I had a lovely evening at C.O.S’s production of Mel Brook’s The Producers this weekend. While not without its small problems, the splashy musical is effectively staged and has a lot of energy. I can easily recommend it to Visalians looking for a fun night out. Personally, I particularly enjoyed Mike Hamilton’s “Franz Liebkind” and Justin Allen’s “Carmen Ghia” (I’m getting so old. . . I was Mrs. Medlock to Justin’s “Colin” in a production of The Secret Garden years ago! Ack!).
Contenders
The Valley has had an upswing in productions this winter of highly acclaimed scripts, and so far none have let me down.
First, Chris Mangels directed Conor McPherson’s The Weir at the Ice House Theatre in Visalia, which was a beautifully rendered piece and some of the best work I’ve seen from Visalia talent in a long time. This show has just edged out Irene Morse’s Two Rooms as the best production of the season at the Ice House (so far).
The ART in Fresno put up David Lindsey-Abair’s Rabbit Hole, an amazingly fraught piece staged with wonderful intimacy and balance by Julie Ann Keller. The performances from Mike Peterson and Jennifer Hurd-Peterson are some of the best work I’ve ever seen from them.
And finally, The Spotlight Theatre in Bakersfield is running The Goat, or Who is Sylvia in previews this weekend. A very difficult play to stage with any beauty because of its subject-matter, the cast of this production really puts its heart into it, never looking down their noses at their own characters, and deliver a moving performance with tremendous grace. Highly recommended.
The Spotlight’s I Am My Own Wife was also sold out and had great word of mouth, so I’d watch out for their non-musical productions in the future. Tickets to them could be increasingly difficult to get!
Check out San Joaquin Valley Theatre Bulletin Board for postings on “The Goat” and other upcoming shows.
Rocky Horror Show at ART in Fresno
This show has been sold out for it’s last two weekends for some time, but the producers are keeping people on standby if you show up 1 hr and 30 minutes before curtain to get your name on the evening’s standby list. If there are empty seats at 5 minutes before curtain, they’ll start seating people.
TRUST ME, IT’S WORTH IT! I didn’t stop smiling the whole time and director/choreographer/Frank n’Furter Daniel Chavez is sublime!
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 ART’s Rocky is the classic rock & roll musical with a fresh new style! Directed by Daniel Chavez Jr., the show will feature a live six-piece rock band and some of the best singers, actors, musicians and dancers in town. |
Some News
After much consideration, I’ve decided that I must retire my on-again/off-again work as a reviewer of plays in the area. The truth of the matter is simply this: I have landed two positions in the local theatre community that are going to cut down my ability to objectively review plays. I’ll undoubtedly be seeing a lot of work in my new positions, but I’ll also be producing a lot of work. Some people can make producing and reviewing go hand in hand, but I’m not certain that I can.
So my upcoming review of Fresno Pacific’s “Hay Fever” will probably be my last full review.
I do plan, however, to report back on work I’m seeing that I like. Today’s young theatre goers are looking more and more to online comments to recommend what they should spend their money on. I’ll be happy to lend my voice to the stuff I think worth the time and money– in a shorter, more succinct way!
Heather
For everyone’s education– B.C., Ms. Chin, and ‘Two Sisters’
Last weekend, I drove down to Bakersfield College to give Kim Chin an All-American second chance for her production of Nilo Cruz’ “Two Sisters and a Piano”. While I found a few more redeeming qualities in it than her last outing, Top Dog/Underdog, I sadly cannot give this one positive marks on the whole.
I have to say, first, that while I applaud Ms. Chin’s overall taste in scripts, I wonder at their appropriateness for her immediate acting pool. Judging from the bios, the most experienced members of the cast have done perhaps three productions, making them not quite ready for the task of Cruz’ nuanced storytelling and lyricism.
But that script is the first place I question Ms. Chin’s choices in dealing with the script. Playwright Cruz is a pretty smart Pulitzer Prize winner and he made a conscientious choice not to use a lot of Spanish phrases and lines for his Cuban-set drama. This production, however, rewrote and translated a goodly portion of the dialogue into Spanish to create a sort of Spanglish environment.
Well, not only is this confusing because as Spanish-speakers in Spanish-speaking Cuba, the characters would speak all in the same language (Cruz acknowledges this and, when writing an English-language play, keeps his characters speaking all in the same language for the sake of continuity), but more importantly the changes of lines from English to Spanish is illegal. It violates the contract that the play’s producers (Bakersfield College) entered into with Dramatists Play Service who gives permission to produce the play on behalf of the playwright.
The volume of changes doesn’t amount to a cut line here and there or a change of a phrase, it changes the intentions of the playwright and his choices for phrasing and pacing his material. And so I have to wonder if the script wasn’t good enough for Ms. Chin as it was, why did she choose it? And, furthermore, why would she choose to jeopardize Bakersfield College’s ability to produce scripts from Dramatists (one of the largest publishers of plays in America) in the future?
Following such a large lapse in judgment and lack of support for playwright’s rights, the choices made by the production itself are dismal, but of little consequence. This production was marked by a lack of focus, poor sense of tension, extremely slow pacing, and a confusing sense of storytelling. I could go on about the acting, but as this is collegiate theatre, I tend to think that the lack of technique onstage has more to do with the teaching given by Ms. Chin in rehearsal than the performer’s ultimate ability.
It’s this sense of educational theatre that I perceive is missing in Ms. Chin’s productions. I don’t wish to discourage trying for challenging material for students. In fact, College of the Sequoias in Visalia and Fresno City College in Fresno have both recently produced some fantastic, compelling work for their students (“My Country’s Good” and “The Altruists” respectively). But those schools also seem to concentrated time in rehearsals teaching students techniques to handle the challenging material, crafting their moments, and guiding them toward a cohesive performance. Janine Christl at FCC is painstaking about creating a razor-sharp ensemble which understands the material they’re performing. And Chris Mangels at COS steered his ensemble toward performances of tremendous urgency and a compelling, engaging story. Ms. Chin just seems to have fallen flat on these counts with both of her shows this year.
Educational theatre isn’t always ‘reviewed’ in the classic sense as it is ostensibly geared toward teaching students the building blocks of performance through hands on experience (and you’ll notice I’ve tried not to review the students in this review). But I have no qualms about reviewing the results of a theatrical professional’s educational process with her students and community members.
Does she break scenes down for meaning, choices, and tactics with her casts? Does she illustrate effective staging and teach students how to utilize it? Are the actions and objectives of each scene clear to them? Are they all acting as though they’re in the same play? Are the experienced actors encouraged to make strong and meaningful choices with their language, their bodies and their voices? Are the less experienced actors cultivating a sense of confidence and an understanding of the basics of presentation? Not from what was exhibited last Friday evening.
If the objective of an educational theatre arts department is to help grow theatre scholars and develop theatre audiences, I’m not certain that Ms. Chin’s productions are fulfilling that objective. Would these actors be prepared to audition for other Bakersfield theatre companies? Would they be prepared to perform in productions at CSU Bakersfield or CSU Fresno? The actors on the stage didn’t seem to understand the essentials of the play that they were in and the audience—aside from one or two who had friends in the cast—seemed lost and unengaged. And so seems Ms. Chin in her directorial vision.
Further comments from me can’t be very helpful, either. While I truly attempt to be conscientious and considered in my review of shows and truly want to offer some helpful and concrete feedback, at this point some form of honest peer review seems to be needed for Ms. Chin. If that isn’t possible, I encourage the folks at Bakersfield College to see some theatre at other Valley community colleges—C.O.S. and F.C.C. in particular—to see the caliber of work that can be achieved with students and teachers of similar backgrounds and opportunity.
I see a lot of potential in the Bakersfield Theatre Community. I hope that, soon, the Bakersfield College Theatre Department can become a part of it.
The Diary of Anne Frank, Visalia Players
I was disposed to enjoy this production knowing that the new adaptation by Wendy Kessleman was quite good. The Visalia Players certainly put some effort into improving production values on this one, which is wonderful to see. Keith Lindersmith has renewed his talent with set design using the small-ish Ice House Stage space extremely effectively and art directing it well with a fully lived-in look. Costumes by Irene Morse and Nancy McGinnis were also nicely done.
While the actor movement and staging was effectively directed, the performances were largely wooden and lacked a cohesive sense of interpretation among the acting ensemble. Much of the narrative from fifteen year old Mandi Moore lacked variety and appropriate stops and transitions, something a director has to take into hand early. Ms. Moore, however, did have a confident and energetic presence on stage which will serve her well with more training and experience.
Of the ensemble players, Alison Clark Terry is a standout as Miep with an open expression and empathetic delivery. The majority of the other players had a few good individual moments, they were punctuated by long periods of stiff deliveries. It’s as though their words and sentiments were never able to land on their acting partners. . . most everyone seemed startlingly disconnected from everyone else on stage. Everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing on the stage at any given moment, but never seemed to know how that was supposed to work with their fellow actors.
Overall, I got the impression that director Nancy Holly knew how she wanted the play to look, but not how to pace or craft it into a fully cohesive statement. The most awkward piece of staging, unfortunately, happened at the climax of the play. As the Nazis inevitably arrest the Frank and Van Daan families, the actors portraying the Nazis are agonizingly slow and the reactions of the families strangely muted and polite. It never reached the level of sheer terror that would have been contained within that moment– thereby reaching out the audience to share in that horrific experience.
That said, however, I have to give an extremely positive review to Lindersmith’s portrayal of Otto Frank. Full of dignity and sentiment, it is a truly touching performance and probably the principle reason to see this show.
As it is, the show looks great but is uneven in the quality of performances.
They have, however, announced their next season and it looks to be a promising opportunity to level out the overall quality of their presentations.
“Little Women”– Spotlight Theatre, Bakersfield
Last night, I saw my first show at the Spotlight Theatre in Bakersfield. I’m happy to say that it was a very lovely experience.
The Spotlight, if their past seasons are any judge, are a fairly commercial group of theatre artists from the Bakersfield community. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Their choices of shows exhibit a versatility and an ability to bring things that might be a little less mainstream (like “Assassins”) to more middle of the road subscribers. They also put a smattering of solid straight plays in their seasons that really work for them.
So, hey. . . I’m all for commercial stuff as long as its done well. Please. Let it be done well.
“Little Women” certainly fits the bill. The musical itself is not without its problems. It has a strange bookend structure that seems pointless and it lacks a singular song that keeps people humming as they leave the theatre. But, the characters are nicely revealed through their songs and it doesn’t stray wildly from the tone and intent of the original work.
The cast of community performers are really well prepared for their roles, with a few exceptions I won’t go into right now. The March girls on the whole are buoyant and have a marvelous chemistry together. The voices of Meg and Jo, especially counterpoint each other nicely.
Kat Brinkley as Jo has the brunt of the work of the musical carrying off the majority of the big numbers with energy and a tremendous commitment to character. At the top of the show, some of her transitions seemed a little rote, but once the bugs were worked out, she was the most present actor on the stage and crafted every major moment thoroughly.
The actors surrounding her know the purpose they are to serve in Jo’s story and tailor their parts accordingly. Even Aunt March, who seemed very unprepared in her first number, slipped into a solid character performance by her scene in the last act. Only Marmee March, with her doleful solos, seemed to lack any momentum onstage. Her vocal projection– even with the mics, but especially without them– needs work and she never seems to grasp the joy of Marmee’s dignity and strength. Instead, she seems tentative in her time on the stage.
But overall the numbers and scenes are well staged, nicely acted, and well sung.
On the technical topics, the use of the small stage wasn’t overdone, using movable lattice and sliding platforms to change scenes without having to dismantle the whole set. The lighting seemed uneven, though, with actors walking through dark patches on the stage in the middle of scenes and actors being in weak light at what I thought pivotal moments. (I did note a lack of fresnel instruments on the AP truss and only a few ellipsoids, so this complaint may be due to a lack of instrumentation. It’s incredibly difficult to light a stage well and have various specials with only a few instruments.).
So, all in all, I had a lovely night of musical theatre in Bakersfield and I’m glad to say that Spotlight has extended the run of “Little Women” with an extra weekend.
‘Dancers’ — Visalia Community Players
There have been discussions throughout the theatre-going world on the acceptability of leaving a show at intermission. Some people will bite the bullet and endure a show’s entirety even if it is painful to them. I prefer the anaesthesia of leaving and having a beer, or three. After all, I’m leaving seats that I paid for so its not as though they’re losing money. My absence, if it is even noted, may speak more than any review could and I’ll definitely enjoy that hour more over beers with a friend.
A companion and I attended the final performance of the VCP’s mid-season offering, Dancers. We apparently got the last two seats of a full house, so the VCP’s aging audience certainly responded to the show’s marketing. The play’s plot deals with a guilt-stricken Kevin’s friendship with a patient named Julia at a nursing home after his mother dies there. It attempts to show how forgotten and lost the very real people living in convalescence are. Unfortunately, the show’s production values just don’t live up to its desires.
Now, some readers may know that the sort of plays that could be a Lifetime movie are NOT my cup of tea. I like my theatre to be presented theatrically, not televisically. So the likelihood of my giving this show a rave would have been slim.
HOWEVER, I still have some desire to see some craft, some direction, some sense of detail work applied to the elements of the show. From the moment I sat down, the set’s unfinished nature glared at me. There was nothing finishing the top of the flats, no sense of convalescent home decoration in the patient rooms (convalescent homes TRY to not be depressing places by allowing floral wallpapers and hutches with personal items displayed), and not even an attempt at a privacy curtain in the co-ed room. I imagine the bright green paint was chosen to convey a sickly feel to the place and I’ll give that to them. But whenever you put flats up to construct actual rooms, your detail work has to be exceptional. A painting is actually mentioned in the dialogue at one point. The actors indicate it is hanging on the fourth wall. Well, why not hang an actual picture on the expanse of blank wall they have stage left? I just don’t get it. And, I’m even the more disappointed because director Keith Lindersmith was once so excellent with sets and set decoration. If anyone is going to do a box set justice, it would be Keith. I just feel that he fell short of his abilities on this one.
Mike Russell’s lighting of the solarium window in a second room is quite lovely enough. Unfortunately, when the lights are supposed to be ‘out’ on stage and the actors in a darkened room, there isn’t enough cool light in front of the actors– who are speaking full lengths of dialogue in this state– so there is this glare from the solarium window and the actors are almost just silouettes.
As for the acting, during the first act I was appalled by the stiffness of Timothy Rich as one of the play’s protagonists. I had expected to find this was his first role, but alas no. . . he’s worked with the Players twice before. He’s still very much in the beginning actor stage of “I have a line coming up, I will move here, I will now say my line.” There is no internalization of his dialogue or understanding of the motivation for his movement. I realize that directors have little time in rehearsal to deal with these things, but at some point. . . if local actors are to learn and grow. . . SOMEBODY has to carve out some time to teach them what those things mean.
Nancy Holley as the play’s protagonist, Julia, lacks the depth of texture her character calls for. She’s all Pollyanna with no Aunt Polly. She also has a tendency to raise her voice to an unnatural level and play her sense of elderly ‘cuteness’ to the audience. It comes off as hammy and not crafted.
I’m not sure to what extent the leading performances is due to lack of direction or lack of direction-taking, but there were definitely some moments of awkward staging. At one point, Julia is hiding from Nurse Montcrief, but they are standing not 4 feet from one another on the same plane of the stage. The only obstacle is another actor between them. From the audience’s perspective, we’re wondering why Montcrief– who has been looking for Julia all night– doesn’t say something TO Julia. If Montcrief had been brought downstage with Kevin and Julia left upstage in a shadow, the ‘hiding’ would have worked. It’ s a simple bit of staging that should have been corrected by Lindersmith’s 30 years of experience.
Donny Graham’s first scene turn as the irascible Jack was quite engaging, until I became inured to the swearing and aware the halting as everyone tries to remember what lines go where. His performance was the highlight of the first act, however.
The nurses are very small parts in the first act, but Randi Saul-Olson and Melinda Hatfield are delightfully natural. Their characters are fully formed and responses are quite consistent. These two seemed to understand, more than anyone else, what style of play they were in.
I’m not sure I can say the same of Lesley Dyer’s Nurse Raymond. She only had two brief moments before the end of the first act. In those moments she matched Graham irascibility for irascibility and suddenly the moment seemed unbalanced. There was no foil, no contrast to make things interesting. A cold, calculated, eerily still Nurse Threatening would probably enhance the arc of the character more for the explosion I expect happened in Act II.
But as it is, overall, I had a hard time sitting still to watch this slow car wreck happen. There were two or three groups in the audience who were sincerely enjoying the show for what it was, others had a good chuckle here and there, a few more, like me, were cringing. And in such situations, having paid for my full 2-3 hours, I feel my time more profitably spent in the company of a charming young man over beers across the street.
Call me crazy.
