THE QUALITY OF LIFE at The Pear Avenue Theatre

I hope you can come to see this wonderful play by Jane Anderson playing through February 23rd at The Pear Avenue Theatre.

www.thepear.org for tickets.

THE FANTASTICKS at SF Playhouse

Last night SF Playhouse completed its run of The Fantasticks and I am overjoyed that I was there. Please tell me you didn't miss this show.  This production renewed my faith in my belief that The Bay Area has the ability to produce out of this world intimate theatre. Bill English and Susi Damilano have successfully created the kind of small theatre that others should aspire to become. From the moment you enter, there is an atmosphere of joy and creativity. Last night both Bill and Susi mingled with the audience before the show, during the intermission, and after the show. They greet each and every audience member warmly and engage them in genuine conversation. It's so cool.

Now what about the show? In a word - FANTASTICK! Ha! Seriously it was. The set was wonderfully dilapidated, reflecting Mr. English's desire to portray the state of much of our world today. This effect really made the show feel comtemporary in a somewhat meloncholic way. I never had the feeling that I was watching a production of the most overdone musical in history. It felt new and lively and current.

The acting in this show was superb, the direction creative and surprising, the choreography lively and funny, and Robert Moreno on the piano, the only musical accompaniment, was inspired in his interpretation of the score.

Tarek Khan (El Gallo) and Sepideh Moafi (Luisa)
in The Fantasticks at SF Playhouse

Jeremy Kahn as Matt brought a youthful exuberance and charming vulnerabilty to the role. Tarek Khan as El Gallo looked and acted as though Tom Jones and Harvery Schmidt had him in mind when the wrote this play.
Yusef Mortimer as "the man who dies", died with much aplomb and often and he was hillarious. Joan Mankin as Bellomy, a role written for a man, was perfect. This was one of my favorite risks that Bill English took with the script. By making Bellomy a woman, there was an added depth to the story in that the relationship of Bellomy and Hucklebee paralleled the relationship between their children. Without changing the script  much at all, English and the cast were able to create a sense of empathy that otherwise wouldn't be possible. The parent's feelings for one another made it easier for them to understand the trials of their children. It was subtle but wonderful.

Sepideh Moafi as Luisa was superb. I must admit that I have acted with Sepi so one might assume that I am biased, but I'm not.  Her comic timing and dramatic acting skills are superb, her dancing is beautiful and fluid, but as good as all of this is, her soprano voice is angelic. I know it sounds like I'm exacturating but I simply am not. There were moments in the show when I could hear audience members gasp as she sang, simply because what they were hearing sounded like perfection. Unfortuneately, for us, and as is often the case with people of her talent, she is leaving the Bay Area to study with the prestigious MFA program at UC Irvine. I wouldn't doubt if one day in the not to distant future we see her starring on the Broadway stage. I've seen it a few times over the last decade, friends of mine with exceptional talent making it in New York or in Hollywood. I have a feeling that Sepi will be another of those gifted few.

Louis Parnell as Hucklbee was hilarious and touching. He gave such an honest and heartfelt performance as he always does. Norman Munoz as the mute added a touch of testosterone to the show. The shirtless Munoz was strong and atheltic and moved like a gazelle.

Ray Reinhardt the resident celebrity of the cast, who has appeared in numerous productions in the Bay Area  -  A.C.T., San Jose Rep. and others, as well as many roles in television and film, just nailed his depiction of Henry, the aging Shakespearian "over-actor". His performance was just delightful.

Were there any flaws in this production? It sounds as though I am describing something "fantastical", I know. There were some flaws, yes, because actors are human beings. But I don't care about that. Even the flaws were endearing. I was totally won over as was, I dare to say, the entire audience.

Bravo SF Playhouse! Very well done.

Find out more about SF Playhouse and their exciting season of plays!

R.A.D.A., London, and London Theatre - Week 4 - The Mountaintop

Independence Day, the 4th of July, in London. "What should I do?" I asked myself yesterday morning. Fireworks are out. BBQ is out. England, the defeated motherland, would not be celebrating the revolt of those rascals across the pond. Canada Day, last week, they celebrated with gusto. Canada broke up with mommy in a very civilized way.

So, looking through Time Out London, I found the perfect occupation on my day of celebration, I would attend a play about Martin Luther King, called "The Mountain Top" showing at Theatre503. It was the last day of the run, and the Theatre503 is part of the "fringe" here in London. That means it's not on the touristy West End, but somewhere in the middle of London, in an area I had not yet explored. So I bought my ticket to the show, got out my various tube and bus maps and planned my route. I left an hour early to make room for the inevitable getting lost factor. It turned out that my vigorous advanced route planning paid off. I got there with forty five minutes to blow.

Theatre503, is located above the Latchmere Pub near Battersea Park. On this day there were a few dozen rabid rugby fans, tilting back pints and yelling; the television sets placed in all corners of the place. I ascended the stairs in the back of the pub which led up to the theatre. Suddenly the atmosphere changed and I was struck by the difference. Below me in the pub, there were Londoners drinking and yelling, and now I was in a sort of holy place of art. It was quiet, patrons sat around drinking soft drinks, waiting for the show to begin.

"The Mountaintop", by Katori Hall, a young female African-American playwright, graduated with MFAs from both Julliard and Harvord! She's already written numerous plays and acted in numerous plays all around the world, and guest starred in good number of movies and television shows. Whenever I read about people who accomplish this much, the first thing I wonder is, "do they ever sleep?"

The Play starred two vastly talented actors: David Harewood ( a RADA graduate) and Lorraine Burroughs (also a RADA graduate), and was directed by James Dacre. Here's a quick synopsis of the play as taken from Theatre503's web site:

The night before his assassination Martin Luther King retires to room 306 in the now famous Lorraine Motel in Memphis after giving an acclaimed speech to a massive church congregation. When a mysterious young maid visits him, King is forced to confront his past and the future of his people.

The reason the maid is mysterious is because she is actually an angel from heaven come to take King back to God (who we learn is actually a black woman who uses a cell phone to communicate with her angels and saints). The script was funny and moving, light and heavy, ridiculous and poignant. I found myself getting annoyed, when in the middle of the very realistic play, we were suddenly expected to believe that she is a messenger of God. It reminded me of the play "Prelude to a Kiss" in which we are asked to believe something ridiculous after having been led down the path of realism. However, the actors' commitment to the moment and the story, soon wooed me back to the play, and by the end I found myself once again enthralled. I was impressed by the way the British actors in this play took on perfect southern U.S. black accents of the 1960s. The only thing that I found sort of bothersome at the beginning is that Harewood spoke, throughout the entire show, in that famous vibrato baritone that King used in his speeches. It was spot on in it's sound, but I can't imagine that King sounded like that when he was in a casual setting. This distraction soon was gone from my awareness as Harewood's commitment to the situation and embodiment of King was extraordinary.

Well, that's it for now. I have to get to work on my scene from Julius Caeser!

Cheers!

Blood Bath in Berkeley

Get over to Berkeley by Sunday to see The Lieutenant of Inishmore. It's the most disgusting, bloody and hilarious two hours you will ever have. The acting is top notch, the humor out of this world and the gore is beyond belief. It's really not to be missed. GO TO THIS SHOW! If you're a cat lover, be warned, you may be irreparably damaged.

San Francisco Theater Festival

Last year I had the opportunity to perform in a short piece at the San Francisco Theater Festival. This thing is a blast! I highly recommend that you go and check it out!

This year I get to do it again with The Pear.

There will be everything you can imagine there and it's all free.

Featured at the 2008 festival:

-AfroSolo presents Angela Dean-Baham as Black Patti
-Amiri Baraka’s provocative plays of black experience, including his new play, “Sisyphus Syndrome”
-Lamplighters Music Theatre’s “The Mikado”
-Best of Playground’s one act plays
-Aleshia Brevard & Gina Grahame's transsexual production of "One Damn Man!"
-Oh My Godmother, gay Cinderella
-Best of the Buddy Club, 16 great children’s shows
-Improv Groups: Blue Blanket, BATS, SPF7, Big City & Stagebridge's Over-50 Improv
- The Pear Avenue Theatre performs two short pieces

Look! “Creatively staged” Northanger Abbey is a hit at the Pear!

Diane Tasca, the Pear's Artistic Director, has written a fabulous adaptation to Jane Austen's, Northanger Abbey. It's playing at The Pear Avenue Theatre through June 8th. I haven't seen it yet, but it looks like people are loving it.

Below is what Director, Rebecca Ennals, has to say about audience enthusiasm for this remarkable show.

"Reviews are coming in for “Northanger Abbey” at the Pear Ave. Theatre, and they’re great! We’ve heard from the San Jose Metro, KQED, and, most importantly, the audience.

• “Throughout the play, the audience is treated to energetic, physical performances by the actors that go far beyond mere blocking. At times, the cast is called upon to dance, speaking their lines as they twirl, lock elbows, and promenade. Indeed, the entire play feels like a work of choreography, which makes it a delight to the eye… The stars of the show, though, are Austen's words, and the way in which Ennals has chosen to frame and illuminate them.” – Ben Marks, KQED

• “The Pear's gleeful creativity, under director Rebecca J. Ennals, brings out the youthful humor of the book in which 22-year-old Austen poked fun at Gothic novels like Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho… Ennals turns the production's sparse set and multipurpose cast into a source for comedy… Austen is meant to be sipped on a lazy afternoon, and this cast has the charm to make a pleasant sipping tea.” – Marianne Messina, SJ Metro (don’t read the whole review if you haven’t seen the show, too many spoilers!)

• “I went last night with my husband, 14 year old daughter, and 12 year old son, and we all loved it. It was funny, engaging, and the acting was superb. We highly recommend this performance!” – Mary from Menlo Park, posted on Artsopolis.com

• “Extra Kudos to the most creative staging I have seen in forever, the choices made were fresh and fun, both simple and complex at the same time, and were so intricately woven into the script, and all the other technical designs.” – Susannah from San Jose, posted on Artsopolis.com

I am so proud of this show and this cast, and I really want you to come! The Pear tends to sell out, so get your tickets early – we’re sold out for tonight and getting close for later dates. My production of Arcadia sold out the whole run there last year, including added shows, and we can’t extend. We run Thursdays-Sundays through June 8 – visit The Pear Web Site for tickets and details."

Read a very interesting review of this show on another Blog.

The Imaginary Invalid at A.C.T.

Here's something you should try just for yucks: park your car at the Sutter-Stockton Street Garage, jog/walk 4 blocks down the hill while you have awful back spasms which force you to take a posture similar to that of Pewee Herman, audition for a T.V. commercial for 10 minutes pretending that you are in perfect physical health, then jog/walk back up the hill four blocks quickly so that you and your 10 year old son can get something to eat before the 2 P.M. showing of Molière's, "The Imaginary Invalid" at A.C.T.

When you finally arrive at the Geary at 1:43 you realize that the two stomachs must be filled, and quickly. So, you dash across the street. In front of you is a Pizza by the Slice place that is pretty full of munching yuppies, and next door is a relatively calm looking Thai hole-in-the-wall. You ask your 10 year old son what he wants, and get the all to familiar "I don't know.. how am I supposed to know?" answer. So, being the health conscious father that you are you decide on the Thai place. After all, the pictures above the window show all kinds of healthy looking vegetable laden dishes. So you duck in, mentioning to the Thai-only speaking waitress that you need to eat quickly. She looks at you like you are from Mars. You dash about looking for a worker that understands English. You find one. "No problem," she says. So you sit, order and wait only a few minutes. In no time our healthy looking Thai food is before us. My son has a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup large enough to feed a family of five. And in front of me lies a nice plate of rice and crab. Quickly we start downing or grub. "Not bad," we think, even though the soup is too hot, forcing me to dump my glass of ice water into the giant bowl so that my son wouldn't scald his tongue. Within minutes we are done. The show starts in seven, I pay, we dash out, head to the potty for a quick pee and up to our seats we go. We're there with a couple of minutes to spare.

My back is aching, more like killing me, but I will survive and I will laugh if it kills me. The show begins, hilarity ensues. Suddenly, and without warning my stomach feels like it has a small Thai child in it scratching and clawing to get out like the monster from "Alien". My back is killing me still, and now my stomach is about to explode from what must have been some rotten crab and there is an "imaginary" invalid on stage - a hypochondriac with nothing really wrong with him. And then there is me, sitting there watching him, the real invalid. Stabbing pains are pulsing through my lower back and hips, a small Thai child is trying to force it's way through my upper intestines, and yet I'm laughing. Yes, I am absolutely miserable from head to toe and yet I'm laughing and laughing with gusto!

That's how wonderful this production of "Invalid" is at A.C.T. Everything about the show is exquisite:the flawless comic timing, the physical hilarity, the set the music, the sound and the HAIR! The hair is fantastic.

Go see it!

A.C.T.'s 40th Anniversary Exits Laughing: With the World Premiere of Constance Congdon's The Imaginary Invalid
Directed by Bay Area Native Ron Lagomarsino

Production Features the Return to A.C.T. of Nancy Dussault (The Threepenny Opera), and John Apicella (Glengarry Glen Ross)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, MAY 2, 2007––American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) lowers the curtain on its seminal 40th anniversary season with Constance Congdon’s world premiere adaptation of Molière's riotous send-up of wealth and wellness, The Imaginary Invalid. Directed by Bay Area native Ron Lagomarsino––who directed the original productions of Driving Miss Daisy (off-Broadway) and The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Broadway), as well as A.C.T.’s production of The Gamester two seasons ago––The Imaginary Invalid plays A.C.T. June 7 through July 8. Press night is Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets—starting at $13.50––can be purchased at A.C.T. Ticket Services, located at 405 Geary Street, 415.749.2228; or via the A.C.T. website, www.act-sf.org. Groups of 15 or more people are eligible for discounts; please call 415.439.2473.

A Little Slice of Heaven - "Enchanted April" at Bus Barn Stage Company

How is your April going? Does it need a little magic? Yes, you say? Then you must get over to the Bus Barn Stage Company before May 5th and see Matthew Barber’s, Enchanted April. This production directed by the multi-talented, Shannon Stowe makes for an absolutely enjoyable night of theatre. Barber’s adaptation of the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim is surprisingly well written. How often does a novel, turned into a movie, then finally a play, get nominated for a Tony Award as Best Play (2003)?


Barber’s script strikes a perfect balance between humor, sentiment and plot. Four women, with very different personalities and problems, sneak off on a holiday to an Italian villa in order to get away from men and their pasts. But when, Lottie Wilson, played wonderfully by Laura Jane Bailey, decides that she misses her husband and that she must send for him, and come clean on the scheme, the conflict and comedy burst forth as husbands and wives, a landlord, and a jilted lover are forced to live together in what Lottie keeps reminding us is supposed to be “paradiso.”


One of the funniest moments on stage involving the character of Mellersh, Lottie’s husband, and a bath towel, had me and nearly every audience member in absolute stitches. John Romano, who plays the role, displays an ability with physical comedy as good as anything I’ve ever seen. In fact, every actor in this production is absolutely wonderful. Laura Jane Bailey is funny, feisty and touching in the role of Lottie Wilton. Her scenes with Sally Clawson, who plays Rose Arnott, are priceless. Ms Clawson is perfect as the long suffering, Rose, who so wants to bust out but just can't seem to do it. Gemma Beddo Barozzi is perfect as the beautiful socialite Lady Caroline Bramble. The character requires an actress with outstanding acting ability and striking beauty. Ms. Barozzi fits the bill in both areas. Ken Boswell captures the complexity of his character Frederick Arnott with a multi-layered portrayal. Jeanie Forte provides many laughs as the Italian housekeeper Costanza. She speaks only Italian throughout the entire show both with her voice and her body. It was just delightful to see. William J. Brown III as Antony Wilding, the owner of the villa, plays his character with real charm. He seems so completely wonderful and selfless, until we see his disappointment when he finds out that his guests aren't widows. I found it hilarious to see his disappointment creep out. The most riveting performance of the show is given by Beverley Griffith who plays Mrs. Graves. Her physicality, voice, and her character's point of view and journey, were so full and rich that I left the theater talking about it for hours. I hope we see her again soon.

Something that really struck me was how each of the actors really seemed to grasp that wonderful conflict between propriety and desire that makes British comedy so enjoyable. Director Stowe has orchestrated something truly magical in Los Altos - this production is one of the best I’ve seen this year. Get over to the Bus Barn before May 5th for a little taste of heaven.


Enchanted April by Matthew Barber. From the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim.

Directed by Shannon Stowe.

Scenic Design by Ron Gasparinetti.
Costume Design by Gloria Grandy.
Lighting Design by Brendan Bartholemew.
Sound by Rich Miller.
Properties/Production by Nichole Y. Hamiltion.
Stage Manager is Nancy Park.
Master Carpenter is Charles McKeithan.
Assistant Stage Manager is S. Conner.
Cast: Laura Jane Bailey, Gemma Barozzi, Ken Boswell, William Brown, Sally Clawson, Jeanie Forte, Beverly Griffith, John Romano

Theatre: Bus Barn Stage Company, 97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos, CA
Through May 5, 2007