Afterglow by S. Asher Gelman

 

Noah Bridgestock (l) Nathan Mohebbi photos by Mati Gelman

By Joe Straw

 

Afterglow is defined as good feelings remaining after a pleasurable or successful experience.

 

The one remarkable thing about this production is the effective scenic design by Ann Beyersdorfer in the intimate space of the Hudson Theatre. Stage left and right walls are structured opening to brick walls lined with pulsating lights and the upstage wall is a reflective wall mirroring the audience which slides open from time to time. A neon lit bed is suddenly raised, after use, to the ceiling, becoming a working shower center stage that drains through a grate into the floor.  The lined floor later becomes translucent, with florescent lighting giving us an entirely new place. There are a number of location changes from one apartment to the next, then up on the roof, to an office space somewhere in the city. Most changes are made with the effective use of water resistant cubes. A huge amount of time, money, and effort went into the thinking and construction of the space and demands a significant applause.

 

Midnight Theatrical with S. Asher Gelman presents Afterglow written and directed by S. Asher Gelman at the Hudson Theatre through June 19^th, 2022.

 

Alex (James Hayden Rodriguez) and Josh (Noah Bridgestock) are happily married. But with upcoming changes in their lives they have a problem not immediately known to them yet.  They invite Darius (Nathan Mohebbi) into their bed, in their apartment, a short-term ravishing interaction lasting as long as a hurried moment. Clothes and shoes, and underwear strewn across their apartment floor, hurriedly discarded in a lustful examination of bodies and breath. A ravishing encounter of licentious examination, culminating in unrestrained excitement, played behind a curtain before the screen drops from the ceiling, exposing them, to one harsh reality.

 

Silence.

 

They embrace; all are nude and bask in the moment of afterglow before Alex comes to an uncomfortable realization. He decides to leave the moment, completely satisfied that this may be a one shot deal, moves to take a shower first, but leaves his husband behind with Darius.  This gives Josh and Darius a moment to enjoy each other, an interaction that may play beyond a discarded dalliance.  

 

Before Alex steps back into the room, Josh feels the need to arrange another meeting with Darius again the following day. His job doesn’t have a timetable, he has the afternoon free and because he and his husband have an open relationship they decide to meet.

 

The married team has a rule with casual acquaintances, no sleepovers.   

 

They step back into their clothes and reality, the husband team is facing middle-age now and they are expecting a surrogate baby soon so things seems to be moving in a direction where they will need to act in a united front and start getting things ready to have a baby move in with them. But it appears that nothing is moving in that direction.

 

Josh is the financially stable one and provides for his husband who is in college.  Josh is also in the arts, casting, directing and acting. His schedule varies and he is free to see Darius, who works as a masseuse. Their encounter relives the night before, excited to be near each other they dance, excited to be in each other’s sphere they touch.

 

Later, Alex decides to get a massage from Darius but it seems to be for a fact-finding mission to find out what’s going on between his husband and another man who doesn’t squarely fit into his picture.  The afterglow from their earlier encounter seems to be dissipating.

 

Without coming right out and saying it Alex lets it be know that he is unhappy, that he cannot be instantly happy when Josh greets him at the door. Alex wants Josh to end the relationship with Darius.  That’s when things move a direction for which there is no turning back.

 

There is a lot to enjoy about this production, how a relationship beyond a threesome may never work out to anyone’s complete satisfaction, especially beyond a marital relationship.

 

S. Asher Gelman’s directing and writing is more than satisfactory and requires only a slight tweaking to drive home the moments and the objectives of the character. Also, it’s not often that you see dancing in a small space work so effectively and with a purpose.  The movement was also accompanied by smooth transitioning from one place to the next by the seamless movement of wet set pieces.  In Gelman’s vision, no one is the antagonist in their relationship; they are just advocating on their own behalf, getting what they want no matter who is hurt. And end the end they are all hurt.

 

 

James Hayden Rodriguez (l) Noah Bridgestock

 

As Alex, James Hayden Rodriguez must know it is the end of the line for his husband and him. He has a lot to lose ending the relationship, his home, his education, and his future child.  But he’s at the end of his rope and enough is enough.  He doesn’t come right out and say it, demand it, or give a final ultimatum but we know where he is going. Rodriguez’s performance is both ambivalent and exciting all rolled up in a stunning performance.

 

Noah Bridgestock plays Josh and for some reason Josh thinks he can do what he likes.  He is, after all the breadwinner.  The money flows through him and he will do anything he feels like doing.  Although in a committed relationship things don’t go according to his plan and there’s where the problem starts. The signs of his indiscretions are plastered across his face like an unwanted tattoo, the deceit, and out right lies are recipes for his relationship’s demise, which ultimately become a disaster. His love is a facade, open like the wall surrounding his home. Bridgestock is excellent in the role.

 

Darius cannot be as innocent as he proclaims to be.  There is, or can be a rich history, with his background. Nathan Mohebbi plays him as an innocent participant in what is going on around him. But, the reality is his history; he knows he is having financial difficulties.  His masseuse business is not all that successful.  Living in New York is expensive so he latches on to someone who has connections and money to move his life along. He gets involved with a married couple.  He gets further entangled with one of his lovers, and when he is almost at the end of his rope, he tells his lover that it’s too expensive to live in New York and must move away.  He suddenly becomes the bad guy in more ways than one without thinking he’s done anything wrong. Mohebbi is excellent in the role. 

 

Nate Richardson is the swing and did not perform the night I was there.

 

Jamie Roderick lighting design was impeccable especially when it came to the shower scenes, the outdoor scenes, and the opening scene.

 

Other members of this outstanding crew are as follows:

 

Robbie Simpson – Associate Director

Alex Mackyol – Sound Design

Angela Sonner – Stage Manager

Nico Parducho – Assistant State Manager

Aja Morris-Smiley – Associate Costumer

Ann James, Chelsey Morgan – Intimacy Coordinators of Color

Kate Lumpkin, CSA – Casting

RRR Creative – Advertising and Marketing

Demand PR – Press Agent

Bryant Cyr – Production Manager

Evan Bernardin Productions – General Management.

 

For Tickets please visit www.afterglow.com

The Play’s The Thing – by Ferenc Molnar adapted by P.G. Wodehouse

Kristin Towers Rowles, Todd Andrew Ball - Photos by Eric Keitel

 

by Joe Straw

 

Note May 20^th 2022: something glaring caught my attention, this of all nights, and not to be rude by any sort of the imagination, but, did I hear actors and not see them? Shocking!!! My only guess is that this set of circumstances, could only be the choice of the director given the Hungarian playwright has long since been declared dead. Naytheless, I simply must stay on topic, jot my note, and immediately have the usher send recommendations backstage to the director. (She was not there.) – Annoying Theatre Critic

 

Theatre 40 presents The Play’s The Thing by Ferenc Molnar, adapted by P.G. Wodehouse, directed by Melanie MacQueen and produced by David Hunt Stafford is playing through June 12, 2022.

 

Sometimes I wonder about the director’s choices and understanding time limitations, in intimate theatre, that everything may not work out according to plan.  (The lack of physical relationships was somewhat glaring and one is not sure if this was because of COVID precautions.) Still, I’ve seen it in other shows where one just sits back and say; this offstage significant moment did not work. The Ruffian On the Stair by Joe Orton had a similar circumstance.

 

Some things work themselves out by accident, or by improvisation, while other things, given the time limitations, never find a solution.  One must look at the moment and make a declaration one way or another. Not to pick on anyone in particular but there will be more on this particular moment later.

 

To encapsulate the play, an awareness that some people find annoying, but, in this case is necessary to prove a point.   

 

Summertime in a castle on the Italian Riviera in the 1920’s Sandor Turai (Daniel Leslie) an established playwright, Mansky (Michael Robb) his collaborator, and composer Albert Adam (Eric Keitel) Turai’s nephew arrive late unannounced at the castle to spend a couple of weeks.  

 

Ilona Szabo (Kristin Towers-Rowles) a prima donna had previously been invited to stay at the castle. She is unaware of the presence of others and she is also presumably in the next room “sleeping”.   

 

Ilona is also engaged to Albert Adam and ostensibly can’t wait to see her fiancé.   

 

But, behind closed doors, Almady (Todd Andrew Ball) Szabo’s former lover and an actor, but now married with children, are having a flirtatious tête a tête at 2am in the morning!

 

Turai, Mansky, and Adam come upon them, hearing them in the Ilona’s bedroom, and Adam is furious and leaves.  Not hearing the part of Ilona telling Almady to leave.

 

But the kind hearted Turai wants the best for his nephew and devises a plan to rescue their marriage. So, he writes a play as a solution to a very saucy predicament.

 

Needing something to perk his creative writing spirit Turai rings for the footman Johann Dwornitschek (Jeffrey Winner) to supply him with the necessary supplements to keep him going in the early morning light.

 

And it is in that morning Turai tells Ilona and Almady that they heard their 2am conversation.  Ilona is shocked and wants to save her marriage so they agree to be part of Turai’s plan to save their marriage.

 

The one critical issue of this production was Ilona and Almady’s conversation behind closed doors. This particular interaction left the audience with a bare stage for an actor’s eternity. The most important element missing here is the relationship, both physical and emotional, between the two. We miss their present physical relationship, playing from the past to the now present.  Because that is missing, the dominoes are separated unevenly and don’t fall during the progression of the play, and the relationship past, present, and future is not entirely realized.

 

Love is the overriding factor in this play because love expressed or over-expressed to the nth degree will enhance the dialogue and greatly benefit the play especially with characters that hold their moral imperfections in high regard.  

 

Still, there is a lot to enjoy about this production. One thing in particular is the amazing set design by Jeff G. Rack that gives the actors a place to play and play well.

 

Michèle Young, Costume Designer, sets the time and place for the actors and again does a remarkable job.

 

 

Daniel Leslie (l.), Eric Keitel, Michael Robb

 

Todd Andrew Ball as Almady has some very funny moments, trying his best, with the French names and dialogue.  There is more to add to the character, a philander, a pestiferous ex-lover, with an unquenchable longing, who may not be willing to give in so easily to everyone’s demands to modify his behavior. And, although caught, the lecherous Almady cannot be that easily swayed. He should never take his eye off the prize, married or not, found out or not, fiancé or not.  We’ll get a better idea of what this character is all about.

 

Milda Dacys as Miss Mell appears in the second act and brings a lot of fun to the role. Dacys added another level to the character that made the role interesting and unabatedly impressive.

 

Daniel Leslie used his powerful voice as Sandor Turai a vainglorious writer, with a supercilious manner, who wants to save his nephew but then again suffers no cost.  He is a man that accumulates knowledge from every conceivable source.  He offers solutions but he is not weigh down by any source of conflict confronting him during the course of the night. Time and ability inherent in the life of a writer are thrown wayside but may be a source of obstacles and conflict.  Love is an overriding force in this character, mostly for his nephew, but there is little given in the way of a physical or emotional relationship between the two.  

 

Michael Robb was Mansky; the collaborator but was not sure how he collaborated with Turai, how he made Turai’s life better, or the play better.  One believes the actor has to a make a stronger choice about whom he is, what he is about, and what he is doing on the stage to move the play along. It was hard to determine what his conflict was and his objective was not an overriding force that carried him from one moment to the next.  

 

Kristin Towers-Rowles plays the prima donna Ilona Szabo and has a very lovely voice and is very expressive on stage. One believes that the conflict of this character is the feelings she has with both characters. She is marrying one, but still relives the relationship she had with the other and one believes we need to see that onstage.  Her errors in judgment would also guide the character along.  Again, love moves us in strange ways, and adding those strange ways would only add to the character and the comedy. Still, there was some very good work here.     

 

Jeffrey Winner is first introduced as a footman who has just gotten out of bed.  He plays Dwornitschek, a man bent over from lack of sleep or an extremely bad mattress.  It is a physical life that makes this character outstanding and his work is excellent.  

 

Eric Keitel has a strong physical presence as Albert Adam a man so in love that he will do just about anything to keep her. But, listening to a few choice words, he loses all hope.  There are ranges of human emotions that create the conflict and move the play along. Number one, wanting to be with her every moment of the day including the hour of his arrival, to anger, to hopelessness, to enlightenment. All this is visible but not to a degree that makes the comedy work.

 

Next year I will have know Melanie MacQueen, the director, for (dare I say it) forty years. I admired her work and I am impressed that she has been a creative force in Los Angeles and has never given up on her dream.  There is a lot of good work in this production.  The things I’ve mentioned are only observations of the performances, something to think about, and then to move on to the next creative adventure.

 

Lighting Designer was Derrick McDaniel.

Sound Designer was Nick Foran.

Stage Manager was Don Solosan.

 

Reservations: 310-364-0535

 

Online Ticketing: www.theatre40.org

 

Parking is free!

 

Masao And The Bronze Nightingale by Dan Kwong and Rubén Funkahuati Guevara

 

By Joe Straw

 

There’s not much time to weigh in on this production because it ends next week and if you can get tickets you are most welcomed. This night, at Casa 0101, was practically standing room only with some people sitting in the aisles. Tickets are selling out fast.

 

It’s a shame that a production this good should only have a 4-week run.

 

Casa 0101 Theater in Association with JANM (Japanese American National Museum) presents the World Premiere of Masao and the Bronze Nightingale by Dan Kwong and Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara based on a story by Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara and directed by Dan Kwong now playing through May 15, 2022. The show is produced by Emmanuel Deleage and Executive Producers Barry Shabaka Henley, Paulina Shagun & EGYPT 2020.

 

Masao (Michael Masuru Saski) and his parents Mr. and Mrs. Imoto (Dan Kwong, Sachiyo K., respectively) have just been released from Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp after 42 months.

 

They arrive at the Los Angeles train station to be greeted by Li’l Joe Casillas (Isaac Cruz), a boyhood friend and band mate from Boyle Heights, who has said that he has taken care of their property. But, maybe not so much as there’s a caveat, the house is not ready to be moved into yet forcing the entire Imoto family to be temporarily re-located to nearby cheap hotel.

 

Li’l Joe says he can’t wait to start the band again now that Masao is back, but Masao, during his internment, says that he has gotten excited by jazz, dismissing the be-bop they used to play. Li’l Joe is not enthusiastic about this sudden turn of events.

 

Masao is disturbed that “Little Tokyo” is now Bronzeville but noticed that Charlie Parker is playing with Miles Davis (Jon Gentry) at a nearby club in the area and he wants to go.

 

So, Valerio Casillas (José A. Garcia), a local tailor, Li’l Joe’s father, and a family friend as well, decides to tailor a zoot suit for Masao to look good when they go to the club. Mrs. Casillas (Roberta H. Martínez) keeping an eye on her two favorite young men sends them off looking their best. Masao fits right in being a Mexican complete with clothing and vernacular befitting a bona fide Japanese pachuco.  

 

 

 

While at the club, Masao meets Charlene (Angela Oliver) a singer with a lovely voice.  She is African-American and Masao immediately falls in love with her. But Charlene is not easily won.  She learns about his musicianship with the saxophone and invites him to audition for her.  He easily passes the audition.

 

Masao invites Charlene to dine with him.   She agrees, but has business to attend to and will meet him later.  Before she leaves, Miles Davis, who has taken an interest in her and her performance, stops her.

 

Meanwhile, at the restaurant, Masao sees Junko (Pauline Yasuda), a young lady who is not that happy to see him.  She makes it known that Masao ignored their mutual friend, a woman, maybe a former girlfriend, when they were both at Manzanar.  She is definitely not happy with him and when she sees Charlene joining him she runs to tell her mother what Masao is up to.

 

Masao’s parents find out about his relationship and his father kicks him out of the house.

 

Masao and The Bronze Nightingale is a terrific show, spectacularly written by Dan Kwong and Rubén Funkahuati Guevara, a duo that brings a concatenated complexity to the stage rich in culture and diversity in a land we call Boyle Heights.  Masao is an interesting character who knows what he wants and goes for it. But in that process he brushes aside those that stand in his way of accomplishing his goal.  Ignoring others who were depending on him, his parents, his boyhood friend, finally his girlfriend while trying to secure the limelight for himself and sending him later on a destructible alcoholic downward spiral.

 

Wonderfully directed by Dan Kwong who is a master of relationship and strong storytelling with a cast that is second to none. Kwong succeeds in getting superior performances from his entire cast and manages to create these lives, beyond the confines of their own space, using only boxes that are shifted throughout the stage as various settings.   To accentuate he additionally uses the screen to give us life with projections of the times and the deadening incandescence of life in the internment camp moving to the nightmare sequences that propel the action to insurmountable heights. Not all is grim. The play is also filled with humor throughout and carefully crafted to provide first-rate entertainment.

 

Kudos to Steve Alaniz, the Music Recording Producer, who seems to make the jazz music come directly from the stage.  It was both beautiful, pleasant to hear, and stunning.

 

Michael Sasaki is very likeable as Masao Imoto, a charming friend, and good son. But runs into problems when things start turning on him. He doesn’t recognize his faults and spins out of control when he doesn’t live up to his expectations. 

 

Angela Oliver is Charlene Williams and does well throughout.  And she has a terrific voice, which is at times mesmerizing especially during the song “I’ll Be Seeing You” (music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kamal). She has a way to control others around her – a terrific character trait.  Her voice needs strengthening during the dialogue scenes.

 

Dan Kwong is very funny as both Goro Imoto and Reverend Shimizu. Goro is a headstrong character, no retreat and no surrender that manages to find his way and save face in a very nice ending. The scene with the rake is hilarious! And the monk must also take a bow. 

 

José A. Garcia is always amazing in everything I’ve seen of him.  He is equally great as Valerio Casillas who must tread a fine line when dealing with his own son and his adopted Japanese son while dealing with his parents as well.

 

Sachi Hayashi is a very fragile Yuriko Imoto and wife and mother who is on the verge of losing everything, including her life, when dealing with the troubling events in her life. In a way she moves to correct the wrongs in her life, but does not demand the wrongs be corrected.

 

Roberta H. Martinez is hilarious as Marian Casillas.  Martinez has a lot of wonderful moments and is a joy to watch on stage because she is so unpredictable.

 

Isaac Cruz plays Li’l Joe Casillas and is likable throughout but he has some tough choices to make, mostly dealing with his relationship to Masao which seems to go one way and that is mostly downhill. He has waited four years, but has been let down by someone who should be grateful, but has turned on him. There is possibly another layer to this character without waiting for the ending to give in and accept his friend for what he is.  

 

Scott Golden works really hard with character and he has many in this production, Bill Phillips, Marty Friedman, Drunk G.I. #2 and Pawnbroker.  He is equally amazing in all of these roles.

 

Jon Gentry also plays many roles including Young Miles Davis, Bobby Taylor Walter, Drunk G.I. #1, Ernie and Dr. Hoxie and does well in all roles.  Last seen in The Water Tribe, Gentry has mightily progressed since our last meeting.  Excellent work.

 

 

 

Pauline Yasuda is marvelous as the antagonist Junko Kawai. Such a thankless job to be the meanie but manages to do it quite well. Yasuda has a wonderful presence.

 

Greg Watanabe (Mr. Imoto/Rev. Shimizu) did not perform the night I was there.

 

Abel Alvarado always does amazing work for costumes and this production is no exception. The zoot suits, cabaret dresses, and other Boyle Heights costumes were brilliant.

 

There is a huge team working behind the scenes to manipulate the boxes on stage and their work is exceptional.

 

Other members of the crew are as follows:

 

Assistant Director: Corky Dominguez

Stage Manager: Daniel Corona

Casa 0101 Technical Director: Max Brother

Lighting Design: Jose Lopez,

Hair/Make-up: Omar Gutierrez

Prop Master: John Paul Torres

Original Song:  Corrinne May (Music), Dan Kwong (Lyrics)

 

There is also a huge production team including:

 

Projection Imagery:  Kamyi Lee

Opening Newsreel Video: Evan Kodani

Bridge Sequence Videos:  Evan Kodani, Addl. Editing:  Dan Kwong

Asst. Sound Designer:  Joel Iwataki

Addl. Directorial Consultants:  Page Leong, Shishir Kurup

Toyo Miyatake photos courtesy:  Alan Miyatake & Toyo Miyatake Studio

Joey Guthman:  Associate Lighting Designer

Master Electrician:  Rafael Vasquez

Carpenter:  Lorenzo Tambriz

Stage Crew: David Corona, Cassandra Gutierrez, Josue Angeles, Ernesto Lopez

Vocal Coach:  Melodee Fernandez

Acting Coach: Doug Warhit

Son Jorocho Dance Coach:  Martha Conzalez

Production Assistant:  Al Aguilar

Publicist:  Steve Moyer

Playbill Design:  Soap Studio Inc.

 

Recording Musicians

Henry Franklin – Bass

Nick Smith – Piano

David Hitchings – Drums

Steve Alaniz – Sax

John Pagels – Guitar

Rachel Rudich – Shakuhachi

Mike Penny – Shamisen

Cesar Castro – Jarana

 

The Shadow Band

Isaac Cruz, Taiji Miyagawa, Derek Nakamoto, Steve Taylor, Phillip Whack

 

Telephone: 323-263-7684

 

www.casa0101.org