Wall and Bottom

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Originally uploaded by sionanns.

Two of the most brilliant comedic actors living.

James Monroe Iglehart Making his Broadway Debut!

This is so fantastic! James Monroe Iglehart who has performed in so many Bay Area Productions is making his Broadway Debut this Friday in The 25th Avenue Putnam County Spelling Bee. You may have seen him recently in Smokey Joe's Cafe at AMTSJ. If you are a fan of Foothill's shows you will remember him from Sweeney Todd and Ragtime. Go James!

Want to go to New York to see the show? Get tickets here.

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

Amnesiacs at City Lights, War and Remembrance at A.C.T. and Nostalgia at AMTSJ

This week I saw three very different shows at three theatres. The first was After the War at A.C.T. in the beautiful Geary Theatre. The set is constructed as a three story building that spins on a turntable to reveal various rooms and staircases in a boarding house. The thing is huge and it creaks as it turns. The actors were able to continue acting as it turned. It was quite a wonderful piece of stage work.

I also saw a free pre-view of Smokey Joe's Cafe at AMTSJ. James Monroe-Iglehart was wonderful, especially when he danced. I always loving seeing him dance. He's a large powerful man who looks like he should be on the front line of the 49ers, not a musical stage. But then when it's time for him to bust some moves, he's amazing!

And...last night I saw Voluntary Amnesia a City Lights in San Jose. What a fantastic show it was! Nichole Hamilton's direction and the excellent acting all around made this thoroughly challenging and enjoyable. Some of the comic character acting was just wild. It was great to see a brand new face to the bay area theatre scene, Lia Fischer from Chicago, bring her expert comedy to the stage. I hope we see a lot of her in the future.

Backstage

Vote for this Picture!! I took it of the multi-talented actress - Nichole!

Lauren Ambrose to star in Romeo and Juliet

One of my favorite young actresses, Lauren Ambrose, will be starring in Rome and Juiet with The Public Theatre  in their annual Shakespeare in the Park event.  Lauren  was absolutely wonderful on Six Feet Under, possibly the best series that HBO hosted for a few seasons. It's great to see her success there begin to give her these kind of stage opportunities. Not only is she beautiful, she's immensly talented. I'm going to have to get out there for a weekend this summer to see this and a couple of other shows. I think she has the ability and charisma to become one of our next big stars.

Nominations for Foothill!

Almost every year Foothill Music Theatre  receives multiple Bay Area Theatre Critics Award nominations.

This year is no exception.

Urinetown was nominated for outstanding entire production; Robert Brewer, male principal performer; Jessica Lynn Carol, female supporting performer; and Catherine Snider, musical direction.

Annie Get Your Gun, FMT’s summer musical, included nominations for Jessica Raaum, female principal performer; Jay Manley, director; Catherine Snider, musical director; Tyler Risk, choreographer; Joe Ragey, scenic designer; and Janis Bergmann, costume designer.

Congratulations to all!

Bay Area Critics Circle Award Nominations

The annual nominations are in and here they are:

DRAMA

ENTIRE PRODUCTION

• Brooklyn Boy, TheatreWorks
• Killer Joe, Marin Theatre Company & Sankowich/FireMused Productions
• Kiss of the Spider Woman, New Conservatory Theatre Center
• The Little Foxes, American Conservatory Theater
• The Master Builder, Aurora Theatre
• The Miser, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Salome, Aurora Theatre

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

• Ivonne Coll, Mother Courage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Lauren Grace, The Master Builder, Aurora Theatre
• Phoebe Moyer, The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, TheatreWorks
• Rita Moreno, Glass Menagerie, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Susi Damilano, Reckless, SF Playhouse
• Vilma Silva, Anna in the Tropics, TheatreWorks

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, MALE

• Eric Lochtefeld, Glass Menagerie, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Francis Jue, M. Butterfly, TheatreWorks
• James Carpenter, The Master Builder, Aurora Theatre
• Javier Galito-Cava, Kiss of the Spider Woman, New Conservatory Theatre Center
• L. Peter Callender, World Music, TheatreFirst
• Ron Campbell, Merry Wives of Windsor, California Shakespeare Theater
• Steven Epp, The Miser, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

• Amy Resnick, Brooklyn Boy, TheatreWorks
• Delia MacDougall, Merry Wives of Windsor, California Shakespeare Theater
• Julia Brothers, Salome, Aurora Theatre
• Maureen McVerry, The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, TheatreWorks
• Nancy Carlin, The Immigrant, San Jose Repertory Theatre
• Sue Trigg, Noises Off, Willows Theatre

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE

• Anthony Fusco, Merry Wives of Windsor, California Shakespeare Theater
• Dan Hiatt, The Immigrant, San Jose Repertory Theatre
• Danny Scheie, Merry Wives of Windsor, California Shakespeare Theater
• Danny Scheie, Restoration Comedy, California Shakespeare Theater
• Darren Bridgett, Alice in Wonderland, Marin Shakespeare Company
• Nick Sholley, The Long Christmas Ride Home, Magic Theatre

DIRECTOR

• Barbara Damashek, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Center REPertory
• Dominique Serrand, The Miser, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Jonathan Moscone, As You Like It, California Shakespeare Theater
• Louis Parnell, Reckless, SF Playhouse
• Mark Jackson, Salome, Aurora Theatre
• Tracy Ward, Hunter Gatherers, Killing My Lobster

SET DESIGN

• Bill English, Roulette, SF Playhouse
• Donald Eastman, The Rivals, American Conservatory Theater
• Kate Edmunds, M. Butterfly, TheatreWorks
• Robert Blackman, The Little Foxes, American Conservatory Theater
• Steve Coleman, Old Wicked Songs, Marin Theatre Company
• Steve Coleman, Sly Fox, Ross Valley Players

SOUND DESIGN

• Billie Cox, King Lear, Marin Shakespeare Company
• Dave Malloy, Merry Wives of Windsor, California Shakespeare Theater
• Donald Remedios, The Miser, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Jeff Mockus, Old Wicked Songs, Marin Theatre Company
• Tim Gray, Tartuffe, Marin Theatre Company

LIGHTING DESIGN

• Alexander V. Nichols, Mother Courage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Alexander V. Nichols, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, American Conservatory Theater
• Joe Retsky, Mystery Play, SF Playhouse
• Matt Frey, Glass Menagerie, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Nancy Schertler, The Rivals, American Conservatory Theater
• Russell H. Champa, The Little Foxes, American Conservatory Theater

COSTUME DESIGN

• Anna R. Oliver, Restoration Comedy, California Shakespeare Theater
• Beaver Bauer, The Rivals, American Conservatory Theater
• David Zinn, Mother Courage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Fumiko Bielefeldt, M. Butterfly, TheatreWorks
• Lydia Tanji, Merry Wives of Windsor, California Shakespeare Theater
• Sonya Berlovitz, The Miser, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

• Brad Erickson, The War at Home, New Conservatory Theatre Center
• Carey Perloff, Luminescence Dating, American Conservatory Theater/Magic Theatre
• Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford, All Wear Bowlers, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

ORIGINAL SCORE

• Gina Leishman, As You Like It, California Shakespeare Theater
• Gina Leishman, Mother Courage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Peter Golub, Glass Menagerie, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

CHOREOGRAPHY OR FIGHT DIRECTION

• Chris Black, Salome, Aurora Theatre
• David Maier, Zorro in Hell, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Joe Goode/Lunatique Fantastique, The Long Christmas Ride Home, Magic Theatre
• Richard Lane, King Lear, Marin Shakespeare Company

SOLO PERFORMANCE

• Ron Severdia, A Christmas Carol, Humbug Theater
• Tim Miller, 101 Beds, New Conservatory Theatre Center
• W. Allen Taylor, Walkin’ Talkin' Bill Hawkins, The Marsh Berkeley

ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

• The Immigrant, San Jose Repertory Theatre
• The Little Foxes, American Conservatory Theater
• The Marriage of Figaro, Center REPertory
• Mother Courage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• The Rivals, American Conservatory Theater
• Salome, Aurora Theatre

MUSICALS

ENTIRE PRODUCTION

• Love, Janis, Columbia Artists
• Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Putting It Together, SF Playhouse
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Broadway by the Bay
• Urinetown, Foothill Music Theatre
• Vanities, TheatreWorks

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

• Charlotte Cohn, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater
• Jessica Raaum, Annie Get Your Gun, Foothill Music Theatre

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, MALE

• Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Noel Anthony, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Rick Williams, 1776, Willows Theatre
• Robert Brewer, Urinetown, Foothill Music Theatre

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

• Jessica Lynn Carroll, Urinetown, Foothill Music Theatre
• Mary-Pat Green, Putting It Together, SF Playhouse
• Maureen McVerry, Pardon My English, 42nd Street Moon
• Tiffany Marie Austin, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE

• Aaron J. Albano, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Post Street Theatre
• David Sattler, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Justin Weatherby, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Broadway by the Bay
• Paul Araquistain, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Stanley Bahorek, 25th Putnam County Annual Spelling Bee, Post Street Theatre

DIRECTOR

• Alex Perez, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Carey Perloff, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater
• Dianna Shuster, Putting It Together, SF Playhouse
• Evan Pappas, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Broadway by the Bay
• Jay Manley, Annie Get Your Gun, Foothill Music Theatre

MUSIC DIRECTOR

• Catherine Snider, Annie Get Your Gun, Foothill Music Theatre
• Catherine Snider, Urinetown, Foothill Music Theatre
• Constantine Kitsopoulos, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater
• Mark Hanson, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Stew, Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

SET DESIGN

• Joe Ragey, Annie Get Your Gun, Foothill Music Theatre
• Walt Spangler, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater

SOUND DESIGN

• Jeff Curtis, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater

LIGHTING DESIGN

• Kevin Adams, Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Michael Ramsaur, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay

COSTUME DESIGN

• Candice Donnelly, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater
• Janis Bergmann, Annie Get Your Gun, Foothill Music Theatre

CHOREOGRAPHY

• Berle Davis, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Broadway by the Bay
• John Carraffa, Happy End, American Conservatory Theater
• Robyn Tribuzi, Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Tyler Risk, Annie Get Your Gun, Foothill Music Theatre

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

• Morris Bobrow, Shopping! The Musical, AWAT Productions
• Jay Kuo, Insignificant Others, New Conservatory Theatre Center
• Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

ORIGINAL SCORE

• David Kirshenbaum, Vanities, TheatreWorks
• Morris Bobrow, Shopping! The Musical, AWAT Productions

ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

• 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Post Street Theatre
• Happy End, American Conservatory Theater
• Miss Saigon, Broadway by the Bay
• Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
• Putting It Together, SF Playhouse
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Broadway by the Bay

TOURING PRODUCTIONS:

• Doubt, Carol Shorenstein Hays, MTC Productions
• Hairspray, American Musical Theatre of San Jose
• Jersey Boys, Best of Broadway
• A Light in the Piazza, Best of Broadway
• Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Best of Broadway

"Pippin" at Foothill

In 1973 we were all traumatized by the Viet Nam War which was finally coming to an end, and by Watergate which was just erupting. What did Broadway do in response? They gave us the frivolity we so desperately desired. Take a look a the shows that were nominated for Tonys that year: Pippin, A Little Night Music, The Sunshine Boys and Much Ado About Nothing. All these plays try to address serious issues in very subtle ways, but are careful not to whack the audience over the head with anything too heavy or emotional.

In Foothill Music Theatre's recent production, the choreography by Joe Duffy was excellent with just enough Fosse to pay tribute to his legacy. Jay Manley's direction was fantastic as always, and Catherine Snyder's music was excellent. But, what really struck me was how Pippin reflects the social atmosphere of the early 1970s.  Much of Pippin is whimsy. We were worn out as a nation and we needed to feel unencumbered. There is no gut wrenching conflict in the first act of Pippin. It's mostly light humor and fun.

Sometimes when I watch a musical, I get the feeling that the writers create a first act that exists merely to fulfill an audience's desire to just listen to nice music and watch people dance. Then once they have them in the seats, they give them Act II. Act II often is the musical they want people to see. This for me was the case with Pippin. Act II turned out to be something much more touching and personal. The thrust of the second act revolves around Pippin's (Nathan Baynard) growing love for Catherine, a charming and beautiful peasant woman played wonderfully by Alicia Teeter. He is in conflict over his love for her and his own self perception. He sees himself as a prince that could never live the life of a farmer. The scenes between the two are written with humor and love and the actors really were excellent in bringing it to life. Mr. Baynard and Ms. Teeter create some wonderful moments in the second act that made me both laugh and cry a little.

More than anything, Pippin made me think of life in the early 1970s. It made me remember our need for innocence. It made me think of how in 2007 we are in another war that looks all too similar to Viet Nam. And, it made me long for a time when we could hum along to songs of hope as the flower children we were, or wished we could be.

 

Technorati tags: pippin, foothill music theatre

Arcadia at The Pear Avenue Theatre

The Pear Avenue Theatre is currently showing a wonderful production of Arcadia written by Tom Stoppard. Stoppard's play is truly a modern masterpiece. The direction by Rebecca Ennals is superb and the acting is excellent.

I hear that the show is completely sold out for the remainder of the run. I think you can possibly get in if you arrive early and get your name on the waiting list. There are often a couple of no-shows. Come by yourself if you can, there is almost always at least one empty seat for a walk-up.

Where: The Pear Avenue Theatre in Mtn. View

When: February 23-March 18, 2007

Tickets: $10-$25

Info Phone: 650-254-1148

Official Web Site

A Magnificent Hedda Gabler at A.C.T.

A.C.T. (American Conservatory Theatre) in San Francisco is currently showing Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece, Hedda Gabler, at the beautiful Geary Theatre. I went to see this show last Wednesday afternoon, and despite the coughing, wheezing, snoring, hearing aid mal-adjusted audience, it turned out to be one of the best theatre experiences I have ever had.

I am going to try something here as an experiment. Because of our overly committed lifestyles it seems that people tend to read blogs more often when they are written in a list format. So here's my list...

 

Top 5 Things that make A.C.T.'s Production of Hedda Gabler Great

 

1. Rene Augesen. Simply put, Rene's portrayal of Hedda is brilliant. Her ability to completely embody a character in all her complexity draws you in completely. I have never seen an audience so mesmerized by an actor on stage. You could feel the sold out crowd ride the roller coaster of Hedda's emotions from the first moment of the play to the end. What a fantastic actress she is.

2. Paul Walsh's translation is brilliant. He took a script written in 1890 and made it feel contemporary without losing the feel of the 19th century. I have read numerous translations of Ibsen's works, and this is the only one I have ever heard that completely removes the dated feel without losing any of the classical sound of the text.

3. The set and lights. Scaffolding surrounding a living room and sitting room turned the set into a realistic piece that also brought in the loneliness in a symbolic way. The actors would periodically appear on the scaffolding alone and lonely. It really added a creepiness that worked fabulously.

4. The sound. John Gromada wrote some original music for this piece that added a Hitchcockian feel to the piece. It really created an atmosphere of foreboding and isolation.

5. The humor. Whenever I have read Ibsen or scene a production I often feel like laughing out loud. Usually, however, I restrain myself because, after all it's Ibsen. You're not supposed to laugh. God might strike you dead or something. But, under Richard E.T. White's direction the actors unabashedly embrace Ibsen's humor and run with it. Like in an Albee play you laugh at the awful. It's very disconcerting but wonderful.

Theatre of Courage - "Intensive Care Unit"

A couple of days ago I came across a story of a Baghdad theatre company that had the courage to stage a one act play depicting the horror that plagues the streets of Iraq. It's astonishing that both actors and playgoers risked their lives to speak out in this way. Imagine what it must be like to rehearse a play in Iraq in a bombed out building with the noise of war all around you.  Here's the text of the story..

 

 

No Respite from Reality in Baghdad Theater

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq

A sculpture of a bomb-charred motorcycle and auto parts decorates the theater's foyer, and the concession stand lies empty under a layer of dust. Spectators are frisked by policemen, and a notice board announces that an employee has been "caught by the hand of treachery and terrorism," a Baghdad euphemism for a violent death.

Inside, the one-act play "Intensive Care Unit" offers more reminders of death and destruction in its portrayal of the war-torn lives of 10 Iraqis.

Theater is back in Baghdad — or is it real life?

If it was an oasis for the audience and the actors, the respite was brief.

The story on stage spoke at once of the city's relentless violence and the resilience of its people, a struggle for normalcy in the midst of mayhem, and if the audience of 300 or so still didn't get the message, it would soon be driven home on the street. As the crowd emerged from Monday's matinee opening at the National Theater, it saw black smoke rising in the distance — the aftermath of a triple car bombing that killed at least 80 people.

The arts once thrived in Iraq, but stage productions have been rare since Saddam Hussein was ousted nearly four years ago. Many in the theater community have fled abroad, while many Iraqis fear large gatherings that can become bombing targets.

"We must go on living," playwright and director Kaheel Khaled said after the show. "We don't want to die in a hole that we dug ourselves. We must end our differences so we can come out of this intensive care unit."

Dozens from the audience, apparently overcome with the depiction of their lives, climbed onto the stage, embracing cast members and posing for group photos.

The characters, played by students from a drama college, include a theater director forced to make a living by peddling cigarettes and candy on the street, and a man who has lost his ID card and has endless trouble at Baghdad's many checkpoints.

A third character is a black-clad woman who lost a leg in a bombing and then was abandoned by her lover. "Mother, Mother, I am sick. Get me the doctor quickly! Quick!" the woman says repeatedly in English, the only non-Arabic line in the show and what the director said is the play's bleak message.

In the background, a man's body is tied with ropes and lies motionless, a reminder of the sectarian abductions and killings afflicting the capital. A stern-faced man, a symbol of today's leaders in Iraq, comes on stage occasionally to bark bizarre orders that are obeyed at once.

"He is a man who makes reasonable demands," the character of a subservient poet says apologetically.

The play's premiere came as Baghdad braces for the escalation of a new security operation that many people see as a final bid by the U.S. military to calm the city of 6 million.

The cast held most of the rehearsals for "Intensive Care Unit" in the blackened shell of another theater that was looted and burned in the days after Saddam's fall, said actor Haidar Joma'a. "It was the only place where we could meet."

Rehearsals stopped for about five months early last year when the bombing of a Shiite shrine set off sectarian reprisal killings. Several members of the original cast fled Iraq, and others stopped showing up for rehearsals.

"But we finally became serious about rehearsals," said Joma'a, who plays a young man scorned by the woman he loves. "We realized that death lurks in the street just as it does at home, that death is really everywhere."

That spirit was shared by the theatergoers, whose decision to brave the deadly streets said as much about their determination to enjoy themselves as it did about the artistic merits of the play.

Dozens of men and women in the lobby before the play showed flashes of the secular Baghdad of old, when the city was a magnet for artists and writers from across the Arab world.

Women openly smoked and mingled freely with men. Some women embraced male friends, a public taboo in today's Baghdad. Only a few women wore the Islamic head scarves so common now, although some said they would wrap their heads when they left the theater.

"If every one of us stayed home, then our lives would be a waste," said Amal Yassin, an Iraqi actress who showed up in a fur coat, black trousers and checkered red scarf.

"Everyone will die on the day he is meant to die," she added. "Nothing will change that."

City Lights Theater Company

City Lights Theater Company

I will be performing in a staged reading of a new play at City Lights on Feb. 6.

City Lights has a strong commitment to developing new, offbeat theater pieces. The New Play Readers Series gives promising new plays by local playwrights a workshop play-reading production, followed by an audience TalkBack session in which audiences can let the artists know what they think of the show. Potential plays are reviewed by our New Play Readers' Committee and are selected on a competitive basis. City Lights secures the actors and director for the piece, and the playwright is closely involved with casting decisions and rehearsals. The public play readings are one-night-only performances that occur on selected nights throughout City Lights' season.

Coming Next to the New Play Readers Series...

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 8:00 pm THE MOON SEES ME By Jody Handley. Directed by Rachel Bakker. Cleo, a 37-year-old professional who craves motherhood, walks into a fertility clinic and shakes up the sheltered world of Mary — a young receptionist at the clinic and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As their friendship develops, they both must face their sexuality, spirituality, and romantic relationships. Playwright Jody Handley's other works, which have been produced across the U.S., include Curls , Subjects , Bless Me Father , and To Engage in Mutual Touching or Caressing of the Lips , which also won the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco 's DramaRama 2001 competition. Her work has appeared in San Francisco 's Daytrippers 2001, Overnighters 2003, the 2003 48-Hour Film Competition, and in several PCSF staged readings. Jody is the Special Events Director of the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco .

One of my photos...

is going to be used on a commercial travel web site and partner of Expedia.com called Home and Abroad.  I took a bunch photos last year in Acapulco of a bullfight. Some of them are pretty cool and even though it's a gruesome sport the photos are extraordinary.  The person there in charge of photography saw my photos on Flickr.

This is the picture they will be using on the web site:

 

 

I like the movement of the bull's leg and the confidence in the face of the matador. You really get the sense of who's in charge. It's beautiful and chilling at the same time.

New Year's Treat

If you don't have a New Year's Party to go to tonight, you'll have something better to do...

PBS Broadcasts Audra McDonald's New York Philharmonic Concert Dec. 31

By Andrew Gans
31 Dec 2006

Audra McDonald

photo by Eddie Malluk

"Live From Lincoln Center," which recently broadcast Audra McDonald's American Songbook concert, televises the four-time Tony Award winner's New Year's Eve concert Dec. 31.

McDonald headlines the New York Philharmonic's annual New Year's Eve gala. The evening, titled "Audra McDonald Sings the Movies for New Year's Eve," will feature tunes from such films as "The Wizard of Oz," "A Star Is Born," "Cabin in the Sky," "A Little Night Music," "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "My Fair Lady." Tony Award winner Ted Sperling conducts the New York Philharmonic orchestra.

PBS stations will broadcast the event live at 8 PM ET; check local listings.

A four-time Tony Award winner for her work in A Raisin in the Sun, Master Class, Carousel and Ragtime, Audra McDonald was also seen on Broadway in Henry IV. The singer-actress made her solo Carnegie Hall concert debut in an evening of songs scored for big bands, performing several tunes from her Nonesuch CD "Happy Songs." McDonald's other solo recordings, "Way Back to Paradise" and "How Glory Goes," are also on the Nonesuch label. The acclaimed actress also co-starred in the NBC series "Mister Sterling” and was recently seen in the WB series "Bedford Diaries." McDonald also made her Houston Grand Opera with a double bill of Send (who are you? I love you) and La Voix Humaine.

McDonald will return to Broadway later this season in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of 110 in the Shade.

Beverly Sills hosts "Live From Lincoln Center," which is now in its 31st broadcast season.

My Next Show

I will be performing in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Bus Barn Stage Company in Los Altos.

Bus Barn Stage Company

Christmas

I wish everyone a wonderful New Year. It's been a tough one for the country. Lets hope that next year we can get out of the war and find some peace as a nation.

The older I get the less I enjoy Christmas in the way we seem to be programmed to celebrate it. Thanksgiving is quickly becoming my favorite holiday - no gifts, just togetherness.

Mahagonny at L.A. Opera

This is show I would love to see - Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Los Angeles Opera. It's starring two of my favorite actresses and singers, Patty LuPone and Audra McDonald.

I performed in a local production of the show at West Bay Opera a few years ago. It's one of those operas that are almost musical theatre. That's why performers like LuPone and McDonald get the roles. One of the cool things about the show is that The Doors actually took a couple of the numbers and turned them into rock songs including "Alabama Song".

The opera company provides a nice synopsis of the play here.

 

What:	Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald stars in a new production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, one of the great 20th-century operas. From composer Kurt Weill and playwright Bertolt Brecht, the creators of The Threepenny Opera, comes a savage and lyrical satire told in a highly entertaining blend of opera and raucous music hall songs, conducted by Music Director James Conlon. Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and John Doyle, star and director of this season's hugely acclaimed Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, reteam for their Company debuts, joined by acclaimed tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. It's every man for himself in the newly founded city of Mahagonny, devoted to life's illicit pleasures, where anything goes and the only crime is to run out of money. The brilliant score, featuring the classic song "Moon of Alabama," masterfully creates a vivid picture of determination, desperation and debauchery.
When:	Saturday, February 10, 2007 3:00 PM to Sunday, March 4, 2007 4:00 PM
Where:	Los Angeles Opera 135 North Grand Avenue Los Angeles, California 90012

 

Tickets..

PRODUCTION DATES:

Saturday
February 10, 2007
7:30 p.m.

Wednesday
February 14, 2007
7:30 p.m.

Saturday
February 17, 2007
7:30 p.m.

Thursday
February 22, 2007
7:30 p.m.

Sunday
February 25, 2007
2:00 p.m.

Thursday
March 1, 2007
7:30 p.m.

Sunday
March 4, 2007
2:00 p.m.

The Last Waltz

Our little play has ended. It was a magical ride that I will remember always. Thanks to everyone and thanks to Paula and Carl for sharing their souls with us.

Palo Alto Daily News review of The Baltimore Waltz

Palo Alto Daily News

It's so great to have had such wonderful success with this play. It's something that I will always remember..

Waltz' dances around bizarre circumstance

By John Angell Grant / Daily News Staff Writer

A zany comedy about dying from AIDS was how playwright Paula Vogel processed her grief and paid tribute to her brother's death from that disease in 1988. A solid production of the show, "The Baltimore Waltz," is currently running at the cozy, 45-seat Pear Avenue Theater in Mountain View.

Playwright Vogel is best known for her 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "How I Learned to Drive," a play about pedophilia. That play's sympathetic portrait of an older married man's sexual affair with his teenage niece was unsettling.

So, Vogel makes unusual choices as a playwright.

Although "Baltimore Waltz" opens with a brother being fired from his San Francisco library job for wearing a pink triangle, he suddenly finds himself back home in Baltimore visiting his sick sister, a first-grade schoolteacher.

In one of the play's unexpected twists, it turns out that the sister is the one who has AIDS, not the brother. Although it's not that simple.

A confused physician, flummoxed by the symptoms, speculates that the sister has ATD, or Acquired Toilet Disease, and that she caught it from sharing toilet seats with her students. Brother and sister then decide that since she's dying, they will head off on a tour of Europe together and seize life in its last moments.

"The Baltimore Waltz" is a mix of fantasy and reality, and it's not always clear which is which.

Early on the script threatens to degenerate into a pedestrian political rant. A later sequential sexual rampage is redundant almost to the point of numbingnesss.

Director Ray Renati and his cast, however, get good mileage out of the odd characters and situations. Actors Alexandra Matthew and John Romano sell a close and touching relationship between brother and sister.

Their high energy and zany farce performances serve the comedy well, but they also stay focused inside honest emotional characters, in carefully punctuated performances. Romano brings mystery to the San Francisco librarian who was fired for wearing a pink triangle.

Matthew is wrapped tightly and effectively as sister Anna, doomed by Acquired Toilet Disease, and compulsively sleeping with European waiters and bellhops in her last hurrah. The apparent absence of safe sex practices is unsettling. Basically, this is a world turned upside down, in which grown sister and brother share the same bed.

As the play's third actor, Jeff Clarke is amusing in a dozen smaller, over-the-top roles. In Holland, Clarke appears as the little Dutch boy who put his thumb in a dike, and who now makes a living sleeping with female tourists who regard him as something of a celebrity.

Elsewhere, Clarke functions as a government health official promoting Operation Squat, which encourages the use of home toilets. Later, he goes way over the top as a German physician specializing in esoteric urine-drinking cures.

Director Renati, who has been nurtured at the Pear and is one of their emerging success stories, handles the comedy well, then ends this story of compulsive comic excess with a touching emotional shift.

Designer Ron Gasparinetti's effectively resentful set features a mostly bare stage with two rolling toilet bowl consoles, a well-used bed, and a patch of grim, white-tiled bathroom wall up center stage.

This is a bizarre production of a bizarre play that makes for an unsettling evening in the theater. It reminds us that humor is often an indicator of pain.

Rating: Three stars

E-mail John Angell Grant at jagplays@dailynewsgroup.com.