The Last Straw Awards

By Joe Straw

By my count I saw over 40 theatrical productions last year and soon it will  be time to present  "The Last Straw Awards" part Deux (2nd Annual) given  to actors for outstanding achievement in theatrical productions in Los Angeles for the year ending December 31, 2010.

This list does not limit itself to leads so if you were a supporting player in a production, please check back in January 2011.

Also, if you were part of an ensemble, you may be eligible.

Thank you for a wonderful year!

I'll see you 2011.

LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE, DIOS INANTZIN By Evelina Fernandez

By Joe Straw


One has to be impressed by walking into Our Lady of Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles. The Cathedral seems to embrace all who seek spiritual enlightenment. It is beautiful and layered with majestically stoned panels rising to the ceiling.

I gathered there to view the spectacle LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE, DIOS INANTZIN with four thousand of my other friends. And it is a spectacular play! Put on by the Latino Theatre Group in Spanish with English subtitles, directed by Jose Louis Valenzuela and written by Evelina Fernandez.

This manifestation has a cast of 150 dancers, singers and musicians in glorious feathered costumes of the Aztec Indians and tilmas of those who were converted and colonialized.

Slowly, the audience marches quietly into the Cathedral, men women and children waiting for the moment that takes them away from the distractions of life and places them into the center of the event. They then rejoice in song, Buenos Dias Paloma Blanca, to re-live the moment of December 9th, 1531 on a hill at Tepeyac, near Mexico City, when the peasant Indian Juan Diego sees the vision of The Virgin Mary.

Miracles come in all sizes. The visions that came upon Juan Diego may have been a moment imperceptible to others, but with eyes wide open he is receptive to the vision of a celestial being. And this being the Virgin Mary one knows there is work to be done, a message to be delivered and Juan Diego was instructed to physically carry out that mission. It was a vision to include all into Christianity, whites as well as Indians, Spaniards as well as Aztecs, rich and poor.

I go to see the genius that is Jose Luis Valenzuela and Evelina Fernandez and to watch these two take a production, that is virtually impossible to stage, and against all odds, perform a minor miracle every year.

Also it is a chance to view the remarkable talents of Sal Lopez and a wonderful Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman.

First one has to be supremely inspired by the voice of Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman. It is here in the cathedral that her voice is smooth, melodious, and fills every inch of listening space. The walls cry from the sound taking it and giving it back to the listener. So remarkable the sound one would think it was not live, but a recording, and yet this beautiful voice fills the chambers and one can only think the voice was heavenly inspired.

Sal Lopez does a fantastic job as Juan Diego. He is funny, charming, and serious when the need arises. A regular with the Latino Theatre Group his strength lies in his tenacity.

Also amusing is Fraile Jose, Luis Lopez Aldana, a wonderful friar who happens to get himself into a lot of trouble but manages to find his way out.

The wonderful hardworking cast also includes the characters Juan Bernardino, (Miguel Najera), Arzobispo, (Castulo Guerra), Fraile Martin, (Geoffrey Rivas), Fraile Joaquin (Gabriel Gonzalez), La Criada, (Esperanza Ibarra), Citlali (Lucy Rodriguez), Danza del Aguila Blanca, (Lazaro Arvizu & Jesus Espiricueta), and La Muerte, (Urbanie Lucero).

The fine musicians were Los Hermanos Herrera, Martin Espino, and Christopher Garcia all under the direction of Alfredo Lopez Mondragon.

The angels giving us light, life, and hope were Andrea Zuniga, Olivia Delgado, and Alegria Garcia.

Holding on to their culture were The Aztecs who were Marcus Castain, Carlos Leon, Carlos Barajas and Ray Porras.

Don Garza and Oliver Rayon played the Spaniards.

There were a number of people necessary to create this production, hundreds, and it all seemed to come together on this very successful night.

The Blue Room By David Hare

By Joe Straw

The play “Der Reigen” from which David Hare adapted into The Blue Room was so provocative it could not be performed on any stage for many years.  It was done in living rooms, away from the prying eyes of the general theatre going public and the police.  Nevertheless, as progressive as some cities may have been, arrests were made.  People were sent to jail.  Adolph Hitler called it “Jewish filth”.

The play was written in the name of science.  Well, sort of.  Written by Dr. Arthur Schnitzler as an exploration of the profligate sex lives of the Austrian society of that time.  He also wrote this for his own voyeuristic amusement.

Roger Vadim eventually made the play into a film, La Ronde.

And now it is here at the Moth Theatre in Los Angeles directed by John Markland, and Produced by Efrain Schunior, in an intimate space, off an alleyway, away from prying eyes of the police, and in the progressive bohemian section of town. (To date, no arrests have been made.)

It is not so much, the nudity, but the message this play conveys.  It’s not so much the roundness of nude female form, or the flaccid male body parts, but the message it communicates, subtly, and without fault.

The Blue Room pays attention to the connectivity of sexual beings from ordinary people to the aristocrats.  The players communicate in a fashion ultimately to reach a goal.  Their engaging intercourse is wonderfully played out as the audience watches them plow ahead into the unforgiving vortex of infection. 

An earlier time would have suggested syphilis today it is H.I.V.

Breathless is the word to describe that moment when all things change between two sexual beings. The dramatic affect on one’s spirit, that instant connection that draws two people together. And through rough mature dialogue they communicate their instinctual animalistic proclivities. Although each case is different, one finds a similarity in all scenes. It’s as though a moth were being drawn into the flame.    

And like the moth that flutters around a light in all alleyways, two people meet each other in the night: The Cab Driver, Patrick Scott Lewis, and The Girl, Addison Timlin. In this meeting there is an attraction and revulsion all in the same moment and in a heated back and forth they make it in the passageway.  And the outcome is a demand for money.

“Next time, get the money first.” – The Cab Driver.

Unbeknownst to both parties, The Girl gives The Cab Driver a little “special” gift to take with him and he takes that gift to his next encounter with The Au Pair, Lili Bordan.  She is invited to come to his office after being seen dancing in a nightclub.  She is a stunning French woman trying to find a suitable partner but as her luck would have it this night she ends up with The Cab Driver.  She desires a meaningful relationship. His curiosity with her is limited to sex and it takes him only a few moments to slide the dress from her shoulders and move her to the floor.  Still she has hesitations.

Because of the risk.  That’s why.  Why should I risk?  That’s the reason.  It’s not safe nowadays.  I’ll only risk if… - The Au Pair

Later, The Au Pair, at the home where she is employed, has a chance encounter with The Student, Scott Dunn, whom she lives with.  The Student has a lot more than books on his mind when he entices her to come sit next to him on the bed.  The Au Pair is complicit in their relationship.  And with his parents away in the country, it doesn’t take long before these two are having an unmeaningful relationship on the table.

The experienced Student now looks for other conquests and he finds one minutes later in The Married Woman, Pamela Guest.  She, reluctant at first, cannot turn down the opportunity of a young man.  And he, filled with brandy, is experiencing a slight case of erectile dysfunction, which is quickly resolved when The Married Woman takes matters into her own hand.

I didn’t think it happened with young men, that’s all.  I thought it happened with clapped-out older men. – The Married Woman

Later, The satisfied Married Woman, enjoying a moment of contemplation, and reading a good book in bed waits for her husband The Politician, James Mendoza, to come to her.  He speaks of hygiene one moment and in the next moment he is in a hotel lying in wait for The Model, Katharine Towne. 

You taste of pudding. - The Politician

I just have sweet lips. – The Model

Really?  Have men told you that before? – The Politician

The Model, living a life of drug addiction, hands The Politician two pills as a philter for the night, but doesn’t expect to be engulfed by his uncontrollable desires.  He, in turn, rapes her, and picks at her body like a crow plucks at an appealing bag of food.  It is an exceptionally dramatic scene caught by the use of light flashes giving us a glimpse of a life destroyed.

Later, The Model meets up with a self absorbed exuberant The Playwright, Justin Huen. She is entranced by his words and his intelligence even though she doesn’t understand a thing he says and wants something that all models want.  (Note on what models want:  To date no one on the planet has figured that out.) The Playwright wants a subject for future material but most of all he wants her to have an adventure with her. 

But, The Playwright, wanting bigger prey, moves on to The Actress, Alice Fulks, a petulant prima donna, who is a giver and a taker.  She is a woman who can build a man up and then send him crashing to the mat.  She is an enticer, a deceiver, a player and a raconteur and later she uses these devices on The Aristocrat, Jan Milewicz, a man experienced with the finer things in life without having a relationship with a world renown actress.

Whatever the case may be The Aristocrat ends up in bed with The Girl completing the full circle of decadence.

The Moth Theatre has the knack of bringing a lot of very fine talent to their stage.  The actors were fantastic (some more suitable to film than the stage).  At times the dialogue is so quiet one has to strain at times to hear the discourse.

Fulks as The Actress was quite astonishing in this role, so many layers, and very physical in this demanding role.  She has the voice, trained, clear, and able to hit the mark, making her moments both precious and pernicious.

Bordan as The au Pair had a quiet intensity and put up quite a struggle in her quest to enrich her life.  She has an underlying strength in her objective. 

Timlin as The Girl was last seen in The Quarry.  She has a rough exterior but is capable of showing us her heart.

Guest, The Married Woman, was delightful, courageous, funny, ambitious, secretive and selective.  Hers was a enjoyable and courageous performance.

Towne as The Model was perplexing.  It was a role that was characterized by a woman who had a serious drug problem and is possibly raped.  One was not sure why she wanted to be with the politician or why the drug use was crucial to her objective. Whatever the case may be she continues on with life not seriously concerned with what went on in the prior scene.   Aside from that this was a very physical and demanding role.

Lewis, as The Cab Driver, was kind of creepy in a cab driver sort of way but one finds him quite engaging and a wonderful actor.  He is in the moment when he toys with the infection of his desires. A man in his prime and beautiful women to satisfy his sexual tastes.  His enthusiasm at the curtain call was contagious.

Huen, as The Playwright, while engaging needs a stronger and imaginative objective.  Not always clear and precise as this role was meant to be. The reasons why The Model and he are together are not made entirely clear.  The choice of being inebriated leads him nowhere when there are a number of better choices available. Secondly, his forced laughter must have an underlying truth associated with this action, and his objective otherwise it’s just pure folly.  Also, not being clear on his objective had caused this actor to lean into a candle he has just lit, unaware that his shirt could burn in the process. One notices the flame, his shirt, and wishes for his safety, but by that time the dialogue was lost.

Mendoza, as The Politician, created a character that was morose.  Away from the spotlight, maybe this is how politician are, but on stage, probably not a good choice.  He was idealistic with his wife, but not cautious with The Model. (Even Kennedy knew to turn away from the flashing camera when he was spotted with Marilyn Monroe.)

Dunn as The Student tries a little too hard to be controlling.  The moments don’t work perfectly, the conflict not specific, and the objective not clear.  Lost is the idea that he is expecting a lover but has another in his room, now. But he is young and will grow out of this, still there was some very nice work going on.

Milewicz, as The Aristocrat, had a very interesting perspective to his character, worldly and so profoundly intimidated by an actress who is madly in love with him and despises him all in the same breath. His performance rang true but needed more to hold his own. Nevertheless, his was a very good performance.

John Markland, the director of The Blue Room, gambles with the play using video inserts that play on the closed Venetian blinds in the background while the two onstage are having sex. The problem with the video is two fold, it repeats what we in fact have just seen: the maneuvering steps to copulation, and two, all the lights go out and one can barely see what happening on stage or how much time has elapse.  First and foremost the social intercourse was much more engaging, but the gamble of using video was a choice, one may recognize as good or bad, and the director has that right.

Also, there seems to be revisions in the play that affect the relationships on stage, particularly the one between The Student and The Au Pair.  The scene in this version of the play is violent and says nothing about the class distinction, that between master and servant, which would greatly improve the scene.

David Hare has written a wonderful script.  It is exceptional and astonishing.  The dialogue is taut, explicit, and heightens the adult sense of pleasure.  It is every fantasy one could hope to imagine or to play out.  One can gasp at unexpected dialogue or the events unfolding on stage.

Jenna Pletcher, the lighting designer, lights the show, but not being very clever with this limited budget. Both shows seen at the Moth Theatre were very dark. One really needs to see the actors’ faces through adroit lighting. Also, relationships change after sex and the fact the audience can only view glimpses of the act (via a little light) hurts the connection the audience has with the actors.

The Scenic Designer, Benoit Guerin, seems to have had a limited budget needed to build the set he wanted.  Probably a lot of money went in to produce the videos presented on stage.

In any case The Blue Room at the Moth Theatre is a production you should run to see.  Sadly only 12 performances through December 19, 2010.

www.moththeatre.com

The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris

By Joe Straw

Nicholas Brendon has a face you know.   It’s easy to compare him to… nope, not going to do that.  And forget that I’ve seen him in Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang this goes back farther than that.  It's a face with which one can relate. It is easy for him to communicate without dialogue. Just sit back and watch, he'll do the work. (And he does.)  

And it is this face that takes us through the imprisoned thoughts of a writer, doing time at Macy’s, in the cold dead winter of New York City. 

The Blank Theatre Company, Daniel Henning, Founding Artistic Director and Noah Wyle Artistic Producer presents Nicholas Brendon in The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Mantello, and directed by Michael Matthews at the Stella Adler Theatre, “darling.”

Just in time, when we just couldn’t get enough of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and tofurkey.  If one is having a bout of depression this holiday season this might be the trick to pump oneself up for the coming holiday festivities!  And one can’t think of a better thing to do than to see Nicholas Brendon running around all night long in an elf costume:  complete with curled toed shoes in Satanland, opps, Santaland through December 19, 2010.

First of all one has to get this out of the way, Brendon is a tall man, about 6 feet, in his stocking feet.  David Sedaris is 5 feet two inches, with lifts.  (Okay, so maybe it’s a slight exaggeration.) One could look at Sedaris and think “elf”.  One looks at Brendon and the thought process might be as follows:   “against type, non elf like beard growth, it could work, a little bigger Crumpet than expected, I have no problem with this. Let’s run with this!  Let's get on this sleigh, look funny, and enjoy the ride.”

This a story about a writer, Sedaris, fresh off the boat, in New York City trying to write for the soap opera One Life to The Guiding Light in A General Hospital as The World vomits,  (No comments, please.) when he comes across an ad for a job as an elf in Macy’s at Herald Square.

“Would you be interested in full-time elf or evening and weekend elf?”

Not to be cut off with a polite “thank you”, Sedaris opts for the full-time elf and is spirited away to lollygag with the Macy’s family of Santas and elves.  He adopts the name Crumpet.

But there a problem, Sedaris has a hard time getting himself into a happy elf mode (as well as his costume). In any case, it’s a great opportunity to put those misunderstandings in a diary from pen to paper.  After all, one doesn’t get a job like this and not pay attention to the finer details of one’s co-workers characterizations. Sedaris takes a look at the specifics of human frailties and faults and maximizes them on paper to the “nth” degree. 

“You poor, pathetic son of a bitch. I don’t know what you have but I hope I never catch it.”

The story goes something like this.  Man is hungry eating soup in a restaurant and looking for work in the want ads.  Man finds job as elf.  Elf, not good at math and finding the work overwhelming, tries to ease into the job.  Elf finds out his co-workers of Santas and elves are the emotional have-nots in society. Elf falls in love with another elf, Snowball, only to have his heart broken.

“Snowball just leads elves on, elves and Santas. He is playing a dangerous game." 

And then Crumpet has to deal with the “evil customers”. It is amazing what parent will say to an Elf to make their child behave, Crumpet gladly obliges. Being pushed by customers can lead an elf to a life of crime.  And, in hindsight, it’s amazing how the wrong things said to a child can ruin their life forever. 

Brendon is really working the room as Sedaris and for the most part has everyone in stitches. He has the ability to change into multiple personalities, from a master sergeant veteran elf leading in a moral boosting chant, to a costumer with a gravely voice that smokes from a hole in her throat, to the various Santas, and the various elves.  There is an extreme focus in Brendon’s work, a concentration so intimate and so playful the audience breathes with him.  The sweat pours off him as the result of the thick polyester itchy and scratchy elf costume, the tights, and the curled uncomfortable shoes all making this a heated spectacle to behold.

“Crystal has third-degree burns covering… 90% of her body.”

Michael Matthews, the director, is very imaginative and there are a lot of clever things in this production. But there are a few minor problems that need solving. There is a point where Sedaris is sad but this sadness does not take us anywhere.  Sadness is a breathless exhaustive state of being without an action to guide the character to another point in the story.   And in particular when one is on stage, alone, being sad, well, it doesn’t work. Still they’re a lot of good things to be said of Mr. Matthews’s direction. 


Missing was the innocuous music that plays in all department stores. 

Nevertheless, there were some very nice moments under the red light that gives the audience a time frame of the coming disaster, Christmas. But, look, its called The Santaland Diaries and without this idea of diary running through the show, this becomes a show of visual vignettes rather than the idea of listening to the morbid thoughts of a man during his most ridiculous self.

A note in Wikipedia suggests this is downtown standup and not a play.  Maybe so.  The adaptation by Joe Mantello has a hard time working as a play but works in vignettes and for that reason all may enjoy the ride.  


But, look, if the adaptation means turning this into a play, why not go all the way with this?  You’ve got the nice set by Kurt Boetcher, nice costume design by Michael Mullen.  It’s a play!  A play!

"My co-workers are caught in the same predicament as me.  Some are actually quite bright including the Santa's."

With all the biting and clawing and maneuvering for position in these vignettes there is a sincerity here that I've been missing (for a few holiday seasons) that touches the heart and that’s what I like to see in a Christmas story.   It’s an incomprehensible loving truth.  It is welcomed. And it is heartfelt. 

The Blank Theatre Company is a tremendous organization, a wonderful space, and opening itself to become a regional theatre.  There’s two dollar parking.  Go have yourself a great time at The Santaland Diaries in Hollywood.

www.theblank.com

A LOS ANGELES HOLIDAY TRADITION: “LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE, DIOS INANTZIN”

 

            For years now, the Latino Theater Company has presented a holiday gift to the community, its production of “La Virgen De Guadulupe, Dios Inantzin.” Adapted for the stage by company member and playwright Evelina Fernandez from the mid- Sixteenth Century text The Nican Mopohua, it relates the story of how the Virgin Mary appeared on four occasions to the lowly peasant Juan Diego in the mountains of Tepeyac near Mexico City in 1531. Miracles attributed to her intercession included the blooming of roses during a time of frost, and the recovery of Juan’s uncle from the deadly plague. Juan’s devotion to the Virgin was a catalyst for a spiritual renewal in the area. Perhaps two decades after the events occurred, they were recorded on paper in an Aztec language by the Indian scholar Antonio Valeriano.

            Ms. Fernandez has transformed the story into a work for the stage whose themes of faith, hope and perseverance can speak to people of all backgrounds.

            The show is presented in Spanish with English supertitles.

            Reserved seating is available for $35 and can be acquired online at www.thelatc.org , or by calling toll-free at (866) 811-4111.

Reserved seating is also available for subscribers to the Face of the World season of Los Angeles Theatre Center and holders of its Season Pass.

General admission is free to the public (all are welcome to attend) at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, on Thursday and Friday, December 9 and 10, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. A goodwill donation of $5 is suggested. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

            Renowned opera singer Suzanna Guzman stars as the Virgin, and Sal Lopez plays Juan Diego, in a cast of over 100 professional actors, singers and dancers that also includes children and seniors from the community.

            The production is directed by Latino Theater Company’s Artistic Director, Jose Luis Valenzuela. Original music composed by Alfredo Lopez Mondragon.

            The famed show has been the subject of feature articles in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

Man From Magdalena – Story by Patty Christiena Willis, Music By Mary Lou Prince

By Joe Straw

Friday, October 29, 2010 at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.

Why did I go?  Fifty percent was for a fundraiser given to a good cause, www.kiva.org, which gives micro loans to Mexico and Central America.  This organization is getting  high praise these days as it’s been as one of Oprah’s favorite things of 2010. 

Briefly, the story was based on an actual incident of a man crossing the border and being hearded at night by a coyote when he comes across a white boy, a survivor of an automobile accident, alone in the desert.  Rather than leave the boy, the man stays until help comes. And for this good deed, he is deported.

Wow!  Sounds like a great story and with music to boot. But the first thing I noticed when reading the program from this Arizona cast was there was neither a man in this production nor a little boy.  And no Hispanic actors in this cast at all. Oh, and then I remembered, they don’t have visible Hispanic people in Arizona anymore, which would explain why the cast was white.

(Sarcasm is such a wasted emotion.)

Okay, okay, okay but I think I can get beyond this. (Think Mary Martin in Peter Pan, or Marlon Brando as Sakini in Teahouse of the August Moon.)

Or can I?  Well, no I can’t.

Principal singer Patty Christiene Willis is also the storyteller. Mary Lou Prince is the composer and the pianist, Helene Benedikte on cello and the other backup singers were Marla Daugherty, Claire Coon, Suzanne Miller, and Seja Snow, a female version of the Jordanairs without the Elvis. 

This presentation was inspired by the incident but in reality has nothing to do with a man from Magdalena or the boy he saves.  It is a footnote in the life of the narrator on stage. And Willis only reads the article she pulls from a sewing basket.   Why she keeps the article is never explained.

As near as I could make out this is a story of a woman who lives in Arizona near a border crossing and that’s about as close as we come to the Man from Magdalena.  Willis struggles with the part and the many characters she plays.  Stopping the action to sit in the chair with her back to the audience as the music plays on does not move the story along.  And the same can be said for the silent costumes changes on stage. 

The music was melodious. The lyrics are forgettable.  The performers, serviceable.

In truth, this production was in need of a director, badly.

For the most part everyone sang in tune, when the lyrics were not forgotten.  But this was a one-woman show in need of a better story and objective. And if you’re going to include other people on stage, like the singers, they better darn well have a relationship with the folks on stage with them.

The Man from Magdalena should start from scratch and not mischaracterize the story about a man and a boy. 

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

By Joe Straw

Somewhere in Glendale lays this monolith. Seen from miles around, this white structure houses A Noise Within Theater Company (ANW). As curious as the actors are they are obliged to touch this monolith. This is done for them to gather inspiration and knowledge before they walk up the sacred steps into moments unknown.

And as patrons walk to the top floor, they cautiously reflect on their lives. They must think whether the walk up of three flights of stairs is either exhilarating or debilitating. One supposes that those thinking “death is near” at the top will only forget moments later when they remember this is Charles Dickens and the play they are about to see is Great Expectations.

One can hardly sit quietly and wait for the lights to dim, the music to rise, and the visual feast to begin. And on this night there was another full house eager to witness the magic.

The Scenic Design by Kurt Boetcher and the set pieces stand silently and wait for the actors to guide the interior monoliths around the stage to great effect. The walls are both neatly designed lavish homes and rickety walls that are pushed and pulled by the chorus of actors. The gates of lavish homes suddenly become empty cupboards and jails that hold back the unsightly population, the destitute and the ignorant. And unjustly so as these are the things we expect to see in a presentation from Charles Dickens’ life.

Beautiful costumes by Angela Balogh Calin are magnificent in design and work in moving the struggle of a lonely boy into manhood.

There seems to be a cast of hundreds but in actuality there are only eight performers doing yeoman work.

Everyone who knows the story will be delighted by this interpretation of Great Expectations because this play is both beautiful and excruciatingly painful. Directed by Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, it is hard to tell where Julia begins and Geoff ends but each are working toward the same goal.

Briefly, the story is a rag to riches story. A boy so poor yet he has aspirations of becoming a gentleman and his expectations are so great he will do anything to get there. But as always life conspires against him, and his riches seem to come upon him unexpectedly. But riches do not ensure happiness when you’re a young man in love with a woman who, exasperatingly, cannot be possessed.

Jason Dechert as Pip does an outstanding job growing into the role from a small boy to the much-distinguished Mr. Phillip Pirrip. Pips’ reflection, through narration, guides us through the many avenues of a man’s life. (Namely, his own.) But, he is stumped by truth of his mysterious benefactor. It is a notion that guides and confuses him throughout the play.

Joe Gargery, Geoff Elliott, lives life as though he were “happy dog”. And Elliott has some wonderful moments on stage as the smithy. Small moments of him reaching for more light, grabbing the light bulb to see his work, are particularly wonderful. His action, to perfect an imperfection, is a genuinely proud moment with which all audience can relate. He was also wonderful as Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer responsible for funding Pip.

Mrs. Joe, Jill Hill, is a violent character, wanting more out of life but not knowing how to get there except through cruelty to her loved ones. Her frustrations are the result of humiliating poverty and lack of clarity. The role is exceptional.

Herbert Pocket, Stephen Rockwell, teaches Pip to become a gentleman at a dinning room table. This scene was brilliantly executed and wonderfully presented. And while there may have been reasons why these two were together for the extended period this was not fully explored. And one wonders why all the fussing about money throughout his relationship with Pip. Was he aware of the funds being limited in scope?

Also, there is another dinning room scene with Mr. Pumblechook, Joe Gargery, Mrs. Joe, Jill Hill and Pip that was marvelous. Lights out, dinner finished, lights on, carry on with life.

A week later I'm still laughing at Deborah Strang's performance as Miss Havisham. Strang is a consummate actress and her entrance is as spectacular as one can get. (Her character appearance can only be described as a resemblance to Edward Sissorhands' sister.) Nevertheless, as Miss Havisham, she is stuck in an emotional time capsule and not letting any light enter her mansion while her darkened heart laments over a lost love. She finds her way in life in the wedding dress she has not taken off since that hateful day when her betrothed ran out on her. It is now in rags, and her wedding cake still preserved after, oh so many years, is displayed in a pathetic act of self-aggrandized sympathy. Strang’s performance was enormously breathtaking!

Mitchell Edmonds, as Mr. Pumblechook, and in drag as Sarah Pocket is a favorite at ANW. Always amusing, entertaining, outrageous and as subtle as any actor can be. What an outstanding performance.

Daniel Reichert as Able Magwitch the prisoner gets us into the meat of the story. He is almost the backbone of the play. Appearing in the second act was slightly confusing concerning his aoristic lifestyle but his performance in the first act was absolutely marvelous. This was a wonderful performance.

Estella, Jaimi Paige, is a guarded debutante instructed by the power hungry Miss Havisham. It is a life that does not give her satisfaction but nevertheless gives her a power over any man she desires. Paige’s performance is stunningly coy. And she is beautifully package into Pandora’s Box waiting for the next fool to peek inside.

As always one can only expect great things from the other actors in this production who are Darby Bricker, Elizabeth Fabie, Kurt Quinn, and Taylor Jackson Ross

The directing team of Elliott and Elliott always produces theatre that is specific in character and goal oriented. The show is excellent in the first half and only slightly out of focus in the second act which is not to take away from this marvelous production. Possibly the cast was ironing out problems out on opening night and those issues have been resolved.

A Noise Within production is an awakening giant for the napping Los Angeles theatre going audience. Its future new home in Pasadena surely stimulates the senses. Leave your TV’s at home, and forget about the small celluloid performances wedged in between long celluloid commercial periods. Expand your mind, get out, meet and greet and support their new home in Pasadena.

Through December 19, 2010

www.anoisewithin.org