New York Water by Sam Bobrick

-->

By Joe Straw

I was in the lobby of the lovely Pico Playhouse and I noticed the stills of the performers on the wall, one in particular caught my attention.   

I said to my partner, “Wow, this actor is the spitting image of” – and then I drew a blank.  You know! The guy! The face! Westworld! The guy who’s married to Paula Prentiss!  What’s his name? She didn’t know so I resorted to Google – typing Paula Prentiss – there it was, Richard Benjamin – neurons and synapses rejoined - I went back to the photos to see the name “Ross Benjamin”. 

Ross Benjamin, hmm that’s unusual. I wonder if he is related? I asked around and found out that Ross was their son. Sometimes I can be so dense.   – Narrator

The Pico Playhouse has been changed.  They took out all of the seats, the proscenium stage, and now have the audience sitting on risers three quarters around the playing area that is on the floor.  It is much more intimate.

The West Coast Jewish Theatre presents the West Coast Premier of New York Water by Sam Bobrick, directed by Howard Teichman, produced by Howard Teichman and Bill Froggatt, and is now playing at the Pico Playhouse through December 17, 2017.

New York Water by Sam Bobrick is theatre of the absurd, or a farce.  That’s all you really need to know to just sit back and enjoy this wicked and wonderful ride.

Mania: 1.) excessive excitement or enthusiasm; craze or 2. psychiatry, manic disorder.

Linda Shoup (Bridget Flanery) has problems. It’s not something that we see or understand right away.  On a pleasant Sunday afternoon in her sparse singles apartment she pulls herself together and rushes into the kitchen to grab a stack of steak knives and a crowbar.  She places the steak knives under the cushions of the sofa and chair and she delicately hangs the crowbar on her quaint inexpensive lamp.

The man she is waiting for is a prospective mate, a fly caught in her web by way of an unusual personal ad. Finally, he rings the door.  Linda, finished with her weaponry placement, runs to unlock the many latches on the door.   

Idiosyncrasy: a characteristic, habit, mannerism, or the like, that is peculiar to an individual.

Albert Hives (Ross Benjamin) gambols in (slight exaggeration here) to her apartment. He is a little out of breath, and his brain is not functioning at full capacity. He has just skipped from the subway to her apartment and then entered through the broken glass of her apartment building’s front door.  It is only by happenstance that he has made it up the stairs and to her door.  

Blindsided by the unknown, in a room alone, they are caught in the own personal inadequacy; their intercourse lacks a defined authenticity and intimacy. But here in her own element, Linda is slightly elevated in standing; she is the puppet master, the controller of her imaginary strings. 

On top of developing a relationship, both are looking to move up in their social status. Albert is an accountant, and a not very good one at that.

“You said you are a professional.” – Albert

“Yes!” - Linda

“A professional what?” – Albert

“A professional receptionist!” – Linda

It’s almost enough to hastily skip out of her apartment. Still, Albert stays.   

The knives are lying tranquil under the cushions.

A creeping love always blossoms in inexplicable ways and the way they have come together is no exception.   Linda hired a clown, of all things, with balloons at Bloomingdales to pick up a wealthy prospective husband.  It didn’t quite work that way as Albert was just skipping by. Albert won’t go into Bloomingdales – the cologne nauseates him.  But he saw the clown, filled out the postcard and sent it in.

Linda had the postcards tested, handwriting analysis, et al, and found some positive things about Albert.  

Albert, still not completely satisfied and ready to bail, learns that Linda’s rent is $3600.00 a month and really “it’s only twelve blocks from a nice area!”  Despite their physical, emotional, and psychological handicaps, both are wide-eyed and open in their approach to finding a substantial mate.

But what was the clicker?

It couldn’t be that Linda, laying all of her cards on the table, releases information about her alcoholic mother, and her gay father.  She also lets it slip that she accidently killed her grandmother when she was 9 years old!

No, that wasn’t it.

Now, probably thinking of his speed, how fast he can run from her apartment, Albert tells Linda that he can’t run because of his bum knee. She could catch him if he decided to bolt, instead he asks for some New York water, because whatever she is feeling in her manic state, he wants some of the same.

But, when Linda goes to the kitchen for water, Albert discovers the crowbar and then the knives, and before she comes back in Albert has hidden most of her tools of destruction under the sofa.  

She interrupts him with a glass of water that is yellow.  She says it’s lemonade, old lemonade, with no ice. Albert is now a little cautious.

“Drink it!” – Linda

“What did you put in it?” – Albert

Linda might be thinking about the knives right now. But Albert beats her to the punch by grabbing the crowbar and Linda sees this and goes for the machete.

“Are you planning to kill me?” – Albert

“No!” – Linda

Sam Bobrick’s New York Water is funny, farcical, and absurd all at the same time. The play isn’t as absurd as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, or as farcical as Michael Frayn’s Noises Off but manages to make its mark on making fun of life, liberty and the pursuit of relationships.

For the most part, New York Water is a story of a love relationship, a love that doesn’t work so well. But the title New York Water has little to do with the New York water and does not present a grand through line for that matter. In this version, water plays little in the actions of the characters.  After Albert drinks the lemonade (water), he loses some of his inhibitions and asks Linda to marry him. Possibly this is the reason for the proposal.  It’s hard to see anything else.  They just met.

But after they leave New York for Davenport, Iowa they don’t take the water with them.  They finally get accustomed to each other. Not drinking the water, secrets are released, and the relationship gets strained.  Bobrick’s play also makes fun of Hollywood and the way films are made.  How that relates to New York water is unclear.  

The character Linda falls in love with a character we don’t even see, Albert’s brother, an interesting non-Pakistani cab driver who writes a successful book and becomes famous overnight while the main character languishes in his shadow trying not to succumb.  

One would take out the 84-year-old director in this play.

Bridget Flanery is very successful as Linda Shoup.  Her voice is strong and her mannerisms are excellent when the character moves back to New York. Manic, or one end of the bi-polar spectrum, is a word that I would use describe Shoup. Forceful in her vocal prowess she is capable of anything.  That being said the first scene doesn’t go far enough in the manner she would react to a man completely her opposite. How are they so completely different that she would accept his proposal of marriage?  She has to love something about him, or at least find something charming in order to accept the journey she is about to embark upon.  

Ross Benjamin also does well as the unsuccessful accountant Albert Hives. There’s more work to be done in the first scene in order to discover the love match.   Hives has to throw out the bad (knives, crowbar), find the good (her personality, maybe?) and then find the reasons to propose.  This is his last chance for love and we should see that, his fears, his sorrows, his joys. All of these things must come into play in order for him to find his successful mate. After they leave New York for Iowa, Hives is on a downward spiral, pleading for his mate to help him. Los Angeles is even harder on him; there, this accountant is mowing lawns. This is a farce and all movements should include elements of farce and let the reality take care of itself.

Howard Teichman is one of the finest directors working in intimate theatre today.  He understands acting, how actors relate on stage, and is exceptional when defining moments. New York Water presents some challenges in the presentation and in the writing that necessitates a clear directorial stamp, a defined stamps as to what this play is about. Teichman manages to define the relationship but we need to see the why.  Why do they fall in love?  Why do they fall out of love?  What are the moments that supremely change the relationship?  Why does an accountant mow lawns?  Why does a producer of a film allow an eighty-four old woman to direct her film?  Possibly these are things that need a visual element to highlight to moments.  

Other members of the crew are as follows:

Bill Froggatt - Associate Producer/Sound Designer/Video Projection

Henry Lide -  Stage Manager

Kurtis Bedford – Set Designer

Ellen Monocroussos – Lighting Designer

Phil Sokoloff – Publicity

Michael Lamont – Photographer

Run! Run! And takes someone who finds delight in unusual personalities.

Reservations:  323-821-2449

Online Ticketing:  www.wcjt.org

The Daughters of the Kush by George Corbin

-->

L - R Alisa Murray, Dee Dee Stephens, Vanoy Burnough - Photos by Alberto Santillan

By Joe Straw

Pledging a fraternity in the south in the 1970s—after weeks of working hard, getting signatures and cleaning the fraternity house, I heard that I was being blackballed. Actually that didn’t surprise me, what surprised me was that my lifelong friends, at that time, told me there was nothing to worry about.  “Well”, they said, “not much.”

I knew who was throwing the blackball my way.  Not much I could do about it except try not to worry, keep a low profile, and keep moving in the right direction.

The big night came; they put my pledge class, about 11 of us, in an unkempt room upstairs in the frat house.  We sat among the stench of wet towels, soiled sheets, and someone’s ungodly body order, waiting. 

Some had somber faces before they were led down to be grilled.  First they asked questions; then they threw the pledge out the front door like a scene from a western movie.  

Now it was my turn. I took the blindfolded steps down the stairway and into the living room.  

A fraternity brother yanked the blindfold off and splashed the spotlight into my face.  Gorgonized, I saw the shadows of about forty members sitting on used dilapidated furniture around the living room; ever so quiet except for the occasional beer can being crushed under the weight of someone’s foot, but nevertheless, between belches, they took their jabs and jobs very seriously and asked poignant questions.

Some questions were easy, others were harder, and then came this, “Are you a smart ass?”

I knew who it was, I let out an exasperated sigh, mixed with a smile, and said: “When I’m in the mood.”

I heard unexpected laughter, all around the room, even from the questioner and for the time being I was saved. – Narrator

The world premier play, The Daughters of the Kush by George Corbin and directed by Veronica Thompson is now playing at the Stella Adler Theatre through October 29^th, 2017 in Hollywood. The Robey Theatre Company Advance Playwrights Lab developed the play.

The smallest of lies can alter a life dramatically.  The lie can be historic or current, either way it can have a lasting effect.

The time of the play is 1963.  Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are having a dramatic impact on African American college students. Little went unnoticed, from the Civil Rights protest to the four young girls killed in the 16^th Street Church Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama (Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson and Carol Denise McNair).

But now, Clara (Vanoy Burnough), Brenda (Dee Dee Stephen), and Rhonda (Alisa Murray) are in a lot of trouble.  They, members of the Kappa Lambda Nu sorority, sit politely in chairs and wait for the questions they know will be coming.

Campus police Sgt. Diggs (Mack Miles) is the only African-American officer at Plaines University, which is located in Iowa. He watches the polite young ladies intently as he questions their nocent world about the death of a white pledge, Kathy (Hannah Mae Sturges), who allegedly threw herself out of an eight-story dorm room.

There’s something wrong in their answers, the way they speak about Kathy, the deceased.  Rhonda is deeply upset and crying. Brenda, president chair and pre-law major, is cautious about disclosing information.  Clara, the pledge chair, is angry about the way things went down, throwing out false information and misleading statements. The three indicate they will help in the investigation.

Sgt. Diggs moves on to collect more evidence before the night is through.

And then, we go back in time to see how the drama unfolds. Rhonda, Brenda and Clara sit in Clara’s bedroom, along with Ida (Paris Nicole), an exuberant Kandie pledge, willing to do anything to make her sisters happy.  They put Kandie pledge Ida to work shining shoes when Frat Boy (Conor Sheehan) busts into their room on a panty raid.

L - R Conor Sheehan, Vanoy Burnough, and Paris Nicole

But, white Frat Boy wears a Confederate uniform and immediately knows he is in the wrong place.  The girls grab him and tie him to a chair.  And straightaway, they ask questions, get creative, and put him on a mock trial, until an authoritative voice is heard coming from the hall.  They paint Frat boy’s face with black shoe polish and untie him before they throw him into the hall and all is back to normal.

The young ladies cheer and dance suddenly stopping when Kandie pledge Ida oversteps by joining in and dancing exuberantly. Ida stops, rings her tiny bell, and is dismissed.   

College life continues when Kathy, having set her sights on Kappa Lambda Nu, first inches her way in through Rhonda’s psychology club and then battles through Clara’s obstructionism.  Later, Kathy has the attention of Barry (Brandon Raines), a white assistant track coach; unfortunately Clara has her eyes on him as well.  

Brandon Raines and Vanoy Burnough

And, for the sake of reality, not once on this night did I see anyone open a book and study.  

George Corbin, the playwright, has written a fascinating play that captures the spirit of the times. And while not everything works, there is burning energy and a wonderful core from which to build from this solid foundation. When moments are simple, Corbin excels in dramatic ecstasy.   For example, light skinned Clara’s wonderful story about her white father. Also, the dancing scene with Rhonda and Kathy is so delightful because it starts with a confession, to a plea, and ends in a delightful unity of compassion and love. These are the moments that stay with you long after the night has past.

Hannah Mae Sturges and Alisa Murray

Daughters of the Kush, (the sorority sisters) refers to the women who were from a country south of Egypt, which is now Sudan, and one would suggest the women of that region were dark, all dark.

Sadly we don’t see the sorority sisters get together and discuss allowing a white girl to pledge. There is no scene showing Kathy, her sponsor Rhonda, being introduced to the rest of the sorority sisters.

One thinks the character Barry is responsible for the trouble the young ladies have all gotten themselves into but his actions on stage were pretty tame, even for 1963.

What fails to work are the scenes of hatred that has one sister threating a pledge do to her dirty work for ambiguous reasons. Those scenes require the character to show us the connection, a visible and viable backstory that ties her to that desperate action.   

Also, we are left in the end with the major characters not really feeling good about how their relationship has ended because of this tragedy. And they all go on with their lives holding on to another grave secret, a secret that protects the bonds of being sorority sisters, but ultimately hurts their being as they move on in life.

Also, one got the impression from the first scene that the sisters were recreating the events for the campus police, the reason we go back in time.  This was not the case.

Veronica Thompson, the director, does well in this outing except for the scene changes, which are long and laborious, and stop the momentum of play. Set pieces moved creatively by actors would accomplish two things, one: give real life interactions as one would see in academia and two, would creatively move the play along judiciously.  Aside from dramatic costume changes, the actors need never leave the stage, or possibly they may move in just before their scene.  Clara’s scene alone on stage where she suddenly turns into an angry women, didn’t work, and there wasn’t a basis for why it was there or how it moved the play along.

One would like to see the dance number at curtain call moved up to near the beginning and used as a recruiting device for prospective pledges performed in the commons. This will also facilitate a stronger bond and a richer history between the sisters.  Then move on to the psychology club scene. 

Nancy Renee, Costume Designer, does magnificent work dressing everyone in the 1963 period, and that was outstanding!  

Vanoy Burnough has some marvelous moments as Clara.  Through a set of circumstances she becomes a heavy character in this play and very hard to like at the end. There must be a better approach to the character as she moves in ways that are unbecoming, threatening (the screw driver scene was too much), and sometimes dangerous.  The scene about her father was outstanding and maybe that is the key for other moments in the play with her boyfriend, the pledge, and her sorority sisters.

Mack Miles

Mack Miles seemed to have opening night jitters in his first moments as Diggs.  Those early moments on stage need to set a tone, as the sorority sisters recreate the events leading up to Kathy’s death. But by the end, Miles settled down and really had the character nailed. Miles has a wonderful look and was exceptional.

Alisa Murray is delightful as Rhonda. She is a stunning actor with expressive eyes and an extremely viable craft. Initially, she won’t give an inch to let a white girl join her sorority, but eventually she is open to the possibility, and these transitions in the character present an exceptional craft.

Paris Nicole has some terrific moments as Ida.  And, as far as the progression of the play, her moments accumulated quite nicely right up until the end of the play. It was terrific work and Nicole was outstanding.

Dee Dee Stephens has a stoic presence as Brenda, the leader or president of these young ladies.  Brenda does not give away much and, because she knows everyone’s secret, the less she says the better it is for all of them.  Still I would want to know: what drives this character and what overreaching conflict keeps her from getting it?  

Hanna Mae Sturges is terrific as Kathy.  Sturges has a strong craft and is powerful in her scenes.  But, everything seems so easy for her. She gets her way, all of the time.  She gets the boyfriend.  She is easy to get along with.  Where is the conflict that keeps her from reaching her objective? What drives her and why is she not getting it?

Brandon Raines employs his southern accent (Tennessee?) as Barry, the white assistant track coach, who is single and on the prowl.  We need more of a backstory from Raines. Also, we need to see the thing that keeps him from kissing the girl.  In order for there to be more dramatic conflict, we need to see a stronger interest in both women, in fact this white character should take these choices to the extreme measure to give dramatic movement to the story.  

Connor Sheehan is terrific as the confederate Frat Boy.  The scene he is in plays very well.  There is more to add to this character, humiliation is one thing that would give this character more mileage in this scene. Revenge is another, revenge to those that got him in this predicament. A sincere apology would work and maybe a panty for his effort. He can do this without adding dialogue. 

Charlotte Evelyn Williams

Charlotte Evelyn Williams did not perform the night I was there. 

Kappa Lambda Nu is the name of this fictionalized sorority in this play. (Kappa Lambda Nu was also the name of a fraternity in the successful television show “A Different World”, in fact Wikipedia has a list of fictionalized fraternities and sororities if one were interested.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_fraternities_and_sororities).

Other members of the crew are as follows:

Kristina Roth – Production Stage Manager

Kenneth Cosby – Lighting Designer/Projectionist

Mark V. Jones – Set Designer

Christian Cesena – Assistant Stage Manager

Melvin Ishmael Johnson – Production Consultant

JC Cadena – Social Media Director

Kurt Maxey – Consultant

Judy Bowman – Promotion

The welcomers in the front of the house were so welcoming!  They are as follows:

Charlotte Plummer

Pam Noles

Raquel Rosser

Levi Austin Morris

Spencer Frankeberger

Run!  And take a sorority sister with you.  Between the dramas there are a lot of funny moments in this play that you will both enjoy.

Stella Adler Theatre

6773 Hollywood Blvd. 2^nd Floor

Hollywood, CA  90028

Reservations: 213-908-5032

Online Ticketing: https://corbinkush.eventbrite.com

The Dreamer Examines His Pillow by John Patrick Shanley

-->

Scottie Thompson and Sal Landi

By Joe Straw

The Dreamer Examines His Pillow by John Patrick Shanley, directed and produced by Mark Blanchard, is now playing at the beautiful Hudson MainStage Theatre in Hollywood through October 29^th, 2017.

Tommy (Ade M’Cormack) is a bit off. So off he doesn’t know if he is coming or going.  One thinks that he is mostly going. He is a juvenile in a man’s body, unwilling to make the heartiest of decisions about life.  What do you expect from an artist? Or, a wannabe artist who paints like a three-year-old with distorted figures and eyes that don’t quite match. Is it cubism? If so, he is a Picas, without the so.  And now he is down to his bare minimum, a work of art drawn in crayon, and that is something only an inebriated artist would truly enjoy.    

Funny thing, there’s no paint anywhere, or a brush for that matter.  His clothes spotted with holes do not have an ounce of paint on them. Maybe it’s poverty that prevents him from having art supplies, what with the rent being $1,200.00 a month and no visible means of support, except the money he steals from his mother.

But what he has got is his beer, lots of beer, in a small squared refrigeration unit. He thinks out loud now, holds his beer, and crushes the can before the contents are drained.  And, at the end of the drink, the can looks like a silly fragment, the afterlife of a hearty container that has succumbed to the deranged antics of an artist, the antichrist of beer etiquette.    

Donna (Scottie Thompson) bangs on the door, wants to be let in, and has some serious issues to discuss with him, most particularly she wants to know if he has been banging her sister, Mona (not seen).

He has, but it’s not really his fault, it’s the voices, the devil in him that is driving his mechanism to do things unjustly, and it’s really not his fault that Donna’s sister is sixteen years old, either.

Donna wants Tommy to promise that he won’t do it again.

“No.” - Tommy

Tommy is a certified winner (dripping sarcasm here), a keeper, and in a world with all kinds of mysterious diseases, this guy has the plague and should be avoided at all cost.

The problem is that Donna loves him (for those of you who have unwed daughters, roll eyes here), or maybe she doesn’t love him.  In any case, she is sitting on the fence and really needs to consult her estranged father (Sal Landi), another artist who has given up the brushes.

For some strange reason, and in her own way, Donna suddenly regards her Dad as a sage, a wise man in the face of all this disturbing news that she must face.  She tells Tommy that her dad will come back and beat him up as she walks out.  

But, Dad wants nothing to do with his daughter’s predicament.  He wishes her to figure it out. Don’t ask him any questions and he’ll tell you no lies.

John Patrick Shanley writes sentences that are as poetic as you can get.  It’s in all of his writing, in this outstanding comedy, and a slight divergence of the apache dance of Danny and The Deep Blue Sea.  And it is his words, lots and lots of words, that keep the characters moving in a meaningful direction and finally to the endpoint.

Scottie Thompson and Abe M'Cormack

Ade M’Cormack is outstanding as Tommy.  He is quantifiably in the moment, in the relationship, and very protective of his own worth.  The hand gestures pushing, pulling, and protecting his body is extremely effective. A beer in one hand trying to drown out the conscience noises that plague him, and the other hand covering his groin to keep them intact from his threating girlfriend and her father’s rage. He is a character, with his English accent that excels in the deceitful act of pettifogging. As an actor, M’Cormack is always watching, observing, and reacting to the conflict before him, finding out if what he is saying rings true to his immediate companion.  There is a lot here in his craft and it is outstanding.

Scottie Thompson

Scottie Thompson is a very angular actor as Donna, in the way that Tallulah Bankhead was angular.  Thompson has a very enticing look to go along with a very viable craft.  Donna is a character who has been done wrong, by her boyfriend who cheats on her and her father who is not really a father figure. Still, she needs her father’s help to get out of this predicament.  They don’t agree on much but she demands that her father take out this hoodlum, her boyfriend. One thinks there should be more of a backstory to this character, her job, her means of support, and the necessity of the argument that propels her in a direction that is in her heart.  Love is a good start and there must be more of that. And, does her costume (circa 1985) reflex the type of person she is?

Sal Landi is very funny as Dad. Landi brings a rich history to the role, and the backstory that is required in a Shanley role. His physical motions on stage are outstanding.  He is charming, witty, and manages to secure favor with everyone.  I’m not sure about his opening, passed out on the floor, and I think that could be improved. It shows us who he might be but does nothing to progress the scene.

Mark Blanchard directs and does reasonably well in some areas, and excellent in others.  The relationships are pleasing. We get boyfriend and disgruntled girlfriend, daughter and a disgruntled father, and father and disgruntled boyfriend.  Pleasing father with pugnacious instincts and daughter’s boyfriend aiming to wrap the whole thing up. Those relationships worked great and could not have been any better.

And then there is the action on stage, which amounted to getting a can of beer from the refrigerator and physically messing around on a deserted stage. (Limited set design by Aaron Lyons)   There is not much to work with.  Tommy throws his clothes on the couch and doesn’t bother to fold them. Donna calls the apartment “a sh*t hole” but does little to make it pleasing to her tastes.  Donna moves from one side of the stage to the other, at times without purpose.  One needs to move for a creative purpose. These are the moments when creativity kicks into high gear and movement on stage has a meaning that fits with the dialogue.  And, these moments need adjusting.

This production is an actor’s showcase and, as a showcase, it is superior in highlighting the work of the actors and director. With a few exceptions, I loved every moment of it.

One moment for a conscience stream of inner dialogue about Donna’s costume and other things. We’ve almost got the period, 1985, but what does the leather (or vinyl) top represents along with the modern heeled boots, the black belt, short jeans, and ripped leggings? She is not living in the streets. Does she wear that costume to entice her boyfriend?  Does it have any effect on him? (Didn’t see any of that on stage.)

She wants this man.  She has to figure out what the costume does for her, her character, and her relationship to the man she wants. An actor should try on multiple costumes to fill a creative need. With this artistic, creative, and intelligent character the sky is the limit. 

Also, she is a woman who appreciates and knows art, part of the art culture of New York.  How does her appreciation work in securing the man? Does he get it?  Does she see that he is getting it?

Michelle G. Stratton is an understudies Donna but did not perform the night I was there.

I loved the exuberance of the curtain call. Keep it.

Run! Run! Run!  And take an actor.  You’ll take so much more with you when the night ends.

Donny Jackson – Lighting Designer

Nick Machado – Sound Designer

Sandra Kuker PR – Publicist

Andrew Flores – Lighting and Sound Board Operator

Chika Nashiki – Production Stage Manager

The Hudson MainStage Theatre

6539 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA  90038

www.plays411.com/dreamer 

Exit Strategy by Ike Holter

-->

L - R Remy Ortiz and Adam Silver - Photos by Se Hyun Oh

By Joe Straw

“Races which are petrified in dogma or demoralized by lucre are unfit to guide civilization.” – Jean Valjean – Les Miserables – Victor Hugo 

Sometime ago in my past, near the start of Mrs. Darden’s second grade class, a group of prospective assistant teachers formed a line. And having taught us a tad about democracy, the students were asked to pick the one we wanted as an assistant.

They all said a little something about their work and then walked outside while we voted.  Everyone chose the pretty one with the pretty dress (2^nd graders), because the others were, in our mind, a little less attractive.

So they came back in.  The pretty one immediately took herself out of the running and said that she was already assigned across the hall, and left, abruptly. 

We were devastated.

Still, we voted again and this time chose the least attractive one. It’s funny but in her time with us, she became beautiful, funny, and warm in the manner for which she cared for us and responded when we needed her help. 

And when she said goodbye at the end of her term, everyone took a deep breath and there was a shared sigh. 

She walked to the door, stopped and looked at us one last time. And we started to cry, collectively. – Narrator

School’s out

…School's out for summer
School's out forever
School's been blown to pieces – Alice Cooper

Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Sixth Avenue proudly presents the West Coast Premiere of Exit Strategy written by Ike Holter and directed by Deena Selenow in the Davidson/Valentini Theatre through November 5^th, 2017.

Jon Imparato with the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Adam Silver with Sixth Avenue magnificently produced the show.

Exit Strategy is presented in the square; the audience is seated on all four sides of the playing area, the actors are a nose away from the audience, and this is a perfect venue for this play.  The place is a teacher’s lounge for the most part, the set is about as minimal as you can get but, the show is not about the place, it is about the people, the teacher, administrator, and the student, most fighting for a cause, and one who is not.

There’s always somebody higher up that makes the decisions, in collogue to rid the city of a nuisance. They are always looking at the big picture, the test scores, and crimes in the area.  In this case, it is Chicago where there’s more than one death by gunshot every day, 700 in 2016. They are infused with the troublous times where two human beings die each day from gunshot wounds in Chicago, near the campus, or the surrounding neighborhood.     

Best solution?  Tear down that low achieving, rat infested, racially mixed school and save the money to hire a Spago chef for the high-achieving white school.  

But let’s look deeper, educators are working there, some are almost at the end of their career, others are not near retirement age and need to look elsewhere – a new community, a new location.

So, what’s that solution? Fight for the school until you’ve changed minds and the school remains.  But there’s a huge problem – they don’t get along, not even on their best days. Forget about working on the same page, there’s no paper, including toilet paper.  It’s enough to make everyone irritable.

June Macfie and Adam Silver

Ricky (Adam Silver) has broken the news to everyone except Pam (Jane Macfie). Ricky is polite about it all, dress conservatively, tie and all.  He is soft spoken and has the political wherewithal to release the news in his own time.

Pam is having none of it. She stalks him in a gruff and bearlike manner.   She wants him to get right to the point.  She has an unconquerable obstinacy, has seen too many years, has run into too many of his kind, and demands that Ricky get right to the point.

Pam pulls out a box of Marlboro and dares Ricky to stop her from lighting.

“A lady doesn’t light her own cigarette.” – Ricky

Nice one.

It doesn’t take much to know that Ricky is a player and smart too as Pam appreciates his gesture.  And then she opens his Starbucks cup and drops a few ashes into his drink, just as a matter of unholy politeness.  

Things go downhill from there but they come to an understanding, sort of. Ricky wants to know if she’ll be all right. He asks her to knock on the wall to let him know that she’s all right.  Pam says she will.  She does, and then she shoots herself, dead.

Arnold (Darrett Sanders) is always the first to arrive at school, has been for many years. Luce (Remy Ortiz) thought he would be the first but no such luck. Luce, with undemonstrative pity, appears to be sensitive to the pain Arnold must be feeling, with the death of Pam, and he shows it.

Sadie (LaNisa Renee Frederick) saunters into the lunchroom, unctuous pose and all, with a few shopping bags of food and rat poison with the idea that one thing needs to be taken care of at that school. What that could be, remains to be seen.  Just Luce’s luck, that in one of those bags is a juice box for his supreme enjoyment.

“How was your summer?”- Sadie

Luce jumps around happy that someone has asked him about his summer when Jania (Maria Romero) comes in and brings the whole room down with her negativity, on crime, thugs, and bullet holes in car bumpers. 

Arnold, presenting a tragic figure, walks into the room.  He has an agenda about memorializing Pam. All in the room are sympathetic to his plight but none have a way to comfort him.  

Can’t say too much about the play that would be giving it all away. It is done without an intermission and it moves along quickly with witty repartee.

Exit Strategy by Ike Holter has an exceptional cast, each providing a special brand of character, an ethic mix of educators with an altruistic sense of self and propriety. Deena Selenow wonderfully directs it in an amusing likeness of real and not-so-real school antics. There is so much detail in Selenow’s direction; it is the little things that put this production way over the top in form and execution. Every moment is a joy to watch and the acting is astonishing.

Jane Macfie plays a mean Pam.  Well, she’s not so mean under that rough exterior.  She has been in the system so long that she demands undemonstrative respect. Sadly her tenure as a schoolteacher is just about over and she has nothing to show for it. She succumbs to the advice of a man who was in diapers when she started. She sees this, doesn’t like it, and moves on.  Macfie is terrific in the role. This is one actor that I would have like to have seen from all four perspectives.

Adam Silver does a wonderful job as Ricky, a nebbish, slightly nerdy, sagacious man whose job is to fire teachers, give them a pamphlet, and send them on their merry way. Ricky gives them the school year to get their act together without actually booting them out into the streets.  But then, he has a change of heart, a way that he can work things out, save the school, and come out ahead. He is also a brainiac who has a vision and acts on unutterable impulses when the time is right.  Silver gives a brilliant performance and is an actor that is completely comfortable in this role.  And it is in the little moments that he truly shines.

L - R Adam Silver and Darrett Sanders

Darrett Sanders is Arnold, a man who has seen it, done it, read it, heard it, and smelled it all before. He’s not too keen about jumping ship to join the others plan that he thinks is a useless endeavor.  He sees their proposal as a pie in the sky, the vitreous glitter on a worthless piece of chocolate, chocolate cake, and not worth a dime of his time. Sanders is slow and methodical in his choices. The hand gestures are sublime, ambling a western motif, and a Ben Johnson style of acting. This character though needs a little refinement, something the represents the good of old, the wisdom of age, an unreadable stare that speaks volumes, and then climbing out of a ubiquitous fog to make his mark.  There is more to the sunglass and chair scene in which he must make his mark. And, that is only to add to an already remarkable performance.

There’s a lot going on with Maria Romero as Jania. There is certainly more going on underneath than we are privy to.  Romero is a stunning actor filling those moments. But, some of her dialogue is lost to the other three walls and those are moments that we need to hear clearly.  There is more to the character, her youth as a teacher is a plus and probably can get a job somewhere else.  But there must be a driving conflict in character that keeps her in this game that one doesn’t really see.

LaNisa Renee Frederick is Sadie, a giving teacher, who also understands the necessity of discipline. She plays by the rules and maybe they are her own rules but what the heck, somebody’s got to make the rules to make this school work.  Unfortunately, her help is not working, compromising productive growth, and Sadie needs to figure out why. Frederick does a lot of wonderful work in this production.  She is as natural as one can be but what is the conflict that drives this character?

L - R June Macfie, Luke Teennie, Maria Romero, Adam Silver, Darrett Sanders (seated), Remy Ortiz and LaNisa Renee Frederick

Luke Tennie presents a very tall and opposing figure as Donnie.  Tennie is very impressive in this role.  He is smart, articulate, and has an extremely viable craft.  Donnie get himself into a lot of trouble, the good kind of trouble, and in his own vainglorious mode is able to talk his way out of it.  But as powerful as he is in the first scene, he seems to lose that power being an underling in the later scenes.  Donnie becomes less powerful but must not lose the reason he is there. There must be a better balance to complete a change in character.

Deena Selenow, the director, starts the show off with a bang, two beings appearing out of nowhere, engaged in verbal conflict and she never lets up on the action, which includes fascinating bodywork on the scene changes. At one time characters are stretched against the wall in an effort to hide, or as a way to present the significant moment of a character. Is this a moment that shows unity?  One is not sure. The character Pam joins the audience and we really have to see her in character throughout those moments. (Macfie seemed to be enjoying the show as much as we were.)  

Selenow’s work is combined with the brilliant Sound Design by Jesse Mandapat that keeps you there in the moment, during the scene changes.  And then there’s the blaring roar of heavy machinery that grinds the audience into a state of shock.  (The sirens in the background never stopped and I found that slightly disconcerting.)  

Ike Holter’s work is brilliant. As the writer, he manages to capture the flavor of each character and their reason for being. The fascinating thing about the characters is they are metaphorically all out of focus.  It’s like looking into a camera lens and seeing blurry figures. When things got tough those figures lacked the focus to turn things around. They’ve all been living their lives without a unified direction except Arnold who knows what he doesn’t want, but doesn’t know how to save the school. The ending lacks the emotional catharsis, the human element of longing that we must get from at least one of the characters.

All right, but here’s the thing – my one negative note, the overlapping dialogue makes it hard to hear everything, and the sound of voices, only feet away, bounce off the bare walls and at time that dialogue is lost.

The minimal but very effective Scenic Design was created by Se Hyun Oh.

Lena Sands’ Costume Design placed the actors in Chicago.

Matt Richter’s Lighting Design moved the play along in time and space and was extremely enjoyable.

Other members of the crew are as follows:

Maggie Marx – Production Stage Manager

Adam Earle – Assistant Director

Ken Werther Publicity - Press Representative

Edwin Peraza - Master Electrician

Red Colegrove - Master Carpenter

Eric Babb - Prop Master/Assistant Manager

Veronica Mullins - Sound Assistant

Tor Brown, Maggie Marx, Edwin Peraza - Scenic House Crew

Run! Run! Run! And take an educator.  They will love it as much as me. Or, is it "I"?

Tickets: (323) 860-7300

https://lalgbtcenter.org/culture-education/on-our-stages

 

-->

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s

Davidson/Valentini Theatre

1125 N. McCadden Place

Hollywood, CA  90038

Frida Stroke of Passion by Odalys Nanin

-->

By Joe Straw

Pedro Linares Lopez was an artisan and a skilled maker of cartonería, or papier-mâché sculptures.

At the age of thirty, in bed and deathly ill, Linares fevered a vision, and in that vision he saw vibrant mutated animals shouting the words “Alebrijes! Alebrijes! Alebrijes!”  

And in the manner of dreams, the sounds from those animals became horrifying causing Linares to run before the screams pulled him asunder.  He ran down a narrow stone passageway to find a way out and as he looked back, he saw traces of paste and papier-mâché trailing him before he found an escape through a narrow window.

The fever broke.

Linares recovered from his illness and subsequently started creating sculptured animals from his dreams. He created figurines for Frida Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera. And one can surmise that Linares created a Judas figure for Kahlo at one time or another.

And now, as Frida lays ill, it is Judas in this play, a live figurine, that plays an important part, to let her know, there is a way out.  - Narrator

Macha Theatre/Films presents Frida Stoke of Passion, written, directed and produced by Odalys Nanin, at the Macha Theatre in West Hollywood and has been extended through October 21, 2017.

Frida Stroke of Passion is a delightful night of theatre, color, tempestuous music, and flamboyant characters; some of these are real and some imagined in the mind of a woman seeking justice for her life.

The incomparable Odalys Nanin brings a different kind of natural spirit to the Los Angeles theatre scene, and writes about famous libidinous characters that held more than just hands. This is a play of natural spirits that embrace life without bordered walls all reaching for unquestionable destinations. Nanin brings that spirit to this play.  She is a grand fixture and an amazing Los Angeles playwright.

The play takes place on July 7^th 1954, a day after Frida Kahlo’s 47^th birthday. Sickened and in bed, she hears voices sing Las Mañanitas. One is not completely sure whether it is real or imagined but the songbirds are friends and lovers from a meaningful part of her life. 

In Frida’s life, friends come and go, through the imaginary revolving door just inside her bedroom.  And whether it was just a vision, these friends suddenly fade into the background, one wisp away into nothingness, and without closure or an insincere farewell. 

Frida prepares as though she knows her death is just days away. She sits, like a still painting, on her bed, holding a diary.  The smallest movement gives her excruciating pain.  Still, the pain is not so insurmountable that she cannot reach for her lipstick and apply a beautification, a generous dose of bright red paint to coat her pale-dry lips.  These small painful movements remind her of her day-to-day physical travails.  She laments losing her right leg below the knee to gangrene, while she lights a medicinal cigarette to sooth the pain, and awaits the shot from her nurse, Judith (Tricia Cruz).

Nurse Judith finally shuffles in with her basket, giving Frida the shot. This sends Judas (Daniel Lavid) up from a trap door and into her bedroom. Judas is the explanation, the creature that allows all that come after to be a part of the here and now. And so they come, one last time, some with answers, others to play.

Frida Stroke of Passion is another fine work written by Odalys Nanin, which goes down smooth, but possibly not as smooth as the liquor in Frida’s bottle.  The play is different than other plays she has written.  And, while there are bumps in the road, Frida is an exceptional play that gives flavor to a host of fascinating characters in this theatrical bibliography.

The one sheet on the play says: “The story that peels away the secret cover up and reveals what or who killed Frida Kahlo.”  It’s not really a mystery or a cover up. But one really sees the play as a character living life and giving life to the fullest while revealing the incremental steps that leads to her death.

While the director Odalys Nanin and Co-Director Nancy De Los Santos-Reza may not have used this as their viable through line, it is worth the suggestion.  More could be made of the Judas character that seems to quickly come and go without making his mark; he is the bridge between life and death, the here and nether, and the alpha and omega.   

Here are a few thoughts about the exceptional actors.

Ebony Perry and Odalys Nanin

Odalys Nanin has a very powerful presence as Frida Kahlo.  She is fluid and unafraid of the movements of this three dimensional character, throwing her hands up into the air, grabbing a brush, and embracing her friends all for the sake of her art.  But the movements on stage must be incremental and leading us in the direction of her final end.  And it is the manipulation of the characters running into her bedroom that emotionally moves her in that direction.  Frida’s life absorbs the lives of all that touch her and has meaning that reaches for the end in her last few hours. At the end, Nanin’s performance leaves us warm and wanting more.

Campbell De Silva does not resemble Diego Rivera or bring Diego’s fiery political character to the table, but he does present a refined persona with his own interesting history. Throw out the differences, add the similarities, and watch how natural he is on stage.  With that said, the character Diego needs a metaphorical pallet, to be entranced by the paint, and while searching for refinements in all things he deals with his wife’s predicament. De Silva’s vocal patterns are precise, unwavering and manages to get what he wants. Still, De Silva can add and not take anything away from his marvelous performance.  De Silva also serves as the Associate Producer.

Paul Cascante is Leon Trotsky.  Trotsky has been dead for many years and yet appears as a vision, or a ghost.  Trostsky has a purpose but it is not clear what effects this has on Kahlo and how that moves Kahlo along to her final destination.  Cascante is amusing in the role.  One wishes to see how this character moves Frida to her final destination.

Campbell De Silva and Tricia Cruz

Tricia Cruz is Nurse Judith, a woman who takes her job very seriously.  Her job is to administer Frida’s pain medications, which means that she constantly battles Frida about who is in control.  We lose sight of Cruz and her facial expressions under the wide rimmed glasses but she manages to present a very nice character on stage that gets her into a lot of trouble.  And yet, Judith’s relationship to Diego should be more refined given Diego’s proclivities so that when the end is near, the end of their relationship is more painful.  

Daniel Lavid is impressive as Judas, a figurine (alebrijes) possibly made by Pedro Linares Lopez for Frida. Judas reminds Frida of her pain, her body parts, and the strains of living everyday life.   Lavid presents a very physical character on stage and is very articulate in speech and manner.  It is rare when you see an actor present the complete package on stage but Lavid is successful on all fronts.

 

Marisa Lopez, Odalys Nanin and Francisco Medina

Marisa Lopez plays Chavela Vargas a singer who enchants Frida. Lopez has a wonderful and feisty voice.  And in character, she manages to sooth Frida, to love her, and as suddenly as she is there, she is gone. (In real life, Vargas had major drug problem of her own but we see little of that in this characterization.) Lopez does all the right things but there must be a way to strengthen the character that moves Frida at specific points in her journey. Lopez also plays Maria Felix, an angular actress and singer; we see little difference in those characters in what they need, want, and behave.  It is said that Felix fell madly in love with Frida but Lopez could add more. 

Francisco Medina brings in the instrumentation, a guitar, to fill the stage with song.  Those songs are wonderfully performed.  Medina also brings an extra something to Manalo, Frida’s mentally incapacitated farm-worker that hits all the right notes (no pun intended). Medina is a wonderful actor and musician.

Ebony Perry is successful as Josephine Baker.  Actually, you can’t go wrong, coming on stage dressed in bananas. There is a lot of humor in her limited time on stage but the interesting part of her performance is that she brings the time and place with her as she maneuvers on stage.  It is a delightful performance.

Marilyn Sanabria comes in like gangbusters as Tina Modotti, an Italian revolutionary political activist and artist. Sanabria brings a grand physical life as Modotti and fills the stage with her levity and brings a special nuance to the role.  A grander Italian accent would be nice. Modotti died in 1942 and may have been a remembrance. Also, Sanabria plays Teresa Proenza, a Cuban Revolutionary and spy for Fidel Castro. Although Proenza was a low-keyed version of Modotti, the two characters became a little mixed in their execution on stage.

Joseph Bixler is a cute Little Diego and does extremely well in the role.

There is an alternate cast who did not perform the night I was there.  They are as follows: Christie Black as Josephine Baker, Kesia Elwin as Judas, Diana Lado as Tina Modotti/Teresa Proenza, Lupita Ortis as Chavela Vargas, and Jesus “Chuy” Perez as Manalo/Musician.

Marco de Leon the Scenic Designer has created an unusual set of columns that are broken and patched together, see through walls of string and canvas, and windows that allow those who want to come in, in.

Carey Dunn was the Lighting Designer of this delightful production.

Campbell de Silva is the Associate Producer.

Other members of the crew are as follows:

Adrian Tafoya – Production Assistant

Anielka Gallo – Graphic Designer

Antje Dohrn – Photographer

Monica Orozco – Tango Choreographer (Did I mention the lively dancing?)

Chris Hume – Editor & Web Design

Run! Run! Run! And take someone who loves a historical work of art and color, lots and lots of color.

Macha Theatre/Films

1107 N. Kings Road

West Hollywood, CA  90069

Tickets:  www.machatheatre.org