THEATRE REVIEW

I will not play at tug o' war....

2011-05-08T15:32:06Z

When I was growing up, my parents played me Shel Silverstein tapes constantly. I had this old, beaten up copy of a selection of Where the Sidewalk Ends, and it seemed like I always had it with me. When I was 16, my dad had me listen to “Freakin’ at the Freaker’s Ball” and “I Saw Polly in a Porny.” He thought it was funny. I thought it was devastating.

As I grew I learned to accept Shel for who he was, and not just a fallen angel as I had at 16. I learned that he was and is one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. His biting satire of adults, politics, social institutions and sex made clear to readers that things in this world are crazy and often fetishistic, and we need to not only accept them but embrace them.

Resurrection Theatre, helmed by director Benjamin T. Ismail, decided to bring us An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein and the results are nothing short of a hilarious night of naughty, titillating and, most importantly, enigmatic theatre.

The cast consists of a ragtag bunch of local faces and some new surprises. The play is made up of 10 vignettes that range from a swindling “Watch and Dry” shop owner (Ben Miller) to a man (Jes Gonzales) telling his daughter (Heather Marie Judkins) that she’s getting a special birthday present… sort of. The wonderful thing about these scenes is that not one misses the mark. Each piece has awesome give and take amongst actors, who all seem to be in perfect sync.

Bright spots within the production were Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly as a smarmy auctioneer selling a woman (Laura White, who plays a hilarious ‘Teller’ to Heatherly’s ‘Penn’) in “Going Once” and a blind down-on-his-luck bluesman who owns the world’s only talking dog (Jouni Kirjola).

The set is an awesome minimalist design, using cutouts of Silverstein’s famous black and white ink and paper doodles. This coupled with poems read by the author and Guaraldi-style jazz for scene changes made for a bright, inebriated, kinky night of entertainment, guaranteed to change anyone’s view of The Giving Tree’s author.

MAX’S RATING: 9/10

An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein runs Thursday-Saturday (8 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.) through May 29 at the Wilkerson Theatre in the R25 Arts Complex. For more information on tickets and location click here.

Big Idea Theatre presents modern "Measure for Measure"

2011-04-11T03:41:27Z

Big Idea Theatre’s latest production, William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” directed by Kirk Blackinton and Katie Chapman, opened Friday.

The play is a lesser-known bit of the canon, often put in the category of “problem play” as it fits neither the specific parts of a comedy nor a tragedy. The plot is divided between the struggle of the play’s antagonist, Angelo, played by Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly, and the nun-in-training Isabella, played by Gina Williams. The play covers moral ground of a more philosophical nature with Isabella’s plight being the question, “Should she commit an act against God to save a life?”

Set in Vienna, the production takes interesting liberties with the stage, creating a back-alley slum to show the degradation of the city under the soft rule of Duke Vincentio, played by local heavyweight Blair Leatherwood. With movable chain-link fences, the set proved to be as malleable as the villain’s own moral scruples, and made the action flow nicely.

Heatherly plays with the inner turmoil of lust to a fine degree, making his soliloquies pop out memorably. Williams also takes her role well as the nun, fighting back and forth about the choice she must make and the consequences that arise after. Leatherwood’s job as puppetmaster becomes two parts of a whole as he moves back and forth between the sovereign and a lowly clergyman who instigates all the hijinks behind the scenes.

As for comic relief, the audience is never far from laughter as Lucio, played by Big Idea staple Brian Harrower (who also had a hand in set design), brings the irreverent ever-further by making Shakespearean witticisms even more accessible. His realizations at play’s end make for audience guffaws.

The production incorporated hard rock music into the set, with dark songs of want and angst peppering the already grunge-heavy stage before the show and during scene changes.

While the production had a few slow points, it still emerged as a fine production to showcase a new angle on the play.

MAXWELL’S RATING: 9/10

Resurrection Theatre presents "Macbeth: Resurrected"

2011-02-28T00:20:09Z

Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, “Macbeth,” has just been given a new pair of legs on which to stand, and the timing couldn’t have been better. With recent discussions coursing through National Public Radio concerning the role of the female military leader, Resurrection Theatre director Benjamin T. Ismail decided to cast a woman in the traditionally male role, and the results are fantastic to watch.

Played in modern dress, the traditional roles of Macbeth and Lady M. as husband and wife are adapted into daughter and mother, and the play of persuasion and bitterness makes as much, if not more, sense than the play traditional. This is apparent in two vastly important plot-points: Macbeth’s romantic feelings toward Banquo and her mother’s ability to instill guilt and allegiance by way of maternal “disappointment.”

An interesting point of notice for the play was the overt use of poppies, a symbol often associated with sleep or death. These come out as a gifted pendent given the newly titled Mackers and also as the flower in the witch’s hand at play’s end. It’s also hinted within the play that Macbeth’s vision of the witches might be from substance abuse, which points again at the poppy.

Local actor Tygar Kicks stars as the innocent turned malicious title general/king, and her performance, the last as a community theater actor to boot, sheds new light on the protagonist beset with guilt and impassioned violence. Margaret Morneau plays Macbeth’s now mother, and leads the role with the iron fist that is loosened and lost as the play progresses. Her indignation is palpable and her madness is harrowing.

Other casting plusses are Jouni Kirjola who plays the unfortunate Banquo, and the witches, played by Gay Cooper, who also plays the Porter, Scott Divine, who also plays Macduff, and Gina Williams, who also plays Rosse, make a fine addition with all of their lines recorded and warped into an eldritch echo made for a fine bout of supernatural ambiance. King Duncan, played by Jes Gonzales, brings a touching lovability to the doomed monarch, and the king is also the reason that in this Shakespearean universe women are allowed to lead on the battlefield.

The set gave an excellent portrayal of things to come; brick walls covered in patches of white, but having boulders shown through bedecked with moss. The columns, which were too frequently moved by extra witches, brought a sense of flexibility to the settings, but often drew attention from the action.

The play runs from through March 19 with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. For more information visit Resurrection Theatre’s website.

MAX’S RATING: A MOUTH AGAPE, A THOUGHTFUL REASSESSMENT AND A DAMNED SPOT

Photos courtesy of David Garrison

Local theater teacher gets kids out of their shells for the holidays!

2010-12-09T04:16:33Z

Theater has always been a form of art native to children. Watching them play and create their own games and stories has been a staple of the family tradition, and more than a few parents have taken the opportunity to canonize these moments on YouTube.

Cynthia Speakman, a local actor and teacher with the Sacramento Metro Arts Commission, has been in the game for over a decade, working with children to improve their performing skills and ability to be outgoing and expressive.

"I think it's very natural for kids to act because they have an enormous need to communicate to others," says Speakman. "Even the kids who aren't extraverted want to be more confident, and for parents it's a remedy of sorts for getting [their kids] out there when they see them as 'too shy.'"

Speakman always emphasizes the idea of the storyteller in her after-school programs, and says that what gets kids going more than anything else is their ability to not only be in a story, but also to see how one is made.

"I think that's what theatre should be about when you're a little kid," says Speakman, "how a story is put together in a visceral way, and how to communicate verbally so you can get through those presentations that you're going to have to do your whole life!"

Over her career as a teacher, working in the multi-purpose rooms of many local elementary schools such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Crocker Riverside, she has taught over 2,000 children and young adults the mystique and fun of the stage.

One of her more recent students, Will Block, 15, played the role of Puck in the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival's 2010 production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." His younger brother, Tom Block, 13 and another of Speakman's students, played Wally Webb in City Theatre's production of "Our Town."

"Some of my students have gone on to do bigger things with their acting," says Speakman. "The majority of my students have more confidence, and that's what I'm after."

When she's not teaching children the joys of theater, she enjoys performing in a local troupe called StoryVoices, a group of spoken word artists who create theme based programs for fundraisers and benefits. She also performs as a guide for Hysterical Walks, a walking tour of Old Sacramento.

Her most recent program is a workshop that stimulates cultural awareness in kids. The children come together at the California Stage and throughout the three day camp they conceive, write, rehearse and perform vignettes for family and friends about what New Year's celebration is like in other countries.

The workshop will take place over the break between Christmas and New Year's. The workshop is from Tuesday, Dec. 28—Thursday, Dec. 30, and last from 9 a.m.—3 p.m.

For more information about classes, contact Cynthia Speakman. For more information on the workshop, visit here.

PHOTOS:

1. Cynthia Speakman (Courtesy of Studio 24)

2. Speakman performing for an audience during a Hysterical Walk

3. StoryVoices (from left to right: Marni Webb, Jan Ahders, Cynthia Speakman, Claire Lipschultz

Bob and Ro produce "Complete Shakespeare, Abridged"

2010-10-18T16:18:50Z

The plays of William Shakespeare can be daunting at best, and for some, completely inaccessible.

Thank goodness Bob and Ro Productions decided to produce “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” directed by Rosemarie Gerould and performed at the Studio Theatre.

The play, written by the founding members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company in 1987, combines all canonical (and some apocryphal) plays by the Bard into two hours, with the last hour devoted to just “Hamlet.”

The play itself is quite funny, yielding numerous outside and inside joke about Shakespeare. The play makes mention of every single play at least once, splitting them into three categories: tragedy, comedy and history.

The tragedies are the greatest focus, with an irreverent rap about “Othello” and a mac-version of “Macbeth” with mac-fake mac-accents. The histories are portrayed through a lengthy football game that passes the crown instead of a ball, and all of the comedies are amalgamated into one synopsis that features snippets of every storyline.

The cast is made of three performers who take on the herculean task of playing every role. The three actors perform under their real names, and use the audience fervently throughout the night, utterly obliterating the fourth wall.

The actors, Arthur Henry, Chris Quandt and Simon Hunt, start the play with life and energy and keep it moving throughout. The stage is bare, the props are incredibly minimalistic and the costumes consist of a bunch of puffy pants, but that only contributes to the fun of the show.

Quandt and Hunt make the scene with awesome timing, not to mention hordes of energy. Their grasp of the play and the plays within the play (say that 10 times fast) make for an enjoyable performance and a night of quick movement and quicker wits.

Unfortunately for the cast, however, two out of three isn’t quite good enough.

In plays with a larger cast, a par player would sink into the background more easily, but with a cast of three every character counts triply, especially when they play numerous parts. An audience just can’t ignore the fact that the third performer, Henry, is off on timing and inarticulate with much of the staging.

The third player notwithstanding, the show itself is marvelously funny and deserves a look for anyone who has ever been miffed about the seriousness attached to Shakespeare.

The show runs through Nov. 7. For more information, visit here.

MAX’S RATING: A YELP, A CHEER AND SOME BARDIC LUCK.

Photo courtesy of Bob and Ro Productions.

STC opens season with Wilde's "Earnest"

2010-10-11T02:47:58Z

The Sacramento Theatre Company kicked off their 2010-11 "Return to the Classics" season Saturday with Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” directed by STC Artistic Director Matt K. Miller.

The play, set in midsummer 1895, gives scene to the characters of Wilde’s epic farce of mistaken identities. Two playboy best friends discover they both have scapegoat alter-egos, and antics ensue when both fall in love with ladies who believe them to be the alter-ego of the other. It’s complicated, twisted, wonderful and comical, but in the end it all gets sorted out as the two men find out the vital importance of being earnest/Ernest.

The text has always served as a conduit for extreme social commentary, and also has a ragingly funny outcome filled with witticisms, syllogisms and silver-tongued slapstick. The entire piece works as an almost flawless comical masterpiece, weaving love interests with imaginary friends with playboys and the upper class.

STC’s production has its good points. The set is simple and at the same time very aesthetically pleasing. A few chairs, a fountain, a fireplace–nothing more than what is required for a scene in Wilde’s most famous play.

The true powerhouse performances belonged to Jason Kuykendall as John/Ernest Worthing/Moncrieff and Lucinda Hitchcock-Cone as Aunt Augusta Bracknell. The two have similar strengths but play their parts in vastly different ways.

Kuykendall has a voice comparable to Jonathan Pryce and uses it as a brilliant device for the timing in his lines as Jack. Hitchcock-Cone, who plays a constantly pursed-lipped auntie, steals every scene with the smallest scoffs at predicament. Her charm lays not in what she says but what her character doesn’t say.

Chemistry is never far from the stage as all three couples clicked with each other, most especially the young, imaginative Cecily and the jittery over-the-top man-about-town Algernon Moncrieff, played respectively by Lyndsy Kail and Theo Black.

One of the biggest qualms of the production lay in the costumes. Often difficult on the eyes and some pieces out of period, the oddball clothes leaves a bad taste in the mouth. One chief example of this was the peach - or rather Pepto-Bismol - colored dress that introduces the character of Gwendolyn, played admirably by Katherine C. Miller.

The second problem seems to happen with many ~~community~~ local theater sites: that of the English accent. While a good third of the cast has it down pat, the rest leave much to be desired in their lilts.

~~The edits of the script took out a couple of scenes entirely, but the production came off as a streamlined, well-flowing piece.~~

The play runs through Oct. 31. For more information, visit here.

MAX’S RATING: A CHORTLE, A MISTAKEN IDENTITY AND A SENSATIONAL DIARY

Photos Courtesy of ~~STC~~ Maria Christie Photography:

1. The Conditions - L to R: Theo Black, Lyndsy Kail, Jason Kuykendall, Lucinda Hitchcock-Cone

2. The Handshake - L to R: Jason Kuykendall, Lyndsy Kail, Theo Black

3. The Proposal - L to R: Katherine C. Miller, Lucinda Hitchcock-Cone, Jason Kuykendall

Big Idea Theatre presents "Dinner with Friends"

2010-09-27T07:45:17Z

Big Idea Theatre opened their latest production, “Dinner with Friends” by David Margulies, this weekend, with a tightly cast group of actors and a little something extra for the audience to think about.

The play, set in contemporary East Coast America, revolves around two couples going through the ecstasy of love and the agony of heartache. The first couple, Gabe and Karen, is a perfect pairing of kindred souls, and the other, Tom and Beth, is a volatile combination of miscommunication and loss.

The four players of the evening come together as a malleable unit, working off of each other’s slightest affect. The director, Kirk Blackinton, brings a great play to life through four talented actors and the result is nothing shy of endearing. In addition to a great show, the audience gets an added bonus.

Each performance, the people playing the characters swap, so one night Scott Divine could be playing the passive culinary Gabe, and the next he might swap with Brian Harrower to play the midlife-crisis-ridden escapist Tom.

The same with the ladies: The first night Shannon Mahoney would play the chatty Karen, the next night she would trade with Beth Edwards to play the ramshackle artist Beth.

Big Idea Theatre is offering a special promotion for this production. Since they have four different configurations of actors, they encourage audience members to attend multiple times, each additional time at a $5 reduction in price. That means if you see this play four times, the last time is free.

The production boasts sets that change drastically from one scene to the next, albeit sometimes a little slowly. Each set has its own nuance, its own style and flair. The catty-wompus bedroom transitions into a lovely living room complete with love seat and serving platter.

The four actors work together, swapping passion for disgust for romance, and all commingle into a cohesive whole. The four lovers go through love in its dawn, midday and dusk with heart-wrenching honesty and produce a piece of work that many audience members will be hard-pressed not to empathize with.

The show runs through Oct. 23. For more information, visit here. (link - http://www.bigideatheatre.com/BIT/2010_Season/Entries/2010/9/24_Dinner_With_Friends.html)

MAX’S RATING: A GREETING HANDSHAKE, A GOODBYE KISS AND A TRIP TO MARTHA’S VINEYARD

Big Idea Theatre wins with "The Underpants"

2010-08-16T01:35:44Z

One of the most difficult things to achieve in live theater is the ability to remove the audience from reality and deposit them in a world that exists within four walls and a handful of professional pretenders.

Big Idea Theater certainly acheived that goal and also continued their brilliant streak with Steve Martin’s adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s “The Underpants,” an irreverent, sexy comedy that forces the audience to forget their worries and rewards them with guffaws of joy and shakes of giggles.

The play centers around a husband played by Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly and wife (Joelle Wirth) who have the misfortune of gathering unwanted attention at a king’s parade in Germany in the early 1900s. The play unfolds as renters (Joshua Glenn Robertson and Jouni Kirjola) come to the the house, obsessed with the lonely stay-at-home wife. The easily titillated upstairs neighbor (Kellie Yvonne Raines) doesn’t help affairs either when she offers to make sensual underpants for her friend.

The script showcases the amazing talents of one of today’s excellent wordsmiths. The barbs aimed at both sex and society are tipped with laughter-inducing venom, and the constant availability of one-liners and poignant witticisms makes discussion after the performance all the more interesting. Often a cross between something like Oscar Wilde’s commentary on society and Gypsy Rose Lee’s burlesque, the lines and energy of the actors build to a well deserved climax.

Weak performances were nonexistent. Each character hit their mark, especially the pre-show and intermission performances by the silent vaudeville-inspired Clown (Big Idea heavy-hitter, Justin D. Muñoz), a character added by director Benjamin Ismael, who also doubled as an onstage sound-effects man. Ismael will play Muñoz’s role on Aug. 21.

The crazy antics of the leading lady and her timing-perfect co-star neighbor brought down the house with carefully timed maneuvers that came off as second nature. The under-garment-obsessed renters, quibbling over the wife, made hilarious circumstances even more so, and kept the audience tuned in with dialectical subtlety and awesome physical gags.

However, when I thought I could laugh no harder, the final character came on in full form, an old man (Gary Pannullo) that had the audience laughing for full minutes without uttering a single word. His hunched, ramshackle appearence made for a brilliant wonder and his strong accent and bursts of excited squeeling added a fantastic layer to the masterpiece.

The set, by designer Brian Watson, was a fantastic mixture of interwoven sight gags as well as just being aesthetically pleasing. The lights, designed by Nic Candito and Owen Smith, proved effective and changed flawlessly with the arcs of the play.

The play runs through Sept. 11. For more information, visit here.

MAX’S RATING: A HARD TIME BREATHING, A CONSISTENT SHAKE OF LAUGHTER AND A MARMALADE AMONG JAMS.

The last stint of River Stage: A narrative

2010-08-04T00:57:17Z

It was June and Frank Condon called me, asking if I would read the stage directions for the last play of his career as artistic director of River Stage. I held the phone out, looking bewildered, then brought it back to my head and said, “Yes.”

One week: seven days of intense rehearsal, getting a play, called "The Little Mermaid is Not for Children" by San Fransiscan playwright Alina Trowbridge, that had never been staged and had only just been written onto its feet, reading the characters and getting a feel for what was happening in these peoples’ lives. Piece of cake, right?

When the day finally rolled around for the first reading, where everyone sits down and reads through the play out loud, I had no idea what to expect.

I knew some of the local theater heavyweights like Loren Taylor and Claire Lipshultz, and I suppose I was nervous. I had previously only worked in small community theaters or college stages.

So I drove my car out to Cosumnes River College, parked, and waited for people to start showing up. It’s an awkward feeling, meeting a whole new group of people at once, especially with the knowledge that you’re going to be spending quite a bit of time together in rehearsals.

We all gathered and were met at the door by our stage manager, Irene Velasquez. She passed out unbound three-hole-punched scripts, and we all thumbed through them, some highlighting fervently before we had to start.

The playwright was present at every rehearsal, too. She sat there watching us amble through her script, watching people for the first time reading these lines, saying words that she’d written, giving it our own spin, our own feelings. It must be hell to listen to people say things you wrote, saying them differently than you wanted them to sound.

The director, Frank Condon, who certainly is also a heavyweight in local theater, sat in the same position every rehearsal, listening to the words and intently watching the expressions and emotions on each character’s face. I was very lucky to be reading the stage directions: I didn’t feel so under the gun.

Tempers rose and fell with each day, people getting more and more familiar with the lines and characters. But we finally finished our rehearsals with a strong play fully staged for a reading.

It was a funny feeling before we opened on Friday. I had absolutely no butterflies in my stomach. I generally do, especially when it’s something that’s had a short rehearsal time. But before the first show, I had no sweaty palms, no racing heart -- just calm.

The show went off without a hitch. Condon gave his introduction, we read through the play and some of us stayed behind to listen to the audience giving feedback to the director and playwright.

The second night was far different. That night we had to show up at 5 p.m. and rehearse through the changes and cuts made from the previous night.

We had to get there so early because there would be a presentation that night in honor of River Stage’s last show. It was, however, a presentation about Condon.

Everyone who had ever worked at River Stage was invited and given free tickets along with an invitation to the buffet beforehand.

People began showing up, but not nearly as many as I would have expected. They milled about, and many people who hadn’t seen each other in a long time were excited to reunite.

Then the presentation hit. It featured a slide show of many of the shows Condon had directed, four speakers who all had glowing things to say about the director and a speech by Condon himself.

When he got on the stage, I looked around, and everyone in the relatively small audience was looking right at him, and he was looking back, trying to take in every face.

He gave his presentation, which was somewhat marred by obligatory and somewhat robotic “thank yous” to supporters. He put down his paper, and talked about what he was going to do in his life, what he wanted and received from River Stage, and how it was the right time for him to step down.

After his speech, the applause was amazing. People stood and clapped, and Condon absorbed it all and closed his eyes.

The play was different that night. Beforehand, the cast sat in the room, reminiscing about plays they’d done with Frank, and instead of a jovial, laid-back atmosphere, the dressing room took on the properties of a reception after a funeral.

We all sat in somewhat reverent silence, and for the first time, it hit me.

This was the last performance that would ever be directed by Frank Condon on this stage. Suddenly we were the Omega. We were the final words of River Stage, we were the closing lines.

The butterflies returned, my palms became slick with sweat. As we read the play, every line was new because it had a true feeling of finality to it. Every line that we said was one step closer to the end of the theater company.

We ended the play, and I shook Condon’s hand. I knew he’d be all right. He’d still be teaching, he’d still be directing. But I knew that he felt something in him ending: his brainchild, his love. He knew that it was time to end.

And, indeed, he finished his stay with dignity and grace.

Big Idea Theatre's "Dancing at Lughnasa"

2010-07-19T06:51:43Z

The beauty and mystery of family ties is observed by Big Idea Theatre in its latest production, “Dancing at Lughnasa” (pronounced loo-nasa) by Brian Friel.

The story is a memory of Michael, played by Kirk Blackinton, who tells the sequence of events leading to the countless hardships and trials of his family. The importance of dance is metaphoric and ties everything together, even beyond the play’s end.

Blackinton is the voice of Michael as a 7 year old, and each role in Michael’s family was acted with depth and heart. The shift of power in the family from maternal sister Kate, played by Ruby Sketchley, to boisterous and effervescent Maggie, played by Liz Tachella Bowman, was extraordinary in its complexity. While Kate played the straight woman, Maggie illustrated the fun in life. Yet both characters picked each other up after a fall.

The standouts of the evening were Sketchley and Bowman. Wonderful performances came from Jessica Chisum, who played the slow Rose, and Justin D. Munoz, Michael’s smarmy-yet-lovable runaway father, Gerry.

Veteran actor Patrick Murphy as Father Jack, Michael’s great-uncle, was a delight. Jack is an older man returning from 25 years in Africa. His mental status is in question; he remembers his tribal dances with lepers more than Mass with his Christian lambs. Murphy’s silence when trying to remember words was heart-wrenching, as was his inability to remember his niece’s names.

Wry humor runs throughout the production. The wonderful part about the laughter it produces is that the characters aren’t going for laughs. It’s the circumstances making the audience laugh.

Occasionally, the actors lost a bit of their brogue and dialect and inflection could change. But not anywhere close enough to ruin the characters or take the audience out of the moment.

MAX’S RATING: A MEMORY, A LAUGH AND A WANT FOR DANCE LESSONS

For more information, visit here.

Sacramento Shakespeare's "Othello"

2010-07-12T02:28:59Z

“Othello, the Moor of Venice” took the stage of the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival on Friday.

It’s the story of Othello, a black general, who marries Desdemona, a white woman, and the cruel machinations of Iago, Othello’s old comrade.

The production is set in late 1920s New Orleans and features flapper dresses for the women and, oddly, Civil War-like uniforms for the soldiers.

Notable performances included Greg Jolivette in the title role, Tim Sapunor as Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, and Roderigo Breton as a flippant Iago.

The highlight of the show, however, was a touching performance by Christine Nicholson as Iago’s wife, Emilia. Through her sometimes doddering character, the audience could feel the anguish and anger felt by the women in the play. Her sobs over Desdemona’s body were heart-wrenching.

The production’s biggest problem was miking. For years, the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival has had trouble with sound, and this production was no exception. Iago’s seminal soliloquies were lost when Breton turned his head, the lines of upstage characters who weren’t projecting sounded like whispers and mumbles and brilliant dialog hushed or not audible. Altered blocking could have improved the sound.

The time period Is instrumental in helping the production find its feet and aids in setting the play in the 1920s allowed the play to unfold in a new way and from a new angle. An interesting part of the production was the use of knives in place of swords, a device that worked very well in the smaller spaces.

MAX’S RATING: A THUMBS UP, A GASP AND A GREEN-EYED MONSTER

“Othello” runs until August 1.
For more information, visit here.

Sac Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

2010-07-05T02:06:09Z

The Sacramento Shakespeare Festival kicked off its 25th year with "A Midsummer Night's Dream," directed by David Harris, and the result is a great retelling of an old story.

The production is set in 1890s bohemian Athens -- with liberties taken, such as with the costumes -- and incorporates absinthe into the mix. A beautifully lit set, designed by Stephen Jones, illustrates characters' lives in and out of the dream.

The action moved along at a good pace, but raucous music from a birthday party across the street dampened the evening's energy.

The first act was a bit sluggish and the timing off, but the actors found their footing after the intermission. The gags were quick, witty and well executed, the characters locked into their arcs and the finale was marked by laughter.

Highlights of the production were Jes Gonzales as an uproarious Bottom/Pyramus, Julian Sandoval as a deep-throated Flute/Thisbe and young Will Block as an ebullient Robin Goodfellow/Puck/Philostrate. But the biggest treat in the play was Jenna Cedusky as Helena, bringing vigor and slapstick to her role as the tall lover.

An addition to the show was live music played by portrait faeries who seemed more like opium fiends than flittering pixies. While the four original pieces written by Zach Sapunor for the show tied in nicely, it felt like the actors could have used more time to get comfortable with the songs.

A couple of strange choices in the production: an oddly hyperactive John Reilly as Theseus and the king of the faeries, Oberon. The role was played by Rick Eldridge, who had a "Twilight"-like sparkle to his chest.

MAX'S RATING: A LAUGH, A GUFFAW AND A RUDE MECHANICAL.

The play runs through July 31, with "Othello" on alternate nights. For more information, visit here

The B Street Theatre's "Spacegrrls"

2010-06-12T03:00:09Z

A lesbian metallurgist, a psychotic psychiatrist and a power-hungry physicist all walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, a joke?”

Not quite. The characters in the B Street Theatre’s latest production, “Spacegrrls” by Sharon Eberhardt, which opens today includes all of the above characters and many more.

The show itself is witty, and plays on gender themes to great effect. The plot focuses on the first all-woman team of astronauts going to an international space station. The only catch is that they are represented by a shallow cosmetics company and must perform commercials while on the station.

The cast consists of interns for the 2009-2010 B Street Theatre season, and many proved their chops during this, their annual intern showcase. Unfortunately on preview night, the girl playing “Tiffany” (Kristin Wolf) had an injury, and in her stead went the director of the play, Erin Island, keeping the pace up even though she had script in hand.

Shining spots of the production are the hilarious founder of the cosmetics company, played by Katie Walters, and the one-liner Russian, Stephanie, played by Tygar Hicks. Both have wonderful timing, and keep the pace up to a feverish level with plenty of material to go on from the script.

The only real difficulty with the show is the huge amount of scene changes that slows the pace immensely. Perhaps an area dedicated to the secondary sets might move things along. As it stands, the actors and dialogue are frequently interrupted by light cues and loud, energetic music.

That being the biggest qualm, the show is very funny and has some interesting points to make on life, existence and gender. Eberhardt’s words come off occasionally as a little trite and cliché, but the girls (and one gent, played by Brian Rife) play their parts to the letter.

The show plays at the B Street Theatre at 7 p.m. on June 11, 12, 14, 18 and 19. Call (916) 443-5300 for reservations.

MAX’S RATING - A CHUCKLE, A LAUGH, AND A HANKERING TO LISTEN TO SPACE ODDITY.

Picture courtesy of Maxwell McKee

City Theatre's 'From Berlin to Broadway: A Kurt Weill Cabaret'

2010-04-26T06:54:12Z

When people think of Kurt Weill, the German genius behind countless musicals and operettas performed throughout the last century, they usually think of three things: prostitutes, liquor and war-torn Germany.
In Sacramento City Theatre’s latest production “From Berlin to Broadway: A Kurt Weill Cabaret”, director Adrienne Sher brings all of these things together through brilliant numbers, accentuating the mystery of the work with an undercurrent storyline that ties it all together, and all on her first musical.
With a great minimalist set, designed by SCC’s Shawn Weinsheink, the audience is taken to the docks where the majority of the numbers take place.
The show itself is a collection of pieces from Weill’s life’s work left behind after his death in 1950. The show depicts the course of his life moving from Germany to France to America, and shows the differences in his musical craftsmanship through the writers that he worked with including Ira Gershwin and Langston Hughes.
The brightest spots in the production came from a cast with talent all over the map. Many strong voices could be heard, including Martha Kight, Carley Neill and Kim McCann-Lawson.
The dancing aspect of the show was lacking and often inconsistent, but a brutally staged piece involving a woman (Amsale Darden) who keeps coming back to her man (Julian Sandoval) for more brought the pace to a fervent pitch that kept the audience on the edge of its seat.
The play’s ensemble is made up of a rag-tag bunch of multitasking actors who constitute the band, many playing multiple instruments throughout the production. The main showman was Zack Sapunor playing upright bass, and his use of slap-bass and using hands for rhythm brought the music to a height that many others couldn’t reach. However, the idea of actors all taking part in the band aspect of a musical is rather enjoyable, and pulls the cast together onstage into a cohesive whole.
In the end, the only downfall to the production was a dramatic lack of energy on everyone’s part. Perhaps opening jitters, perhaps under-rehearsed, but the audience occasionally were very aware they were looking at tired, worried actors.
MAX’S RATING - A CHEER AND AN INVITATION TO SEE IT AGAIN WITH A GERMAN WOMAN OF THE NIGHT.

Big Idea Theatre's "Richard III"

2010-04-14T23:43:05Z

In the first four history plays that William Shakespeare penned, by himself or with the aid of multiple writers, he brought us "Richard III", and showed a monarch at the height of power, corruption and finally the downfall of such a king.
Big Idea Theatre’s latest production of the tragedy opened last Friday, and while the play itself is engaging, some performances and an uncut script brought the pace to a crawl more than a few times.
WIth a cast of 12, most playing at least two parts, the play fits a multitude of colorful characters within the small black box theatre.
The shinning points of the production made the whole better, especially the talented and enigmatic Brain Harrower (Richard of Gloucester), whose only fault seemed to lie in his choice of being the only one using an English accent.
Other bright spots were Nina Breton (Queen Margaret/Young York) and Justin Munoz’s vibrant performances (King Edward/Richmond/Lovell).
The play, uncut, is well over three hours without an intermission. Such a play is generally edited for a modern audience, and unfortunately the director, Justin Chapman, felt it unfit to cut more than a few lines.
Unfortunately, the length of the play mixed with some performances, namely those of Carrie Joyner (Queen Elizabeth) and David Fox (Clarence/Dorset), made it a bore to sit through, especially the scenes where they were the focus.
The play, when it finished, gave the audience more than one reason to cheer at Richard’s death, since it marked the end of not only the tyrant but also the play.