"CURTAIN CALLS"
By Pat Launer
03/31/06
The Housekeeper’s darkly
funny;
Carmen has Passion and Honey
While the Thai King and I avert romance
With
that musical question, “Shall We Dance?”
AN ALARMIN’ CARMEN
THE SHOW: Carmen, probably the most popular and most
beloved opera of all time, written by Georges Bizet in 1875 and set in Seville,
Spain early in the 19th century
THE STORY: Carmen is a beautiful gypsy who works in a cigarette factory.
Though the young corporal Don José already has a devoted beloved (Micaëla), he is smitten and obsessed with the temptress
Carmen, even taking the rap and going to jail for her when he lets her escape
after her arrest for injuring another girl in a factory brawl. Later, Carmen
sings and dances enticingly at Lillas Pastià's
THE PLAYERS/ THE PRODUCTION: Carmen,
above all, should be colorful and exciting, and Carmen (the character) should
be seductive and irresistible. Unfortunately, the San Diego Opera’s seventh go
at the masterwork is neither. This co-production with Opéra
de Montréal and the Canadian Opera Company is set in some unnamed Latin
American country in the 1930s-40s. The political backdrop is augmented, but the
costume palette is muted. The fights are insubstantial and unbelievable; the
choreography (Juanita Franco) is minimal. And the sets range from an aged,
abandoned church for the gypsy hideout to an angular, postmodern stadium for the
bullring. Michael Yeargin’s ‘curtain’ is the most
fascinating design element; it is a dramatic abstract of bold colors, rent by a
fissure that seems to represent the cultural divide among the characters and
perhaps even a broken heart. With the brashly obvious symbolism of love and
death, the drop is frequently splashed with crimson light. At the beginning of
each act, the two parts split and recede, to reveal the ensuing action. The
costumes (Francois St.-Aubin) are a hodgepodge. Some
men wear fedoras; others, serapes. The women sport faded flower house-dresses.
Nothing is sensuous or suggestive. Only Carmen’s ever-present fringe bespeaks
her gypsy background – trimming her red dress for the flamenco Inn scene and a
surprisingly virginal white for her death.
Throughout, the
rich-voiced mezzo, Marina Domashenko, who has made
this her signature role, is saucy and insouciant, but not bewitching and dangerous. Her
voice is more sultry than her presence in this
production. She’s wonderful with the castanets at the
Tony Award-winning theater
director Mark Lamos has tamped down all the fireworks, though the San Diego
Symphony, under the baton of Karen Keltner, gives it their vibrant all. The
signature songs, the “Habanera” (though this Carmen’s no “wild bird”) and
“Seguidilla,” the “Toreador” and “Chanson Bohème” are all well executed, but
the crowd scenes feel overpopulated and unnecessarily crowded, and except for
the opening street scene, the hordes have little to do. Even the seven dancers
are under-utilized. The singing is by far the most satisfying part of the entire
effort.
At the second
intermission, the opera aficionado sitting next to me left in a huff,
grumbling, “This is the most boring ‘Carmen’ I’ve ever seen!” Indeed, the
politics were present, but not the passion, or the steamy sexuality.
THE LOCATION: The Civic Theatre, through April 5.
POETIC MUSINGS
THE SHOW: Passion and Honey, a reprise production of
a Calvin Manson creation that received the 2002 Associated Community Theatres Aubrey
Award for Best Direction of a Drama. A presentation by Manson’s Ira Aldridge
Repertory Players (he is founder, producing director and artistic director)
THE STORY: Unlike many other Ira
Aldridge productions, this is not a musical revue, or the musical bio of a jazz
legend. But it has the same structure of fragmented segments loosely linked.
The piece is subtitled “Original Choreo-Poems,” and
these 47 separate ‘monologues’ (with a few ‘duets’ and group arrangements) are
indeed very personal, emotional poetic pieces written by Manson, chronicling
his own passage through the ‘60s and beyond, including the death of JFK and a
beloved relative, intra- and inter-racial interactions, and youthful brashness
and bellicosity that give way to more mature sensitivity. There’s a great deal
about love – from a male and a female perspective. Anthony
Bell, Sr. bookends the presentation as a young man looking back, returning to
his old neighborhood, where his recollections and reminiscences are enacted in
his imagination.
THE PLAYERS/ THE PRODUCTION: Manson has directed
inventively; this is his most successful production to date. Though plot isn’t
his forte, poetry is. He captures the essence of the black experience, and of
the universal quandaries of love sought, gained, lost, lamented. The basic
brick-wall set (designed by Manson’s 15 year-old daughter, Maisha
Banks Manson), is simple but a little precarious, with steps center-stage that
required some fancy footwork at times. Some of the performers are making their
stage debuts, but they bring credibility and genuine emotion to the task; each
had at least one shining moment. The intense, passionate love poems are the
most moving, the angry political/racial pieces the most inspiring.
Best of Show: Bell in the
combative/contrite “Contender Always” and the melodic “She Was, Is Jazz”;
Nicole Bradley in the touching, light skin/dark skin “Black Girl” (by Manson
and Bernadette Pitts-Wiley) and the gut-wrenching “Black Girls Learn Love
Hard”; Charmen Jackson in the amorous “I Want to
Touch You” and “Hot Chocolate”; Charles Bruce in the surprisingly gender-reversed “Can You Make Love to My
Mind?” and the sexy “If I Were the Water of Your Bath”; Amber Rose West in the
healing “The Hurt Ended Today” and the regret-filled “You Should Have Told Me”;
and Cedric Damon in the sensuous “Sometimes I Touch You.” Together, the women
powerfully tell their brothers how to “Step into Manhood.” The pain of racism
and the politics of an era emerge in “Wade in the Water” (achingly performed by
Bradley) and “I Was There” (Bruce). There are more segments than needed, more
love poems than necessary. But the fabric of a life, a time, a people, a
progression is stitched together from these colorful, well delivered and
often-memorable poetic pieces.
THE LOCATION: Express Stage, inside
Acoustic Expression in
NOTE: A great new space, right
across from the newly renovated Birch North Park Theatre. If other companies
pitch in, we might be able to develop another hot new venue – for up to 120
seats. Check it out!
THE BOTTOM LINE: Best Bet
EVERYBODY OUGHTA HAVE A
MAID
THE SHOW: The Housekeeper, a nasty little comic
romance written in the early ‘80s by playwright/screenwriter James Prideaux
THE STORY: A pompous, third-rate, pseudo-intellectual
writer unwittingly hires a bag lady to take care of him and his fading
Victorian mansion. The homeless, dead-end klepto and
the pathetic, talentless Mama’s boy turn out to be
drowning in sexual repression, class distinction and self-delusion, which of
course makes them a perfect match. But they have to
hate, chase and try to murder each other before they come clean, reveal their
innermost secrets and literally fall all over each other. There are a few plot
twists, but this is no “Sleuth,” and the play is ultimately both preposterous
and predictable.
THE PLAYERS/ THE PRODUCTION: Rhys Green, in his first
directorial foray into black comedy, has helped Dale Morris and Grace Delaney
to master an aptly brisk pace and fine comic timing. But there has to be a
stronger sense of menace to the piece. And the character of Manley (Morris) has
to take a more pronounced emotional journey. He should be far more tightly
wrapped at the outset so there’s more at stake when he explodes and unravels.
Morris is too avuncular to start; he needs to be more Norman Bates than
Alistair Cooke. Delaney has a blast
throughout as the loony-tunes Annie Dankworth, who’s
gleefully inept, lazy, blunt, coarse and denigrating (of self and others); all
that -- alas for the actress -- never really changes. Delaney is amusingly attired in mismatched
schmattas that repeatedly prompt her to promote her pulchritude. Doug Lay’s
costumes are spot-on, but when Annie shows up in the second act wearing an
evening gown (of sorts) she needs more flashy jewelry (as described in the
text)– and a tiara wouldn’t hurt, either. It’s ultimately the direction and
acting that have to carry this less-than-satisfying script, which is neither as
dark nor as screwball as probably intended; a
neo-vaudevillian ramp-up of the action would help. But for what it is,
with its pointless, cascading absurdities, it’s given a fairly good run.
THE LOCATION: 6th @ PennTheatre, through April 26.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Good Bet
IDENTITY CRISIS
A new play, a staged reading, a post-show discussion. Mo’oleleo Performing Arts Company presented its first event of 2006 to a
full house at Diversionary Theatre on Monday night. The piece, called The
Adoption Project: TRIAD, was written by Seattle-based actor/writer Kimber Lee, with additional research by Mo’olelo’s
founder/artistic director Seema Sueko and participating actor Kathryn Venverloh. Co-directed by Lee and Sueko, the trio of
performers was outstanding, each focused, intensely committed actor creating
several characters: Jill Drexler as a tight-assed adoptive mother … and Barbara
Walters, among others; Kathryn Venverlogh as the
adoptive daughter, who in an unnecessary plot point,
becomes pregnant. And a recent arrival, seen locally in Mo’oleleo’s
A Piece of My Heart, talented Nicole
Gabriella Scipione, as the mother who gave her
daughter up at birth, but not before holding her just one time, a memory she
can never shake. Wonderful, heartfelt work all around,
including the direction.
But
the piece is so overstuffed with ideas, information and perspectives,
it feels less like a play than infotainment for a professional conference. At
this point in its development, it works better as a reading than it would as a
fully staged production. The play features painfully few direct interactions
among the characters and little drama, although the subject itself is deeply
fraught. The tone switches wildly as we move from poignant monologues to teary
confessionals to silly sitcom knockoffs. The writing, too, ranges from poetic
and heartrending to adolescent hip-cynical-smarmy. Maybe there were too many
cooks in this kitchen. They would’ve done better to stick with the character
triangle of the title, avoiding the TV digressions and ‘handwriting on the
wall’ (a primary element of the stage directions, capably read by Sueko). For
this effort to fly, and its subject is certainly relevant and important, it
needs simplification and a clearer image of exactly what it wants to do and be.
But kudos to all involved for trying something new and bringing so much passion
to the presentation.
MENDEL REVISITED
A
fun reprise – and you’re invited! For FREE!
In
2004, David Freedman‘s Mendel, Inc. was a sellout in a staged
reading that was part of the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Lipinsky
Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival. Now, the REP wants to re-view the piece,
so we’re doing another one-nighter – TUESDAY, APRIL 4 at 7:30pm in the Lyceum Space. This comic piece, a hit on Broadway
in 1929, was written by a former comedy writer for Fanny Brice. It focuses on
the ups and downs (and humor!) of the Jewish immigrant experience in early 20th
century
YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST!
Hot
off the presses, just announced April 1: Lee Blessing’s A Body of Water, which recently closed at the Old Globe, was awarded the Steinberg ATCA
(American Theatre Critics Association) New
Play Award for 2006. The honor, which includes a cash prize of $25,000 (the
largest monetary prize for a national playwriting award) was presented at the
Humana Festival of New American Plays in
TAB! YOU’RE IT
Here’s
my little photographic memento of an evening with Tab Hunter – at dinner and
onstage, where I interviewed him for the Distinguished Author Series at the
Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in
WILLY’S NIGHT AT THE OPERA
“Shakespeare Goes to the Opera,” thanks to the SDSU Opera Theater. In this dramatic
presentation, April 28-30 in Smith Recital Hall, you’ll enter the Bard’s
private study as characters from A
Midsummer Night’s Dream come to entertain Shakespeare with selections from operas
that were inspired by some of his greatest works: Midsummer (Britten), Romeo
and Juliet (Gounod), Macbeth
(Verdi), Hamlet (by French composer Ambroise Thomas) and more. Reservations at 619-594-1696 or at the Music and Dance box office on campus.
GIVE TO THE MAX
New
Vision Theatre in
'NOT TO BE MISSED!' (Critic’s Picks)
(For full text of all
past reviews, use the Search engine at www.patteproductions.com)
Passion and Honey –personal and universal
poems of love, politics and growing up, by Calvin Manson; nicely performed by
his Ira Aldridge Repertory Players
At
the new Express Stage, inside Acoustic Expression in
The Housekeeper – a goofy romantic comedy
that isn’t as dark, bleak, funny or screwy as it thinks it is, but the actors
are milking every minute (and they could go even further)
At
6th @ Penn Theatre, through April 26
The Playboy of the Western
World – excellently
done (if a wee bit heavy on the accents); skillfully combines all the drama, grisly humor and hero
worship Synge intended
New
Village Arts at Jazzercise in
Intimate Apparel – beautifully conceived
production of a heartbreaking turn-of-the-last century story.
At
the San Diego Repertory Theatre, through April 9
The Twilight of the Golds – provocative premise, admirable ensemble
At
Diversionary Theatre, through April 9
What the
At 6th @ Penn Theatre, through April
30.
My Fair Lady – spectacularly inventive
production; beautifully designed, directed, acted and sung
At
Cygnet Theatre EXTENDED to May 7.
Don’t be a Fool this April – Go to the theater!
©2006 Patté
Productions Inc.