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| L - R Danny Siegel, Lucy Walsh, Chad Doreck, Abigail Kochunas - Photos by Mathew Caine @ Studio Digitrope |
After watching the performance, I wondered; is the material by Renée
Taylor and Joseph Bologna from practical experience or is this just hearsay? If
it is from experience, they have had a wonderful life. If it is hearsay, they must have had some really
intimate and talkative friends. – Narrator
There’s no question, no question that I had a wonderful time
at the party, the Love Allways
party. I don’t know where to begin, only
that I have to begin, somewhere near the beginning. And saying too much would
give so much away. You’ll just have to show up and laugh.
Jamaica Moon Prods. And the GGC Players present the Los Angeles
Premiere of Love Allways by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna directed by Gloria
Gifford at the Gray Theatre in North Hollywood through April 23, 2017.
The play is a lot of lovely nuance, cleverly disguised in
vignettes, about the truth in relationships. The material by Renée Taylor and
Joseph Bologna rings a comedic and sincere genuineness about life and love in
intimate settings. There is a lot to enjoy from this outing.
My gosh, it seemed like there were ten thousand actors in
this show! Actually, it’s 51 actors. There is a challenge of watching so many
actors on a given night. Multiple night
viewings would suit the purpose of taking it all in. One will give it my best, but no guarantees.
The characters came down from the door, into the room, and
nestled in the comfort of someone’s home. (We’ll have to talk about that
opening later.) They were characters all dolled up, the men with shirts opened
down to the navel and everyone, I mean everyone, was on the prowl, with hardly
a decent refined character in the bunch. That uncomfortable feeling of being
single is personified at the party.
So, where do we find ourselves? This is the nightly soiree we
have come to know as Eleanor’s Magical Moment.
Eleanor’s Magical
Moment
The pushing and moving of singles bodies is the sole
objective to attract mates. In this gathering,
the pickings appear to be slim, slightly unnerving if one is looking for a sole
mate. Watching young married beings on
the prowl for single encounters is always appealing because mistakes will be
made.
But the thought of hooking up with a single man or woman at
this party seems as unappetizing as crackers in bed. That’s where Eleanor (Tejaja Signori) and
Herb (Danny Siegel) come in. They are
married, but not to each other, and Herb can’t get Eleanor out of his mind.
He’s thinking of having that one magical moment with Eleanor, of finding the
time, and then consummating the relationship.
So when their marriage partners, Betty (Cynthia San Luis)
and Larry (Jeff Hamansaki Brown), suddenly leave the room, Herb makes his move.
Love of Susan’s Life
Stud-ly Nick (Nevada Schaefer) has got everything going for
him except his girlfriend Susan (Raven Bowens).
“You’re not the girl for me.
It’s all over.” – Nick
To say this hits Susan the wrong way is a bit of an understatement. And so she pleads for their relationship to
continue. And in almost chameleon-like fashion, she changes herself into what
he wants her to be.
Groveling is not an attractive vocation.
Tony & Madelaine
Hollywood is a lush life lived lasciviously. Oh but it can be so cruel, so cruel when, off
the cuff remarks are made, lives are hurt, and relationships are scarred, left
to fester, until they are miraculously unscarred again.
Actors!
Tony (Chad Doreck) and Madelaine (Jade Warner) are actors. They are the finest of the fine, the cream of
the crop, but now they are down on their movie luck – think Elizabeth Taylor
and Richard Burton after Cleopatra. Sullied
words about bad acting are thrown about. But, as long as they are praised by
their entourage (Joshua Farmer, Jose Fillippone, Kelly Musslewhite, and Deidra
Shanell), they are like luscious crops, but instantaneously wither when
criticism punctures their ballooned ego.
Naytheless, they are actors, and they can give just as they receive!
Maureen’s Gift
Two young people can have as much fun on a couch as humanly
possible except when there’s some sort of conflict. Two lovers in love, Maureen (Justine Estrada)
and Eddie (Marlin Chan), have been dying to make it, to consummate their love,
but something always gets in the way. Maybe they were not made for each other.
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| Michael Barker, Samiyah Swann |
Benny and The Woman
Woman (Samiyah Swann) sits quietly on a bench when Benny
(Michael Barker) approaches. The two may
have much in common, or out of common, depending on your perspective. They connect on a visceral level, neither really
communicating with the other, both slightly mentally incapacitated, but willing
to accept each other as they are until they don’t.
“It’s hurts to be alone. Goodbye.” Woman
Is this relationship the beginning or the end?
Biff, Dickie, Carmel
& Roberta
For the last five years, these happy vacationers have been
going on trips. Biff (Danny Seigel) and
Dickie (Jeff Hamasaki Brown) have been having the most fun on their vacation
but their wives are getting a little tired of their antics. On the face of it,
you would think the only happy couple in this resort town were the two inseparable
men. Their wives, Carmel (Lucy Walsh)
and Roberta (Lauren Plaxco) are tired of not spending enough time with their
respective spouses.
The “snorting” thing is possibly one reason Biff would run
into the arms of another man.
Act II plays out in a bedroom in a bungalow of a Club Med
resort. Director Gloria Gifford should
find a creative way to move the actors in and out without having to make the
bed each time, which becomes repetitive and unnecessary.
Bungalow 1
Steven (Haile D’Alan) and Loretta (Keturah Hamilton) are
married but when Steven comes in, someone other than his wife (Tracey Nelson)
is lying on their bed. (Not sure how this scene works in a bungalow but it feels
like someone’s home.)
Loretta walks in with a number of bags of items she has
bought. They proceed to discuss their relationship and why she is buying all
those things, really a lot of things considering her source of income.
Steven then begins to lay out the rules of a successful relationship
and I don’t think Loretta is getting anything of his instructions.
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| L - R Irini Gerakas, Jeff Hamasaki Brown, Joe Filippone |
Bungalow 2
Possibly a reality show is being filmed in Bungalow 2 with
us as a live studio audience – You Waste
Your Life hosted by Eddie (Joe Filippone) featuring an unlikely couple in a
role playing situation, Bill Froth (Jeff Hamansaki Brown) and his wife Mary
Froth (Irini Gerakas).
I’m a little lost on why this is filmed in a bungalow and why
there is a studio audience. That said there were some very nice things going on
in this scene.
Bungalow 3
Mario (Nadeem Deeb) is going to get to the meat of the
matter and Yvetter (Kasia Pilewicz) has other ideas.
“I’m no good.” – Mario
“I love you.” – Yvette
A man and a woman lost in a relationship, of not knowing who
the other is – a “lost cause in Czechoslovakia.”
Bungalow 4
Jimmy (Sam Mansour) and Evelyn (Hayley Ambriz) are caught in
bungalow 4 testing their love. They want
to know about each other’s past sexual experiences. Jimmy, from another country, is old school and
Evelyn is not a saint.
Mansour, Syrian, has an unusual and likeable face. He reminds me a lot of Danny Thomas. This plays well in the scene as an
overbearing man trying to take control of something he really has no control
over, a woman with a, slightly kinky, sexual past.
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| Antonio Roccucci and Kelly Musslewhite |
Bungalow 5
There is something wrong with Marilyn (Kelly
Musslewhite). She is either confused, bi-polar,
or thinks this marriage is the worst mistake of her life. The one thing this newlywed is certain is
that she is not certain about anything. Her husband, David (Antonio Roccucci), can
only listen to her rants, gnaws on Twinkies and relieves her fears.
Although, mostly silent on stage, Roccucci has a very commanding
presence which is half of the battle. The other half is; how can you argue with
a gorgeous woman in a negligee on your honeymoon when there are other pressing
matters at hand. C’est impossible!
Bungalow 6
He (George Benedict) and She (Nancy Vivar). What am I to make of a scene with the
characters named “He” and “She”? He was attractive. She was as well. They were in bed having a conversation,
wanting something from each other.
Bungalow 7
Intimacy is something learned over the course of a
relationship between two people but there’s four people in this bed Herb (Danny
Siegel), Stuart (Chad Doreck), Erica (Lucy Walsh) and Joanne (Abigail Kochunas)
and Joanne is the only one who has not reached orgasm.
Joanne has got to make her feelings known, first to her
husband Stuart, and then to the other married couple in bed.
The performance featured a diverse group of actors putting
it all out there, laying it on the line, and giving it their best, in tight
fitting, cleavage revealing garments, in all shapes and sizes, and for all
occasions. This was truly a night for
laughs.
The performances and the direction by Gloria Gifford
indicate that there’s more work to be done. It would help to take some of the moments
to extremes and making the endings ambiguous so the audience can think what
they want to think about the way the relationship ends so we see hope for the
next encounter. For example, I am not sure Eleanor in Eleanor’s Magical Moment
had that moment. If she did, I missed
it.
Also, in Benny and The Woman, the scene ends without a
resolution, ambiguous or not.
The “snorting” in Biff, Dickie, Carmel & Roberta scene
doesn’t move the characters to react, doesn’t progress the scene, and has no
resolution.
This is a play where the actors can create multi-level characters
which are bold. It’s really not enough to resemble the character. The
characters must be defined in the way they love always, a major through line of
the vignettes. Bring the love and give
us something different, very different.
And, we really have to work on the opening to set the stage of what we are about to receive. Lights out, have the actors take a position, accentuate the character and Love Always.
The actors in this production are ripe for television. Danny
Siegel fits in brilliantly in his scenes and favors Joe Bologna. Others whose
work was exceptional were Chad Doreck, Jade Warner, Sam Mansour, Lucy Walsh,
Kelly Musslewhite, Antonio Roccucci, Michael Barker, Samiyah Swann, Tracey
Nelson and Jeff Hamasaki Brown.
Also, I don’t get Jeff Brown’s middle name “Hamasaki”. Is that a reference to a sandwich and rice
wine? Hama mean beach in Japanese. So, is it Saki on the beach, perhaps? (Also, Jeff,
new headshots are in order. The one in
the program does not look like you. Was
this a misprint?)
Other actors who were in the production but may not have
been mentioned are Alyssa Brown, Billy Budinich, Aaron Burriss, Leana Chavez,
Heather Compton, Yvette De Vito, Sonia Diaz, Lindy Fujimoto, Dylan George,
Genevieve Joy, McKenzie Druse, Chirstian Maltez, Maya Moore,
Nakta Pahlevan Benito Paje, Gershon Roebuck, Justin Truesdale, Keith Walker,
Teagan Wilson and Diva Yazdian. This is certainly a diverse group of actors.
The crew are as follows:
Gloria Gifford and Lucy Walsh – Set Design
Chris Rivera – Lighting
Philip Sokoloff – Publicist
Kasia Pilewicz and Gloria Gifford – Costumes
Kasia Pilewicz – Hair/Makeup
Tracey Nelson and Samiyah Swann – House Manager
Keith Walker & Justin Truesdale – Stage Management
Tahlia McCollum – Box Office
And just a note about the outside crew. They were marvelous in the way they were
welcoming to the Gray Theatre
Run! Run! And take
someone who likes a little conflict under the sheets!
ONLINE TICKETING: www.tix.com
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