period as possible it appeared. (Score: 9/10)

Costumes:
Mid- 20th century (1946) is always a tricky ask of any costumer. Abra Berman took a mighty swing and darn near got all the costumes right. A couple of outfits looked more ‘50s than mid-‘40s, but still a solid job. (Score: 8/10)

Direction:
Susi Damilano knows directing cold. Let’s get that straight right off. She’s a top-flight director. And, comedy – any comedy, anywhere, anytime, in any theater – is hard to direct. Period.

As seen, this show did not represent Ms. Damilano’s very best. Pacing was a solid beat too slow in Act 1 and missed by more in Act 2. Character arcs were left too flat and we missed-out on the comedic payoff of Mr. Brock’s comeuppance (mentioned above.)

To be fair, 1940’s words-and-phrases require more work on the part of actors and directors. Characters of this period often spoke sotto voce, or out of the side of their mouth. (Think Cary Grant, Abner Bieberman, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy in “His Girl Friday”.) These were well trained radio actors who knew how to nuance each line they delivered.

On a related note, actors in this show too often spoke both too soft and off-axis from the audience, making it difficult to hear the lines and the jokes. Vocal projection, from these sorts of characters and with this sort of material, is to be expected. When an audience works to hear or to decipher a line (or ‘accent’) jokes die.

Ditto when line speed slows down. Comedy, especially of this period, needs to be tight, crisp, and rat-a-tat fast. (Score: 8/10)

Lighting:
By and large, Michael Oesch’s lighting design for this show was good. In particular, the upstairs lighting and that of the entryway was very well conceived and executed. That said, there were noticeable gaps between the lights set for downstage. At this production level, the audience should not see a dim zone between lights. (Score: 8/10)

Casting:
Casting by Lauren English and Bebe La Grua was mostly fine, with two notable exceptions: the actors selected to portray Mr. Brock and and Mr. Verrall. Both were too ‘one note.’ On the other hand, Ms. Millie Brooks is delightful actress. (Score: 8/10)

Overall Production:
What went right: Killer set. Tight stage management. Solid props and sound. Mostly solid costumes and lights.
What missed a bit: Direction. Casting.

So, excepting a couple of infield ground balls, (which, to be fair, can largely be addressed) this show has the potential to be the sort of solid inside-the-park home-run production we’re used to from SF Playhouse. (Score: 8.5/10)

Overall Theater Tech Score: (86.5/100) Good work, worth seeing.

 

Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin

Directed by Susi Damilano
Runs thru March 10, 2018 at SF Playhouse, 450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA
Performance run time is approx. 2 hours 30 minutes w/one 15-minute intermission.
Tickets available online at sfplayhouse.org or by phone at 415.677.9596

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

 

ASR Technical Review! ‘Cops and Robbers’ is Solid Theater — by Team ASR

Note: These commentaries are primarily focused on the production, direction, and technical aspects of theater and performing arts.

Cops and Robbers is an important piece of theater. As presented at The Marsh in Berkeley, CA, it is also raw, honest, and powerful, demanding more than just passive viewing. This is theater that challenges the audience, regardless of ethnicity, to honestly assess their perceptions—and assumptions—on race in America.

In Cops and Robbers, Mr. Jinho Ferreira plays 17 wildly different roles including a self-centered news reporter, a black activist, an amazingly comic white conservative talk show host, a judge, and a hyped-up police department sergeant. The plot of this 90-minute, one-man theater piece turns on the now all-too-familiar topic of an officer-involved shooting, with the host of characters morphing in and out of the show to tell the story from each person’s perspective, a modern twist on Kurasawa’s classic Rashomon.

This reviewer left The Marsh not just liking, not merely appreciating, but actively respecting Mr. Ferreira and his work as a playwright and as an actor.

Each character in Cops and Robbers is the personification of an ethical viewpoint the playwright encountered growing up in West Oakland, CA. Mr. Ferreira’s insightful writing and bravura performance, goes where few American theater productions go by asking the audience a single, powerful, pervasive question: what will you do with your new knowledge, awareness, and insider view of topics many of us prefer to hear about in sanitized sound bites—if we want to hear about them at all.

This play takes on difficult topics—black-on-black crime, police officers’ use of force, American politics, the power of social media—and shows the audience how the people in these societal factions often do not speak the same language, value the same things, or make much of an effort to understand one another.  Mr. Ferreira is trying to drill down to the essence—not the stereotypes or popular perceptions—of those who live on these cultural islands, which are informed by ideology, pride, power (real and imagined), tradition, money, influence, and pain.

If you like theater that supplies pat answers, this is not your show. If you like theater that asks you to think, that asks you to examine your perceptions, that urges and inspires you to act and be part of the solution then this is your show.

Cops and Robbers is that rarest of experiences: essential and important theater.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

The set for this show is a black stage and black curtain backdrop, and the lone prop a hard-backed chair positioned center stage right. The program begins with an opening montage of video clips.

The content of this script and the acting combined with effective sound effects, conveyed what a more over-thought set design would have obscured. That said, I’m giving this design a 7 out of 10 because it didn’t try to do more. (Score: 7/10)

Set Construction:

(Score: N/A)

Stage Management:

To the Stage Manager’s credit, the action behind the scenes was mostly smooth. A bit less time in blackout would have been better. Sound cues were on their mark. (Score: 8/10)

Sound:

Watch out for Mr. Ferreira’s microphone; it was over-driven, causing distortion at a couple points. Sound effects were very well chosen—unobtrusive and well delivered—supporting the action. (Score: 7.5/10)

Props:

In a one-person show with a blank stage, a wooden chair, sound effects, and one actor, the props department gets a well-deserved bye.  (Score: N/A.)

Costumes:

Mr. Ferreira’s costume was a basic black T-shirt and black, military-style cargo pants with black police boots. The simplicity of the costume worked well as the principal actor morphed from character to character. Again, not over-thinking these choices aided and supported the production. (Score: 7/10)

Direction:

Tightly directed for the most part. Pacing was good, a demanding task in a one-person show which makes the kinds of physical demands on an actor that this play does. A couple character transitions showed flashes of questionable acting choices. (Score: 7/10)

Lights:

The lights were uneven. On more than one occasion Mr. Ferreira was performing between lights in a dim zone. There was no indication that this was required by the script. This is not good anytime but especially for a one person show. (Score: 4/10)

Casting:

N/A as the playwright is the principal actor. (Score: N/A.)

Overall Production

A little more attention to sound management and light placement would add value. The video montage at the top of the program could be cut tighter to build towards the play opening rather than feeling a bit like a bolted-on attraction. A tiny bit of polish on the direction/acting choices in a couple character changes would add even more luster.   (Score: 8/10)

Reviewer Score:

This is an important piece of theater that is effectively rendered. People talk about how this-or-that theater production made them think. This program does that very, very well. Go see this show, and bring every friend and neighbor you can find. (Score: 8.5/10)

Overall Theater Tech Score: (57/80) Good work.

Cops and Robbers

Directed by Ami Zins and Lew Levinson.

Written by Jinho “The Piper” Ferreira. A graduate of San Francisco State University, Ferreira, who describes himself as a self-taught actor and playwright, is also a musician, singer, father of three, and Alameda County Sherriff’s Deputy.

Mature content: appropriate for ages 15+.

Runs SATURDAY AFTERNOONS ONLY at 5:00 p.m. through October 3, 2015; dark on 9/19/15. at The Marsh Theater, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA.

Tickets available online at http://www.themarsh.org or by phone at 415.282.3055 1:00-4:00 p.m. Mon-Fri

Run time: 90 minutes with one intermission.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians,

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

 

ASR Technical Review! Ubuntu Theater Project Totally Nails ‘Waiting for Lefty’ — by Team ASR

Note: These commentaries are primarily focused on the production, direction, and technical aspects of theater and performing arts.

Clifford Odets was arguably one of the most skilled playwrights of 1930s American social protest. His writing is spare, almost terse, and highly instructive of the period. His characters are powerful and symbolic without stooping to sentimentality or cliché. And his staging devices are imaginative yet simple without being simplistic. His works have a timelessness so they can be staged in many settings and styles without losing their impact. This production of Waiting for Lefty by the Ubuntu Theater Project (UTP), converts an actual Berkeley, CA, automobile body-and-fender repair shop into a theatre space where directors Emile Whelan and Michael S. Moran present the drama as a series of seven vignettes, separated by blackouts.

If you like your theater understated and enjoy teasing the significance, meaning, or connotation out of this-or-that character’s lines, then Odets is not your playwright, and Waiting for Lefty is not your play. This is politically left, workingman theater delivered with the sweet subtlety of brass knuckles driven by a large muscular man descending from his well-worn, roughly hewn soapbox.

The essence of Waiting for Lefty is that unions and collective bargaining are the only ways for the American workingman to gain any kind of footing against big business. Absent those tools, owners and their cronies can—and will—continually drive down wages and suppress the means necessary for these same workers to do a decent day’s work.  As a result, the working classes need to fight like junkyard dogs for their rights, particularly to unionize.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

The choice of the automobile repair shop as a theater was an inspired choice. The hard, stained gray concrete floors; the roughhewn lumber ceiling and supports; parked cars from a variety of decades; garage acoustics; and the smells of rubber, oil, and grease made for a potent backdrop to this production. The setting made the audience feel as if they’d been invited to observe a secret meeting of workingmen to discuss unionization. The set design within the garage was also spare, solid, and simple: a single wooden chair, a large wooden cable spool, and wooden crates.   (Score: 9/10)

Set Construction:

The playing area was a rough circle of concrete surrounded by wooden benches and crates for audience seating. In essence the play was presented in the round, with entrances and exits through aisles between the audiences’ seating. No score for this category. (Score: N/A)

Stage Management:

Tight, timely, and effective.  JJ Hersh’s efforts were well executed. (Score: 8/10)

Sound:          

Acoustics were interesting given that cavernous space, and the number of cars parked just outside the playing area. No score for this category. (Score: N/A)

Props:

Props were appropriate to the message and the set design: spare and simple—a wrench for a gavel; a straight-back, wooden chair; an empty, rough-hewn cable spool acting as a desk; a table; and a podium. The effect, like the play itself, was industrial and hard-edged.

The actors mimed using a camera to take some pictures. We know cameras of that period not by their click but by their flash; even something a subtle as that can cause the audience to lose engagement.

On another note, when an actor hands another actor money, especially when audience members are three or four feet away from the action, real money should be used and the denomination should represent the action. So if an actor is handing someone sixty-five cents, they should hand the actor sixty-five cents and not just a random selection of coins. The same hold true for folding money. While the folding money may not necessarily be period to the production, it detracts from the truth of the show for both audience and actors when obviously fake money is used in a production. Worst of all are those productions that skip the money prop all together and just have the actor mime they are handing another actor money. These are the details that elevate a production above the pedestrian level and crown superior productions.   (Score: 7/10).

Costumes:

While the costuming, by Luther Spratt, was close to period for the most part, it was the aspect of the production that was least satisfactory.

  • Workingmen’s clothes should look like workingmen’s clothes: wrinkled, sweat stained, maybe soiled.
  • One of the male actors was wearing a contemporary watch.
  • Shoes on workingmen should not be shined but should show their labor heritage.
  • In the SF Bay Area, gaining access to either Goodwill coats for purchase—or even for loan—or access to the costume departments of other theater companies should preclude coats whose sleeves are too short, as occurred on one actor in this production.
  • The dress of a working-class housewife whose furniture has just been repossessed should look the part. This actresses’ dress was too upmarket, too fancy. Images like this cause the audience to disengage to one degree or another while they think: That dress isn’t right. Again, with reference to accessibility of costume resources in the Bay Area, no production should trade those audience reality points if at all possible.
  • No executive of this period would be caught dead without a tie.

Also, when the cast is singing about not having visibility to their next hot meal, their clothes should map to that message. This material requires that the audience be able to see, simply by looking at the costumes, which are the good guys and which are the bad guys. That message was muddled in this production. (Score: 5.5/10)

Direction:

UTP’s Waiting for Lefty is on the whole competently directed by Emile Whelan and Michael S. Moran.

That said, the acting has a bit of a rushed call-and-response feel—they aren’t talking to each other, just trading lines. The connection between the characters needs work. Also, overall delivery from almost all actors felt to linear and unmodulated.

In addition, the overall timing/pacing of the show felt a bit rushed, which was especially unnecessary given the play’s 45-minute run time. The characters in this play are thinking deep thoughts about complex and potentially dangerous, even life threatening, topics, and their dialog should have the hesitations and pauses such situations command. Even if the playwright didn’t indicate pauses, the material and situation(s) of this play command them.

On another note, when someone writes a brief message to someone, an actor should be directed to make the appropriate amount of effort to actually write the message. (Score: 6.5/10)

Lights:

Stephanie Anne Johnson’s lighting design was simple yet effective: hard, industrial lighting that illuminated the actors clearly if unflinchingly and added stark shadows and sharply-defined profiles, which were not lost on the acting talent. (Score: 7/10)

Casting:

The casting was uniformly good. (Score: 8/10)

Overall Production:

Overall, I liked UTP’s version of Waiting for Lefty, and recommended it as an SFBATCC Go See production. True, as noted here, there are some areas that need fine-tuning. But this is quality material from a playwright who knows his craft, delivered with a level of commitment to quality not always apparent.

Reviewer Score:

Looking at the production as a whole—the text of the play, the messages within it, the energy and craft of the acting team, and the care taken by the creative team—tells the tale: Waiting for Lefty by the Ubuntu Theater Project is a solid production of an important period piece of American history.

Go see it! (Score: 8/10)

Overall Theater Tech Score: (66/90) Good work.

Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets

Directed by Emile Whelan and Michael S. Moran at Ubuntu Theater Project.  Runs through September 12, 2015 at Classic Cars West, 411 26th St. Oakland CA 94612.

Tickets available online at http://www.ubuntutheaterproject.com

Run time: 45 minutes with no intermission.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians,

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** 

 

ASR Technical Review! Theater Rhino Breaks the Tech Code in Turing Play! — by Team ASR

NOTE: The following commentary is focused primarily on the production, direction, and technical aspects of theater and performing arts.

These days you can’t swing a secret decoding book without hitting a play, biopic, or documentary about Alan Turing. There is no question that Mr. Turing (1912-1954) was a mathematical prodigy whose genius left a legacy that remains scientifically relevant to this day. But it is the circumstances of his too-short life that continues to intrigue, inform, and inspire.

The hit revival of Hugh Whitemore’s 1986 Breaking the Code by Theater Rhinoceros at the Eureka Theater masterfully captures Turing’s professional assent, first for his contributions in developing computer science as we know it then later for his pivotal part in breaking the Nazi’s Enigma code that helped the Allies win World War II to his subsequent tragic fall from public grace for being homosexual. Whether by nature or necessity, Turing was a complex man who tried—and ultimately failed—to compartmentalize his life, leading to his apparent suicide in 1954. Directed by and starring Theater Rhinoceros Artistic Director John Fisher, this show is must-see drama.

This production is not “gay theater” nor is it a fringe work designed to incite people with too much anger for the world to scream Oppression! on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, typed furiously on their Taco Bell-stained laptop keyboard. This production ofBreaking the Code is quality theater of the first rank that could be picked-up and dropped unchanged into a venue like the SF Playhouse, Marin Theater Company or Aurora Theater.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

Too many community and regional theaters try misdirect the audience from lackluster acting and direction by self-conscious sets or visual effects. The set by Jon Wai-keung Lowe is ingeniously simple and forms a perfect backdrop for the events of Mr. Turing’s life, emphasizing the theory that it’s the acting that makes the play. (Score: 8/10)

Set Construction:

Dave Gardner’s set construction was well done and inserting doors into the blackboards stage left and right was a clever addition.  (Score: 7/10)

Stage Management:

Congratulations to stage manager Valerie Tu (soon to be interning at Chicago’s fabled Steppenwolf Theater) and her assistant Cat Howser for spot-on actor, lighting, and sound cues. Of note was having the actors re-position the furniture and props in semi-darkness between scenes. Mr. Fisher in particular seemed to be channeling Fred Astaire as he deftly and precisely accomplished his tasks during the scene changes.  (Score: 8/10)

Sound:

Colin Johnson’s sound effects were largely good although it was confusing when the office/typewriter effects weren’t always audible when the door into Mr. Turing’s room was opened. (Score: 7/10)

Props:

John Fisher’s props are spare but period proper and well rendered, an ornament to the acting, not mere set—or actor—decoration. (Score: 7.5/10)

Costumes:

Lara Rempel’s costume choices were first-rate, period proper, and well rendered. Period hose on the ladies was a nice detail, as was the damp T-shirt on Mr. Turing as he finished jogging.  (Score: 8/10)

Direction:

Clearly a well-rehearsed production, the direction was solid, professional, and well executed with twice the much-deserved applause because the director is also the lead actor. It is much more difficult to direct yourself than others but John Fisher did it seamlessly. Pacing was nice—brisk but not breathless. The show also used pauses well—a rare dramatic art these days.) (Score: 8.5/10)

Lights:

Jon Wai-keung Lowe and Sean Keehan’s lighting design was subtle and largely unobtrusive but with one hitch: on more than one occasion actors were performing between lights in a dim zone. (Score: 7.5/10)

Casting:

The gentlemen in the cast were solid and Mr. Fisher was simply outstanding. New or seasoned acting students should buy tickets to study a professional at work.

Frank Wang played hustler Ron Miller obliquely as a man made of angles and edges, each sharper than the last.  Val Henrickson, as Turing co-worker Dillwyn Knox, provided a witty performance as the neighborhood and cultural oracle of bad things to come.

Particularly enjoyable was Patrick Ross as empathetic detective Mike Ross, who seems genuinely hurt that Mr. Turing has blurted out a story revealing his own homosexuality, leaving the lawman no choice but to investigate Mr. Turing and charge him with gross indecency. The scene is hard to watch and the audience was silent save for the collective sign of 60 souls seeing a man put himself squarely in the crosshairs of the law.

Heren Patel assumes two roles in the show: an awkward school boy and a Grecian guy-for-rent whose stream of Greek-speech is both impressive and quite funny.

One acting note: when an actor is supposed to write something—in this case it was an address–on a piece of paper, the actor should quickly write the address down, not just apply pen to paper and scribble. Details always count, but especially so in a quality production like this.  (Score: 8/10)

Overall Production:

As produced by Theatre Rhinoceros  and expertly directed by John Fisher, Breaking theCode is thoughtful, taut, often funny, touching, heartfelt, and skillfully rendered. The drama is crisply written.  (8.5/10)

Reviewer Score:

From lights-up to lights-down, this fast-paced production is how quality theater is done. This is not a hard code to break: run, don’t walk, to see this show—and bring your friends.  (Score: 8.5/10)

Overall Score: 86.5/110. Very good work.

Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore, directed by John Fisher.

Theatre Rhinoceros, Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco, CA 94111

Tickets at: http://www.therhino.org/buy.htm or 1-800- 838-3006

Run time: 2:10 with one intermission.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

 

ASR Technical Review! ‘Company’ Rocks at SF Playhouse — by Team ASR

NOTE: The following commentary is focused primarily on the production, direction, and technical aspects of theater and performing arts.

SF Playhouse has learned a secret uncovered by few community and regional theaters: big musicals in the June 1 to Sept. 1 timeframe can make serious money. Especially in tourist destination cities or areas.

Raising a vodka gimlet to toast their own obvious success with this secret (as witnessed by the near sell-out audience last Saturday night), SF Playhouse’s production of Company, by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, went down as smooth as a cocktail and left many patrons with a satisfied glow as a result.

Company is not your typical all-singing-all-dancing musical. In fact, there’s little enough dancing in the show—this is a musical with the emphasis on the music and the singing.Company is not a sort of A-to-Z straight-line plot, either. The show is composed of a variety of scenes that taken as a whole tell our tale.

The scenes/music/singing all revolve around the dating/marriage/commitment/relationships of one newly 35-year-old man named Bobby, played with almost detached studied aplomb by Keith Pinto. A perpetual bachelor and bon vivant, Bobby, and his married friends, are celebrating his birthday; that, in essence, is the storyline.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

The set design by Bill English and Jacquelyn Scott is elegant on many levels because the set is built on, you guessed it, many levels. The scenic rear projections as designed by Micah Stieglitz add a powerful theatrical touch to the proceedings. (Score: 8/10)

Set Construction:

In a word: quality. A well constructed, well thought-out set. No extraneous architecture—nothing that didn’t need to be there was there. (Score: 8/10)

Stage Management:

As rendered by Tatjana Genser, the stage management was tight with sound and light cues snappily in place.  (Score: 8/10)

Sound:

The sound design by Anton Hedman works well. (Score: 7/10)

Props:

The props design is fine—what props need to be in place are in place, work well, and underscore scenes nicely. (Score: 7/10)

Costumes:

Costume design by Shannon Sigman takes full marks—elegant, well designed, and nicely rendered. All the actors looked darn good in Sigman’s work. (Score: 8/10)

Direction:

As directed by SF Playhouse co-founder Susi Damilano, Company is well blocked with excellent stage pictures rendered on the multiple layers of the stage. This adds complexity to the directorial process because it’s easier to watch/direct actors at the same time on a single level plane versus actors scattered liberally from stage left to stage right and upstage to downstage.

Blocking takes on aspects of choreography in many plays (both musical and non-musical), and Damilano handled movement well. My only nudge would be that cue pick-ups could be quicker, brisker, and the same nudge for scene transitions—a bit faster might have added even more audience energy to the proceedings. (Score: 8/10)

Musical Direction:

Company eschews the full orchestration and electric guitars of most productions, relying instead on two pianos, located stage left and stage right. Music Director Dave Dobrusky hosts one of these pianos and surely conducts his musical charges. The effect of this two-piano strategy is more personal, less grandiose than a full or even partial orchestra. That said, at times it felt a bit like the cast was fighting the sound envelope of the pianos. (Score: 6/10)

Lights:

The lighting design by Michael Oesch in and of itself works well. (Score: 8/10)

NOTE: But I have significant reservation about a couple of architectural lighting issues. The house right and house left tormentor lights spill too much light into the audience area. The same is true of the lights high, upstage center. The light spillage was very distracting and detracted from the quality of what was happening onstage.

Casting:

The casting was a bit uneven. Disappointing, as the majority of the cast ranged from good to superb.  (Score: 7/10)

Overall Production:

As presented by SF Playhouse, Company gives general audiences and those of us inside theater a solid example of taking a musical from some years back and making it modern, energetic, and appealing to a contemporary audience.

The acting of Monique Hafen made this show for me. Her stellar history with SF Playhouse is now the stuff of regional theater legend. Soon, I have little doubt, it will be the stuff of Broadway legend as well. (Score: 8.5/10)

Reviewer Score:

SF Playhouse has demonstrated to everyone that they know how to rock musical theater. From awards won to sell-out nights, SF Playhouse knows musicals. Company continues that proud heritage.

The quality of SF Playhouse musical productions should be a beacon to technical theater artists as well as actors across the US, and, indeed, globally. (Score: 8.5/10)

Overall Score: (92/120) Extremely good work.

 All in all, SF Playhouse’s Company is a fine night on the town.

 

Company continues through Sept. 12 at San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post St., San Francisco.

Tickets are $20-$120 (discounts available). Call 415-677-9596 or visit http://www.sfplayhouse.org.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

 

ASR Technical Review! August Wilson Play Works Hard — by Team ASR

NOTE: The following commentary is focused primarily on the production, direction, and technical aspects of Theater and Performing Arts.

Two Trains Running is Mr. Wilson’s seventh effort in his ten-part series of plays entitled The Pittsburgh Cycle. The play was first produced by the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, and later opened on Broadway in the spring of 1992 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. The version I’m reviewing is in The City now and is presented at the Gough Street Playhouse and produced by Multi Ethnic Theater in association with Custom Made Theater.

The play gives us a complex story based on the lives of ordinary people, a volatile turning point in American history. The location is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the racially charged world of 1969. Mr. Memphis Lee’s threadbare cafe is a regular stop for neighborhood folks all trying to understand the cultural maelstrom of the late 1960s. The regulars do their best to comprehend the swirling tides of change, but don’t always get the results they intended.

As the play begins, the city block on which Mr. Memphis’s diner is located is due to be torn down in a city renovation project. One of Mr. Memphis’ regular customers is the rich undertaker across the street from Mr. Memphis’ café. The undertaker urges Mr. Memphis to accept his offer to buy the cafe, but his price is unacceptable to the stoic Mr. Memphis. He’s been swindled out of property before and he’s determined to stand his ground this time, and get what he thinks his property is worth.

Another regular to the café is Sterling, a petty ex-con just out of the penitentiary with big dreams for his future. Then there’s Wolf, a bookie, a hustler (in the survival sense of the word) and a man-about-town.  He dresses to the nine’s and is equally focused on the details of his own success.

Risa is the only female in the cast. A waitress of quiet dignity occupying the still point in this play, she has self-inflicted cuts on her legs, self-mutilation as a fence between herself and men. Hambone is a mentally disturbed man who seeks comfort in the friendship Risa shows him. He speaks infrequently but when he does it’s one variation or another of the phrase, “He gonna give me my ham. I want my ham!”

The senior character of the play is Holloway. He has seen it all and his role is steady anchor, neighborhood philosopher, and ardent proponent of a legendary 322-year-old woman prophet down the street. Although never seen, she radiates a strong influence over the actions of many of the characters in the play, and serves as a reminder of the heritage of Black Americans.

With these strong roots, Mr. Wilson grows a powerful theatrical experience and a strong history lesson for those of us not witness to Black life in 1969.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

The set design—that of a scruffy café so much a part of neighborhoods everywhere—was satisfactory. The turquoise booths were period perfect. The bare bones kitchen also fitting. (Score: 5/10)

Set Construction:

Unpainted plywood here-and-there underlined a business managed with small dollars and ‘just enough’ repairs. Set construction showed care. Making a set look down-on-its-luck without making it look slapdash is harder than one might imagine. The set designer/builders (Lewis Campbell and David Hampton) did so here. (Score: 6/10)

Stage Management:

Cues were solid and well timed, as were actor entrances. Although technically a directing note, actor exits should be quicker in order to drive the play forward. (Score: 5/10)

Sound:

Sound design was satisfactory. (Score: 5/10)

Props:

Props were period and detailed. Even though no one in the play ate anything requiring catsup, the always ubiquitous red plastic catsup dispenser appeared one-third full. The bowl of beans eaten by Hambone were appealing, as was the coffee dispensed by Risa. (Score: 7/10)

Costumes:

Costumes were period 1969 in look and nicely selected (especially those for Wolf.) Shoe selection was nice. Accessory selection was also good.  A bit more attention to fit would render some costumes perfect. (Score: 5/10)

Direction:

As directed by Lewis Campbell with Esperanza Catubig assisting, Two Trains Running runs 3 hours including one intermission. The running time is important, as slowness of pacing was an issue on opening night. This play requires pacing more like everyday life, with the dynamics of neighbors talking with neighbors they’ve known for years; that is to say briskly, sometimes obliquely, with awareness of personal quirks and hot buttons, and with every intent to find or deliver a message, a joke, a jab, or a cut.

The actors cast in this production were certainly more than capable of doing this sort of work, but on opening night the presentation was too muted. (Note: It was extremely hot in the theater this night and I’m sure that had an impact on the actors. I know it had one on the audience.) (Score: 5/10)

Lights:

Lighting design was satisfactory with one note: the kitchen was never lit, not even by a single bulb. This seemed incorrect.  (Score: 5/10)

Casting:

Solid acting highlighted by Fabian Herd (Wolf), Vernon Medearis (West), and Stuart Elwyn Hall (Holloway.) All three actors demonstrated a keen ability to do what so many actors fail at: to listen to what is being said by other actors, instead of simply waiting for their turn to speak. These gentlemen delivered acting in considered gradations, rendering layered performances which would hold them in good stead with notable theaters across this country.  (Score: 7/10)

Overall Production:

A good effort to present what will no doubt become an American classic. More pacing, quicker exits, and a tad more attention to costume fit would polish the production. The production crew needs to think more about patron comfort on hot August nights; additional fans would help make the tight confines of the Gough Street Playhouse more amenable to sellout audiences. (Score: 6/10)

Reviewer Score:

There is little doubt August Wilson has a ‘reserved seat’ in the pantheon of Greatest American Playwrights. Seeing Multi Ethnic Theater’s production of Two Trains Running shows why. (Score: 6/10)

Overall Score: (62/110) Good work.

Two Trains Running continues through August 30th at the Gough Street Playhouse, 1620 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94109.

Industry Commentary…

  • “Vivid and uplifting… pure poetry… remarkable!”—Time
  • “A symphonic composition with a rich lode of humanity running through it.”—Los Angeles Times
  • Winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Best Play Award
  • “Vivid and uplifting… pure poetry… remarkable!”—Time
  • “A symphonic composition with a rich lode of humanity running through it.”—Los Angeles Times
  • “His language is golden: rich in humor and poetry and redolent of a colorful vernacular.”—Wall Street Journal
  • “Has an unassailable authenticity… a lot of life and a lot of humor… By the end, a small world has been utterly transformed.”—Variety
  • “These characters are fully imagined—they live… reeling out stories about their past, their angers, their dreams.”—Washington Post
  • “Wilson’s most adventurous and honest attempt to reveal the intimate nature of history… glorious storytelling… touching and often funny… a penetrating revelation of a world hidden from view.”—Frank Rich, The New York Times

Also Available…

Script available here. 

Script, Samuel French  available here.

Study Guide available here.

Paybill from Broadway run available here.

Discount Tickets are also available on Goldstar

Tickets are available on the theater’s website.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

 

ASR Technical Review! Shakespeare Does it Physically in Marin — by Team ASR

NOTE: The following commentary is focused primarily on the production, direction, and technical aspects of Theater and Performing Arts.

Ron Campbell has pulled off the near-impossible— he convinced the large opening-night crowd at Marin Shakespeare’s debut of their witty adaptation of Don Quixote (by Peter Anderson and Colin Heath) that he was both a man and a horse. Truly no mean feat, that.

Then again, Mr. Campbell is no mean actor. A man, a wooden broom and a watering can? Gesticulating arms and pumping legs? An energetic and comedic recitation of a classic text invigorated with new life? He’s certainly all of that, to be sure. But to stop there would be to damn with faint praise.

Instead, one simple phrase comes to mind: theatrical magic.

Mr. Campbell’s physical comedy gifts are so sublime that one could not help but believe that he was in fact Quixote himself. And Rocinante, the horse. Or both at once, in action on the stage. Mr. Campbell’s unquenchable dedication to seeing, feeling and embodying the evolving demands of each succeeding microsecond of the script and character represents a master’s thesis in acting.

Ably supporting Mr. Campbell was John R. Lewis as everyone’s favorite squire Sancho Panza. Panza translates literally in English to “belly” or “paunch”, and while Mr. Lewis was indeed suitably paunchy, he brought a world-weariness combined with a rich sense of humor and formidable physical comedy chops to a role too often played to its lowest common denominator. Solid marks for Mr. Lewis.

The play, making its U.S. debut, is ably directed by Ms. Lesley Schisgall Currier in a production that appears to a take on elements of the Commedia dell’arte style: spare sets, masked actors (thanks to the artistry of Mr. David Poznanter), and standardize costumes. Paired with hand-selected segments of the text by Miguel de Cervantes, the show unfortunately succeeds in feeling a bit like the books upon which the play is based— a bit tedious as the end draws neigh. The show starts out grandly and the first act moves quite briskly. The second act? Not so much. By the end of the show it felt somewhat like a long visit by a good friend: you’re at once delighted to have been so entertained but wish the evening’s festivities would wrap-up.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

Ms. Currier kept the set design simple and even spare, via the able design of Mr. Jackson Currier. Again, this may be intentional on her part vis-à-vis Commedia dell’arte. The back wall of the set is painted to appear as a library, featuring shelves upon shelves of books. This effect works well in Act 1, Scene 1, but once our hero had left his house in search of adventure, the library wall felt incongruous. (Score: 6/10)

Set Construction:

Set construction was solid, as the ramped “mountain” in center stage played host to a small army of people. (Score: 8/10)

Stage Management:

Stage management (from Gillian Confair) on opening night can sometimes be tricky as actors and technicians all work through opening night jitters. Such appeared to be the case here, with a few tardy scene transitions and actor entrances. Light and sound cues, however, were prompt and unobtrusive. (Score: 6/10)

Sound:

Sound levels suffered from some of the natural vagaries of outdoor theater: the actors’ voice levels dipping when they spoke off-axis to the audience, etc. The sound system speakers need bolstering, perhaps something along the lines of a couple of folded 18-inch speakers or a subwoofer to add bottom-end power to the mix. Body microphones would also have added additional presence. (Score: 5/10)

Props:

Props (from Joel Eis) were used only as needed and expertly rendered. (Score: 8/10)

Costumes:

Costumes (from Maria Chenut) tended toward a universal tan/brown in color, but were well-crafted. Care was obviously taken to bespoke the actors professionally. (Score: 8/10)

Direction:

The physical comedy scenes were well-rendered, if in need of a touch more rehearsal to make them appear a bit less, well, rehearsed. Comedic impact of the text would have benefited from tighter cue pick-ups and brisker tempo. No one knows the physical limitations of this stage better than Mr. and Mrs. Currier, so blocking was universally good throughout. (Score: 6/10)

Lights:

Lighting, like sound, can be a tricky beast outside, even in an amphitheater set below local ground level. A slightly more consistent, balanced lighting plot would have made the visual aspects of the work come off more seamlessly. (Score: 6/10)

Casting:

Full marks to Mr’s. Campbell and Lewis, as previously mentioned. The rest of the cast was competent and delivered reliable performances. (Score: 8/10)

Overall Production:

A solid, well directed new adaptation of a classic work which benefits from the efforts of one of the best physical comedians in the Bay Area. Outdoor theater comes with built-in technical challenges which were, to a large degree, successfully navigated. (Score: 7/10)

Reviewer Score:

A good outdoor effort of a version of Don Quixote which this reviewer hopes will benefit from a bit of a duration trim on its way to becoming a theatrical staple, and a tad of tempo tightening during its current run.  The play was very, very well-served by the addition of Mr. Campbell and Mr. Lewis. (Score: 7/10)

Overall Score: (75/110) Good work.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

 

ASR Technical Review! Big David Mamet Results in a Small Theater — by Team ASR

NOTE: The following commentary is focused primarily on the production, direction, and technical aspects of Theater and Performing Arts.

Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Glengarry Glen Ross is David Mamet’s sizzling and gritty, claustrophobic play about a quartet of self-loathing real estate salesmen in Chicago during the mid-1980s. The 1992 film featured an all-star cast and was critically acclaimed. While there is much to be said about the art of live theatre, it would be wise to keep any comparisons to the film out of mind.

The title of the play (and the plot, really) is derived from the two real estate properties mentioned: Glengarry Highlands, a real estate development currently being sold, and Glen Ross Farms, a previous crème del le crème real estate development. A sales contest pits the salesmen against each other. Driven to desperation, they resort to manipulation, bribery and even burglary and theft to keep their jobs. The dog-eat-dog action that ensues is intense, laden with F-bombs, and brings with it all the intensity of life in a pressure cooker.

Mamet came to the public’s attention with plays including, American BuffaloSpeed the PlowOleanna, and Cryptogram. Considered a classic of 20th century theater, Glengarry Glen Ross shows Mr. Mamet at the top of his game – a key reason this play has become a regional theater staple.

So in a nutshell, how was the Shelton’s version of the show? The actors do a serviceable job with the dynamic script that’s full of rapid-fire dialogue, and the technical aspects largely delivered their intended results.

 

TECHNICAL SCORECARD

Scenic Design:

The set in the small footprint Shelton Theater were quite effective. A Chinese restaurant, the focus of the first few scenes of the production, boasted beautiful red upholstery and was accented with maple-stained wood trim.  With clean lines, the restaurant set was complemented by a simple black lacquer table and white curtains.  The real estate office’s white walls included a well-painted marble effect that transported the audience right into the twisted business.  Both sets leveraged the Shelton Theater’s size and geometry to good effect. The sets were designed, built, and painted by Matt Shelton and Adam Stowers. (Score: 8/10)

Set Construction:

The set was carefully built to capture the essence of the environments displayed. The resulting effect was more than your run-of-the-mill set—simple yet effective. The brown stair step leading from the street into the office struck a somewhat incongruous note. (Score: 7/10)

Stage Management:

To the credit of Stage Manager, Muriel Shattack, the action behind the scenes was smooth. The backstage crew controlled the on-stage chaos with near perfect set changes and actors made entrances promptly. Lighting and sound crews were on their mark and associated cues were tight. (Score: 8/10)

Sound:

Sound design was by Alex Boyd. At the outset, Mr. Boyd’s music and mood effects inside the Chinese restaurant worked well. In contrast, the sound effects and music underscoring the key set change were overwrought, taking the audience away from the moment. (Score: 5/10)

Props: 

An important facet of a strong production is the use of effective props. Shelton’s prop designer invoked realism with matching turquoise office chairs, harmonious dishes and tea set accessories, as well as a file cabinet full of…files. By-and-large, everything was in its proper place and presented a well thought-out design. One inconsistent note was a tea bag, seen floating in the bottom of a glass coffee pot. When an actor says something to the effect that he hasn’t had a cup of coffee all day and pours same from a glass coffee pot containing a floating tea bag clearly visible to the audience, the result is unimpressive.  (Score: 7/10)

Costumes:

Costumes were realistic, pressed/ironed as appropriate and well presented. Each slimy salesman wore immaculate, pressed suits fitting for the 1980s. Shoes were stylish and polished. Style/design elements were well considered and selected.  (Score: 8/10)

Direction:

Mamet challenges directors of every experience level. Director Sasha Litovchenko succeeds for the most part. Pacing was a tad uneven in spots. It also felt like a bit more work needed to be done on the acting choices made in some of the scenes, particularly in Act 1 Scene 1. Blocking and movement were satisfactory. (Score: 5/10)

Lights:

One of the greatest challenges of the space at Shelton Theater is its low hanging ceiling. Still, the lighting design by Colin Pope captured the essence of the script for the most part. The lights were hung evenly, but on more than one occasion actors were performing between lights, in a bit of a dim zone. (Score 6/10)

Casting:

Good casting, nice mix. The seasoned actors did a good job with the material. Mr. Shelton’s work in particular was outstanding. The Eastern European accent of one of the other actors was a bit thick at times. Philip Estrin avoids clichés and nails the role of down-but-not-quite-out Shelley Levene. Matt Crawford as Moss, looks straight out of Central Casting as the schemer who launches the idea of the salesmen robbing their own office. (Score: 8/10)

Overall Production:

The Shelton Theater’s production of Mamet is a solid presentation of a great American classic. Overall, Shelton paid better-than-average attention to the technical aspects of the theater. (Score: 7/10)

Reviewer Score:

Shelton Theater’s iteration of Glengarry Glen Ross works incredibly hard to sell the intent and intensity of Mr. Mamet’s work. For the small audience on Friday night, Shelton largely delivered the goods. If you like drama, go see this solid take on an American classic. (Score: 7/10)

Overall Score: (75/110) Good work.

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet plays through August 29th.

Tickets are $25-$50 (with discounts available) and are available online at http://www.sheltontheater.org or by calling 415.882.9100.

Show times and Place: Thursday – Saturday 8:00 pm.  Box Office and Bar open at 7:00 pm. The Shelton Theater is located at 533 Sutter St. between Powell and Mason, in San Francisco.

 

Team ASR is composed of a selection of writers, directors, actor, musicians, dancers, technicians, stage managers, and a host of other arts folks.

We don’t name names for obvious reasons — and Team ASR often buys their own tickets and do not announce their presence as such at a performance — but it is important to note that each Team ASR review is screened by one or more ASR Editors to insure a ‘fair’ review, warts and all, when appropriate.

The goal of Team ASR Reviews is to communicate directly with the technical staffs who are largely ignored by most reviewers. These behind the scenes folks work their collective butt’s off to mount a show, and they deserve well-intentioned constructive criticism from fellow artists as appropriate — and ditto for well-earned praise.

 

***** ***** ***** ***** *****