‘The Royale’ looks at how a boxer broke the color-line

I met Hank Aaron once. He was in Anaheim.  This was long after he had retired from the Milwaukee Brewers, long after he had broken Babe Ruth’s career home run record in 1974 while playing for the Atlanta Braves. I thought of Hank Aaron while watching “The Royale” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. “The Royale” isn’t about baseball or Hank Aaron, but this world premiere play is about breaking the barriers of race in sports (boxing) and the kind of racial hate that surrounded a legendary match which pitted white against black.

“The Royale” is a fictionalized account of Jack Johnson’s fight against Canadian boxer Tommy Burns. All the names are changed, but the issues remain the same: A white boxer had accepted the challenge of a black boxer for the heavyweight world championship.

In 1973-1974, Aaron received death threats and hate mail. Some people didn’t want to see a black man beat a record set by a white man such as Babe Ruth. Ruth’s widow, Claire Hodgson, felt her husband would have been cheering Aaron on. Ruth (b. 1895) died at age 53 in 1948.

Ruth was alive during John Arthur “Jack” Johnson’ heyday. He would have been about 13 when Johnson rose to prominence in 1908. Six years earlier, Baltimore-born Joe Gans had taken the World Lightweight Championship by beating Frank Erne. Gans (Gant) died in 1910 of tuberculosis while Johnson was raising hell.

After two years of taunting, Johnson fought Burns in Sydney, Australia. Burns was 5-foot-7. Johnson was six-foot-two. Burns actually didn’t adhere to the color-line. He had fought with black boxers before Johnson. He was paid $30,000 while Johnson received $5,000.

Burns’ defeat after 14 rounds was by a referee’s call and it set into motion a call for the Great White Hope. Finally, in 2010, another former heavyweight champion came out of retirement: James J. Jeffries. Jeffries had been retired for six years and had to lose some weight to get back into fighting shape.  The fight took places in Reno, Nevada on the 4th of July, with Jeffries losing after 15 rounds. It was this victory by Johnson that was the catalyst for riots. People, both black and white, died and hundreds were injured.

Johnson didn’t hide from the swirling controversy. He was flamboyant, dating and marrying white women–all three of his wives were white.  Johns fought professionally until he was sixty and then went on to earn money through private cellar fights until he was 67. He died at 68 and he wasn’t forgotten–Muhammad Ali remembered and was influenced by him.

In “The Royale,” playwright Marco Ramirez collapses these two bouts. Johnson becames Jay (David St. Louis). We never actually see his opponent, here renamed Bernard Bixby. Set and costume designer Andrew Boyce has built a thrust stage. The wood plank floors come out to form an approximation of a fighting ring, but without the ropes. The ring is also a percussion instrument, like an oversized drum.

Ameenah Kaplan is credited with the movement and rhythm was in the original off-Broadway American cast of “Stomp.” Kaplan incorporates African-American percussive stepping or step-dancing to abstractly recreate the fights and punctuate the social commentary and verbal exchanges between characters. Ramirez only needs five characters. St. Louis’ Jay is filled with a steady courage and the mental strength to insist on being equal in a world that accepts inequality between blacks and whites. His coach, Wynton (Robert Gossett), sees where Jay is going and is aware of the dangers ahead while Jay’s sparring partner and potential protegé, Fish (Desean Terry), can only see the positive in the breaking of the color-line. Jay has a white promoter, Max (Keith Szarabajka),  who is caught between Jay and the white establishment.

Then there the woman (Diarra Oni Kilpatrick), who lurks in the back of the stage and looks on with disapproval. We don’t know who this woman is until near the end of this 90-minute play, but her issues are heavy and far-reaching. You can’t help but wonder if Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson before him as well as Mohammed Ali and so many other barrier breaking athletes and, to lesser fan far, common day people didn’t feel the same oppression and how many before and after didn’t hesitate before such considerations.

“The Royale” is a enthralling blend of dance traditions (stepping) and socio-political prose that shows how one man faced the challenge of racism with great dignity by fighting one man at a time. Don’t miss this theatrical experience and be sure to go early to play the pre-play activities where you can decide to what worth fighting for and even throw a few punches and maybe even beat someone with a hook, jab or cross. “The Royale” continues until 2 June 2013.

Cavalia’s ‘Odysseo’ is a horse lovers dream

If you love horses like I do and have since I was a small girl, then you’ll want to go and see anything Cavalia does. Artistic director Normand Latourelle has created a wonderful setting that mixes the ethereal with the dare-doing.  Cavalia’s “Odysseo” is an odyssey to different lands and holds a few surprises–all enchanting. The show opens in Burbank, 27 February 2013 at 8 p.m.

I hesitate to give away these surprises. I am sure others will. I would like my readers to be just as awed as I was. So this is a spoiler alert. This is well worth seeing for animal lovers of all ages and people interesting in circuses and phenomenal staging. Go, go, go. Do not walk. Do not trot. Gallop as if you are in the last stretch at the Kentucky Derby or Secretariat breaking Sham’s heart at the Belmont Stakes.

The 10-story White Big Top has settled into Burbank–remember when they first came through Los Angeles and took over Glendale? Cavalia last came through Los Angeles in 2011. This show, “Odysseo,” began touring in the fall of 2011 beginning at home (Quebec) and then going to various cities (Miami, Atlanta, Toronto and Monterrey, Mexico), most recently Phoenix.

This time around there are 67 horses and an international cast of 44 artists. The 15,000 square-foot stage features a real carousel (first spoiler) and a 80,000-gallon lake. In the background is an intricate forest curtain through which one can see a video backdrop the size of 3 IMAX screens. We are at times,  just outside a forest, inside a forest and when the forest curtain draws to the side, on the vast plains. We can be on the steppes, in the wild West (movie fans will recognize the formations from many Westerns), in the deserts or in a marshland.

For the press, a one-hour program was presented but this alone was wonderful. Our program began with some jumping by some amazing acrobats, men on stilts and horses. From there, the show transitioned to a more meditative piece with one woman and nine Arabian horses doing a liberty–the horses without any harnesses or bridles being asked to do formations. Then the grand equestrian carousel of real horses takes us to green plains. You think getting dancers to line up and march in formation is hard, consider doing it with horses because it makes no horse sense. From the choreography of a horse carousel we go to an actual carousel but with humans doing an ethereal pole dance on rotating and static poles with vocals by Anna-Laura Edmiston. To switch up the action, there’s trick riding as the scenery takes us to the wild West. Verdoncq on Omerio does Haute-École and she’s eventually joined by other riders and horses. As always, I went away wanting more and wishing that I could own and train a horse.

Cavalia doesn’t just give horse and animal lovers something to dream about, Cavalia also gives back. This year, the show has donated 1,000 tickets to William Shatner’s “Priceline.com Hollywood Charity Horse Show presented by Wells Farbo” and I put that in quotes because that’s how Shatner introduces  it at every chance he gets. Shatner was there to accept those tickets that will go to children benefiting from the charities his horse show supports. Shatner commented this is “more than a horse show. It’s magic…The horse is a magical creature, very civilized but beneath that veneer of civilization, at a moment of non-attention, the wild animal re-appears. That’s the tension.”That was so true. During the Arabian liberty segment (Le Sédentaire) with trainer Elise Vergoncq six gray Arabians (Bravas, Chief, Gee Gee, Lover, Pearl, Shake, Silver, Gus and Frosty) all went through their paces, but the two at the end were not always doing their turns when asked and nipping each other in between the moves.

Tickets range from $34.50 to $159.50. On the Rendez-Vous VIP package ($154.50-$269.50) you enter a private tent near the Big Top and you get the best seats in the house, dinner prior to the show, an open bar, dessert at intermission and a photo opportunity with the artists and a tour of the “Cavalia’s Odysseo” stables. The inside of the tent is very comfy and you’ll have your own Cavalia gift shop with plenty of plush horses (but no puppets).

Cavalia’s “Odysseo” opens 27 February 2013 at 8 p.m.  and runs until 24 March 2013. Visit www.Cavalia.net for more information.

Get ready to get a little Gorey; Edwardian Ball returns to Los Angeles

Feeling a bit dark? Wishing for twisted romance and even a bit of dancing in costume? Paradox Media and Vau de Vire present the Los Angeles 203 Edwardian Ball on Saturday, 23 February 2013 at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood.

• Food memo for the Edwardian Ball

Who should come? Anyone who loves Edward Gorey because that’s the Edward in Edwardian. Goths, steam punk people and anyone who enjoys fractured fairytales that veer into the macabre will find the Edwardian Ball just their cup of absinthe. If you need an excuse to dress up, this ball is sure to please and if your costume isn’t quite right, well this is the perfect shopportunity.

The ball started in San Francisco where it is a two-day event held at the Regency Ballroom (18-19 January 2013). After 13 years, this event is well established. Last year, the Los Angeles event, was threatened by catastrophe–but not the kind that would be considered Gorey-esque. If we could find the dastardly Music Box owners who absconded with the pre-paid monies that Edwardian Ball hosts Rosin Coven and Vau de Vire Society put up and put them in black tie and tails and give them villainous moustaches that might help.

• Fable of the Edwardian Ball

The owners actually left about 15 pre-booked in the lurch and the Los Angeles one-day edition of the Edwardian Ball was re-scheduled in one month and staged at a 21-and-over only venue, the Belasco Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Switching to the Belasco and coming up with the money last year was “very challenging” according to Justin Katz.  ”It was too much to ask to cover all the expenses” after having lost their payment in full with the Music Box. “The Edwardian Ball team really came through,” Katz said with pride.

The first Los Angeles Edwardian Ball was in 2009 and according to Justin Katz in a phone interview in 2011 that event was as “about as easy to produce an event in a bomb crater.” The next ball, 2011, was at the Music Box with about 20 vendors and many of the same acts who perform at the San Francisco ball.

In a more recent phone interview, Katz stated that despite the problems with the Music Box management, the organizers consider the Fonda Theatre the perfect venue. “The Ford is under the direct management of the Golden Voices and we’ve worked with the Golden Voices in San Francisco and they are wonderful people.”

If you came last year, this year promises to be better with a completely different show. As always, the Edwardian Ball takes a Gorey story and uses it as a theme. This year’s theme is “The Doubtful Guest.” Unfamiliar with the story? See the link below:

Perhaps you’re disappointed that Los Angeles has only one day of all that’s Gorey. Consider that Los Angeles is the first step in what might be a road show. According to Katz this in-and-out one-day festivity might pave the way for additional shows. The Edwardian Ball folk would love to do New York City or Seattle or Portland. “I dream of what we could do in New Orleans,” Katz revealed. Oh, wouldn’t that be just the place to get gothic in a hot and humid, possibly vampirish way? “Each city has a unique flavor,” Katz explained and should the Edwardian Ball become a road show, the cast and crew would respond to the character of the city.

So get ready for an entirely new show with entirely new fashion. Katz advises, “Have fun dressing up. There’s no right or wrong way to dress for the Edwardian Ball. Choose something outside of your everyday life. Be playful with your own character.”

You might be able to add a bit to your costume by finding a great hat or hairpiece at the show. Come early because the show begins when the doors open and the ballroom dancing usually starts before the show. Don’t forget to sign up for a tarot card reading by Owl Tree. The sign up fills up fast. You’ll also get a chance to record your finery at a portrait booth.

The Los Angeles 2013 Edwardian Ball includes the following vendors:

*Coppersmith Design

*Lyons Mercantile & Steampunk Jewelry Co.

*Momotique

*Edwardian Ball Merchandise – featuring many limited addition items!

An intellectual outing with Freud and C.S. Lewis

Sigmund Freud is, like it or not, part of pop culture from the stereotype of the bearded-German-accented psychiatrist to the mere mention of “penis envy” or Freudian slip. C.S. Lewis has his place in pop culture as well, as part of children’s English literature–with a few Narnia novels recently committed to the silver screen. Yet C.S. Lewis was also serious thinker and in “Freud’s Last Session,” playwright Mark St. Germain constructs a tightly wound polite confrontation between a gloomy atheist of Jewish descent and an optimistic Christian thinker.

Running until 10 February 2013 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, this play is about a meeting that Freud reportedly had with a young Oxford professor. The professor wasn’t identified, but what if it had been Lewis?  Dr. Armand M. Nicholl Jr., a clinical professor psychiatry at Harvard Medical tackles that possibility in his 2002 book ”The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life,” and if you  (like me) haven’t read the book, St. Germain has provided his summation in a lively intellectual sword fight between two great minds of last century. Think of them as the dark knight for atheists and the white knight for Christianity. This isn’t a commentary on their race or ethnicity.

The year is 1939 and Europe is already in turmoil. The U.S. won’t enter World War II until the very last month of 1941, but Europe was already involved. Italy had invaded Ethiopia (1935), the Spanish Civil War was ending, Japan had invaded China just two years earlier (1937) and continued on into the Soviet Union and Mongolia (1938). On 1 September 1939, Germany (and Slovakia) attacked Poland. Two days later, on 3 September 1939, France, Great Britain (and the British Commonwealth of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Australia) declared war against Germany.

St. Germain chooses this very day for the two men to meet: Freud is 83 years old and is painfully dying of inoperable cancer; Professor Lewis is 40 and converted from atheism less than a decade earlier at 33. Freud’s cancer had first been detected in 1923 and was caused by his oral fixation–initially cigarettes and eventually cigars. Although advised to quit, he did not or could not.

By September 1939, the cancer had spread and the pain was nearly unbearable. Judd Hirsch plays Freud as a man whose mind is darkened by physical discomfort and the exile.  Since taking control of Germany  in 1933, the Nazis had been burning books, including those written by Freud. In 1938 Austria was under Nazi control. Freud and his family left Vienna in stages that year and  settled in North London. Not all of Freud’s family was able to escape the Nazis. His four sisters would die in the concentration camps.

C.S. Lewis was an Irishman who was born in Belfast to the daughter of an Anglican priest.  He went to Oxford University on scholarship in 1916. As an Irishman, coming to England had been a culture shock to him. In 1917, he left college life and volunteered for the British Army and fought in the Somme Valley, France trenches where he lost two friends and was wounded by friendly fire. Lewis had made a pact with a friend–the survivor would care for the other’s family. Lewis lived, his friend Paddy Moore, did not. Paddy’s mother, Jane, became like a mother to Lewis (his real mother died when he was a child and his father was distant). Some speculated, she was also his lover.

St. Germain sets the tone of the play with Freud listening to the BBC radio transmission in his study. Although we are in North London, the room is a replica of his study in Vienna, courtesy of his daughter Anna.  Antiquities clutter the book-filled room. The radio announcer tells us “There is still no official response to the Prime Minister’s ultimatum that all troopers be immediately withdrawn from Poland.”

Lewis is late due to the relative chaos of trains leaving London to take children and hospital patients to the countryside for safety. Fans of Narnia will find this scenario familiar because if figures in Lewis’ first book.

Freud’s wife and housekeeper have gone to find canned goods in preparation for the shortages of war. Freud’s doctor will be arriving soon, so the two do not have much time together and Freud, due to his health and age, doesn’t feel that postponing this little meeting is feasible.

Lewis has come at Freud’s request and guesses the topic is his “Pilgrim’s Regress” that might have “offended” Freud. Lewis satirizes Freud with Sigismunde,  a  character of “bombastic self importance.”  Lewis apologizes quickly if Freud took it as a personal attack, but he can’t apologize for “taking issue with your world view that completely contradicts my own.”

Yet Freud didn’t bother to read Lewis’ book; he only received a report from his Cambridge friend. Not the best research methodology and Freud’s lack of first-hand knowledge puts Lewis at a distinct disadvantage. He must concede by explaining himself to Freud whereas Lewis has read Freud and is already equipped with an informed opinion–Lewis makes a quick joke about it. Freud the reveals he has read Lewis’ essay on “Paradise Lost” and acknowledges it was “quite well written with many original observations.”

I don’t know where you might stand on matters of religion. I am religious and believe in a God and found comfort during dark times by listening to Lewis’ tales of Narnia even though I am not Christian. Unlike Lewis’ fellow Inkling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis gave prominent roles to women, even if his characterizations also had a slightly dated view of them and there’s more than a hint of racism involved in his Chronicles of Narnia.  I am not a fan of Freud and feel he had a troubling view of women. Penis envy? Really? When women are more likely to be multi-orgastic?

Yet both men had questionable relationships with women. With Freud, he seemed closer to his daughter Anna than to his wife and Anna would, as the smart daughter, devote her life to her father. Lewis had a curious relationship with his deceased friend’s mother but would much later marry a woman quite a bit younger than himself. St. Germain touches on Lewis and Mrs. Moore in the play but Lewis plays the gentleman so the conversation doesn’t get down and dirty.

I’ve always pictured Lewis as a fatherly or almost grandfatherly figure based on his Narnia books. He was 5-foot-10 3/4 and 180 when he was inducted into the military in 1917.  Tom Cavanagh is a bit taller and about the right age (49). Judd Hirsch is six-foot and  younger than Freud at 77. Sigmund Freud was only 5-foot-8.

Hirsch’s Freud seems to be oppressed by the formality of his clothes–he wears a heavy dark three-piece suit. His Freud’s attempts at humor fail. Cavanagh’s Lewis stands taller than Freud, with an open stance and his pale face shines like a hopeful light set against the gloom of both war and a battle of faith against atheism.

St. Germain doesn’t give clear victory to either side and both men thrust and parry without resorting to strong language or violence and director Tyler Marchant respects this balance.  Considering the showboating that could occur with Hirsch, Tyler modulates the personalities on stage and I was left with the distinct impression that Hirsch was considerably shorter than Cavanagh, which is, at least according to IMDB, not the case. They are the same height. The extent of Freud’s illness is a mitigating factor in Lewis’ attack and we see this clearly in Cavanagh’s portrayal. They both feel the threat of the coming war although Freud doesn’t seem aware of the possibility of post-traumatic stress syndrome in Lewis, what was called shell shock at the time. But this seems to inform Cavanagh’s performance.

St. Germain leaves us with the darkening future of both Europe and Freud. The play ends with Freud listening to the BBB radio broadcast of King George announcing Great Britain’s entry into war and asking for God’s blessing. Freud then listens to the BBC Orchestra playing Percy Whitlock’s “Ballet of the Wood Creatures,” something he might not have done before his conversation with Lewis. This had an added poignancy; Whitlock would only survive the war by one year, dying in 1946, but the very title of his composition should suggest Narnia to Lewis fans.

In real life, Freud requested an overdose of morphine from his fellow doctor and friend Max Schur and on 22 September 1939, he was dead.

“Freud’s Last Session” is not light fare, but for those interested in either man or in the issues of love, science and religion, St. Germain’s play is given a powerful production and in its west coast premiere, Cavanagh and Hirsch give revealing, nuanced performances that are a special rare treat. “Freud’s Last Session” continues until 10 February at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

‘Stuffed and Unstrung’ is improvised insanity with Miskreant Puppets

Did you grow up with Jim Henson and his Muppets? Do you still love puppets? Do you own puppets? Gather them up and take them out to the Irvine Barclay Theatre for a bit of adult humor this weekend with “Stuffed and Unstrung.” There’s even a special New Year’s Eve show.

Leave the kiddies at home because the fun might include references to sex, STDs, and more sex along with lots of four-lettered words. Expect a liberal sprinkling of the f-word, the s-word and as for topics–anything goes and the audience often gets to vote on the choices.

Produced by WestBeth Entertainment and Henson Alternative, “Stuffed and Unstrung,” has Muppet-like puppets under the leadership of award-winning director, producer and writer, Brian Henson–Jim Henson’s son. Emcee Patrick Bristow asks for audience suggestions and even takes a few volunteers as six Jim Henson Company Puppeteers guide The Miskreant Puppets through their paces. They even have time for a few classics.

The stage is set up so that you can see the puppeteers as well as two screens which show just the puppets. If you were curious about mechanics and choreography of Muppetry, this is the show for you. Performances also include a celebrity.

There’s singing, there’s dancing and the direction of the mayhem all depends upon the audience. Call it mob mentality or group think. The end result is the same: A different show every night. The cost isn’t that bad either with special pricing for the young and for those wanting to be pampered.

For New Year’s Eve, the show ends with a live telecast from Times Square and a countdown by the Miskreant Puppets.

“Stuffed and Unstrung” continues until 31 December 2012 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA. Saturday, 29 December5 2012 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, 30 December 2012 at 4 p.m. and Monday, 31 December 2012 at 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, tickets are $38-$45. Special pricing for patrons under 30 (Saturday-Sunday only), $23-$30. Special Gold Seats (with admission to the Gold Bar and complimentary beverages) for $100. For more info, go to www.stuffedandunstrung.com.

Can ‘Kitten in a Cage’ captivate online audiences?

One of the most intellectually stimulating theater groups in Los Angeles over the last decade has been Circle X. That X is not for X-rated, but more like an X on a map where the treasure is buried. The group hasn’t had a home theater and are a bit like vagabonds. They first came to my attention with the “Great men of Science Nos. 21 & 22″ by Glenn Berger. Then there was ” In Flagrante Gothicto” and though time and money have forced me to miss some more recent productions, it’s always with much regret.

It would seem natural that some theater people would turn to the web, where drama lives in a manner less ephemeral than most small theater performances.

Two of the original Circle X group are doing just that: award-winning actress, playwright and director Jillian Armenante and award-winning artistic director, producer and actor  Jim Anzide recently launched Stoic Entertainment. They say to think Swiss Army Knife meets production company.   This production team was responsible for some of the most memorable plays to hit Los Angeles in the last two decades,  including “Great Men of Science Nos. 21 & 22″ by Glenn Berger, “In Flagrante Gothicto” and the hit musical “Laura Comstock’s Bag Punching Dog” by Armenante/Dodd and most recently “Love Loves A Pornographer” by Jeff Goode.

 

Their new project is “Kittens In A Cage” which is based on the play by Kelleen Conway Blanchard.  At its Annex Theatre world premiere  in Seattle, “Kittens” garnered praise for its “caustic humor,” “unspeakable deeds” and sometimes for it’s “outright lunacy.”. Armenante was a member of Annex Theatre for almost a decade before relocating to Los Angeles and teaming up with Circle X.

 

Stoic Entertainment’s web series, “Kittens in a Cage” will be shot like a feature film and cut into at least two seasons of webisodes.  It boasts an incredible cast of film, television and stage stars such as Lauren Weedman (“The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, “Hung”), Rebecca Field (“The Client List,” “American Reunion)”, La Toya London (American Idol Finalist, “The Color Purple” –Ovation Award winner 2012), Gigi Bermingham (“Dearly Departed,” “CSI”), Jillian Armenante (“Judging Amy,” “Girl Interrupted”) and many more.

 

Weekly special guest stars include Joel McHale (“Community,” “The Soup,” “Ted”), Amy Brenneman (“Judging Amy,” “Private Practice”) Michaela Watkins (“SNL,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine”) and Constantine Maroulis (American Idol Finalist, “Rock of Ages,” “Jekyll & Hyde”).  Many more cameo surprises are to be revealed.

 

Want to help out? Stoic Entertainment has begun a Kickstarter campaign.

Of course, it is a gamble. Can “Kittens in a Cage” captivate online audiences? We never seem to tire of cute kitten videos and even had a contest, so why not? With Circle X vets Jillian Armenante and Jim Anzide, it’s bound to be provocative.

Circle X is one of the best theater groups in Los Angeles, specializing in small productions that tweak your gray cells. They are throwing a fundraising Circle X Holiday Party this Monday evening, December 17th.

Instead of a year-end donation appeal, they’re giving you something for your buck. A party to benefit the extension of Bad Apples and say ‘happy holidays’ to their friends.

The party will feature a live performance by local legend Slugger O’Toole, free food, and a cash bar, followed by karaoke.

Click here to buy advance $10 tickets.

Can’t go but want to support Circle X? Please consider a year-end contribution. Donations will go toward re-opening Bad Apples on Jan. 11, 2013.

Click here or mail a check to 3269 Casitas Ave., LA CA 90039. Thank you!
Holiday Party Details:
Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., 90039
Monday, Dec. 17, 8:00pm-midnight
$10 in advance, $15 at the door

‘Cymbeline’ soars with Fiasco at Broad Stage

Instead of depending upon the buffonery to resolve the thematic problems of Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline,” the Fiasco Theater’s production brings top notch musicality and timing for a bracing, well-edited love story. This is an extremely spare production conceived by Jessie Austrian, Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, so if costumes are your favorite type of eye candy, you’re doomed for disappointment. Lovers of words and vocal harmony will be delighted.

Directors Brody and Steinfeld begin us with a song–it’s the usual warning about cell phones but done with exceptional style and sets the tone. Costume designer Whitney Locher sets the tone for the evening–low key browns and beiges with some white. The men’s pants and the women’s dresses could pass for normal fair in the Midwest and pass without a comment in Los Angeles. The set pieces are various trunks (designed by Jacques Roy) and some of them are trickier than others, giving us a bloodless and even amusing beheading.

There are not usually beheadings in Shakespearean romances, especially those that end happily. That’s just one of the tricky parts of this particular play. Cymbeline (Andy Grotelueschen) is the name a king of Britain, who reigned during time when the Roman Empire still included England. Yet the king is not the main character of this play; his children are.

Cymbeline had three children. His two sons were abducted and are believed dead. His only child is a daughter, Imogen (Jessie Austrian), who is in love with the poor Posthumus (Noah Brody). Imogen and Posthumus married without the consent of the king and the king banishes Posthumus. Posthumus flees to Rome. In Rome, he makes a bet with the Italian Iachimo (Ben Steinfeld), betting that Imogen will be faithful and chaste against Iachimo’s attempts to seduce her.

Iachimo travels to England and meets Imogene, but does not seduce her. Instead, he contrives to fool Posthumus who then orders his servant (Paul L. Coffey) to kill her. Oh, how quickly love turns to hate and malicious gossip accepted as fact. And that is one of the main problems of this play.

The other is the fate of the odious stepbrother of Imogen. When Cymbeline was widowed, he remarried and the current queen (Emily Young) has a son, Cloten (Grotelueschen). The queen plots to have Imogen marry Cloten because then her son would be king, but we soon enough learn that Cloten is not fit to be king.

That untidy thread is cut short; Cloten dies for boorish behavior and his mother is also dead by the end of the play. What Cloten did was, in the manners of the time, perfectly acceptable if he had just been insulting peasants, but he wasn’t.

This is the second production of “Cymbeline” that has been presented this fall in Los Angeles. Both had ensemble members play more than one role. Now in this case Cloten looks suspiciously like Cymbeline (they are, after all, played by the same actor). This makes one suspect that perhaps there was some hanky panky and Cloten might be a prince (and thus ends up killing his half-brothers).

In the case of another recent production of “Cymbeline” by our resident classical theater group, A Noise Within, Cloten and Posthumus were played by the same actor. Posthumus was played straight, but Posthumus was a ridiculous fop.  That production was less successful in keeping an even tone to this play and dealing with the thematic problems. It was certainly more colorful with period costuming.

Yet Fiasco Theater’s usage of music with the players singing in tight harmonies makes smooth transitions and many of the players also play instruments (guitars, banjos, etc.). The fight scenes also have some surprises (Noah Brody is also the fight director). These players are essentially good musicians who have perfectly matched the melodic lines of Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline” with luscious transitions of beautiful vocals and acoustic music.

“Cymbeline” continues until 23 December 2012 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For more information, visit the Broad Stage website.

 

‘Twist Your Dickens!’ will tweak your funny bone

How many versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” can you see before you want to say “bah humbug” to all the hoopla? Even if you’re not as anti-Christmas as the Grinch, you might want something a little different to celebrate the holidays. Chicago’s Second City’s “A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!” is like a wicked blending of the famous fable with more recent holiday traditions for an adult and sometimes non-PC theatrical event.

This retelling of “A Christmas Carol” is interrupted by scenes from other Christmas traditions and even a faux heckler. Expect the fourth wall to be broken, some improv to audience suggestions and a special guest appearance by various celebrities. A version of George Bailey will appear and so too will Charlie Brown and his gang.

Costume designer Leah Piehl has fun with plaid and intentionally crosses over decades with more than a few pointed anachronisms but it’s all part of the fun.  Writers Peter Gwin and Bobby Mort are affectionately lampooning our holiday traditions, pointing out contradictions and giving a contemporary vibe to the whole proceedings (one of the spirits is Spandex clad hair heavy metal).

Under the direction of Marc Warzecha this ensemble cast (Frank Caeti, Larry Joe Campbell, Dan Cstellaneta, Amanda Blake Davis, Brian Stepanek, and Jean Villepique) tackles more than one role (except for Ron West who plays Ebenezer Scrooge), but have the same crazy zeal that borders on barely controlled frenzied insanity.

“A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!” continues until 30 December 2012 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Bare-bones ‘Hamlet’ a fresh adaptation

I alway hate driving into Santa Monica, but I also love Shakespeare and the promise of a fresh interpretation of “Hamlet” took me to the Broad Stage for a production by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. This production is worth braving L.A. traffic, but don’t put off too long. “Hamlet” only runs until Nov. 25.

Directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst, this is a brash, fast-paced presentation that embraces its theatrical roots. We aren’t asked to believe we’re in Denmark. In the center of the stage, there is another stage, one built of unpainted planks as if we were in a ramshackle old building where a group of players performs. They can’t afford elaborate costumes (costume and set design by Jonathan Fensom), but make due with minor changes as they tromp the boards in their subdued colored clothes (except for Ophelia’s bright yellow dress).   The props and costumes hang on one of the three sides of this stage-within-a-stage. There’s a faded red curtain on each side which is drawn to good effect for the Players’ segment for the performance of “The Murder of Gonzogo.” All cast members take on more than one role except for Michael Benz who plays the title character Hamlet.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. “Hamlet” takes place in Elsinore, the castle where Hamlet senior once reigned as king. His spirit appears to guards outside that castle and we know that ghosts only come back for a reason. King Hamlet was soon replaced by his brother Claudius (Dickon Tyrrell) who married  the widowed queen Gertrude (Miranda Foster) so soon, the prince Hamlet (Benz) jokes that “Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats. Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.”

In “Hamlet,” we have three sons who must honor their fathers.  The second son is the impetuous Laertes (Matthew Romain) who bids farewell to his sister Ophelia (Carlyss Peer) by warning her to guard her virtue against Hamlet’s hot pursuit. Their father Polonius gives Laertes advice before he leaves. Polonius believes Hamlet’s melancholy stems from his infatuation with Ophelia. Yet the ghost of Hamlet senior has informed Hamlet of his brother Claudius’ treachery. Prince Hamlet has murder on his mind.

Hamlet will mistakenly kill Polonius and Ophelia will also die. This sets Laertes on the course for revenge, something that Claudius uses to his advantage. The third son is one we only hear of until the end: Fortinbras (Peter Bray) is a prince who seeks to reclaim land that was lost under his father’s rule when King Hamlet killed King Fortinbras in a battle that occurred before the opening of this play.

The play is 2 hours and 40 minutes and yet seems to race along, making Benz’s Hamlet seem less mopey. Benz is blonde, slender and athletic and his Hamlet is not over-analyzing the situation so much as trying to come to terms with his mother’s role and destruction of his world. His Hamlet sees only tragedy ahead for himself. Peer brings a poignant intelligence to Ophelia. What helps make this production so upbeat and lively despite the number of corpses that litter the stage at the end, is the original score by Laura Forrest-Hay and composer arranger Bill Barclay. The actors also dance at the beginning and ending (choreography by Sian Williams).

In all this is a tale well-told and well-worth telling. Get up and go before Nov. 25 when  ”Hamlet” closes. Try to be there early, because the Globe Theatre has a special surprise before the show. There’s nothing musty about this adaptation of Shakespeare’s story. “Hamlet” continues until Nov. 25 at the Broad Stage Theatre, 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica. Unlike most theaters, Broad Stage is not dark on Mondays.

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