"CURTAIN
CALLS" #210
By Pat Launer
09/14/07
Angels and Flippers and man-eating plants:
What else can you do but go into your dance?
ANGELS
AMONG US
THE
SHOW: The Honky Tonk Angels,
the kickoff to North Coast Repertory Theatre’s 26th season. The
musical revue was a hit for artistic director
THE
BACKSTORY/THE STORY: The title was the name of a 1993 album that hooked
up three country superstars: Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and
Loretta Lynn. A couple of the songs on that album even show up in the
musical revue: “Sittin’ on the Front Porch Swing” and
“It Wasn’t God Who Made the Honky Tonk Angels.”
The three ‘angels’ in the show are patterned after
those three divas: Sue Ellen is the Partonesque
blonde bombshell who’s singin’ and workin’ “9 to 5”; Darlene is, like Lynn, a “Coal Miner’s
Daughter”; and then there’s homey, “Stand By Your Man” Angela (a Wynette spinoff), who fearlessly
ends her signature song saying “Bullcrap!,” but goes
slinking back to her husband at the end of the show anyway.
The storyline is feather-light, fraught with
inconsistencies extrapolated from the lyrics of the 32 songs included in the 2½ hour show. Three
Southern gals escape their unfulfilling lives to
pursue a dream… becoming a country singer in “
Act one is singing exposition (with a little
dialogue and a few family complications thrown in). Act two is a performance at
Hillbilly Heaven, the final night of a six-week run, after which only one of
the trio will stay on to follow her hillbilly bliss.
THE
PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: Two of the three actor/singers
performed in Ellenstein’s prior production. SDSU
Musical Theater alumna Merideth Kaye Clark is a
knockout; her voice is even bigger than her wig, by far the strongest and most
versatile of the bunch. Kelli Maguire can really
belt, and she nails all the comic numbers. She’s especially funny in “Don’t
Come Home a-Drinkin’” and “Harper Valley PTA.”
Jenni-Lynn McMillin is the newest addition, whose
accent, acting and naiveté are convincing, but her voice is weak, and sounded
hoarse by the end of the evening I was there (the traditionally tough
night-after-opening). She cuts loose, vocally and dramatically, when her
character reluctantly sashays onstage in slinky red satin and oversized boa for
“Fancy.”
The voices mesh well for the tight harmonies and a
capella numbers. The show gets
off to a slow start though, and it meanders through too many songs, some of
which are shoehorned in via a lame conceit of the “Honky Tonk
Angels Hall of Fame,” which allows the piece to wander off the Country road,
both musically and sartorially (the wacky costumes range from Cleopatra to
Heidi). Under the guidance of music director/keyboardist W. Brent Sawyer, a
native Texan, the accompaniment sounds top-notch throughout: Rik Ogen on guitar, Don Sankey on fiddle, Oliver Shirley on bass and Dave Rumley on percussion. They even sing and get into the act a
few times. The audience is also called upon to do the latter, not always to
fine effect. But it all went over really big with the older crowd.
Marty Burnett’s set creates three playing spaces
in the first act, with painted drops that inventively sport several suggestive
3-D elements. The second act is an aptly cheesy barroom (complete with bar –
heavy on the Jack Daniels, of course). It’s a pleasant enough evening, and the
songs are fun or earnest. But the message gets pretty muddy, and how these
women wind up seems a little less than the “I’ll Fly Away” feminism the show
promises. No heavy thinking required here. Just sit back and enjoy the music
(and don’t sit too close to the front if audience participation isn’t your thang).
THE
LOCATION: North Coast Repertory Theatre, through October 7
THE
PLANT THAT ATE NEW YORK
THE
SHOW: Little Shop of Horrors, the
1982 musical based on a low-budget 1960 Roger Corman
movie. Book and lyrics by the late, clever Howard Ashman;
music by Disney darling Alan Menken (“The Little
Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” etc.). The 1986 film
re-make was a comics’ bonanza, starring Rick Moranis,
Steve Martin, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, John Candy and Jim Belushi.
THE
STORY: A spoof of 1950s sci-fi films, the show was a
huge but unlikely success -- because all the principals wind up dead by the end
of the evening. The campy, comic horror-show satire ,concerns
a man-eating plant developed by a nerdy nice-guy florist’s assistant working in
the mean streets of
THE
PLAYERS/THE PRODUCTION: The Moonlight production, under
the direction of Kirby Ward, features excellent singing, cute costumes and a
fabulous plant (controlled by puppeteer Donald Lee McKee). But in this bland
but entertaining presentation, the piece has lost its edge, its heart and some
of its humor. Everything is played very straight. The plant doesn’t frighten
the audience at the end with its threat to take over the world. The dentist
laughing himself to death on nitrous oxide isn’t particularly amusing (I still
remember
Though David Engel cuts a strikingly attractive
figure as the leather-clad, Harley-riding dentist, he never captures the humor
in that role, nor in the array of quick-change characters he
assays in the second act. The three girls (Kimberly Henry, Leslie Tammone, Jenn
Aedo) are fine singers; more dancing, especially from
ace dancer/director Ward, would have been nice. John Massey does a credible
turn as Mr. Mushnik, and Jimmer Bolden is in outstanding
voice as the seductive, blues-singing plant.
As dreamy, squeaky-voice Audrey,
Kristen Chandler (most recently seen at Moonlight in the title role of Sweet Charity), acts the role to the
hilt. I loved that little squeal of hers. But there’s a disconnect between her speaking and singing voices. More
often than not, she launches into serious and solemn singing, displaying her
considerable vocal talent, but completely leaving behind her ditz-blonde
persona. Endearing, engaging Scott Dreier is a delight as terminally zhlubby
THE
LOCATION: Moonlight Amphitheatre in
BLITZED
OUT
The 14th annual Fritz Blitz of New Plays by California Writers ended with …
something of a thud.
A Fish Without His Flippers,
written by
In this warped little memory play,
There were some fun comic turns by Wendy Savage as
a ditsy, abused, eternally optimistic Southern girl; Elzie
Billups as her sharecropping slave/friend, a classic,
shuffling Stepanfetchit; Volt Francisco as a
stereotypical Mexican outlaw (sans ‘stinkin’ badge’);
Diana Renden, recent graduate of SDSU, as the geeky
high-schooler inviting foreign exchange student Adolf Hitler to the prom; and Duane Weekly in a variety of
macho bad-guy roles. Overall, a lot of effort expended for minimal payoff.
This wasn’t the strongest Fritz Blitz on record.
But there were two comic gems – Bets and Blue Notes and In
the Wake of the Bounty. Plus, we got to see
NEWS
AND VIEWS…
… Okay, last chance. Malashock Dance’s
20th anniversary fundraising event, “Malashock Thinks You Can Dance” is almost sold out. I’m ready to
roll… er, dance. Check out my Dance Blog on my website (www.patteproductions.com), and my feature
story in the
… Speaking of dance, I was privileged to attend Eveoke
Dance Theatre’s beautiful, bayside Patron Party, for a final farewell to
founder/artistic director Gina Angelique and her producer/designer
husband Chris Hall. Mega-talented Ericka Moore presented them with a
hand-made quilt, crafted from fabric swatches from many Eveoke
performances. Erica Moore waxed lyrical and poetic, with a lovely tribute. Gina
was, as always, heartfelt, impassioned and energizing. As she and her family
pursue a self-sustaining life in NoCal, we celebrate
her creativity, energy and legacy. Moore and Nikki Dunnan
take up the reins and usher in the new Eveoke with an
Afternoon of AbunDANCE on Sept. 30.
www.eveoke.org.
… I was thrilled to have caught a performance of MizeranyDance,
which only ran for a weekend. Michael Mizerany,
dancer/choreographer extraordinaire, really got to show his range and
versatility. His pieces, and the one commissioned by
… As
The Globe Turns… The Old
Globe just received a $1.6 grant from the State of
Globe executive
director Lou Spisto reported that this will be the Globe’s 20th show
with “Broadway transfer aspirations.” He called Doyle “one of the hottest
directors on the planet right now.” The Scottish-born Doyle, surprisingly shy
about public speaking, admitted that he’s shocked to be “hot at 54.” He
recalled that he was smitten by the show after reading the first ten pages of
the script.
Then
… Don’t miss these upcoming readings (but since several of them are on
the same night, you have to make some judicious choices):
King Hedley II, another of the August Wilson plays presented by Cygnet
Theatre in collaboration with the San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre. Sept. 17-18 at Cygnet Theatre. cygnettheatre.com
or 619-337-1525…
A benefit reading of Ladies First, An Anti-War
Comedy by Lauren Simon and Anita Simons, Sept. 16 at 3pm at the
Unitarian Universalist Church in Hillcrest.
619-884-6482 or 858-459-4650
Chronos Theatre Group
presents two absurdist Russian plays from the 1920s, Sept. 17, 7:30pm, Lyceum
Theatre. info@chronostheatre.com
or (619) 981-4179; www.chronostheatre.com.
Carlsbad
Playreaders opens its season with Neil LaBute’s ‘shocking
romantic comedy,’ The Shape of Things to
Come. September 17, 7:30, Dove Library.
… Set your TiVo now:
The Jersey Boys will be performing on the Primetime
Emmy Awards, Sept. 16 on Fox TV… and plan ahead: they’ll be in
MTV has filmed the Broadway production of Legally Blonde: The
Musical for broadcast on September 29 (and possibly several times thereafter).
To prepare for the taping, the producers placed an ad on craigslist
requesting audience members to ‘wear pink – and appear to be between the ages
of 15 and 25.’ Guess only the young are pretty in pink.
'NOT TO BE MISSED!'
(Pat’s Picks)
Bronze – Ruff Yeager’s intriguing, intense and suspenseful drama about personal
and communal failure; excellent ensemble
6th @ Penn
Theatre, off-nights through September 26
Communicating Doors – murder, mayhem, mystery, time travel and a
dominatrix – who could ask for anything more? Intriguing script, terrific
production
Cygnet Theatre, through
September 23
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy
Dean – marvelous ensemble,
darkly comic production
6th @ Penn
Theatre, through September 30
Susan and God – airy but well-done fun; Sarah Zimmerman is luminous
Lamb’s Players Theatre,
through September 23
Two Gentlemen of
The Old Globe’s Festival
Stage, in repertory with Hamlet and Two Gentlemen of
Verona, through September 30
Measure for Measure – beautiful, comprehensible, relevant, flawlessly directed and performed
The Old Globe’s Festival
Stage, in repertory with Hamlet and Two Gentlemen of
Verona, through September 30
(For full text of all of
Pat’s past reviews, going back to 1990, use the Search engine at
www.patteproductions.com)
Pat
© 2007 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC.
For more than 20 years, Pat Launer has been the only regular broadcast theater critic in