GOOD PEOPLE - Review

When I saw "August: Osage County" on Broadway back in 2007, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, I realized that an entirely new genre in theater had arrived. No longer entertaining or emotionally moving, now we were being exposed to somewhat cynical domestic dramas. Author David Lindsay-Abaire, born in South Boston, is grimly determined to reveal the pain in everyday life in this poor area. He was privy to the desolation and crushing of spirits among the people there, and he certainly brings that to our attention in this often bleak but also amusing comedy-drama.

 As reported formerly: " Margie is a white woman from the working-class neighborhood of South Boston. She’s a single mom caring for a grown, severely autistic daughter. Mike, her former high school beau, has gotten out of South Boston, become an M.D., and moved to the tony suburb of Chestnut Hill with his beautiful Black wife and their daughter. Now Margie has recently been fired from her job and is facing eviction. Some friends at the local church Bingo game suggest that she look up her old fling and ask him for a job. When Margie arrives at his doorstep, what will she ask and what will he do?"

 

Yes, this is a play that resounds today as its about contrasts, about those who 'make it' and those who don't. It's casting an eye on the unlucky in life and the now privileged, and what happens when they collide because of a long ago claim of kinship. It's so now when in essence one character says, in pleading desperation - you have all the luck, and I had all the hard knocks - now help me… and if you won't then I'll bring you down - maybe!

We are flies on the wall when Margie (a quixotically funny but tragic Alison Blanchard) is first mistaken for a domestic by the elegant Black lady of the house (a dazzling Charlotte Williams Roberts) in an ironic turnaround. We see the embarrassment and resentment that her old boyfriend, now a successful doctor (seething volcano Scott Facher) is driven to by his buried past. The scene between these three is riveting and the alternate pleading, threatening, placating, resounds through the house.   

The lead up to this confrontation is adroitly brought to life by clever director Ann Hearn Tobolowsky. My only concern is that much of the dialogue was lost due to the intimacy between the actors, especially Facher and Blanchard, who dug so deeply into their battle that they forgot they were onstage in a theatre, not in an actual living room.

Let's not overlook the rest of this excellent cast: Michael Kerr was wonderfully bewildered as a man caught in the crossfire between work and compassion; Suzan Solomon was delightfully casual as a friend with some clever suggestions, and Mariko Van Kampen was airily ditzy as a landlady with no heart of gold. Photos by Amir Kojoory and Eric Keitel.

Produced by David Hunt Stafford for Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills. Free Parking. Strict Covid protocols. Tickets: (310) 364-0535 or  www.theatre40.org

 

 

THE WICKHAMS: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY - Reviewed by Cosmo Murphy

Well, I had a fun time at the show and am having even more fun writing this review as this sequel to "Pride and Prejudice" is a holiday treat where Jane Austen meets "Downton Abbey." This comic-drama, written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, is about the events leading up to a Christmas party at Pemberley. 

   Housekeeper Mrs. Reynolds has hired a new maid named Cassie and another character, Brian, has a crush on the girl. He spends a lot of time showing off his “inventions” to her, such as a device that makes baking biscuits easier. (It’s a roller combined with a biscuit cutter so she can roll dough and then immediately cut it into shapes for biscuits).

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have invited their friend, Lydia Wickham, who is married to George Wickham, who no one likes because of his toxic behavior. They all talk about how they don’t want George to show up and spoil their Christmas party.  So of course, George shows up belligerently drunk with his head bleeding from getting beaten up at a bar. To keep George’s arrival secret from Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth occupies his time by having sex with him upstairs, while Mrs. Reynolds occupies Lydia's time by shoving biscuits in her face and having her go to her room to eat them.

Then the maid, Cassie, discovers a letter addressed to George that reveals he had got another girl pregnant, and he owes a bunch of people money. (It was the brother of the girl he got pregnant who found him and beat him up). George realizes he lost the letter, that has now made its rounds to everyone in the house except for Lydia, his wife. George, eager to leave Pemberley, tells Lydia they ought to go abroad and she’s excited since she really wants to go to Paris. 

Lydia gets money from her dad, George and Lydia pack their bags and get ready to go, but just before they leave, the bombshell of George's behavior is dropped on Lydia. Although heartbroken, Lydia gives George the money her dad gave her for their trip abroad and George leaves the house alone. The final scene shows Brian giving Cassie a gift of a music box and they do a little dance to the music and that’s the end of the play.

    My favorite actor was Chelsea Kurtz for her portrayal of Lydia that had me laughing when she acted like a bimbo, and I empathized with her after she got her heart broken by George. Kyle T. Hester as George did an excellent job of being the antagonist but as his character was toxic I understood why no one wanted him around. Will Block played Brian with a schoolboy crush that had the audience laughing whenever he would introduce an invention. Kodi Jackman's Cassie strives for independence while her job as a maid allows her to have freedom from societal norms. 

 Nike Doukas as Mrs. Reynolds was the backbone of Pemberley, doing everything she could to ensure everything was fine and going well. Rebecca Mozo as Elizabeth was a moral person, a good friend to Lydia and a loyal wife to Mr Darcy. Adam Poss, was a badass Mr Darcy, charming towards the girls and didn’t take any nonsense from George while on the staircase.

Directed by Michael Butler, it's a fun show and an emotional experience as there were parts where I laughed and parts where I gasped. I enjoyed how the stage was set and how the characters used the space to tell the story. I recommend this play for Santa Barbarians that want to go out, be entertained, and cruise State Street after the show!  Photos by Zach Mendez.

Ensemble Theatre Company at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street, Santa Barbara. For tickets or info: (805) 965-5400 or www.etcsb.org

THE GAMES AFOOT review

If, like myself, you are an avid Sherlock Holmes fan this rousing comedy, full of mystery and suspense, is the chance to visit with the super sleuth. 

Playwright Ken Ludwig's script is cleverly based on the 19^th century actor William Gillette who donned a deerstalker hat and smoked a crooked pipe when he performed Holmes over a thousand times. Gillette was one of the biggest stage stars of his day, extremely wealthy, and lived in Connecticut in a 24-room mansion that he designed himself to look like a medieval castle.

 

This play is a mystery thriller with many characters, and anyone present could have done it! 

After an attempt on his life, Gillette has invited members of his theater company there for a Christmas weekend.  His actor-guests are a delightful bunch, flirting and teasing each other mercilessly with sly digs, even as they grandly quote from Shakespeare. All are extravagant characters with underlying motives and superb comic timing so, when one of his guests falls victim to foul play, the evening darkens and becomes a double whodunit. 

 Neil Thompson is calmly clever as the enigmatic Gillette; Clara Rodriguez is sweetly dotty as his carefree mother; Sascha Vanderslik and Troy Whitaker are delightfully devious as newlyweds with a dark secret; Patrick Skelton and Barbara Brownell are a joyful married couple who enjoy fun and games, and Susan Priver is hilarious as a glamorous but vindictive theater reviewer (hmmm) who admits with great glee that she has panned everyone there. Also delightful is Michele Schultz as the local police inspector who forgets her badge at the precinct and is suspicious of everything that moves.

Bombastically directed by Larry Eisenberg, who emphasizes the tongue-in-cheek nature of the comedy with larger-than-life emotions and theatrical gestures. The set by Chris Winfield is superb, and colorful costumes by Angela M. Eads capture the era. Bravos to producer Lloyd Pedersen. At The Group Rep's Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd. NOHO. Tickets: 818-763-5990 or http://www.thegrouprep.com

Review - "THE CHILDREN" - Hollywood

In this futuristic drama, two married scientists who once worked on a nuclear reactor are hiding out in a house in the country after the nearby reactor has imploded. The risk of radioactivity hangs over their lives as they attempt to carry on as normal. Then a visitor, a former colleague and friend, turns up with a shocking proposal. They may be safe, but the danger they think they are hiding from is an illusion and those who created this danger should help to disentangle it. It isn’t fair for the young people, the children, to have to risk their lives for the sins of their elders. It's a brilliant premise but, to my chagrin, the question of the play is never really answered.

Director Simon Levy has laid the question out well, stating “What I love about the play, is that it tackles these enormously important contemporary issues about our responsibility to the planet, to each other, to future generations, and grounds them in funny, complex, identifiable characters grappling with a moral dilemma….” To add impact to the theme, there is a discussion of these issues after each performance.

Lily Knight and Ron Bottitta are superb as the couple determined to continue in their lives as if danger is an illusion. Elizabeth Elias Huffman has the more difficult task of challenging their reality while her own life is in chaos. No stranger to controversy, playwright Lucy Kirkwood is writer in residence at Clean Break a British theatre company that performs the hidden stories of women in prison.

Produced by Stephen Sachs and James Bennett, with executive producer Karen Kondazian. At The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave, LA. Tkts: (323) 663-1525 or www.info@fountaintheatre.com

 

REVIEW: "A PERFECT GANESH" - West Los Angeles

When Terrence McNally's play opened in New York in 1993 it received mixed reviews before becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His work always centered on the urgent need for human connection between disparate people and this play deals with many conflicting ideas and is certainly overlong. Then inspired by the ongoing AIDS crisis it resounds today during the Covid-19 epidemic. Ironically, the fact that McNally died in March 2020 from complications from Covid-19 brings it full circle as its theme of loss and unresolved grief rings especially true today.

For this critic it served as an emotional reminder that no matter how bravely you face life, and how far you travel, you can never escape your past. When two upper class American women vacation in India they come face to face with the bitter memories they believed were buried too deep to any longer cause pain. There to confront their blindness is Ganesha, the Hindu god of "wisdom, prudence, acceptance and love." Under his omnipresence they relive the deepest sorrow of their lives and yet are saved when they learn that what we have now are the people we are still able to love!

Heading the excellent cast is Mueen Jahan as Ganesh, perfect as a mercurial god whose wisdom is balanced by his sense of humor; Kathleen Gray as Katherine captures the hyper-enthusiast manner of a woman determined to be fun and friendly in the face of hidden tragedy; Mary Allwright as Margaret gets us to be really fed up with her imperious demands before revealing the vulnerability she covers so well. Judd Yort is deeply moving as Walter, a gay man who dies bravely and despised; Cameron Gregg and Delio Eswar shine as various characters interacting with the women as they journey, and Svetlana Tulasi and Pavia Sidhu are luminous dancers as well as various modern or historic women.

Directed with sensitivity and humor by David W. Callander and produced by his own Campus Cabaret. At the Pico (Playhouse), 10508 W. Pico Blvd. As the theme is adult no one under 12 will be admitted. All Covid protocols - vaccination cards and masks - are required. 

Reservations at: http://onstage411.com/ganesh

 

REVIEW: "VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE" at Kentwood Players

 

Originally slated to open in March 2020 this play, by one of my favorite playwrights Christopher Durang, has been rehearsing virtually since the shutdown happened immediately after the final dress rehearsal. It finally opened on September 17, but unfortunately this critic did not get to see it until the final performance. Such is life under Covid and here for the record is my review.

It was delightful to recognize the familiar Chekhov characters from a number of his plays, as well as one from Greek mythology, all spending a sunny weekend in Bucks County, PA. There's Vanya and Sonia, living and bickering in the house where they cared for their elderly parents; their fortune-telling maid Cassandra warning of impending dangers, and their movie star sister, Masha, arriving with her sexy, boy toy, Spike. The realization for Vanya and Sonia that their ancestral home is about to be sold, and they ejected, adds to their mourning their lost dreams and missed opportunities.

Heading the excellent cast is Chris Morrison who, as Vanya, has a show stopping final diatribe when he speaks his mind to the heedless modern generation. The charming and amusing comedy suddenly grows electric when he explodes with words that show his anguish and rage.  It's hard to believe that this speech was written for the original 2012 production as it resonates so powerfully today.

Plaudits to Sarilee Kahn as delightful diva Masha; to Giovanni Navarro as her saucy sexy boy toy Spike; to Valerie Sullivan as the tremulous but spunky Sonia, and to a tour de force Susan Stangl as frantically bombastic Cassandra - as well as her splendid work as the Director of the play.

Produced by Alison Boole and Myron Klafter for the Kentwood Players in their newly upgraded Westchester Playhouse at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Los Angeles. Upcoming in November is a special One-Weekend Musical Event "All Together Now" and in December "The Ultimate Christmas Show (Abridged)." For information call: (310) 645-5156 or email boxoffice@kentwoodplayers.org

REVIEWS: AS GOOD AS GOLD (Beverly Hills) & BIDEN MY TIME (Los Angeles)

In the online issue of NOT BORN YESTERDAY for October 2021, I announced these two shows in my column without having seen them. Since I am now happily returning to the real world, vaccinated and masked, I am able to review them both. Herewith...

AS GOOD AS GOLD 

Marilyn Anderson's comedy is witty and funny as it gives a shout-out to Hollywood's treatment of creative women. Three female writers decide their solution to the problem of selling a script is by writing a sex-saturated-action screenplay. After we witness their imagined scenes with guns, sex, and sadism, we can believe they have a sure hit. However, reality says their names as authors will send it right into the round file! Then fate steps in, with a goofy salesman without ambition or guile who gladly agrees to pose as the pretend author. The result, as might be expected, is a confusion of laughs and betrayal.

Heading this excellent cast, Marie Broderick, Nicola Victoria Buck and Wendy Hammers are delightful as the ambitiously beleaguered writers; Landon Beatty is charming as their rustic understudy; Chance Denman is impressive as 007 and other screen hunks; David Westbay is genuinely earnest in disparate roles, and Will Bradley is outstanding especially when, as an auditioning actor, he hilariously shows the desperation and determination of a performer seeking work.

Fast paced direction by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky keeps the laughs coming, even though at times the play radiates rather like a TV sitcom. Produced by David Hunt Stafford and presented by Theatre 40 in The Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills. Info at www.theatre40.org.

 

BIDEN MY TIME 

The Capital Comedy troupe, founded by Washington DC producer-writer Nicholas Zill, has been doing musical comedy political satire shows for over 15 years. In this age of savage attacks against anyone who dares to raise their heads publicly, one might expect to see acid being thrown in this new revue. However, it’s a gentle spoof on our present President, and other familiar notables now in the hot seat.

What raises this show above the amiability of its attack are the excellent ensemble performers, all who play multiple roles. There is Daniel Amerman as a geniality personified Joe Biden; Shefali Deshpande as a beleaguered but game Kamala Harris; Cristina Florez as a dynamic dancing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Joy Mamey as a delightfully pompous Mitch McConnell, and best of all Aaron Matijasic as a bombastic Bernie Sanders and a sardonic Jeff Bezos.

Taking well known songs and adding satiric lyrics makes for a truly fun show. For example: Biden Introduces his cabinet with "76 Skin Tones" and Harris asks for patience with "Give Biden Some Time" while Sanders and AOC as they visit McConnell's office warn "There Is a Dark and Gloomy Place"!

Scheduled to perhaps run at the Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave, LA, if fate decides. Look for listings online.

NBY September 2021, SOLOMON'S CHILD & END OF THE WORLD

THE POWER OF THE NEW YORK TIMES!

Back in the 1980's, when I was The Broadway Critic for The Hollywood Reporter, I reviewed a number of fabulous dramas that sadly bit the dust! The reason being that the NY Times critic dismissed these plays and they disappeared in short order. Here are my still vivid memories of two great works that deserve to be revived since their themes still resound today.

  SOLOMON'S CHILD by TOM DULACK 

A Professor of English at U. Connecticut, this was Dulack's first play and the NYTimes critic massacred him: "… isn't the worst production of this limp Broadway season, but it just may be the most pointless. The evening's nonfiction subject - fanatical cults of the Jim Jones ilk - has already been examined ad infinitum in print, movies and television programs. The play's author, Tom Dulack, has nothing new or enlightening to say about this phenomenon and little discernible facility for playwriting." The show closed after 4 performances. Actually, the story was wildly contemporary for the 1980's, with a desperate couple hiring a renowned de-programmer to kidnap their son and rescue him from the cult he has joined. The young man is a match for the cynical adults since their arguments and threats cannot pierce his rejection of all their values. In the end nothing can keep him from re-joining his fellow dropouts except one thing. The door is open, he can leave, but mockingly his captor has left a classical record - Rachmaninoff? Tchaikovsky? - playing as dawn is breaking. The boy's decision had the audience in shocked emotional silence for perhaps 60 seconds. Happily, Tom Dulack went on to write more Broadway plays and received The Kennedy Center's New American Plays Award, and The Kaufman and Hart Prize for New American Comedy. Prolific director John Tillinger had brought this play to Broadway from Long Wharf Theatre, Connecticut and four years later I met him at Sardi's Tony Awards Gala. When I told him that I considered "Solomon's Child" one of the best plays I ever reviewed he lit up and thanked me for helping heal the wound he suffered after its harsh rejection.

 

Arthur Kopit

  END OF THE WORLD by ARTHUR KOPIT (1937-2021)

Here in 1984 was an intriguing and passionate play exploring the capacity for evil in all of us. Using a unique way of pursuing his theme, Kopit made it seem almost autobiographical, with John Shea as stand-in for himself. A mysterious man offers a playwright unlimited wealth if he will write a play about the nuclear crisis. "Why me?" asks the playwright? The man explains "your greatest trait is innocence" yet he perceives in him ''a thorough understanding of evil.'' Told in three acts, this culminates in one carefree scene when the playwright realizes that even he is capable of committing an unthinkable crime. The play, directed by Harold Prince, was dismissed by the NYTimes critic who clearly missed the point. In spite of other perceptive reviews, and even though the audience reaction was again a stunned silence followed by wild applause, it closed after 33 performances. A Theater Legend: I heard that Arthur Kopit was outside the Music Box Theatre as "End Of The World" was closing and the critic, Frank Rich, passed by. Kopit chastised him saying that when they were in Harvard together Rich had passion for theater that spoke to justice and saving mankind and now he had sold out! Rich, now the illustrious NY Times critic, just gave an enigmatic smile and went on by. Wish I coulda been there...

- 30 -

NOT BORN YESTERDAY. August 2021. MATRIARCH, SING FOR HOPE PIANOS, THE LAST, BEST SMALL TOWN

For some interesting programs that will help one feel safe because they are OUTDOORS, here are a few suggestions for the month of August.

  MATRIARCH - North Hollywood. The Roots and Wings Project (RAW) is a politically charged, socially transformative, project-based theatre company whose goal is to provide space for voices of the unnamed, unknown and misunderstood. Now, a number of Los Angeles’ writers and performers are bringing a live program that will empower, provoke, and uplift attendee's spirits. The show will perform outdoors on Friday, August 20 and Saturday, August 21 at 8 pm at the MKM Cultural Arts Center, 11401 Chandler Blvd. NoHo. 

Plays include Lioness written and performed by Jesse Bliss; Perfecta by Diane Rodriguez performed by Cristina Frias; Age Sex Location by Roger Q. Mason performed by Ramy El-Treby; Remember This by Sigrid Gilmer performed by Bahni Turpin, and Gabriel’s Monologue by Tamar Halpern performed by Gabriel Diamond. Taylor Lytle from California Coalition for Women Prisoners has written Tell the Light performed by Morgan Day. The program also includes songs by Sheila Govindarajan; poetry by Carla Vega, and a dance performed by Adrianne Sledge." Painting by Alfie Numeric. Presented by Roots and Wings in collaboration with Houston Coalition Against Hate ((HCAH Texas). For information: www.therootsandwingsproject.com  

SING FOR HOPE PIANOS - Beverly Hills

From August 5 to September 6, a number of uniquely colorful pianos, hand-painted by local artists, will be in public spaces across Beverly Hills as part of the Sing for Hope Pianos community initiative. These 16 piano artworks will be available for anyone and everyone to play, listen to, and enjoy! Piano locations include BH City Hall and Wallis Annenberg Center. Parks are Beverly Gardens, Will Rogers Memorial, La Cienega, and Roxbury. Artists were selected by a panel of art and community leaders in June. In the Fall, the Pianos will be given permanent homes in public schools across the greater Los Angeles area.

THE LAST, BEST SMALL TOWN - Topanga

In this modern-day Our Town by LA-based Latinx playwright John Guerra, Hank and Willow Miller, and Benny and Della Gonzalez, have been neighbors for years. The Millers are a perfect picture of the American Dream: Hank (Christopher Wallinger) is editor of the local paper, while Willow (Christine Breihan) is a stay-at-home mom who loves fitness and their daughter, Maya (Jordan Tyler Kessler) who excels at everything she attempts. Meanwhile, hard-working Benny (Richard Azurdia) must rise early each morning to catch a bus to work at a local car dealership, while Della (Jeanette Godoy) spends her days cleaning houses that includes, occasionally, those of her neighbors. Their son, Elliot (Kelvin Morales), has been named class valedictorian and seems about to make all of Benny and Della’s sacrifices worthwhile. However, Benny’s hard drinking father (Miguel Pérez) is a constant source of frustration for the Gonzalez's. Says director Ellen Geer: “You see the differences and complexities in the cultures of these White and Latinx families who live next to one another in the same town. Their different lives and the way they make choices.” The play runs in repertory with Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, that opened earlier in the season. Performances are on Theatricum’s beautiful* outdoor stage in Topanga.  Note: *“The amphitheater feels like a Lilliputian Hollywood Bowl, with pre-show picnics and puffy seat cushions, yet we were close enough to see the stitching on the performers costumes. Grab a blanket and a bottle and head for the hills.” Los Angeles magazine. Through Nov. 7. Info: (310) 455-3723 or www.theatricum.com 

 

NOT BORN YESTERDAY. July 2021. Taming The Lion; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Meet Lucy Stone.

 

Haines & Joan Crawford

  TAMING THE LION - Beverly Hills

After being shuttered for sixteen months due to the global pandemic, Theatre 40 is re-opening for live performances. It is resuming the interrupted World Premiere engagement of a new play by Jack Rushen, suggested by true events in Hollywood in 1934. 

Actor William Haines acted in 50 films between 1922 and 1934 and was the number one box-office draw at the end of the silent era. He was also the first openly gay movie star, a fact that the MGM studio attempted to conceal, fearing that Haines’ gayness would prove to be box-office poison. 

In the play, Studio executives Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg attempt to force Haines to marry a woman, to please the fans. But Haines is devoted to his male lover, Jimmie Shields. So, Mayer sends Haines’ best female friend, Joan Crawford (see photo attached), to try and persuade Haines to marry a woman.  Haines is given an ultimatum: marry a woman and continue to be a movie idol or turn his back on his movie career and lose everything so that he can stay with Jimmie. Produced by David Hunt Stafford. Directed by Melanie MacQueen, (who Theatre 40 audiences might know best from her appearances in the perennial cast of The Manor). Theatre Forty is in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills. Plays July 9-August 1st. Tickets: (310) 364-0535 or www.theatre40.org. Free Parking.

   YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN - Sierra Madre

This classic musical comedy, based on the beloved Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, will be performed outdoors in Sierra Madre Memorial Park, at 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre. Here Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang explore life’s great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes, and celebrate the joy of friendship.

The cast includes Hamilton Davis Weaver as Charlie Brown, Mary Zastrow as Lucy, Marcha Kia as Sally, Luke Sweeney as Schroeder, Alexander Mashikian as Snoopy, and Melvin Biteng as Linus. This Sierra Madre Playhouse’s outdoor production is the ideal summer entertainment for the whole family.

Covid safety protocols will be observed. Seating will be in socially distanced circles, six feet apart, to accommodate parties of two, four, or six. This will primarily be lawn seating (please bring your own blankets), but there will also be circles designated for people who bring chairs. Plays weekends from July 30 - August 29. Tickets at (626) 355-4318 or http://sierramadreplayhouse.org.

HB Kennedy & myself

   MEET LUCY STONE - on YouTube

Lucy Stone was the first person in history to ever speak publicly for women’s rights and this one-woman show, with songs, illuminates the start of the Women's Rights movement when one bold young woman stepped forward and demanded equality for women. 

Over 100 years ago, women got the vote! And over 50 years ago I was an actress on Broadway! Now Jewish Family Service LA asked me to repeat the role I originated as activist Lucy Stone in the musical Only A Woman, that was a hit in both Hollywood and New York City. (Photo: HB Kennedy as Susan B. Anthony, myself as Lucy Stone). 

Show is based on actual people and true events and, at this time, when #me too is making headlines, this performance informs people about the women - and men - who fought for Human Rights! Composer-lyricist Ralph Martell adapted his original score for this special event, recorded and available on Zoom. Runs about 48 minutes. Click on the link: Meet Lucy Stone: https://youtu.be/SDTLFKa0-gU

NOT BORN YESTERDAY. June 2021 - An Octoroon - Tevye In New York - Julius Caesar & Others - LIVE THEATER IS BACK!

 AN OCTOROON (Hollywood)

This Obie Award-winning play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will launch live performances on Fountain Theatre’s new outdoor stage in June. Judith Moreland directs this outrageous deconstruction of a moustache-twirling melodrama by 19th century playwright Dion Boucicault. Matthew Hancock stars as a modern-day Black playwright struggling to find his voice among a chorus of people telling him what he should and should not be writing. He decides to adapt his favorite play, Boucicault’s 'The Octoroon' - an 1859 melodrama about illicit interracial love. The Black playwright quickly realizes that getting White, male actors of today to play evil slave owners will not be easy, so he decides to play the White male roles himself - in whiteface. What ensues is an upside down, topsy-turvy world where race and morality are challenged, mocked and savagely intensified. 

Mara Klein

This theatrical melodrama tells the story of an octoroon woman - a person who is one-eighth Black - and her quest for identity and love. The cast includes Rob Nagle as playwright Boucicault; Mara Klein (photo) as Zoe the Octoroon; Hazel Lozano as a production assistant, and Vanessa Claire Stewart as a Southern belle in love with the plantation owner (Hancock in whiteface). Meanwhile, Leea Ayers, Kacie Rogers and Pam Trotter portray three startlingly modern slave women. The play satirizes racial stereotypes in a whirlwind of images and dialogue that forces audiences to look at America’s racist history exposed.

Production manager for the Fountain’s outdoor stage is Shawna Voragen, with scenic design by Frederica Nascimento. Stephen Sachs and Simon Levy co-produce; associate producer is James Bennett, while Barbara Herman and Susan Stockel are executive producers. Theatre is at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. For information call (323) 663-1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com.

TEVYE IN NEW YORK (Beverly Hills)

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts re-opens in June with an outdoor performance space with tiered seating, creative lighting and sound. With a firm commitment to the health and safety of staff, artists and patrons, it accommodates 100 socially distanced audience members each night. This Return of In-Person Audiences to The Wallis launches with the World Premiere performance of a one-man show written, co-directed and performed by Tom Dugan and co-directed and designed by Michael Vale.

Ever wonder what happened to Tevye, wife Golde, and their daughters, after the curtain came down in Fiddler on the Roof? Tevye in New York finally answers this decades-old question. Follow Tevye as he fights for his piece of the American dream - his journey with his family across the Atlantic Ocean, through Ellis Island, and into the crowded streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. You’ll fall in love with Tevye all over again in this funny and poignant one-man show. For performance dates and ticket information: 310-746-4000 or https://thewallis.org.

 JULIUS CAESAR & OTHERS (Topanga Canyon)

Best known for presenting lively and engaging renditions of the works of William Shakespeare, Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum will open the season on Saturday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. with a fresh look at Shakespeare’s iconic thriller about power, politics and the elusive nature of truth through a different lens. Director Ellen Geer tells the tale from the vantage point of the Soothsayer. Audiences yearning for live theater after a year-long drought can satisfy their cravings by returning the next day, Sunday, July 11 at 4 p.m., for the opening of 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'. This version infuses the Bard’s beautiful language with music and song to heighten the pleasure. For tickets call (310) 455–3723, or go to www.theatricum.com.

NOT BORN YESTERDAY. May 2021 - ELISABETH BERGNER - a true story

 

Why I love live theater is back on my agenda, having received a letter from solo performer Arnold Weiss regarding Austrian actress Elisabeth Bergner, who I'd mentioned seeing perform onstage in a past column. Arnold wrote: "I'd give a million dollars to have seen Elisabeth Bergner in "First Love" - I'd seen her in two films. She had a great presence - to me the perfect Rosalind opposite Olivier in "As You Like It"…" Hence, this true story!

In the early 60's I was a young beginner-actress who by pure luck had managed to be cast as understudy to the great Joan Plowright in "A Taste of Honey" on Broadway. When the show closed in New York City, I found myself on the road with the National Tour - nine months that now count among the most exciting and fruitful of my life.

Whenever we were in a town where another Broadway tour was playing, we sometimes managed to get to see these fabulous shows. It was in Chicago that I saw the great Elisabeth Bergner in the stage adaptation of Romain Gary's memoir "Promise At Dawn." Now titled "First Love" the play was on its pre-Broadway tour. They had a Thursday matinee (ours was on Wednesday) so with other cast members I eagerly went and sat in orchestra seats close to the stage.

In my memory: The play was about Gary's mother, Nina Kacew, a Polish Jew, living in Nice, France, during the brutal Second World War. The person I saw onstage had no theatrical airs, she was clearly uneducated, but a highly patriotic and energetic woman, whose love for her son was boundless. Romain (Hugh O'Brien) was a young man, a loyal Frenchman, determined to fight the Germans. His mother encouraged him to join the Free French Air Force headquartered in England. In one marvelous scene, forever etched in my memory, he came to say goodbye to her in full military dress before going away to war.

Ah, was she proud of him! What levels of ecstasy surged through her bosom as she took him out of their house to show the neighbors, exclaiming, "This is my son! See him. See how brave he is. How magnificent!" The neighbor-actors were fine with their admiration, but that was not enough for this woman Bergner inhabited. To my utter amazement she looked out at us sitting, watching in the dark. "See my son! He will save us from these beasts!" she cried and in a burst of enthusiastic joy dragged him down off the stage to us.

I saw her next to me, her eyes blazing, the actor-son squirming in embarrassment but grinning happily. "This is my son, my hero!" she said to me proudly, and I believed her with all my heart. At that moment I knew that as an actress I could never again hide behind a fake wall and not share totally with my audience. Elisabeth Bergner taught me that and, from that time, my playwriting and directing has always been inter-active with an audience.

Olivier & Bergner "As You Like It"

A few days later I was shocked to hear that the show was going to Broadway without her. I learned through the theater grapevine that she and the director, Alfred Lunt, had a disagreement over her interpretation of the role. They chose director over actor and it opened on Broadway with Hungarian star Lili Darvas on December 25, 1961. The show closed after 24 performances. 

NOT BORN YESTERDAY - April 2021. THE GHOSTS OF MARY LINCOLN, SHAKESPEARE & PAUL ROBESON BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS and UNDERNEATH THE FREEWAYS OF LOS ANGELES

 

THE GHOSTS OF MARY LINCOLN - Woodland Hills. In case you are mourning the opportunity to attend live theater here is one intrepid theater artist doing it outdoors with social distancing. Playwright-performer Tom Dugan has set up a performance space in his own backyard to re-enact his one-man show from 2013. Out of necessity the audience will be strictly limited in size, physical distancing will be observed and hand sanitizers readily available. Also, outdoor fans will be in use and all audience members required to wear masks.Under Shelby Sykes direction, Dugan depicts incidents and characters that appear after widow Mary Todd Lincoln has been freed from an asylum. Includes stories of White House seances, Presidential grave robbers, warnings from the undead, and that fateful night at Ford's Theatre. Yes, it’s a tale of blood, madness and murder based on known historic facts and according to Showmag.com is "Bound to surprise and inform even the most avid Lincoln aficionados." Dugan's previous plays include "Wiesenthal" - about famous Holocaust survivor, Nazi Hunter, and writer, Simon Wiesenthal, - which won him the LA Drama Critics Award for Solo Performance. He also has performed in "Frederick Douglass: In the Shadow of Slavery" and "Tell Him It's Jackie." This show runs April 2 -May 1^st on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm in Dugan's Backyard Playhouse. It's a safe comfortable environment but bring a blanket with you as it can get pretty cool evenings in Woodland Hills. Reservations: dbptickets@gmail.com

 

APRIL 23^rd BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), actor, playwright, will be honored with an abstract sound-based performance piece "Low Skies Divine" (inspired by "King Lear") created by director Samantha Shay and composer Áslaug Magnúsdóttir and presented by Source Material Theatre. Online performances April 23 through May 9 with tickets available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/low-skies-divine-tickets-146743326239.

UNDERNEATH THE FREEWAYS OF LOS ANGELES - Live. Here is a live-streamed interactive murder mystery inspired by historical events. In 1960 two bodies were discovered in the lake at Hollenbeck Park in East LA right below the Golden State Parkway overpass. Echo Theatre Company invites you to join a virtual whodunit based on this crime where you, the audience, speak with the officer in charge of the investigation, question the witnesses, and check out persons of interest. Each performance is live-streamed and therefore every performance will be different! The Police Officer and a TV Reporter will introduce five suspects - a Boyle Heights artist; a Japanese American woman; a Freeway Protest organizer; a vagrant passing through, and the California Highways Administrator. After hearing the details and viewing the demeanor of each one, the audience will split into groups, that will rotate between five "holding cells." In these breakout rooms everyone will have a chance to listen to and question each potential murderer. Conceived and written by Matthew Paul Olmos with direction by Michael Alvarez, the show can be experienced on both coasts from April 2-26, Friday through Monday, at 7:30 pm PT and 10:30 pm ET. Link in at www.EchoTheaterCompany.com/underneath

APRIL 9^th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION - Paul Robeson (1898-1976), actor, singer, athlete, civil rights activist and humanitarian is the inspiration for the Robey Theatre Company's name and, on April 9 at 6 pm, they will honor him with a virtual birthday celebration. Artistic Director Ben Guillory will make opening remarks then present a series of performances inspired by Robeson's life and work. He and co-founder Danny Glover will present the Paul Robeson Award to LA City Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas in recognition of his contributions to the artistic, cultural and civic life of LA. Link: http://therobeytheatrecompany.org/our-events