Category: Kris Neely

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ASR IMHO! ~~ The High Cost Of Theatre: Is It Sustainable For The Average American?

By Kris Neely

I’ve observed a troubling trend in the pricing of tickets for many local, regional, and touring theater productions.

Despite the magic of live theater, the rising cost of admission raises questions about accessibility and sustainability for the average American – long the backbone of local and regional theater in this country.

Rising Ticket Prices

Over the past two decades, ticket prices for regional and touring theater productions have increased significantly. In the early 2000s, one could expect to pay around $25-$35 for a regional theater ticket.

Today, it’s common to see prices ranging from $45 to $60 and up, even, sad to say, at the local level.  On the other hand, and not to be unexpected (but still!), tickets for popular touring shows like “Hamilton” can range from $138.26 to over $1,600, depending on the seating and venue (TicketSmarter).

” … People remember ‘events’ such as going to the theater … “

At the San Francisco Opera, the price for a most favored seat exceeds $440 for some productions. Now, I get that Opera is a horse of a different theatrical color, but you see my point relative to the cost of a single seat.

American Theatre magazine adds these notes: “Nearly all (theater) artistic and managing directors polled saw their company’s price increases as “marginal.”

But, for many Americans, an increase of a few dollars per ticket can be significant, especially when piled on top of every other rising cost for goods and services. The New York Times raised an alarm about similar trends when it recently asked its readers if a $5 entrance fee increase for the city’s art museums meant that these museums were only “for the wealthy.”

Even more affordable balcony seats in many theaters are priced at $35-$55, reflecting a substantial increase over the years (TicketSmarter).

Declining Audience Numbers

Parallel to the rising ticket prices, theater attendance has declined. According to data from the Theater Communications Group, annual productions in regional theaters dropped from 14,000-25,000 in the early 2000s to significantly fewer in recent years, with indisputable evidence that audience numbers are dwindling.

American Theatre magazine again, “Piling onto … the economic reality is the difficulty that theatres have had in getting paying audiences to return at pre-pandemic levels. Survey respondents’ companies mirrored national trends that have shown up in other reports: 47% said their overall attendance was down between 10% and 30%, while an additional 27% reported seeing an even more drastic decrease.

(To be fair…) not all companies are doing poorly: The survey found that 13% of respondents said their attendance numbers have stayed put, and another 13% said overall numbers have increased by 10% or more.”

Fair enough — but that still leaves the other 70+% of theaters. So, it doesn’t take an AI tool to see fewer people willing – or able- to pay higher prices for live theater experiences.

Economic Factors

Several economic factors contribute to this issue. The production costs, including set design, costumes, rights, and talent (for those theaters that pay their actors), have all increased. Additionally, theaters have faced higher operational costs, such as rent and utilities, which they often pass on to consumers through higher ticket prices.

While these increased costs are understandable, they add to the unaffordability of live theater and, by extension, are additive to a barrier for many potential audience members, particularly those from lower-middle-income households.

The Impact on Accessibility

The steep prices discussed here limit accessibility, making theater an elitist experience rather than a communal one. This exclusion not only reduces the diversity of theater audiences but significantly, also impacts the cultural enrichment of the community.

Live theater should be an inclusive art form accessible to people from all levels of society. Fine idea. Except, current ticket pricing suggests other truths.

The Cost of a Theater Outing

Let’s sit down at the kitchen table and do some back-of-the-envelope math.

We’ll break down, as an imaginary example, the “real” cost for a family of five (2 adults, two children (and a no-charge toddler, to save the cost of a babysitter) attending a regional theater production. Again, we’ll assume the toddler’s cost is negligible in this example:

  • Tickets:
    • Average price per adult ticket: $50
    • Average price per child ticket: $30
    • Total for four tickets: (2 x $50) + (2 x $30) = $160
  • Parking:
    • Average cost for parking near a theater: $15
  • Dinner (Burger King):
    • Average cost for a modest meal for the family: $50
  • Snacks at the Theater:
    • Average cost for a drink: $5
    • Average cost for popcorn: $6
    • Total for snacks (4 drinks and four popcorn): (4 x $5) + (4 x $6) = $44

Total cost for a night out at the theater: $160 (tickets) + $15 (parking) + $30 (dinner) + $44 (snacks) = $249.

One night, one show. Two hundred and forty-nine dollars. 

Read that price again — if you can take it. And soon this family will have to add that fifth mouth and ticket to this calculus.

Possible Solutions

To address this issue, theaters, and production companies must explore alternative funding models. Increased sponsorship, government grants, and community partnerships can subsidize ticket prices, making them more affordable.

On the other hand, theaters, especially community and regional, may have to hold back on bringing the latest, for example, Disney-inspired fare to the stage. The rights to these offerings can, and often are, pejorative to that end of the theater marketplace.

I get the allure of bringing the latest word in the playwright’s art to the stage, especially for the children and teens who get to enjoy the rush of producing and acting in the same. But not at the expense of pushing a theatrical company into reducing the number of shows it wants to deliver in a season. America needs more cost-effective theater experiences, not less.

Finally, theaters could offer more discounted performances, pay-what-you-can nights, and targeted outreach to underrepresented communities. I also get the argument that these approaches may bring in fewer dollars per performance. But I contend that once people see quality theater — at affordable prices – and enjoy a pleasant theatrical experience at the same time, they will at least consider getting out of the house to create another family memory.

People remember ‘events’ such as going to the theater. Many folks are hard-pressed to remember what they watched on TV a month ago. A week ago. Last night?

“There’s trouble in River City, Folks.”

Net-net, while the allure of live theater remains strong, the rising cost of tickets threatens its accessibility and sustainability at many levels, especially at the community and regional levels.

To preserve our art’s cultural and communal benefits, every theater must find ways to make attendance more affordable for the average American.

Otherwise, we risk further alienating a sizable portion of potential audiences and diminishing the rich, diverse tapestry, history, education, memory-making, and enjoyment that theater offers.

Thank you for your attention.

Lights up!

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Kris Neely

Mr. Kris Neely is the owner, founder, and Editor-in-Chief of Aisle Seat Review.

 

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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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Opinion: The Nuances of Scoring in Theater Criticism — Why 0.00 and 5.00 Are Off-Limits at ASR

By Kris Neely and Barry Willis

 

Dear Theater Professionals and Fellow Critics,

Aisle Seat Review’s (ASR) management team of Kris Neely (Owner, Editor-in-Chief) and Barry Willis (Senior Executive Editor and Writer) want to address an issue that some have found confusing or contentious: ASR’s theater review scoring system ranges from 0.00 to 5.00 but disallows either 0.00 or 5.00 ratings for any theatrical production or for any performance aspect (performance, stagecraft, etc.)  Clarifying why such an approach is valid and important for maintaining the integrity of ASR’s theater criticism and respecting the art it speaks to.

We understand that the notion of imperfection is not always comfortable, especially regarding the painstakingly complex task of creating and evaluating any art.

The Diverse Voices Behind Our Reviews

ASR’s critics are not just writers—they represent a tapestry of experience across theater arts. Our team encapsulates a wide range of expertise, including seasoned journalists, former theater professors, theater board members, and veterans of stage and screen.

Every one of our nine Nor Cal critics is a voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC), assuring that our reviews emanate not merely from knowledge but also from a profound passion and a solid history of and reverence for, the theater and theater arts and artists.

Furthermore, ASR’s coverage model also demonstrated our dedication to the diversity of Bay Area theater. Even a simple analysis of San Francisco to Antioch and Santa Rosa to San Jose reveals that ASR’s coverage model exceeds 4,500 square miles.

The Dual Objectives of Criticism

It is essential to differentiate the expectations of theater professionals and a critique website like ours, each with contrasting objectives. Theater companies, actors, and production artists naturally seek validation for their labor-intensive, experienced-based, and painstakingly-educated artistic endeavors.

This quest goes beyond artistic appreciation; high ratings translate to broader acclaim and increased ticket sales and funding opportunities. For artists aspiring to carve a niche in theater, ratings can contribute to following their passion—or enduring mundane jobs. Any theater’s desire for a favorable review and its artistic professionals’ individual aspirations are intrinsically linked to quests for financial stability, peer recognition, and reputational growth.

Conversely, a critique website operates from a more distant standpoint, though its responsibility is no less significant. Our primary commitment is with our readers, the expansive theater community, and, importantly, the ticket-buying public, all asking ASR to deliver precise and unbiased performance and value evaluations of productions.

That is why at ASR, we aim to “call balls-and-strikes” and to demonstrate a neutral adjudication of each show. We aim to delineate any show’s strengths and weaknesses without, we hope, our judgment being clouded by bias, preconceptions, or inclinations.

This perspective does not diminish our subjective experience of a production. It focuses on appraising a  show’s substance, delivery, technical consistency, and resonance with and for an audience. This nuanced approach does not reflect a lack of esteem or admiration for theatrical craft; instead, it emanates from our unique vantage point within the sprawling theater landscape.

Decoding the ‘Broadway’ Shorthand in ASR’s Scoring System

ASR’s discussions about theater and its intricate evaluations tap into a rich well of critical experiences and understandings. Like any community with a history of intense debates and discussions, we have developed our own internal language—a convenient shorthand. This language allows us to concisely encapsulate complex ideas, past experiences, or general sentiments, enabling more efficient and pointed conversations.

And so, over the years, we have invoked references to past shows or industry standards to make a point. For example, mentioning “Another Antioch The Foreigner” (a made-up example) is not just about recalling a particular show but is also an embodiment of a specific sentiment or quality we felt about a production that might not have met our expectations.

Similarly, saying, “Is their Christmas Carol as good as CenterRep’s?” encapsulates the shared experiences and judgments of a recurring version of the Dickens classic that has few peers in all of the Bay Area.

Perhaps the most nuanced shorthand we use revolves around the term “Broadway.” In the universe of American theater, “Broadway” is not merely a location or a production level; it is emblematic of the zenith of theatrical arts achievements. Saying something is “Broadway” taps into the collective consciousness of theater enthusiasts, critics, and artists, evoking images of unparalleled quality, the crème de la crème of actors, directors, producers, facilities, top-tier technical expertise, and budgets.

However, when we say a play under critique at ASR is “Not Broadway,” we are not deriding its quality, dismissing its value, or judging its talent base. Instead, it is our internal-only discussion/shorthand way of appreciating the production’s hard work and dedication while noting that it might not have reached the pinnacle of theatrical excellence one might associate with a mainline Broadway production.

On the flip side, an internal discussion at ASR that a 4.75-rated show is “Almost Broadway” is not a literal stamp of its “Broadway-worthiness.” It is conceptual, marrying the notion that a ‘perfect’ 5.00 in art is elusive (and, as we say, not possible) concerning the production quality presented. Our “Almost Broadway” idea is that the show, as commendable as it is, might soar even higher with the resources, talent pool, and budget typically associated with a Broadway smash.

To be clear: Inside ASR, this shorthand does not devalue (or overvalue) any production. It is not meant as praise or an insult. It is a conceptual sightline. An abstract mile marker. A convenience for communication inside ASR. Along with other shorthand terms ASR has developed over the past eight years, it offers a shared lexicon to convey complex sentiments, ensuring our discussions remain relative, vibrant, and efficient.

Zero to Five: The Myth of Zero Value

Theater is a collaborative endeavor that requires the confluence of various art forms—acting, direction, writing, music, set design, lighting, and costume design, among others. Even if a production falls dramatically short in one or multiple areas, it is almost impossible for it to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

A 0.00 rating would imply a nullification of effort, a denial of even the attempt to create something meaningful. It would be disrespectful to the labor, however flawed, that has gone into creating a piece of art. It would not only be devastating to the morale of those involved in the production but would also inhibit constructive criticism. The lowest scores in our range should indicate a severe need for improvement, not oblivion.

The Elusiveness of Perfection: Why We Do Not Have a “5-Star” Rating System

On the flip side, a score of 5.00 suggests perfection—again, a feat unattainable in the art world — which is inherently subjective and ever-evolving. What might be considered a perfect performance today could be seen as dated or flawed in the context of future artistic innovations, new theater technologies, and social shifts.

Moreover, even the most revered productions have quirks or elements that divide opinion.

Art’s beauty and value often lie in its juxtaposition of blindingly brilliant efforts, debatable imperfections, and its ability to provoke thought, incite debate, and leave room for interpretation. Giving any production a ‘perfect’ score risks stifling that discourse and undermines the essence of what makes art so compelling and richly complex in the first place.

Thus, if one cannot conceive of a production that would merit a 0.00 score, it should be equally impossible to imagine a “perfect” 5.00 score across any or every aspect of its production. (That is a huge reason why ASR stopped using a so-called “Five Star” rating system back in 2018. We do not have a “5 Star” rating system now but a 0.00-to-5.00 rating system.

That said, astute readers will note that, in the past, we have given 5.00 points in selected reviews, such as for the national touring production of The Band’s Visit a couple of years ago, a show that many thought was Broadway quality. Today, even a show this good would rate a 4.90 at ASR.

One exception: Even amidst an internal swirl of controversy, ASR has been known to award 5.00 ratings for selected scripts and scores, for example, the score from West Side Story, or the script from To Kill a Mockingbird, or most Shakespeare scripts. This practice will end shortly. More on that later.

Reputation and Credibility

ASR’s long-term plan is to be a viable commercial venture supported by advertising. And to labor to maintain a reputation for being fair and even-handed — even if that means occasionally dispensing some “tough love” in a review.

If critics who write for our website were to hand out 5.00 scores freely, it would seriously jeopardize our credibility. Any grading system loses meaning and utility if its upper limit is frequently touched. Readers rely on critics to be discerning to help them navigate the vast and varied landscape of theatrical productions. A 5.00 score, if doled out indiscriminately, would dilute the weight and significance of all our reviews.

Imagine overhearing a conversation between two theater folks:

SHE: “Hey, ASR gave us a 5.0!”

HE: “So what? They give everyone and everything a 5.0.”

This reflects not just a casual dismissal but a severe undermining of the role that critics play in the theater ecosystem. It would indicate that our evaluations are meaningless, serving more as empty applause than as considered analyses.

The answer lies in the use of the ratings score as a guidepost—not as an ultimate judgment. A 4.75 score would indicate an exceptional, perhaps groundbreaking, production but would also implicitly acknowledge room for debate, interpretation, and, yes, improvement.

Similarly, a score at or above 0.10 would recognize the absence of complete worthlessness, emphasizing that every production has at least some redeemable quality or lesson to offer, even if it is a lesson in how not to do things.

At ASR, we aim to recognize the multi-dimensional aspects of theater while maintaining a grading system that reflects both highs and lows without resorting to absolutes. We believe such a nuanced approach encourages improvement, invites dialogue, and, most importantly, respects art’s ever-changing, ever-subjective nature.

Not Change For Change’s Sake

We hope this helps clear the air on our current scoring model, our use of shorthand in internal discussions, and our efforts to maintain our neutrality and credibility as a critical organization.

However, it is essential to add this in closing: for almost a year, ASR’s management has been discussing eliminating our 5.00-based rating system soon, the same way we did our 5-star rating system years ago. Our new, non-numerical rating system has been selected and will appear in ASR reviews starting in October 2023.

Thank you for your understanding and for your invaluable contributions to the theater world.

 

Sincerely,

Kris Neely and Barry Willis, Aisle Seat Review

E-mail:  staff@aisleseatreview.com

 

P.S.

Thank you for those of you who have raised concerns about the reference to “Broadway” as a benchmark in ASR’s current scoring system. We deeply value all feedback and the opportunity here to clarify our intent.

We wholeheartedly agree that some of the most impactful, innovative, and profound theatrical experiences can be found in local and regional theaters across the USA. The Bay Area boasts an amazingly rich tapestry of theatrical talent and has been the birthplace of numerous groundbreaking productions. We never intend to diminish or shade that. In 98% of the shows ASR reviews, the subject or measure of “Broadway” is absent.

At ASR, our primary focus is on celebrating, critiquing, and promoting local Bay Area theater. We are deeply committed to recognizing the brilliance, diversity, and innovation that our local and regional theaters bring to the table, year after year, as our reviews clearly demonstrate. Our reviews and ratings aim to provide constructive feedback to these productions.

We deeply respect and cherish the myriad forms of theater we are honored to review and we understand and appreciate that each brings its unique flavor, essence, and invaluable contributions to the world Bay Area performing arts.

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ASR ~~ Commentary on a Communication

By Kris Neely

ASR wishes to acknowledge and to thank Ms. Sheri Lee Miller, Artistic Director of the Spreckels Theatre, for the following communication we received today. She writes…

“Yesterday, I posted ( anonymously on Facebook) an email I received containing a policy for reviews at Aisle Seat Review (ASR), which many of us found disturbing. I believed I had received the official policy written by the site’s owner, Mr. Kris Neely.

I was wrong. I have since learned it was a paraphrased version of the policy written by one of his staffers for internal use, not by Mr. Neely, nor did he approve it.

I apologize to Mr. Neely for incorrectly ascribing the words to him. I deeply regret the error, the rush to post, and any negative repercussions it may have caused for Kris Neely or Aisle Seat Review.

If anyone wishes to know about any policies or procedures at ASR, they should email their questions to staff@aisleseatreview.com.”

Thank you, Ms. Miller

–KN

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ASR Theater: Commentary ~~ Adding a New Touch to Our Reviews: “Other Voices”

By Kris Neely

America’s theater community is blessed to have some of the USA’s best critics and writers in the business. For example, our ASR critics have written for local, regional, and national theater publications! 

The writing, critiques, and opinions of theater pros outside of the Bay Area are what I believe constitute “Other Voices” in the theater. With that in mind, I’ve decided that from now on, ASR will add some of those voices to a table at the end of as many reviews as practicable, much like this table of “Other Voices” for the play Fannie:

"Inspired by her life story and filled with her music, FANNIE is a hopeful rallying cry that honors the spirit of a true revolutionary."
Actors Theatre of Louisville
[the play is] "...welcoming to all people and highly entertaining. For those who know little about Hamer’s life, there is a willingness to inform. For those that do, there’s an impulse to celebrate the achievements of what turned out to be an extraordinary American life..."
Chicago Tribune
..."rich in memorable vignettes, just as the song-laden show abounds in energy, wit and aspiration."
Chicago On the Aisle
"...As Hamer ruminates on the problems of the 1960s — police brutality, victim blaming, gentrification, the education gap and voter suppression, among them — the unsettling parallels to life in 2020's deepen. Even before the play evokes Harriet Tubman and John Lewis, the message crystallizes: If these heroes fought for what’s right in the face of unspeakable turmoil and trauma, what’s your excuse for apathy?"
Washington Post

I’m doing this for a few reasons:

  • First, now more than ever before, there is much competition for the mind of American entertainment-minded citizens: network television, cable television, Netflix, Disney, HBO, Apple TV, and on and on. 
  • Even movie houses are changing their pricing model to one that, in certain metro areas, might charitably be described as predatory. 
  • And then there’s the cost of theater tickets (more on that in a moment.) 

Net-net: it can be challenging to sort out what’s (quite literally) worth watching and what should be passed on.

And returning to the issue of the cost of theater tickets, this point proves itself. Eventually, theater owners will realize there are limits to what folks will pay to see a play at a “Big Theater” or the community theater down the street. (In 2023, the average price of a ticket to a Broadway show is $189!)

Therefore, I believe adding additional reference material in the form of comments/extracts from critics outside the Bay Area has value to ASR’s readers. 

Now some folks might ask if a version of, The Lion in Winter might be “different” at, say, Pittsburg Community Theater vs. the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, and the answer is “Yes, to be sure. Lights, props, type of stage, quality of actors, Equity vs. local actors, director’s interpretation of the play, even the quality of the audience seats — all these things and more mean two productions of the same show will be different. No question.”

But — generally speaking — the script is 99% the same. 

Does this mean that if our “Other Voices” table authors say a given play is “amazing,” you will find it similar? No, to be honest, you may well hate it. Or love it. (The theater is a worthy home for the phrase, “Your mileage may vary.”) 

But Mom and Dad can sleep better knowing that thumbs up or down, they went to see a play (and too often spending over $100 for the honor) knowing what our critics and other theater professionals think about the script. 

Now all this additional writing, opinions, criticism, and input should not significantly impact your experience watching a play. What makes me say that? 

Because I believe an informed audience is a better audience. Better at understanding a play’s plot(s), motivations, and themes. Better able to appreciate an actor’s interpretation of a role. Even better able to enjoy the technical skills at work in the theater.

Therefore I hope you’ll find value in these additional “Other Voices.” Thanks for your time and attention and for reading Aisle Seat Review.

 

Kris Neely

Kris Neely

ASR Founder & Editor-in-Chief

 

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ASR’s Not So Random Question Time: Write This Down — You Will Pay Big Money One Day to See a Play Directed by M. Graham Smith

Aisle Seat Review and our readers are enjoying a new series of question-and-answer interviews with prominent Bay Area theater people.

Our goal is not to subject you the reader to extended portentous sermons of the guest’s views on Russian translations of lesser-known Mamet flash drama (is there such a thing?)

Too often the people who guide and make theater in the Bay Area are behind the scenes — fast-moving denizens of the curtain lines who mumble into microphones while invariably (always excepting Carl Jordan’s beret collection…) dressed head-to-toe in black. These interviews allow you, the reader, to get to know these amazingly talented people a bit more, as…people.

Offering some personal and professional insights: with a heavy dash of humor, this is Aisle Seat Review’s Not So Random Question Time.

***

M. Graham Smith is a San Francisco-based Director, Educator, and Producer. He is an O’Neill/NNPN National Directing Fellow, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival FAIR Fellow, and a proud Resident Artist at SF’s Crowded Fire.

He grew up outside of New York City and has been based in San Francisco for the last fourteen years. He’s directed in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Portland Oregon, Washington DC, and venues in San Francisco.

Graham directed the West Coast Premiere of JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA in SF and TRUFFALDINO SAYS NO at Shotgun Players, winning Best Director for the Bay Area Critics Circle.  

Recent credits include the World Premiere of Obie winner Christopher Chen’s HOME INVASION in SF, DEAL WITH THE DRAGON at ACT’s Costume Shop & Edinburgh Fringe & NCTC, Mia Chung’s YOU FOR ME FOR YOU at Crowded Fire, and James Ijames’ WHITE at Shotgun.

His two upcoming projects include the world premiere of BONE ON BONE at NJ Rep, and the first workshop production of HOMOSEXUAL CONDUCT at Occidental College in LA, a play he co-created with playwright Sarah Kozinn about the Lawrence v. Texas Supreme Court decision.

He spent five years as Producer of Aurora Theater’s new play development program and festival The Global Age Project. He teaches at A.C.T.’s actor-training programs, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and at Barcelona’s premiere Meisner Technique program in Spain.

You can visit him online at www.MGrahamSmith.com

M Graham Smith

ASR: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen a guest do at the theater?

GS: In general I believe that theater is a space where weirdness and every variety of behavior should be allowed without judgment. I hate the weirdness of audience members shushing other audience members for laughing and responding to the play.

That feels like a very weird behavior to me. After all, we came to the space to meet the play with our whole selves.

ASR: Which person has had the largest impact on your professional development in the theater?

GS: There have been a lot of folks who’ve helped me developed my professional career, almost all of them my peers, like the extraordinary Mina Morita at Crowded Fire, who is a trusted advisor. Like Marissa Wolf, now the AD at Portland Center Stage. The Actor/Creator Kevin Rolston whom I’ve spent several years developing work with.

It’s funny that I have been unsuccessful for most of my career in finding a mentor.

Tommy Kail, the director of Hamilton, whom I went to college with, jokes with me about this phenomenon: “Are you my mentor, are you my mentor?” – Perhaps because I’m inherently not a joiner, I’ve never enjoyed that kind of relationship. 

To indicate that I was too “cool”… I wore sunglasses. It was a revelation...

ASR: What is the funniest screw-up you’ve seen on stage in a live performance of a play?

GS:  I happened to be on stage at the time, and an actor was supposed to enter the scene through the door of the set, but the door was stuck, so the actor had to open a window and enter the scene that way, which was bizarre and hilarious.

It was an early lesson for me about playing the moment!

ASR: If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what are three things you would tell them are essential to know?

GS: Let me think…

      1. The best ideas don’t have to be yours; encourage a space where everyone feels excited to contribute.
      2. Art is about experimentation, so do things you don’t know what the outcome will be.
      3. Don’t attempt something that doesn’t scare you a little bit. Otherwise, you’re not stretching yourself.

ASR: What would be the worst “Buy One,  Get One Free” sale of all time?

 GS: A suicide kit.

ASR:  You discover a beautiful island on which you may build your own society. You make The Rules. What are the first three rules you put into place?

GS: Hmmm…. ok here goes…

      1. No shoes!
      2. Good food ONLY!
      3. Happy hour is at 5 pm every day of the year!

ASR: How do you relax before a performance?

GS: A great meal with good friends.

ASR: You have been given the opportunity to create the 30-minute TV show of your own design. What is it called and what’s the premise?

GS: I really like shows about food.

And dogs.

So maybe something about food and dogs.

But not dogfood.

ASR: If you were arrested with no explanation, what would your friends and family assume you had done?

GS: Somewhere between civil disobedience and jaywalking. I’m a snooze.

ASR: What theater-related friendship means the most to you? Why?

GS:  It’s hard to narrow it down to one person. I think we are blessed in the Bay Area with a strong community that really looks out for each other.

I can always call Dawn Monique Williams to have a long serious talk about a play we’ve just seen. Or Chris Herold about educational pedagogy. Or Lisa Marie Rollins who has always been there for me in ways big and small. Ely Sonny Orquiza has been such an incredible co-pilot with me on some of my favorite projects.

We have a strong community here that I’m so grateful to call home.

ASR: What three songs are included on the soundtrack to your life? And why each?

GS:  The People Have The Power sung by Patti Smith. Because we do. Sam Cooke, the entire album of Night Beat because it’s just the best music ever made. The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields – we played it at our wedding. 

ASR: Which one fashion accessory do you like better than others?

GS:  I love a really good pair of shoes.

ASR: Which play would you like to see put into the deep freeze for 20 years?

GS:  To Kill a Mockingbird. Maybe more than 20 years.

ASR: As hard as it may be to pick just one, name an actor on a Bay Area stage who you think is doing amazing work?

GS: Jomar Tagatac. Every one of his performances is a revelation. He’s a shapeshifter with a dedication to being present and making the moment live.

ASR: Shakespeare’s most underrated play? Why?

GS:  I love Winter’s Tale. The first half is like Othello, the second half is like As You Like It. It’s a story of cruelty and healing, and the problems you need to solve in directing it are very exciting to think about.

ASR: If you had to do a whole season performing one of the following technical theater roles: Light, Props or Costumes which would it be and why?

GS:  Light. I love telling stories with light. The transformation that you can create with that department is so rich. I spent a long time when I was younger doing light design and light board op. I love the technical attention to detail.

ASR: What would be the coolest animal to scale up to the size of a horse?

GS:  A snail!

ASR: Shark diving, bungee jumping, or skydiving?

GS:  Bungee all the way!

ASR: What was the first play you performed in or directed for a paying audience?

GS: At Church, we did this church musical called It’s Cool in the Furnace about King Nebuchadnezzar attempting to murder political enemies in a furnace. You know, really great children’s musical theater material.

I played Daniel, who performs some sort of miracle. To indicate that I was too “cool” for the furnace, I wore sunglasses.

It was a revelation.

ASR: Favorite quote from a movie or stage play?

GS: Two lines. Same movie…

Actor 1: “Inconceivable!”

Actor 2: “You keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it means.”

— The Princess Bride

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Kris Neely

Kris Neely launched Aisle Seat Review in 2015. He is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of ASR. Mr. Neely is an SFBATCC Best Director Award Winner (2013). He is also the founder and publisher of Cresting Wave Publishing, LLC at www.gocwpub.com

 

 

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ASR’s Not So Random Question Time: Master Actor, Teacher, and Musician Mister Marvin Greene

Aisle Seat Review and our readers are enjoying a new series of question-and-answer interviews with prominent Bay Area theater people.

Our goal is not to subject you the reader to extended portentous sermons of the guest’s views on Russian translations of lesser-known Mamet flash drama (is there such a thing?)

Too often the people who guide and make theater in the Bay Area are behind the scenes — fast-moving denizens of the curtain lines who mumble into microphones while invariably (always excepting Carl Jordan’s beret collection…) dressed head-to-toe in black. These interviews allow you, the reader, to get to know these amazingly talented people a bit more, as…people.

Offering some personal and professional insights: with a heavy dash of humor, this is Aisle Seat Review’s Not So Random Question Time.

***

Marvin Greene

Marvin Greene is an amazing human being: actor, musician, teacher, voice over artist, New York cab driver  —   even a coal miner.

Legend has it he arrived in San Francisco in the cast of a road show of Biloxi Blues starring Woody Harrelson, and that he (Mr. Greene) loved the Bay Area so much … he put down roots and stayed here.

Marvin has been teaching acting, directing, and improvising around the Bay Area.  Just the briefest glance at his resume shows some illustrious names, including: A.C.T, San Jose Repertory Theater, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marina Theatre Company, Aurora Theater, and a host of others. He has taught acting at A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, the Academy of Art University and Voice One in San Francisco, among others. He has performed in regional theater, voice-over, television and film, and appeared in the feature film Fruitvale.

Marvin came to the theatre by way of his and other people’s music, starting his career playing guitar and cello in the pit orchestra for musicals. This is also a man who proffers damn good advice for people going into an audition, “Remember the word “show” in show business. Be charming!”

In addition to his “night job” as an actor/musician, Marvin has worked with the firm “Stand & Deliver Group” since 2012,  at organizations like Black Rock, Deloitte, and Cisco, focusing on helping individuals and teams find relevance in their messages; communicate honestly and without pretense; elevate their confidence; learn to read others; and communicate with brevity.

A graduate of Brown University in English literature, Marvin received his M.F.A. in Theater from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

As busy as ever, Aisle Seat Review’s publisher Kris Neely managed to lasso Mr. Green long enough to get some answers to some of our favorite Not So Random Questions!

ASR: What was the first play you performed in or directed for a paying audience?

MG: First real play I performed in was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I played Lysander.

ASR: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen a guest do at the theater?

MG: Have a heart attack and die instantly. The weird part is that right before we went on I said to the leading lady, “you look so hot you’re going to give some old man a heart attack.”

She did. But I suppose it was almost okay in the end. His wife told us that he loved the Theater and if he had chosen a way to go that would be it.

ASR:  Which person has had the largest impact on your professional development in the theater?

MG: James Barnhill. My first acting teacher at Brown University. He was one of the few professors I ever met who seemed to enjoy his job. He made me fall in love with acting.

ASR: What is the funniest screw-up you’ve seen on stage in a live performance of a play?

MG: That was at the Longwharf Theater in 1984. I and another Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) had something like four or five lines each.

Before one show he said: “Watch me out there.” He went out and started ad-libbing the play.

His desire to be a star was so huge that he wrote himself a part and recited it for the audience. One of the actors improved him off the stage. Needless to say he never worked in that town again.

ASR: If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what are three things you would tell them are essential to know?

Know who you are.

Know who you are.

Know who you are.

ASR: What would be the worst “buy one get one free” sale of all time?

MG: Ex-Lax.

ASR: You discover a beautiful island on which you may build your own society. You make The Rules. What are the first three rules you put into place?

MG: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The rest… is commentary.

ASR: How do you relax before a performance?

MG: I play the guitar. Music is great because it’s a language beyond words. Doesn’t mess with the text.

…Shoes. I’m really fascinated by how they change you…

ASR: You have been given the opportunity to create the 30-minute TV show of your own design. What is it called and what’s the premise?

MG: Okay I’m really winging it here. It’s called PICK ME.

A guy is on-line dating and meets a girl who he’s so attracted that he can’t give up on her. After the first date she rejects him. So he keeps re-inventing himself through costume and behavior. She keeps rejecting him and picking the new version of him.

Eventually the end up together.

ASR: What theater-related friendship means the most to you? Why?

MG: I have many. They generally form when the problems in the play are the problems in our lives and we’re all working out our lives together as we work out the play together.

That creates a bond that is like family.

ASR: What three songs are Included on the soundtrack to your life? And why each?

MG: Dark Was the Night by Blind Willie Johnson. Ry Cooder called it the “single most transcendent piece of American music.” It’s haunting, beautiful and deep beyond words.

Stardust by Louis Armstrong Louis has freedom and restraint in his playing at the same time. Total imagination and playfulness. Soul beyond description.

Something is New by Santana. It reminds me of being 16 with the world ahead of me. His playing is lyrical and the band is great.

ASR: Which one fashion accessory do you like better than others?

MG: Shoes. I’m really fascinated by how they change you

ASR: Which play would you like to see put into deep freeze for 20 years?

MG: Well, anything topical, really. Cultures, like people, need breathing and healing time before their reflections become art.

ASR: If you had to do a whole season performing one of the following technical theater roles: Light, Props or Costumes which would it be and why?

MG: Costumes hands down. The pressure work is before the performance. Once the show is up you’re mostly planning for a new show, doing minor repairs on costumes and you’re way backstage where you can do or say what you want. Besides very few people can really do what you do so nobody gets in the way too much.

ASR: What would be the coolest animal to scale up to the size of a horse?

MG: A squirrel. Can you imagine how far they could leap?

ASR: Shark diving, bungee jumping, or skydiving?

MG: Shark diving.

ASR: Favorite quote from a movie or stage play?

MG: It’s from The Godfather. They’ve just murdered this guy in a car.

One of the assassins says: “Leave the gun. Take the Cannoli.” (There was a pastry on the seat of the car.)

Legend has it that the actor made up the line on set.

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Kris Neely

Kris Neely launched Aisle Seat Review in 2015. He is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of ASR. Mr. Neely is an SFBATCC Best Director Award Winner (2013). He is also the founder and publisher of Cresting Wave Publishing, LLC at www.gocwpub.com

 

 

 

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ASR’s Not-So-Random Questions for Theater People: The Very Real, The Very Talented, The Very Amazing, The Very Cool Jeffrey Lo

Aisle Seat Review and our readers are enjoying a new series of question-and-answer interviews with prominent Bay Area theater people.

Our goal is not to subject you the reader to extended portentous sermons of the guest’s views on Russian translations of lesser-known Mamet flash drama (is there such a thing?)

Too often the people who guide and make theater in the Bay Area are behind the scenes — fast-moving denizens of the curtain lines who mumble into microphones while invariably (always excepting Carl Jordan’s beret collection…) dressed head-to-toe in black. These interviews allow you, the reader, to get to know these amazingly talented people a bit more, as…people.

Offering some personal and professional insights: with a heavy dash of humor, this is Aisle Seat Review’s Not So Random Question Time.

***

Jeffrey Lo is a Filipino-American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the 2014 Leigh Weimers Emerging Arist award, the 2012 Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley and Theatre Bay Area Director’s TITAN Award.

Selected directing credits include The Language Archive and The Santaland Diaries at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Vietgone at Capital Stage, A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Eurydice at Palo Alto Players (TBA Awards finalist for Best Direction), Peter and the Starcatcher and Noises Off at Hillbarn Theatre, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and Yellow Face at Los Altos Stage Company and Uncle Vanya at the Pear Theatre (BATCC award for Best Production).

As a playwright, his plays have been produced and workshopped at The BindleStiff Studio, City Lights Theatre Company and Custom Made Theatre Company. His play Writing Fragments Home was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwright’s Conference and a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Playwright’s Conference.

Jeffrey has also worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Repertory, Aurora Theater, and is a company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company and SF Playground.

In addition to his work in theatre he works as an educator and advocate for issues of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and has served as a grant panelist for the Zellerbach Family Foundation, Silicon Valley Creates and Theatre Bay Area. He is the Casting Director at the Tony Award Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, a graduate of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute, and a proud alumnus of the UC Irvine Drama Department.

Amidst all that activity he sat down with ASR’s Publisher Kris Neely for a chat.

Jeffrey Lo

ASR: What was the first play you performed in or directed for a paying audience?

JL – In high school I acted in this production of a play called Addict which was a series of pseudo-monologues about what could happen if one falls into drug abuse. First play I directed for a paying artist was later that year. It was a play I wrote and directed called “With Love, Jaysson.”

ASR: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen a guest do at the theater?

JL– I wouldn’t say this is the weirdest but it sticks out in my mind. I was house managing a production of Theresa Rebeck’s play Bad Dates at the Dragon Theatre and they were having a “ladies night” special where every audience member received free champagne or wine at the beginning of the performance.

There was a bachelorette party that showed up and this very excited bride to be came up to me asking how much to buy a bottle for her bridesmaids. I let her know that because of the ladies night special they all got champagne for free. She told me it was a special night and she wanted to buy a bottle for her ladies. I repeated that it was all free. After going in circles for a bit, I just made up a price and handed the group a bottle of champagne.

ASR: Which person has had the largest impact on your professional development in the theater?

JL – I think we all stand on the shoulders of giants so it’s hard to pick one. I’ll go with Julia Cho because through her work and our limited interactions she has reminded me how an artist can lead with heart, kindness and immense talent.

ASR: What is the funniest screw-up you’ve seen on stage in a live performance of a play?

JL – When I was an apprentice at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, I worked on their production of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive and towards the end of the play, a letter is supposed to fall magically from the sky and the character of Emma is supposed to exclaim, “A letter!’

On our final preview, the letter fell from the sky alright … but immediately slipped through one of the scenic tracks and fell beneath the stage.

The actress stared at the empty spot where the letter should have been and had no choice but to go on with exclaiming, “A letter!”

The whole audience erupted with laughter because they saw the letter slip under the stage. Little did we know, there was a crew member beneath the stage and after Emma said her line, we slowly saw the letter rise up from the crevice which got even more laughter and more applause from the audience. It was a magical moment and our playwright asked, “could it happen that way every night?”

ASR: If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what are three things you would tell them are essential to know?

JL – Let me break this down a bit for you:

– For playwrights – remember that your first draft is not your final draft. Your first draft isn’t even the second draft. No one has to read the first draft. Don’t edit yourself before you have to. Don’t get in your own way of finishing your draft. Finish the first draft and take it from there.

– For directors – the lighting designer will know more about lighting design that you. The actor will know more about acting than you. Your job as director is not to know more than everyone else in the room. Your job as director is to know enough to be able to identify when your talented collaborators have better ideas than you.

– For humans – ask yourself how you can help people. I know it’s impossible to spend every second and every choice of your life towards helping people, but if you make it a practice in your life to take the time to think it through whenever you can – I think it will lead you towards a good path.

ASR: What would be the worst “buy one get one free” sale of all time?

JL – Buy one gun get one free. We don’t need guns.

ASR: You discover a beautiful island on which you may build your own society. You make The Rules. What are the first three rules you put into place?

JL – Hmmm….OK, here goes…

1 – Be kind.

2 – Be chill.

3 – Have fun.

(In order of importance and in order of which rule overtakes the others.)

ASR: How do you relax before a performance?

JL – If it’s an opening night, I tend to spend my mornings of openings drinking coffee, listening to music and writing thank you cards.

ASR: You have been given the opportunity to create the 30-minute TV show of your own design. What is it called and what’s the premise?

JL – Some sort of variety show with amazing under-represented and under-appreciated artists doing what they do best. I’d call it HIRE THESE PEOPLE.

…The actress stared at the empty spot where the letter should have been and had no choice but to go on with exclaiming, “A letter!”

ASR: If you were arrested with no explanation, what would your friends and family assume you had done?

JL – I think they’d assume I was wrongfully arrested.

ASR: What theater-related friendship means the most to you? Why?

JL – Easily Leslie Martinson. To be fair, she started as a theater-related friendship, evolved into a mentor-ship and evolved further into just full everyday friendship. When I was right out of undergrad, Leslie and I had an informational interview of sorts over a coffee and she hired me to be her assistant director for her production of Superior Donuts at TheatreWorks.

She’s given me so many opportunities, provided advice at every turn and was really the first person to see me as an artist and essentially say, “You are someone special. You can do this.”

ASR: What three songs are Included on the soundtrack to your life? And why each?

JL – Just My Imagination by The Temptations for the way they are able to perfectly encapsulate and blur the lines of happiness and melancholy in such a smooth and beautiful tune.

– Dahil Sa lyo – it’s the quintessential Filipino love song. If you know, you know. I recommend the cover by Bay Area singing quintet Pinay. There’s also an excellent version that Nat King Cole sang live at his concert in the Philippines.

– Kendrick Lamar – Alright. It’s a song of protest. A song of celebration. A song of anger. A song of hope. It’s pretty perfect.

ASR: Which one fashion accessory do you like better than others?

JL – The right tie can do a lot for your day.

ASR: Which play would you like to see put into deep freeze for 20 years?

JL – Easy, Miss Saigon.

ASR: Shakespeare’s most underrated play? Why?

JL – I think the history plays are almost all underrated. My favorite is Henry V.

ASR: If you had to do a whole season performing one of the following technical theater roles: Light, Props or Costumes which would it be and why?

JL – Assuming I knew how to do it well, lighting. I’m always astounded by the ways lights can enhance, shift and inform everything that we do in theatre.

ASR: What would be the coolest animal to scale up to the size of a horse?

JL – I’d prefer to scale down animals to the size of a baby corgi. A horse the size of a baby corgi? Adorable. But if I HAD to scale an animal up. Probably a sea turtle.

ASR: Shark diving, bungee jumping, or skydiving?

JL – None. I’m good feeling safe on land.

ASR: Favorite quote from a movie or stage play?

 JL – “We’re all freaks, depending on the backdrop.” – Passing Strange

Publisher’s Note: ASR Publisher Kris Neely wants it firmly on the record that he first predicted we’d all one day pay Big Money to see Mr. Lo’s directorial finesse on Broadway. So let’s keep the record straight on that one, because it’s going to happen. — KN

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Kris Neely

Kris Neely launched Aisle Seat Review in 2015. He is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of ASR. Mr. Neely is an SFBATCC Best Director Award Winner (2013). He is also the founder and publisher of Cresting Wave Publishing, LLC at www.gocwpub.com

 

 

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ASR Theater Review! ‘Company’ Storms SF Playhouse and That’s Good News! — by Kris Neely

SF Playhouse has learned a secret uncovered by few community and regional theaters: big musicals in the June 1 to Sept. 1 time-frame 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 story line.

As directed by SF Playhouse co-founder Susi Damilano, 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 presides over one of these pianos and surely conducts his charges. The effect of this two-piano strategy is more personal, less grandiose than a full or even partial orchestra.

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. The sound design by Anton Hedman works well, as does the lighting design by Michael Oesch.

Stage management by Tatjana Genser is tight with sound and light cues snappily in place. Costume design by Shannon Sigman takes full marks—elegant, well designed, and nicely rendered. All the actors looked darn good in Sigman’s work. The props design is fine—what props need to be in place are in place, work well, and underscore scenes nicely.

Choreography by Kimberly Richards, ably assisted by Morgan Dayley, is sharp and professional, given the limitations on dancing room due to the multi-plane set.

Let’s move on to the acting. Overall, the casting and associated acting of this show is a little bit uneven, but, to be sure, the acting is in general rendered with obvious verve and commitment.

I do wish we’d gotten to see a bit more of Abby Sammons’ (Jenny) good work. This is a talented lady.

Then there is Monique Hafen as Amy.

Can I say, “Oh. My. God.” in a review? There’s nothing else to say. To say Hafen nails the anxiety, the intensity, the comedy, and the speed-singing of Amy, who may not be getting married today, is like saying the Mona Lisa is “a pretty, sort of, mostly OK drawing.” Once Hafen starts acting and singing, almost all the other cast members turn to specters at worst or supporting actors/singers at best. Hafen is the most exciting and engaging musical performer in this cast, bar none. If she doesn’t have a suitcase permanently packed for Broadway by her home’s front door she’s doing something wrong.

Another notable performance is rendered by Joanne (Stephanie Prentice). Never far from a bar or a drink, the fragile, emotional wreck that is Joanne has one of the most powerful songs of the night (“The Ladies Who Lunch”) and Prentice nailed it cold.

Full marks must be given to Morgan Dayley in her character as a flight attendant who spends as much time looking up at bedroom ceilings as she does looking down airplane aisles. Dayley gives the role her all and does so without stepping into cliché or camp. Watch this performer, she is going places.

“Side by Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You?” is, I will admit, one of my favorite dance numbers and SF Playhouse did it with gusto. Overall, the music and singing were quite good.

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.

Rating: Four out of Five Stars

***

Kris Neely is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and a Theater Bay Area (TBA) Adjudicator.

Mr. Neely’s blogs on theater and performing arts are found on Aisle Seat Review at www.AisleSeatReview.com and also on For All Events at www.ForAllEvents.com.

Mr. Neely is a huge fan of Tejava!

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

 

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ASR Theater Review! Theater Rhinoceros Powers Turing Bio — by Kris Neely

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 gay.

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. In a series of well-executed scenes, the play guides us through Mr. Turing’s life from stumbling adolescent to resigned victim of repressive laws as an adult. 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 of Breaking 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.

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.

The set by Jon Wai-keung Lowe is ingeniously simple and forms a perfect backdrop for the events of Mr. Turing’s life. Inserting doors into the blackboards stage left and right was a clever staging choice.

John Fisher’s props are spare but period proper and well rendered.

Lara Rempel’s costume choices were first-rate, period proper, and well rendered. Period hose on the ladies was a nice detail.

Jon Wai-keung Lowe and Sean Keehan’s lighting design was subtle and largely unobtrusive.

Colin Johnson’s sound effects were generally good.

From an acting perspective, Mr. Fisher was simply outstanding. New or seasoned students acting students should buy tickets to study a true 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 professional 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.

As produced by Theatre Rhinoceros  and expertly directed by John Fisher, Breaking theCode is thoughtful, taut, often funny, touching, heartfelt, and skillfully rendered. 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.

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

Run time: 2:10 with one intermission.

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

Rating: Four out of Five Stars

ALSO AVAILABLE…

Script available here. 

Audio Theater Edition available here.

Masterpiece Theater version available here.

Book available here.

Tickets available here at: http://www.therhino.org/buy.htm

***

Kris Neely is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and a Theater Bay Area (TBA) Adjudicator.

Mr. Neely’s blogs on theater and performing arts are found on Aisle Seat Review at www.AisleSeatReview.com and also on For All Events at www.ForAllEvents.com.

Mr. Neely is a huge fan of Tejava!

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ASR Theater Review! Multi Ethnic Theater Does August Wilson Proud — by Kris Neely

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks back reporting that there were more Tennessee Williams theater festivals and events sliding in between similar Shakespeare happenings than ever before. That’s a good thing, to be sure. Yet there is no doubt Mr. August Wilson will be joining those illustrious ranks soon.

Mr. Wilson exploded onto the American theater scene with critically acclaimed plays such as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, as well as Fences (1987 Tony Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and the Pulitzer Prize) and The Piano Lesson (1990, Pulitzer Prize).

Mr. Wilson’s command of the black experience in twentieth-century America is second-to-none. His talent for shaping dialog is unquestioned. His characters are realistic, genuine, and thoughtfully rendered while his choice of language is exacting and considered. His plays, including this one, often deal with themes of community loyalty and commitment, to fair play and justice.

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 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 come to an accommodation with the swirling tides of change, but not always with 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 whose business is located across the street from the diner. 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 barrier between herself and men. Hambone is a mentally disturbed man who seeks comfort in the friendship shown him by Risa. 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 in 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.

As directed by Lewis Campbell with Esperanza Catubig assisting, and rendered by the Multi Ethnic Theater Company and presented in the Gough Street Playhouse in San Francisco, Two Trains Running ran 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 are 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 did on the audience.)

Fabian Herd was superb as Wolf, Vernon Medearis a study in subtlety and nuance as West (the undertaker), and Stuart Elwyn Hall every bit the oracle of Black life as 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.

The set design, that of a scruffy café so much a part of neighborhoods everywhere, was nicely done. The turquoise booths were period perfect. Unpainted plywood here-and-there emphasized  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) pulled it off nicely.

Props were period and detailed. Even though no one in the play ate anything which required 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.

Costumes were period and nicely selected (especially those for Wolf.) A bit more attention to fit would render some costumes perfect.

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.

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

Rating: Three-and-a-Half out of Five Stars

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.

Kris Neely is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and a Theater Bay Area (TBA) Adjudicator.

Mr. Neely’s blogs on theater and performing arts are found on Aisle Seat Review at www.AisleSeatReview.com and also on For All Events at www.ForAllEvents.com.

Mr. Neely is a huge fan of Tejava!

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