TWELFTH NIGHT …Griffith Park

  

The Clowns steal the show in this delightful staging of a favorite Shakespearean comedy. Starting at the opening, with David Melville as one-man-band Feste the Jester admonishing the audience to get with it, the tone is set for irreverent and audacious humor. This is boldly carried forward by Danny Campbell as a W.C. Fields-inspired Sir Toby Belch; Andre Martin as the foppish suitor Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and finally Luis Galindo as the pompous steward Malvolio making a complete ass of himself. As the witty prankster Maria, Bernadette Sullivan sets light to all the ongoing mischief.

The main story of the shipwrecked Viola (Kalean Ung), in boy’s garb, winning the love of the grieving Olivia (Claudia de Vasco), while hopelessly in love with the romanticist Count Orsino (Ryan Vincent Anderson) is well told. Noteworthy are Julia Aks as a melodic housemaid; Nikhil Pai as the missing twin Sebastian; Ashley Nguyen as a guitar-playing maid, and Joseph Culliton as the beleaguered sea captain Antonio. Juan Parada amusingly doubles as burdened seaman and jolly priest.

Directed with joyful energy by Melissa Chalsma, Co-Artistic Director of the Independent Shakespeare Company. Will play in repertory with “The Taming Of The Shrew” through August 31.  

The Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival is at the Old Zoo in the Park, on Crystal Springs Drive. For info call (818) 710-6306 or go online to www.iscla.org.

 

Note: No public transport but plenty of free parking. Bring a chair or a blanket, wear walking shoes, and for an evening show bring along a warm jacket and a flashlight.

 Photos: Grettel Cortes.
 Also reviewed in the August issue of NOT BORN YESTERDAY

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES …Sierra Madre

  

This delightful Musical Tribute to Bob Hope and the USO played one weekend at the Sierra Madre Playhouse but, like the peripatetic Hope himself, may well perform forever. As I am close friends with Lani Ridley Pedrini, the co-writer/director/producer and singer/dancer in the show, I can hardly be objective, so let me quote from other’s reviews.

LIFE IN LA: by Sharon Laine: “What a delight.  Really captured the magic of the USO tours. The toe-tapping tunes and comedic timing made for an evening of fun and patriotic chest pounding. Showcased the hope and hardships faced during our country’s involvement in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Shield and formed it into a show of warmth and friendship. 

The clips of actual USO footage, with Bob Hope hosting, were clever and strategically placed to keep the momentum moving forward. Mitch Rily played Hope with enthusiasm and confidence and Robert Towers as his comedic side-kick, Sgt. Iggy, kept the audience laughing and wanting more. The entire cast was versatile and were clearly enjoying themselves. Thanks for the memories indeed!” 

Michael Shaunessy - actor, vocalist, performer, emcee!: “The show was lively, had a great pace, humorous, and wildly colorful. Charles Offenhouser held the whole thing together, with his zany antics and jack-of-all-trades stage presence. Several really clever and polished production numbers. I especially liked Rosie the Riveter and Singin' in the Rain, and Denise Harvey hit it out of the park with her Aretha Franklin tribute. I couldn't get enough of Robert Towers as Sgt. Iggy. Congratulations all around for a really fine entertainment."

Marlena de Pasadena – theater-lover and Pasadena Playhouse volunteer:  “It was truly a wonderful show with a lot of "heart" in it.  The writing, the historical research, the absolutely everything. Thanks to all the actors, singers, dancers, crew, and so forth.  Speaking of "forth" - this show will go forth.  I can see it being performed in venues across Southern California. I expected the seniors to love it, but I noticed that the young people in the audience really enjoyed it too.”  

Thanks for the Memories will return to The Sierra Madre Playhouse on Sunday, September 7 for a 2:30 matinee and a 7:30 evening performance (two shows). 
For booking and information, Email - ltlridl@aol.com

BRIGHT LIGHT CITY …reviewed by Anthony R. Maldonado

In a seedy Vegas motel a young thug, Wally, fresh out of LA Trade Tech, and possible parole, is waiting to break his 26th B-day cherry. His elder roommate, Larry, is all about the $50-G'z his mobster boss is paying him to rub out a certain cocktail waitress turned prostitute. After Larry reveals the plan, and promises something special to his impatient delinquent, Wally splits open the stagnant air with his own version of Elvis Presley's “Jail House Rock.” 

Wanting to have sex with his first victim, Wally becomes sexually and emotionally excited when beautiful Audrey saunters onto the stage. Now a high class call gal she is all about style and sex but, after she breaks into a song about her lives misery, Wally falls hard and invites her to run away to Canada with him. After that, events smolder like a cigarette about to start a blaze because if he doesn’t kill Audrey he will himself become the selected victim.

 As Alfred Hitchcock would never give away the ending, I'll follow suit. The title comes from the Elvis Presley hit song about Las Vegas and the suggestion that it takes place in Vegas was there but I didn't feel it. There were no signs of Elvis on black velvet décor, or blaring neon lights from a window, no busy local street life or a siren or two - little things that could afford this dynamic play an air of authenticity.

 

They say great actors are hard to come by but “Bright Light City” brings three of them to this stage with Garrett Michael Langston as young Wally, Leon Russom as merciless Larry, and Heidi James as victim Audrey. 

This is the world premiere of Nate Rufus Edelman's dark comedy, that he also co-directed with Angie Scott, and it is produced by Los Angeles Theatre Center.

At LATC, 514 S. Spring St., Downtown Los Angeles, through June 29. For tickets: (866) 811-4111 or www.thelatc.org. 

Photos by Ed Krieger. 

THE LAST CONFESSION ...review by Anthony Maldonado

Had a wonderful time at the Ahmanson Theater seeing David Suchet in "The Last Confession." This remarkable play’s revealing of ecclesiastical malfeasance made me think of poor Galileo Galilei, a man of science and faith. He learned the Church's message the hard way and evidently so did Pope John Paul the First. This almost forgotten Pope, a humble man who was about to overturn the old order, died September 28^th 1978, age 65, after a reign of only 33 days. If this sounds like the trappings of a great murder mystery it is. The play, a first by lawyer Roger Crane, brilliantly defines the web of intrigue and the Vatican's brutal enforcement of church doctrine.

However, "History always has a witness" and here it is Suchet’s Cardinal Benelli, racked with guilt because he left this gentle Pope to the mercy of the Vatican wolves. It is after all history and the seeds of who did it are still embedded in this tree. 

I think the Bishop from Chicago, who controlled the Vatican Bank, was a Windy City mobster and clearly belonged to the political underworld. He was about to be fired from a pure cash job, no more double dipping into the Vatican's coffer's. Then, because the head Cardinal wanted the old council back, all the evidence mysteriously vanished, and left no clues, mere hours after the Pope's death

          Richard O’Callaghan is heartbreaking as the Pope who naïvely thinks of himself as the country priest for the people. This dynamic Chichester Festival Theatre Production was directed by Artistic Director Jonathan Church. Set design is by William Dudley, lighting by Peter Mumford. The costumes by Fotini Dimou were limited by the reality that most of the cast were in similar red robes which made it difficult to identify each one. Still, it’s a not-to-be-missed evening of theater.

The Ahmanson Theatre is at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue, downtown LA, through July 6. Tickets at (213) 972-4400 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

Photos by Craig Schwartz 

Note from Morna: Some years back I starred Off Broadway as Maria Feodorovna, the Czar's mother, in Anthony Maldonado's historic drama THE LAST ROMANOV. Anthony is a Renaissance man, being not only a devotee of Theater but also an expert in the Art and Antique World. He recently moved to live in LA and chose to settle Downtown. He is a columnist for the DTLA newspaper GALLERY ROW/ART WALK NEWS (thegrawn.com).