THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS
AIRDATE: December 12, 2003
Adaptations from one medium to another
are not always successful. From book to stage, play to film, from cartoon to live
action to stage and back again -- it doesn't always work. But two current
productions succeed magnificently. One brings a book gloriously to life and
appeals to the child in all of us. The other puts on the small screen something
that was brilliantly conceived for the stage, and it’s strictly for thinking,
politically-minded grownups.
It’s being hailed as the TV event of
the year. “Angels in America,” adapted by Tony Kushner from his Tony, Olivier
and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is as vast and varied as America itself. It’s about Jews and gentiles and Mormons. Blacks and whites.
Homophobia and homosexuality. Love and faith. Trust and loyalty. U.S. policies
and politics. And perhaps most of all, it’s about stasis and change. It’s a
work of genius. Now, along comes Mike Nichols, with an all-star cast, and
brings this spine-tingling, jaw-dropping work to the general public – well,
those with HBO, anyway, until the DVD comes out for rental. He couldn’t miss
with a $60 million budget and a trillion-dollar dream cast: Meryl Streep, Al
Pacino, Emma Thompson, Mary Louise Parker -- and Jeffrey Wright, playing a role
he won a Tony for on Broadway a decade ago. It’s a spectacular production, both
intimate and expansive, beautiful, moving, funny, intense and thought-provoking.
Part I is being re-run in segments this week and Part II airs this Sunday and
then repeats. Run, walk, beg/borrow/steal…Do whatever you have to do to see
this modern masterpiece.
Now let’s
look at a children’s classic, and a great way to celebrate the Seussentennial,
a century of joy brought to kids of all ages, by our own former La Jolla
resident, Ted Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss. This is the sixth year of our delectable
homegrown production of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” delightfully directed
by Jack O’Brien at the Old Globe.
There’s a new Grinch in town, and he’s a local greenie. David Brannen is
less scary and mean than his predecessor, but his heart still grows two sizes
over the course of the evening. He cavorts wonderfully with adorable Rusty Ross
as Young Max, while the story is told by mellow-voiced Old Max (the wondrous
Ken Page, soon to be replaced by another local, Jim Chovick). I saw the tiniest
Cindy-Lou Who, Shawn Sullivan, who’s already a heart-stealer at age 6. The
crackerjack cast of San Diego adult favorites includes Melinda Gilb, Steve
Gunderson, Phil Johnson and Jessa Watson. The new, improved "Grinch” has
less glitz and more heart. The colors, shapes and textures recreate the book
perfectly. But the most magical part of all is the look on the kids’ faces as
they watch the familiar story unfold.
It’s a storybook season: you can give
some Green and follow the Angels.
©2003 Patté Productions Inc.