Comission This – Ride of a Lifetime

There are few things that bring up both fear and joy the same way as travelling carnivals do. On the one hand you catch the lights of one of these adhoc amusement parks and you can smell the excitement of youth (which oddly enough smells a lot like funnel cakes and cotton candy). The nostalgia of paper tickets, barkers, baseballs hitting over milkbottles, and screams of kids as they risk life and limb on those creaky machines of death.

Yes, the sketchy, rusty, not sure if that is supposed to be that jerky, was that a bolt that just fell out rides are some of the most amazing feats of lawsuits waiting to happen, and yet, somehow we just let it go. Maybe it’s a test of manhood, to survive the carnival ride. Maybe it makes it scary, more enjoyable to know it’s actually not very safe. But hey, we live for adventure right!?

I remember being at the 1989 Indiana State Fair (don’t ask) and thinking, “really? You want me to go on that? Pass.” But what happens to these great metal monsters when someone finally does retire them. When the risk finally surpasses the reward. Where do they go to die. What pasture do they spend the rest of their lives in before they corrode to a pile of forgotten dust? This is your assignement. I want you people to seek out these ghosts, and not only seek them out, but reincarnate them into photos, sculptures, jewlery, any form of ART. This is your assignment people with talent! Tell the stories of these giants!

EXTRA EXTRA – All You Need Is LUV

Nostalgic “LUV” story opens
Milpitas Post Staff
by W. Fred Crow

What’s love got to do with it? Well, everything and nothing, but it’s a great question asked and answered in Murray Schisgal’s stage play “LUV.” Northside Theatre Company Director Richard Orlando reached into the archives and brought Schisgal’s 45-year-old work to the stage. It once played to the avant-garde in 1964; today it remains tame and nostalgic and reachable. “LUV” is also very entertaining.

The premise of the story is simple 1960s. Three people, trying to make sense of their not so happy lives, meet on a bridge where one wants to lose his life, another wants to lose his wife, and the third wants order and happiness in her life. For want of a better word, all three are a bit squirrelly. Put together, writer Schisgal pens a fast-paced romp of fun and discovery.

The play opens to reveal an inanimate character central to the play the bridge, stately and sentinel. As the lights go down and the opening music goes up, you sense that Philip Marlow or Humphrey Bogart might stroll across the set, trench coat wrapped loose, belt hanging down, and collar up turned to the cold. No, maybe for another production. Here we’re introduced to Harry Berlin (Brent Beebe), a disheveled and confused man mumbling to himself, lost in his personal world of mental hurt and pain. He’s on the bridge to end it all. He has nothing. He gives nothing. He hopes for nothing.

Fast-talking Milt Manville (Travis Leland), Harry’s old college chum, arrives in the nick of time and mad-libs him toward another, safer direction; down off the railing of the bridge and, he hopes, into the arms of his wife, Ellen Manville (Susannah Greenwood). Milt wants Harry to alienate the affections of his wife so he, Milt can continue pursuing another.

The breezy madcap banter between Leland and Beebe was refreshing. They engage in “one-downmanship,” the adult version of a child’s game of who lived a worse life. The verbal jousting as each tried to out do the other with tales of woe was a treat. Beebe wore his mental issues like a mantle and shared freely with everyone. Leland, as Milt, held his issues close to the vest. You knew something was amiss, but it needed to be revealed.

Milt sells Harry on the idea that, for all his problems, love can solve what ails him. Harry feels reprieved. He has hope. He thinks he can start anew.

Enter Ellen, Milt’s precise wife who can spout sports facts and figures like any guy. She joins Milt near the bridge as he tells her of his friend from college, hoping to introduce them and excite a spark. Ellen isn’t ready to listen. She’s there with her own agenda. She methodically and hilariously explains how Milt hasn’t taken care of his husbandly duties, they have drifted apart, and illustrates her point with a chart that graphs their lack of physical congress. Milt sells her on the idea that love is missing and can solve her problems and introduces her to Harry, hoping they hit it off. They do.

Greenwood played Ellen with a joyful frustration. She wants the right things with hubby Milt, but finds Harry to be interesting and like-minded. That is, until Harry proves incapable of rational thought. He really is damaged. In the end Milt and Ellen reunite and Harry is back on the bridge seeking permanent answers to temporary issues.

“LUV” is a good show. The age lines haven’t diminished its edge, and the acting keeps the tale polished for the telling. Some lines date their origins but what might have shocked and titillated the crowds back in the 1960s now entertains.

Beebe, Leland and Greenwood inspire confidence in their presentation. These characters could exist, could be real (and probably are). Beebe never left his character’s neuroses to show normalcy. Leland remained faithful to his manic and self absorbed demeanor. Greenwood was an engaging study of frustrated resignation and want. The three combined into a well managed ensemble playing nicely off one another without over being powering.

The set, sound, and lights all earn kudos for being right without being distracting. Orlando keeps the reins of direction at just the right tension that let the audience enjoy an evening at the theater.

The charming production of “LUV” closes Northside Theatre’s 30th season and plays through July 12. The stage is located at the Olinder Theatre, 848 E. William St., San Jose. For box office information and reservations, call 288-7820.

Princess’ Pick – Good Impressions

I have a theory that comedy is not only contagious but can actually permeate through walls. This could explain why I sometimes just burst into laughter for no apparent reason. I’m fortunate to live just a few doors down from the IMPROV in San Jose,  which plays hosts to a wide variety of  some of the most hilarious comics.

As a long time fan of  Saturday Night Live and Late Night Comedy TV in general (what am I saying, ALL comedy really) I’d be hard pressed to pick my favorite sketch, routine, or comedian. That being said, one of my tops has to be Goat Boy. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. There are some things that are just so random, you can’t help but laugh.  It is with great pleasure that I remind you of and perhaps in some cases reintroduce you  to Jim Breuer. His Impressions of celebrities are astounding but it is the Goat Boy that won me over. This week only in Downtown San Jose.

EXTRA EXTRA – Wives on the Run

When wives collide
Marital mishaps take the stage in trite but amusing tale of swinging London

by Karla Kane – Palo Alto Weekly

A South London cabbie called John Smith is a “quite ordinary” man who lives with his wife in a flat in Wimbledon. There’s also a cab-driving John Smith living with his wife in nearby Streatham.

The fact that it’s the very same John Smith leading a polyamorous double life is the crux of the Ray Cooney comedy “Run for Your Wife,” Palo Alto Players’ current production. 

Smith (Paul Wells), who appears mild-mannered and of rather average charms, has managed to keep his two wives, though they live just minutes apart, unaware of each other’s existence. That’s thanks to a complicated system of work schedules, codes and planning.

Things go haywire when, after being knocked out in a mugging, he’s taken to the hospital and in his confusion gives out his wrong address at the wrong time. Once policemen from both of his neighborhoods get involved, Smith must scramble to keep up his life(s) of bigamist bliss. As the wives get more suspicious and Smith’s lies more convoluted and elaborate, the plot thickens into a stew of slapstick antics. 

The Players seem to be striving for an Austin Powers-esque tone of shagadelic mayhem, but the story is actually quainter than that. Though it’s set in the swinging London of 1967 (a point that is hammered home thanks to a mod set, cartoonish costumes and music from the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Spencer Davis Group), the story is the sort of classic old-fashioned British farce that has caused giggles since the heyday of music-hall variety entertainment and before. And apparently the charming cliche that English people feel a nice cup of tea can fix anything remains alive and well.

The play is carefully and cleverly constructed so that each aspect of Smith’s two parallel lives has its counterpart in the other. The Players’ production handles this visually with great aplomb.

In Wimbledon, Smith has his sensible brunette wife Mary (Jean Naughton), sporting a smooth, chic bob and clothes in shades of green and blue. In Streatham, seductive wife Barbara (Kate Phillips) is a fluffy-haired blonde, resplendent in pinks. Each neighborhood has its own gray-haired police inspector, complete with matching fedoras, and each of Smith’s flats comes with its own meddlesome upstairs neighbor. 

The set design by Kuo-Hao Lo is especially lovely, as it makes one flat, decorated in a psychedelic color scheme with mod design elements and mid-century furniture function as two, without any movement or set changes whatsoever. One half of the set features a pink-and-purple circle graphic motif while the other features the same colors reversed, with squares. This subtle but effective visual device makes it clear two different homes are being evoked. 

Because this is very British humor indeed, the whole cast has British accents, with mixed results. There is one true Londoner among the cast (I won’t name names), and her authentic voice does make the Americans’ attempts pale a bit in comparison. Jonathon Ferro, who plays gormless Wimbledon neighbor Stanley Gardner, has an accent that ranges from entirely absent to vaguely Australian. Happily, his performance is otherwise delightful, as he is a gifted comic actor who has seemingly studied at the Monty Python school of funny reactions and double takes. 

All the actors do well with their rather one-dimensional roles, with my favorite performances coming from John Baldwin and Mark Rawlins as the two policemen — the former warm and overly friendly, the latter overly proper and deadpan.

The plot is, of course, absurd, but that’s half the fun in a farce. What may make modern audiences uncomfortable is that “Wife,” which debuted in 1983, relies heavily on making fun of gay and homophobic stereotypes that may have seemed cutting-edge 20 years ago (and in the 1960s) but now seem quite dated. Steve Anthony’s role as the flamboyant, effeminate neighbor Bobby Franklin, for instance, and Gardner’s horror at being presumed gay draw laughs but soon become cringe-worthy.

In addition, while throughout the play the complications build to a fever pitch of screwball situations, the actual ending is quite anticlimactic.

Fans of low-brow British comedy (author included) will find “Wife” a trite yet amusing experience, but those bored or offended by repeat potty humor, the corniest of double entendres or puns on homosexual slang may not find it to be their cup of tea.

What: “Run For Your Wife” by Ray Cooney, presented by the Palo Alto Players Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto When: Through June 28 with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays Cost: Tickets are $30 general, and $26 for seniors and students on Thursdays and Sundays. Info: Go to www.paplayers.org or call 650-329-0891.

Princess’ Pick – Comedy Goes Head to Head

 

Laughing, competition, audience participation, a concession stand, and a family-friendly (or opt for the not as PG midnight show) couple of hours. It’s kind of a perfect package. It’s called Comedy Sportz and it’s a fun and unique (and totally affordable) way to relax from the week. This past January the San Jose installment of this great troupe of improv athletes celebrate their 5,000 show! With a record like that…they are doing something right! A new show every time, be careful, you may get hooked!

EXTRA EXTRA – Lips Together Means HANDS TOGETHER!

Still poignant after all these years, Set in 1991, Terrence McNally play surprises with attitudes and prejudices that are alive today

by Jeanie Forte – Palo Alto Weekly

The Dragon Theatre in downtown Palo Alto is also the frequent home of theatre Q, which is currently taking us down memory lane with a play by Terrence McNally set in 1991. One of his most affecting plays, capturing the angst of the times with charm and humor, “Lips Together, Teeth Apart” proves all too relevant for us in 2009.

The play focuses on two mid-life couples spending the Fourth of July at a beach house on Fire Island, because one of the wives inherited the house from her recently deceased brother. Although both couples are heterosexual, gay neighbors live on either side, and the brother’s death from AIDS haunts them. In bits of dialogue and asides to the audience, we hear of their various fears and prejudices regarding homosexuality, including their dread of the swimming pool as a possible AIDS transmitter.

Sally (Meredith Hagedorn), the sister and heir, tries to paint and broods about her brother’s death, while dealing with a series of miscarriages and her newest, secret pregnancy. Her husband, Sam (Jeffrey Hoffman), is the most glaringly “middle class” of the lot, a hard-working contractor with stereotypical class and homophobic prejudices who nevertheless wins our sympathies with his fears of losing his wife to a love affair.

They’re joined by Sam’s sister, Chloe (Mary Lou Torre), a perky upper-middle-class housewife with three children who likes to perform in community-theater musicals and whose relentless enthusiasm stands in marked contrast to the melancholy around her. Her husband, John (Dale Albright), bares his contempt for his wife’s hyperactivity, but later reveals a more tender regard for her. His gruff aloofness hides his own fear as he faces cancer, and his desire for continuing a covert relationship with Sally.

All of this is illuminated in the first few scenes of the play, so I’m not giving away major plot turns. What we learn about each of the characters in the opening scenes and monologues prepares the canvas for a day’s worth of arguing, jockeying, worrying, cajoling and even fisticuffs. Along the way we become more sympathetic to each character, seeing their frailty and vulnerability as well as their attempts to deal with fear and loss.

McNally brings home relevance without hitting us too hard on the head with it, and does so with heart and liberal doses of humor. The play feels somewhat historical in nature, a glimpse back to the AIDS panic of the late ’80s and early ’90s, but surprises with attitudes and prejudices that are alive and well today.

When Sam expresses his distaste for gays and their lifestyles, he could just as easily be speaking in 2009 as 1991. He experiences an epiphany of sorts that begins to alter his perception of gays — would that it were that simple. Perhaps it was wishful thinking on McNally’s part, or an attempt to raise consciousness in his audience, although it feels like preaching to the choir, given the unlikelihood that someone with deep anti-gay prejudice would find their way into this audience.

Still, McNally represents a broad spectrum of belief and prejudice with his small cast of four, inviting us to examine our own hearts for stereotypes we may harbor. The play bogs down somewhat in Act Three, suddenly introducing new issues and problems that won’t be resolved or even explored, and feels like it has a hard time finding its conclusion, but the theatre Q production is redeemed by superb acting.

A small cast requires four strong actors, and thankfully there is no weak link in this one. Torre threatens to drive us crazy with Chloe’s chirpiness, appropriately as the character is written, but later tugs at our heartstrings with just the right measure of wistfulness and an iron core of strength when needed. Albright feigns boredom and intellectual malaise in beautiful counterpoint to his fear of his cancer and a desperate reach for life.

Hagedorn does a lovely turn as Sally, arguably the protagonist of the play, who moves from anxiety and immobility to a kind of bravado in the face of death, a railing against anonymity and numbness. Hoffman, as her hapless husband, manages to capture a clear type and yet show us a real person under it, breathing real life into what otherwise could be a caricature.

Ron Gasparinetti’s set evokes the tony digs of Fire Island in the small space of the Dragon, including a small pool that proves necessary to some of the action. The box-office attendant warns that the first row may experience some splashing, but that didn’t happen on opening night.

“Lips together, teeth apart” is the litany Sam is taught by his dentist to prevent teeth-grinding, but it begs to be read as metaphor. Keeping silent with secrets? Or perhaps the preparation for a kiss, as in “Make love, not war”? However you choose to interpret it, you’ll appreciate the fine acting and thoughtful script in this not-so-dated play.

What: “Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” by Terrence McNally, presented by theatre Q
Where: Dragon Theatre, 535 Alma St., Palo Alto
When: Through June 28 with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays
Cost: Tickets are $20 general and $15 for seniors, youth and Theatre Bay Area members.
Info: Go to www.theatreq.org or call 415-433-1235.

EXTRA EXTRA – Midsummer Madness Mexico Style!

Review: Often-delightful ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ kicks off Shakespeare on the Square By Colin Seymour for the Mercury News 

A romantic trip to Chichen Itza is the often-delightful result of Arclight Repertory Theatre’s marriage to the Mexican Heritage Society. The collaborators have given Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a Mayan love quadrangle, Mayan “rude mechanicals” and Puck — the rudest Mayan you’ll ever encounter. They coalesce persuasively at the Shakespeare on the Square Festival in downtown San Jose, as the Ushmal variety of fairy spellbinding enhances the familiar charms of one of literature’s most beloved comedies.

The production at San Pedro Theatre on the Square isn’t spellbinding, but its multi-cultural effects and accents are well-matched to the play, resulting in the Mexican artistic sensibility director David Koppel is hoping to convey at the confluence of dreams and reality. As conduits to those dreams, the Ushmals are pretty much like Elizabethan fairies, and sometimes that’s not pretty. Your view of the fairy community may be benign, but some see fairies as angels gone bad.

The Ushmals mix misdeeds and good deeds much as fairies everywhere do, a concept Koppel is determined to do proud. It’s a concept betrayed somewhat by the unredeeming qualities of the central character, the mercurial fairy Puck, whose job is to choreograph the ideal match-ups for the lovers and make sport of both his bosses and the menial laborers who humbly stage a skit for their padrone.

Puck doesn’t have to inspire affection to fulfill his duties to the play, but he isn’t usually played as obnoxiously as Brittney Mignano portrays him here. Her diabolical laugh in the wake of her misdeeds and mistakes tend to make her seem misogynistic in ways that don’t quite jibe with the tenor of the production, which otherwise is personified more by Sarah Shoshana David’s urbane grace (well, until she falls in love with a donkey) as the queen of the fairies.

Mignano also has trouble enunciating consistently over the loud hum of the top-story theater’s air-conditioning — without which the stifling resemblance to the Yucatan in late June would be authentic yet undesirable. Mignano moves brilliantly, though, and her physical manipulation of the sleeping paramours at the end of Act 3 is surprisingly touching.

 The paramours are pleasingly cast. Demetrius (Ravi Soundararajan) and Lysander (Marc Tabor) are nothing alike, as the former is on edge and resembles a tech worker on Casual Friday, and the latter is long-haired, laid-back and wears a guayabera. You can also easily distinguish Helena (Fiona Lawson) from Hermia (Amy Wares) because the blonder one is a foot taller than the darker one. Lawson has the best moment with Helena ’s sensible reaction to Demetrius’ newfound regard for her. If you’re looking for portrayals here that will stand out among the many versions of this play that you might see in your lifetime, the cervezas-wielding campesinos of Piste will do it for you more than the fairies.

Mark Gelineau’s charisma commands the stage while he portrays Nick Bottom as weaver, actor and ass, though not in a notably Mayan way. William Donald Edwards makes up for that while commanding the other rude mechanicals as a leathery, ethereal Peter Quince. Daniel Norsberg makes the most of the distaff role in the “Pyramus & Thisby” skit and Robert Snedegar is formidable yet delicate as Wall in the skit. As for Jeff Orr as a myopic Snug and Arturo Dirzo as the simple Starveling, there’s something humbly, winningly rural-Mexican about them you must see to believe. They may not evoke the Yucatan, but they’re a collective archetype that endures even as Mexico becomes less homogenous. Anyone who doesn’t think Shakespeare would have loved seeing these characters thus portrayed doesn’t understand the transmutability of his art. “A Midsummer Night”s Dream” By William Shakespeare The upshot: Already-rich Mayan culture gets a boost from Shakespeare “” and vice-versa. When: Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. through June 27. Half-hour “Green Show” with folkloric dancing begins one hour before curtain rises. Where: Arclight Repertory Theatre”s Shakespeare on the Square (San Pedro Theatre on the Square, 29 N. San Pedro St ., San Jose). Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes, with one intermission. Tickets: $20, $15 students and ages 65 and older; pay what you can on Thursdays; 1-800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com; www.arclightrep.org

Tonys Deliver!

in case you missed them your full winner list is here: http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/winners.html  and some of the highlights can be seen below!

 

Princess’ Pick –

Growing up with a dad from Texas there was a lot of BBQ, outdoors activities and plenty of John Wayne. Just say that with me. John Wayne. He’s got an airport named after him. He has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. He has an official Holiday in California (John Wayne Day, May 26th, his birth). And then there’s his film, True Grit. After 150 screen perfromances John won his first and ONLY Oscar for this film just 10 years before passing away. Not to bad for a man born Marion Morrison. That’s almost like the man named Sue. This Friday you can catch the Princess’ Pick, True Grit at the amazing Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto (a staple of fun family movie outings growing up in the Greenwood household) complete with a live performance on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ! And if you heard enough JW growing up but still want to visit this amazing restored theatre, CASABLANCA shows through the weekend and next week too! 

 

EXTRA EXTRA – Fautus puts the Pedal to the Metal!

Theater review: ‘Faustus’ at Foothill College.
By John Angell Grant- For the Daily News

AC/DC singing “Highway to Hell” is part of the heavy metal staging of Christopher Marlowe’s play “Faustus,” currently running in a strong student production at Foothill College. Playwright Marlowe, a contemporary of Shakespeare, was a feisty, brawling guy who died at age 29 when he was knifed in the face during a bar fight.

In his play “Faustus,” Marlowe addresses the conflict between the spiritual values of doing good, and the self-centered material values of ego. He tell this story in the heart of one man, who gets torn apart by the struggle.

Foothill’s Gothic staging interweaves the struggles of scholar Dr. John Faustus with headbanger musical interludes that simulate a rock concert, playing off the celebration of evil that is sometimes associated with heavy metal music.

Dr. John Faustus is a prominent 16th-century German university professor, with a deep intellectual knowledge of both the classics and contemporary science of the time. That’s not enough for him, however. Faustus wants to understand everything, and to have the most power in the world.

Magic and conjuring soon become his interest. Before long Faustus hooks up with Mephistopheles, the devil’s assistant, and goes on a 24-year spree of power and influence, in exchange for signing away his soul. It’s the life of a rock star.

I saw a fantastic production of “Faustus” two years ago at the Hampstead Theater in London that reworked Marlowe’s story into a contemporary tale about real-life British conceptual artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, who shocked the art world in 2003 when they bought expensive anti-war Goya etchings and drew funny faces on them. That play’s message was the same: who is god?

The Foothill Peninsula staging is a complex show, and quite a technical feat. It’s filled not just with heavy metal music, but also costuming, make-up and effects. Twenty-six actors, all current or former students of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory, play 61 roles.

In director Tom Gough’s head-banger staging, both Mephistopheles and the devil are portrayed by women, and referred to in the story as “she.” It all works fine.

Faustus’s sprawling adventures and misadventures are punctuated regularly by a zombie posse of Lucifer’s assistants, dressed in striking heavy metal regalia and make-up, who headbang to loud music and smoke effects.

Among the actors, Nicholae Muntean and Sarah Griner do a good job in the lead roles of Faustus and Mephistopheles. Griner is charismatic and convincing as the all-purpose devil’s assistant.

Scenic designer Bruce McLeod’s stylish set is a cross between a modern tech look, and a few props that reflect the original period. Compressed air and smoke effects create a stunning finale. Large slide projections open up the stage with library and tunnel vistas.

Costume designer Julie Engelbrecht has put many characters in effective metal and Goth outfits. Make-up artists Lori Ann Grass, April Spain and Nicole Williams create effective but not overdone Kiss-influenced eye make-up.

Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. Yeah! It’s a Headbangers Ball, and a party in Hell!

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

“Faustus: A Heavy Metal Fable”

Presented by: Foothill College Theater Arts Department
Where: Lohman Theatre, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Through: June 14.
Tickets: $8-$16; 650-949-7360 or
foothill.edu/fa