"CURTAIN CALLS"
By Pat Launer
06/30/06
War is raging, alas and alack:
A great time to bring Mother Courage back.
While nostalgically and with bravado
Starlight brought us Hot
Mikado,
And Miracle Productions
bids
With a wacked-out
WAR IS HELL
THE SHOW: MOTHER COURAGE, Bertolt Brecht’s timeless
socio-political masterpiece of struggle, survival and the pointlessness of war
THE STORY/THE BACKSTORY: ‘Mutter Courage’ is a character from a novel
by 17th century German author Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen. Brecht brought her into the 20th century (his original title was
Mother Courage and Her Children), but
he set his 1941 classic during the Thirty Years’ War (the Catholic vs.
Protestant conflagration which was fought primarily in
With war raging nonstop, a desperate woman strives to
keep her family alive. One by one, though, she loses her children to the
ravages of war, but she refuses to part with her livelihood, the signature
wagon of peddler’s goods (here, a rotted, rusty half-Jeep) that is her home.
Courage is both sympathetic and supremely mercenary, a fiercely loyal mother
and a ruthless war profiteer, ironically nicknamed for her less-than-heroic
actions under fire. The play is perfect for our war-torn times, with religious
conflict looming large, questions of morality tearing at the fabric of our
society and materialism virtually ruling our lives.
THE PLAYERS/THE
PRODUCTION: Brecht created a dazzling
blend of pathos and burlesque, and director Lisa Peterson (a former associate
director at the La Jolla Playhouse) has remained true to his esthetic of
political provocation intertwined with entertainment. There’s a ragtag circus
feel to this production, and more than a tad of faded vaudeville and grungy
music-hall cabaret, which suits the play just fine. David Hare’s translation is
foul-mouthed, at times amusing, and definitely, aptly, brutal. But like
Brecht’s original, it is relentless. Brecht was never one to shy away from an
issue or perspective, or to pounding it home with the subtlety of a
sledgehammer. So the show racks up nearly a three-hour running time; some
people didn’t make it back after intermission. Their loss.
There may be war fatigue in living rooms (and battlefields), but Brecht forces
us to continue to look, to confront the wretchedness and the cost – personal,
political and psychological – of prolonged (and pointless) combat. It’s a
chilling indictment, with music. True to the play’s era and
creator/collaborator, Gina Leishman’s music is a little
Peterson doesn’t over-sentimentalize Courage; the play
mocks her foolhardiness and points to her unflagging pursuit of profit, which
underscores the unholy alliance of war and commerce. Ivonne Coll makes her
losses palpable -- her silent scream at the death of one child is heart-rending
-- and there’s
plenty of her fearless, dauntless spirit. By turns ruthless, affectionate,
degrading and flirtatious, Coll evinces and evokes a range of emotions in this
stellar performance. The rest of the
ensemble provides malleable and masterly support, with Katie Barrett especially
engaging, sporting a saucy look and a wonderful voice. The others suitably
talk, belt or emote their songs. But Barrett gets the ballads, and she does
them beautifully (she has performed with the Washington Bach Consort and as a
soloist at Washington National Cathedral). Brent Hinkley (associate artistic
director of the Actors’ Gang of L.A.), Marc Damon Johnson and Patrick Kerr
bring the most humor to the piece. Second-year MFA student Scott Drummond shows
his pugnacious side (as he has before, most effectively, in university
productions). It’s a long but powerful production – of a still-potent and
important play.
THE LOCATION:
BOTTOM LINE: Best Bet
JAZZY
THE SHOW: HOT MIKADO, the regional theater
premiere of a jazz riff on Gilbert and Sullivan’s most beloved operetta
THE STORY/THE BACKSTORY: Written in 1939 and revised in 1986, Hot
Mikado is a jazzy update of the 1885 original, which was a satire of
Victorian English society, set in Japan. Now, jazz, blues, gospel and Andrews
Sisters girl groups are somewhat awkwardly superimposed onto this wacky tale of
a lovelorn ‘wandering minstrel,’ Nanki Poo (really the son of the somewhat
sadistic Mikado), drifting around in disguise to avoid a forced marriage to an
older harridan, Katisha. Meanwhile, his beloved Yum-Yum is betrothed to the
witless Ko-Ko, the spineless Lord High Executioner. After many twists and turns
and threatened beheadings, Ko-Ko winds up with Katisha, and Nanki Poo and the
airheaded YumYum live happily ever after. So, how do these folks transform into
cool cats and (anachronistically) zoot-suit wearers? If you’re gonna have a mishmash, you might as well go the whole hog.
THE PLAYER/THE PRODUCTION:
The show was obviously written with black hipsters
in mind, but there was little of that particular sensibility here. And the
script disturbingly retained a number of casual references to ugly Asian
stereotypes. Still, the production, directed by Carlos Mendoza (who also
choreographed, along with musical director Parmer Fuller) had a lot to
recommend it. The dancing may have been repetitive, but it was generally well
executed, and the costumes (coordinated by chorine Brenna Fleeman) were clever
and colorful. Best of all was the singing. Especially noteworthy were
vocal-knockout Laura Dickinson as Yum-Yum’s sister, Pitti Sing; Richard
Bermudez as a suave Nanki-Poo; the Big Mama belting Debbie Nicastro, dressed in
brash black and white like Cruella deVille, as the man-eating Katisha; and
Danny Bolero, who seemed to be channeling early, whiny Jerry Lewis as Ko-Ko,
the cowardly executioner. The six-person orchestra sounded jazzy and robust,
with hot/cool arrangements that featured (at various times) sax, flute,
trumpet, trombone and flugelhorn. Some of the song reimaginings were actually
an improvement on the originals, most notably the comic Ko-Ko/Katisha duet,
“Beauty in the Bellow” and the gorgeously harmonic a capella
“Swing a Merry Madrigal.” The mics were consistently problematic; this is
something that really needs fixing at Starlight. Maybe Cinda Lucas’ 320,000
dollar matching grant, announced on opening night, will help.
The
whole effort was an affectionate homage to the show that inaugurated Starlight
Theatre in 1946 – The Mikado. Sixty
years and four million patrons later, this quirky bit of nostalgia paid tribute
to Starlight’s amazing longevity (airplanes notwithstanding) and one of the
original cast-members, Bailey Warren, who played Nanki Poo in ’46. His son,
Ken, took a bow, and was right proud. He sat just in front of us, and recalled
how he was 5 years old when he saw the role played by his father, who was the
first staff announcer at Channel 8, opening the station along with Bob Dale, in
1949. Cool bit of history and trivia.
THE LOCATION: Starlight Theatre, through June 25 (only a
one-weekend run – but there are, you may recall, 2000+ seats in the house).
WAGNER FIRES UP THE BARBIE
THE SHOW: DAS BARBECÜ, a Texas-set musical by Jim
Luigs (book and lyrics) and Scott Warrender, which premiered Off Broadway in
1994
THE STORY: Okay, so you think a jazzy Japanese Mikado is a wild concept? How about a
hootenanny version of Wagner’s 20-hour, 4-opera Ring Cycle? All one can say is yee-haw and oy vey. Das
Barbecü features all of the melodrama, little of the drama (let alone the
mind-blowing music) of the original. It’s beyond silly; it’s preposterous. And
it feels like a high school musical. Like the original, there are dwarves and
giants, Rivermaidens, mischief makers and jilted brides. But there are also
guitar-strummin’ cowboys, Texas Rangers and guacamole mavens. Some of the 30
characters (the construction-worker giants, for instance) make a one-second
cameo and never reappear. So much of the convoluted storyline is conveyed, it’s
exhausting. The musical tires of the plot itself, repeatedly trying to explain
it to the audience (which is spoken to or interacted with several times during
the evening).
THE PLAYERS/THE
PRODUCTION: Five game performers give their all trying to
make this silliness sing. But the music is forgettable, and the overblown story
(as in the mythical original) is ludicrous. And they can’t even pronounce each
other’s names right (is it Ziegfried or Siegfried? Getruna or
Getrune? No one seems to know for sure). Some of the setups are mildly
amusing, such as the Esther Williams cum Sea World Rhinemaiden number. But this
is a far cry from the magnificent and hilarious Forbidden Broadway that preceded it in the Theatre. The cast is
working overtime, with their quick-changes into funny wigs and so-so costumes
(except for Getrune’s uproarious, mini-skirted, ultra-tulle wedding dress,
replicated later in black), but the script doesn’t provide sufficient payoff.
They all sing well, though gorgeous-voiced Jenn Grinels gets the best song, a
wistful ballad, “County Fair.” Rebecca Spear is adorable looking but sometimes
shrill; Alison Bretches tends to over-belt, Nick Spear is understatedly funny
(and fine on guitar, as is Grinels) and in multiple roles, Steve Anthony gets
to show his comic chops, physical agility and musical theater moxie.
The
set (Sean Fanning) is all down-home woodsy, lit (by Matthew Novotny) in
sky-blues, fuchsias and fire. The sound was inadequately managed and mixed;
almost everything sounds way too loud. But the 4-piece band is terrific, with
musical supervision and keyboards by ace pianist Cris O’Bryon; Doug Myer on
acoustic, electric and pedal-steel guitars, Dan Sankey on fiddle, mandolin and
banjo; and Danny King workin’ overtime on percussion. It’s a hootenanny, but it
isn’t, alas, a hoot.
THE LOCATION: The Theatre in
MOZART DANCES!
I
was lucky to catch one of the last Lunchtime at the Lyceum events of the Mainly
Mozart Festival. Mojalet Dance Collective presented a delightful
program in honor of Mozart’s 250th birthday, including dances to
selections from “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” Cosi
fan Tutte, The Magic Flute and
“The Requiem.” Artistic director Faith Jensen-Ismay (who also created the
costumes) came out onto the stage to explain a bit of the backstory to the
formidable audience which had a large contingent of elementary school children.
I happened to be sitting next to the woman who got them there: Cheryl Brown,
founder of ArtsBusXpress, which provides transportation for schoolchildren to
arts activities and events. Since it was founded in 2002, the program has
helped more than 29,000 students get on board, from 158 schools across the
County. What a fabulous, sorely needed program! The kids du jour were from the
IN
THE NEWS
…GRINCH TAKES A BITE OF
BIG APPLE
The
Old Globe has announced that its wildly successful holiday production of Dr.
Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas will premiere on Broadway this
fall, running from October 25-January 7 at the Hilton Theatre. The original
production team will remain intact, though Jack O’Brien will only be listed as
Production Creator and Supervisor, while the director of record is Matt August,
who helmed Time Flies and The Food Chain at the Globe. This year’s production of
the show marks its 9th presentation in
….Skilled and engaging local
actor Tom Zohar is thrilled to be
getting an amazing opportunity this weekend. He’ll be appearing in Zhivago
at the La Jolla Playhouse for the matinee and evening performances on July 2. A
family wedding obligation called the actor away and Tom is stepping in
(ecstatically).
… and
another local actor/singer is getting a big break. Warren G. Nolan, Jr.
will play Collins in the touring production of the Tony and Pulitzer-winning Rent. Seeing the show nine years ago
inspired him to parlay his vocal talent into musical theater. He’s also
performed as Young Max in the Globe’s
Grinch, as well as in Falsettos at
Diversionary and Pageant at North
Coast Rep (you may remember him as Miss Industrial Northeast). The show comes to
the Civic Theatre July 11-16.
… Later this month,
Lyric Opera San Diego General Director Leon Natker will fly to
…Don’t forget to sign up
for the Arts & Culture Roundtable Discussion: Friday, July 7,
9:30-11:30am OR Thursday, July 27, 1-3:00pm. Participate in a
dialogue about “Understanding the San Diego Region,” a research project on arts
and culture from the San Diego Foundation. Space is limited; rsvp to www.pARTicipatesandiego.org, 619-814-1326.
…CHANGE of DATE… Last week, I
mentioned Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company’s upcoming Sneak Peek at Since Africa, a new play by Mia
McCullough. Both the date and venue have been changed: the presentation will
now take place on Sunday, July 30 at 2pm at St. Luke’s Church and
Refugee Network, which, according to director Seema Sueko, is “home to many Sudanese
refugees, so it seemed quite fitting” for this play about a “Lost Boy of
Sudan.” The all-star cast features: Rosina Reynolds, Erika Beth Phillips, Mark
Christopher Lawrence and Alephonsion Deng. Reservations requested: at
619-342-7395 or seema@moolelo.net.
… Mark your calendar for
an exciting reading performed by an internationally acclaimed duo: playwright Athol
Fugard and writer/scholar Marianne McDonald. To raise funds for 6th
@ Penn Theatre, the duo will read Medea
the Beginning by
McDonald … Jason the End by
Fugard. You WON’T want to miss this. Sunday, August 27 only.
7:30pm. $50 donation. 619-688-9210.
'NOT TO BE MISSED!' (Critic’s Picks)
(For full text of all
past reviews, use the Search engine at www.patteproductions.com)
Mother Courage – still one of the most
potent anti-war statements around; beautifully, simply, elegantly presented
At
the
Hannah and Martin – provocative story and a
fascinating play, expertly acted and directed
Laterthanever productions at the Lyceum, through
July 2.
Krapp’s Last Tape –beautifully crafted, intensely
precise performance by Claudio Raygoza
Ion theatre in their new downtown theater space,
New World Stage, through July 9.
Amadeus – it’s talky and prolix
and beats you over the head with its messages, but it’s a great story (whatever
part of it is actually factual) and it’s very well presented by a fine,
committed cast
At
Lamb’s Players Theatre, through July 23
Christmas on Mars –wacky and wildly over the
top; well performed, but not for everyone
On
the Globe’s Cassius Carter Centre Stage, through July 9
Zhivago – the world premiere musical has all the romance and extravagance
you anticipated. You’re sure to get caught up in the legendary Russian romance.
Catch it here before it heads to Broadway…
At the
Flex your
©
2006 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC.