review - Magic, Comedy and Illusion with Ivan Amodei

World class magician, comedian and illusionist Ivan Amodei is settling into an extended engagement at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel with his hit show The Magic of Ivan Amodei, Intimate Illusions. Accompanied by virtuoso cellist Irina Chirkova, who musically underscores everything Amodei says and the appropriate mood it implies with hilarious single chords, Amodei dazzles his 60 member audience with his original sleight of hand. It's all conveyed with a great down-to-earth, in-your-face sense of humor and dynamic one-of-a-kind showmanship.

The show takes place in a small, yet simplistically elegant salon on the second floor of the adjacent wing of the famous hotel. Intimacy is the name of the game here, which is often times lacking in other magic venues such as the Magic Castle. Amodei aims to please, and I was particularly impressed that I was asked for my favorite soft drink, only to have the magician immediately produce it for me. I had said Diet Pepsi, and what he produced was a Pepsi, stating that he had upgraded it from one to the other - I enjoyed how he made a little joke out of the error and graciously accepted the can of soda. At one point, the card a woman had chosen disappeared and he asked her to stand up, stating that she was sitting on it. When she did and it wasn't there, he exclaimed, "Now that would be an amazing feat!" It is this kind of self-deprecating humor that keeps the show enjoyably on its toes. People from the audience were included throughout the 90 minute set and that intimate participation makes all the difference.

There were 9 segments, including a fascinating display of what made Harry Houdini so famous as an escape artist. Amodei told how Houdini swallowed sharp implements of steel to help him in his escape and proceeded to swallow a shot-glass full of tiny pins that had been previously touched for the purpose of authenticity by various members of the audience. He later spit them out onto a spinning globe of the world in the exact countries or cities that audience members had selected. Other highlights included the amazing written reproduction of a series of numbers. Cards were given out to each person before the show, were passed to the aisle during that segment of the show, and then shuffled. Someone at the end of a row held the pile of cards close to her breast without looking at them, as someone else called out the exact numbers on the cards. There was also the famous William Tell story and the reenactment of it by tossing tiny candy mints into the air and hitting them with darts against a dart board. There was a great demonstration of how a mega-savant could memorize an entire dictionary page by page, and my personal favorite: spelling out an exact name on a hand held screen with tiles that represented scrabble tiles which that very person had randomly selected from a glass bowl.

This is a totally fun, entertaining evening of spectacular close-up sleight of hand made delightful by the engaging personality and uncanny skill of Ivan Amodei. You do not want to miss his awesome show!

And be sure to purchase his book Magic's Most Amazing Stories, a compilation of stories from hundreds of the world's most brilliant magicians, available at each performance.
Follow the link below to purchase tickets for upcoming performances in May and June at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, some of which are already sold out.

www.ivanamodei.com 

(Ivan Amodei and Irina Chirkova)

Cabaret review - Carrie Hart

On Sunday May 1, Carrie Hart presented the music of Rodgers and Hart in a program entitled Spring Is Here @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's. This businesswoman's in depth involvement in music and the human spirit led her to develop a one-woman show The Courage of the Creative Spirit, in which she tells the inspiring stories of the composers of the golden age of Broadway and then sings their timeless music. Spring Is Here devoted to Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart is the first in a series of individual evenings, and accompanied by the Leslie Sharp Trio, Hart performed most admirably to a warm, intimate audience.

Opening with "Johnny One Note", Hart put the crowd into a carefree, happy mood and then followed with the poignant "My Funny Valentine", one of her finest moments. Explaining that Lorenz Hart was under 5 ft tall and often without love was the perfect way to introduce and clarify the meaning of this heartbreakingly beautiful standard, which remains one of my personal favorites. Other highlights of the evening included: "Little Girl Blue", "Lover", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", "You Took Advantage of Me", an especially tender rendition of her title song "Spring Is Here", the hilariously different "To Keep My Love Alive" - there are so many delightful verses to this, Hart continued them as part of her encore to a zealous response from the crowd. There were also lovely renditions of "He Was to Good to Me", "It Never Entered My Mind", the buoyant "I Wish I Were in Love Again" and the infectious "The Lady Is a Tramp".

Of particular note was Hart's strong sense of knowing how to sing each song - which is an art in itself - and relating each to the overall big picture, which, in her brief patter between each number, she did sublimely. Spring Is Here is kind of like a mixed up, crazy journey through the various stages of love - from giggly, silly first love to the cheating and disillusionment of later love. In charting her course, Hart showed the changing moods and emotions in every song she sang. It's always nice to see a performer who has a clearly structured set. The one constructive comment I would have for Miss Hart is to perhaps add a few touches of humor, a joke or two, or maybe a little anecdote, since many of the songs are so sad. It is well known that Lorenz Hart was homosexual, a hidden fact which must have caused much of his pain, but she never alluded to it. This is where a director's eye might enhance the show's execution and add further perspective.

Leslie Sharp at the piano, Brad Bobo on bass, and Keith Larson on drums were stellar throughout.
Spring Is Here is a very enjoyable evening for Rodgers and Hart fans, and a terrific beginning for Carrie Hart's presentation of the show. This lady has a fine, low-key delivery, ideal for a night club setting, a wonderfully intuitive sense of the music, and her own very special and personal way of sharing it with her audience. I encourage her to do more.

Still Life @ LA Theatre Center

Zilah Mendoza and Beth Grant do wonderful work as Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keeffe in Still Life, now in workshop @ LA Theatre Center. See details below!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Many know the work of American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (Beth Grant, above) and that of Mexican born Frida Kahlo (Zilah Mendoza, top), but few know of the personal connections between the two strong and vibrant women who supposedly had a romantic affair. O'Keeffe was 20 years older than Kahlo, and both women kept in touch over the years through letters, which provides the core of the dramatic presentation Still Life. Both actresses are a joy to watch as they explore the characters' lives, accompanied by rear projections of their art and live music.
Two more performances, Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 @ Los Angeles Theatre Center. See article below!

review - Burn the Floor

CRITIC'S PICK
Burn the Floor
directed & choreographed by Jason Gilkison
Pantages Theatre
through May 8

Although an avid fan of dancing, I have never considered myself an expert. Hardly. But...I know when I am moved, moved to the brink...and Jason Gilkison's dance spectacular Burn the Floor, now on tour and at the Pantages until Sunday May 8 only, has enough vitality and style to keep audiences jumping for joy. Yes, there are many similar shows, but this one's definitive!

With 20 dancers, some alumni from So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol, live percussionists, as well as prerecorded music, two live singers and a simple central staircase, this show does not need background projections or a variety of gimmicky artistic transitions to maintain interest level. The sexy, energy-charged dancers by themselves provide all the sparks of electricity. Being a show about ballroom dancing, all styles are included like the cha cha, the samba, rumba, paso doble, tango, jive and other types of swing, and, for the older set, the slower Waltz and Viennese Waltz. It's without question internationally flavored. But connecting one form to another is what can really slow down the pace and get audience rustling in their seats for lack of focus. Not here. It all goes so fast from one number to the next it's like a big parade, and if you even blink, you may very well miss something... ecstatic. The symmetry of pairs, male and female groups opposing each other and other patterns are amazingly executed. And... there's enough flesh - both female and male - on display to keep both sexes delighted.

Songs range from "Let's Face the Music and Dance" to "Malagena" to "It Don't Mean a Thing(If It Ain't Got That Swing)" to "Nights in White Satin" to "Harlem Nocturne" to "Matador" to "Proud Mary" to "Turn the Beat Around". There's music to suit all ages.

The dancers come from  as far away as Great Britain, Australia, Venezuela and Russia, including Anya Garnis, Pasha Kovalev, Santo Costa, Igor Dogoter, Sasha Farber, Natalia Gorshkova, Karen Hauer, Faye Huddleston, Kevin Clifton, Ash Leigh Hunter, Robbie Kmetoni, Janette Manrava, Giselle Peacock, Damien Samuel, Aljaz Skorjanec, Emma Slater, Sarah Sortano, Gary Wright, Peter Saul and Vonzell Solomon, featured female vocalist. Great percussionists are Joseph Malone and Henry Soriano.

Burn the Floor is scorching entertainment  whose two hours simply fly. It's a lot more fun than watching dance on TV, and the brightly colorful costumes by Jane Hine and beautifully balanced and deeply hued lighting design by Rick Belzer add dynamic touches to an evening of sheer bliss thanks mostly to Jason Gilkison and above all to these fabulous dancers whose energy does really burn!

5 out of 5 stars

Glenn Casale: Director Par Excellence

Congrats are in order for a splendid direction of The Prisoner of Second Avenue @ the El Portal.

review - Prisoner of Second Avenue

CRITIC'S PICK
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
by Neil Simon
directed by Glenn Casale
El Portal Mainstage
through May 15

On the heels of his 1970 hit film The Out of Towners Neil Simon crafted The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 1971, which had a more than a healthy run on Broadway and filmed in 1975 with Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft. Towners has always been my favorite as it depicts how bright and enthusiastic small town people visit and view the living conditions of New York City as less than desirable. Anything that can go wrong does and the pair cannot wait to make a fast exit. In Avenue, it's a perspective from within as New York apartment dwellers Mel (Jason Alexander) and Edna (Gina Hecht) Edison must cope with high rent, noisy neighbors, unemployment, robbery, garbage strikes, the exorbitant cost of living and trying to keep one's sanity in the process. In this new production at the El Portal, Glenn Casale's fantastic pacing as director and a superb ensemble make The Prisoner of Second Avenue more topical than ever.

During our current recession it's a lot like the 70s once more, so everyone can relate to the Edisons who just want to carve out a little piece of happiness for themselves. New York was prone to every internal disaster in the 70s with garbage and transit strikes at the top of the list, so it is hardly a surprise that Mel, who has just been laid off from a long term steady job, is losing it. As much as Edna tries to support him in his time of need, the odds of success are against her as well. And of course, Mel's obnoxious older brother Harry (Ron Orbach), and overbearing sisters Pearl (Annie Korzen), Pauline (Dee Dee Rescher) and Jessie (Carole Ita White) would do better to stay at home and leave him alone. Their interference, although well-intended, is less than welcome, as is the case with most families who act purely out of obligation to a younger sibling. Simon was at the top of his form in establishing the quaint yet identifiable humor of these characters, and their scene in Act II, first with Edna and then with Mel, is one of the funniest of this or any of his plays.

As to the cast, pure heaven! Alexander has never been better as Mel and his subtle transitions from manic to controlled are well executed. Hecht is just great as Edna, never missing a beat. When Edna discovers that the apartment has been robbed, needs a drink to calm her nerves and then finds that the liquor has been taken too, Casale has her slump and slide down the wall to the floor in utter dismay, disillusionment and disgust. It's a terrific comic moment! Orbach, Korzen, Rescher and White are all sensational. White is absolutely riveting, as she sits crying and munching on a banana she pulls from her more than ample cleavage. Another great Casale moment! Orbach's later scene with Mel is touching, and for a moment, we almost grow to like Harry.

Set design of the plain and overpriced apartment by Stephen Gifford sends the perfect message and costumes by Kate Bergh, especially Edna's business suits, are 70s fashionable.

I cannot remember a better version of this play and laud the entire team of The Prisoner of Second Avenue for a truly enjoyable production.

5 out of 5 stars

Ovation Award Winner Beth Grant to do 4 performance workshop STILL LIFE @ Los Angeles Theatre Center

Still Life.Workshop performance of a play with music.

Conceived and written by Harry Clark. Directed by Dan Guerrero. Starring Beth Grant and Zilah Mendoza. Produced by Latino Theater Company.

@ Los Angeles Theatre Center, in its 280-seat Theatre 2, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013.

April 29- May 7, 2011. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.

ADMISSION: $15 suggested donation.

RESERVATIONS: (866) 811-4111.

ONLINE TICKETING: www.thelatc.org

Still Life tells the story of the decades-long friendship between iconic artists, Georgia O’Keefe of the United States and Mexico’s Frida Kahlo. Based on personal diaries, recollections and biographies, the narrative is a fascinating tapestry of fact and fiction, as the two women emerge from behind the shadows cast by their men (Hugo Stieglitz and Diego Rivera), to live their own lives of acclaim. The women reveal their secrets and their private lives in scenes interwoven with the music of cello (by playwright Harry Clark) and guitar (by Ivan Maceda) in this remarkable work in development.

                  Beth Grant (2010 Ovation Award winner Best Actress) portrays O’ Keefe. Zilah Mendoza plays Kahlo.

                  Videography by Bill Kersey.

                  Dan Guerrero directs. Also a writer and producer, he appeared at Los Angeles Theatre Center in his own autobiographical show in 2007.

review - The Temperamentals

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
The Temperamentals
by Jon Marans
directed by Michael Matthews
The Blank Theatre Company
through May 22

Not since Bent has there been so much media attention and interest in a play about homosexuality than currently exists with regard to Jon Marans' The Temperamentals. Still running off-Broadway the play is now onstage at The Blank Theatre Company with an appealing cast, direction and certainly intriguing and controversial subject matter that will keep audiences coming to see it. Done in a rather fast paced docudrama style, The Temperamentals, as gays were called in the early 50s, long before Stonewall in 1969 enticed them out of the closet, the play, despite being a curiosity piece of fine intellectual proportions, never maintains a high enough emotional involvement, at least in this production.

Real life founding fathers of  the Mattachine Foundation in California, Harry Hay (Dennis Christopher) and Rudy Gernreich (Erich Bergen) make strange bedfellows to be sure, the former a very driven, radical advocate for homosexual rights as well as a member of the Communist Party, the latter Austrian and Jewish with a promising career in Hollywood as a  bold fashion designer. Hay, like most closeted men of his time, was married; Gernreich was not, but he was frequently warned by studio magnates like Vincent Minnelli, that it might be a good idea if he expected success in his field. When the two form a partnership to try to put Hay's manifesto into practice, their resulting relationship is awkward and unfulfilling, especially for Gernreich who, despite his background of persecution, is less uptight, more go with the flow than Hay, all business and too much of a hard-driving bully at times to relax and enjoy life. Chuck Rowland (Mark Shunock), Bob Hull (John Tartaglia) and Dale Jennings (Patrick Scott Lewis) one by one come on board as the other founding fathers of the group, and it is their firm, undying commitment to the cause that propels the drama forward.With no access to newspaper or radio, their clandestine operations were frequently interrupted by police. Jennings, one of Hull's boyfriends, is arrested for lewd behavior in public and goes to trial, winning a case that encouraged the men to keep fighting for established rights for homosexuals, but this was merely a beginning, which turned into a conspiracy of silence with the public at large. Though membership increased, new members disliked the political implications of the mission, which forced the founding fathers to eventually disband and the group to become a social club of little significance.

The actors are all in fine form. Christopher is resolute and dedicated as Hay, as is Bergen as Gernreich. Even though he slips in and out of his Viennese accent, Bergen creates a complex character whose fame as an innovative costume designer was practically guaranteed in spite of his background and dalliances. Bergen has a magnetism, facial mannerisms and overall mannered style that add nicely to the character's dimensions. Tartaglia is funny and somewhat sympathetic as flamboyant Hull, who, like many gays who live for the moment, never really finds true happiness. Lewis is strong, direct and masculine as Jennings. Tartaglia, Jennings and Shunock play an array of characters, displaying excellent versatility with split second changes. Matthews as director keeps the pacing fast and the action tight and flowing throughout. Kurt Boetcher's dark set with minimal light in small windows and staircase, Cameron Zetty's lighting design and Lauren Tyler's period costumes all help to better define the underground ambiance. As to Marans' writing, there are some terrific scenes like the Act II opener where all the men except Hay play the various women in Hay's life, showing at least to some slight degree the other, more feminine side of these closeted men. The staging of this scene is fascinating with each man dressed in a toga-like white sheet and each with a peculiarly different hat and defending a corner of a squared area like pawns on a game board.

As is, like a documentary,  The Temperamentals shows a period in history where gay men did not dare to expose themselves if they valued their careers and social standing. When they did, they were sadly defeated by the powers that be. Young people should know that these early men gave their best to the cause, and the piece might very possibly make a more than decent film, but the one most important element lacking from the play is an emotional attachment to the characters. Yes, the element of detachment is built into the story, but I'm a romantic at heart and want to be moved by innermost feelings. For example, when Gernreich finally walks away from Hay in Washington, there is not a glimmer of emotion in a cold, sterile disconnection. Did Marans create it this way or is it the director's choice?

3.5 out of 5 stars

Cabaret review - Sketchy Queens

Sketchy Queens
Casita del Campo, Silverlake
starring Dee W. Ieye and Kay Sedia
directed by Kimberly Lewis
Friday, April 22 & Saturday April 23 @ 8 pm and Sunday April 24 @ 7 pm ONLY

If you're looking for lots of laughs this Easter weekend, head on over to Casita del Campo for Sketchy Queens starring two artists in drag, who just happen to be two of the Top Six Tupperware sales persons in the country. In fact, Dee W. Ieye is Number One, but the show is not about tupperware - that's right,  it's ten sketches of comedy with music that cover the world of entertainment from the 60s to the present.

Ieye and Kay Sedia, both former beauty queens - and they never let us forget it! - have a bang up time and their infectious sense of playful chemistry transfers to their audience in spades. Joined by four other energetic talents: Beth Leckbee, Cher Ferreyra, Danny Casillas and Bryan Lovell, they open with a splashy "Comedy Tonight", the altered words implying no tupperware, but their little top hats are - you got it,  tupperware bowls sprinkled with glitter. This is low budget after all, but the costumes, especially the gowns for Dee and Kay, more than compensate in the gaudy and ultra-colorful departments and are designed by Shaun Wunder.

Some terrific highlights of the evening include: Lovell playing Charlie Sheen, auditioning modest Dee and Kay for two sexy goddess assistants, a tacky home shopping program on TWS Radio - that stands for Totally Worthless Shit - with Dee as over-the-top gleeful hostess Crystal and Leckbee hilarious as a white trash housewife selling her tacky homemade ware and so pregnant, she's about to pop any second, a TV commercial to promote The Best of Jennifer Tilly on DVD, with Ferreyra right on target as the dotty Tilly acting out brief one-line scenes from her films, an outrageous telenovela in which two new maids witness the glaringly adulterous activity of their bosses firsthand, a wonderful takeoff on a neighborhood watch group with Danny and Kay essaying leaders Juan and Conchita Pelon to the strains of "Don't Cry for Me, West Covina", and a great finale sendup of Beach Blanket movies with Kay and Dee competing for every man's attention on the beach at Tijuana.

Director Lewis keeps the pacing up, up, up and the entire cast is having a blast. So will you, so head on over to Casita del Campo on Hyperion in Silver Lake, and join the fun. This weekend only through Sunday, April 24!
For tix visit: www.CavernClubTheater.com    or
call: 1 - 800 - 595 4849.

Dee W. Ieye is a good old Southern gal from Tennessee and Kay Sedia, best known for the online web series Chico's Angels, is a cross between Googie Gomez from The Ritz and Liz Torres. It's a hoot of a combo - particularly sans tupperware!

review - The Cripple of Inishmaan

CRITIC'S PICK

The Cripple of Inishmaan

by Martin McDonagh

directed by Garry Hynes

Kirk Douglas Theatre

through May 1

As I watched Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, some painful recollections surfaced from my childhood about Ireland and its people. My mother was second generation Irish, her parents Irish immigrants who declared quite emphatically that they were happy in America and never wanted to return to their homeland, even for a visit. My mother relayed this information to me with tears in her eyes as she recalled how her mother, my maternal grandmother, would never care to endure again her harsh existence in turn of the century Ireland. The characters in McDonagh's play, circa 1934, are desperately lonely creatures, forced to take it out on those closest to them for want and need of a better way of life. Now at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. the Druid and Atlantic Theatre Company return to LA on tour in their rightfully acclaimed production of ...Inishmaan.

Another thought that I could not help but entertain is the Irish sense of humor, so replete with repetitions and flat-out sarcasm. When an Irishman says what's on his mind, I doubt if he finds it funny. If you did and laughed, you'd better watch out, for you might get hit with a brick over the head or hear a biting insult about just how plain ugly or stupid you are! But, underneath that sarcasm, believe it or not, beats a heart of gold. An Irishman is not known for that twinkle in the eye for naught! Inishmaan, like many parts of Ireland, is isolated, cut off from the world; there's a great need for attention, and with little contact, much of the communication comes via exaggerated stories and gossip about townsfolk, animals or about that little man with the funny mustache who was such a rage in Germany in '34. What else was there to do but work and pass the time by telling stories...or stare at cows? People like Johnny Pateen Mike (Dermot Crowley) (top photo), who called themselves newsmen, would circulate and trade gossip for eggs or canned goods at the corner store, this one owned and operated by sisters Kate (Ingrid Craigie) and Eileen (Dearbhla Molloy) whose nephew Billy Claven (Tadhg Murphy) is Cripple Billy of the play's title. One story follows another and they do not add up. Which is a lie and which the truth is any man's guess. As a matter of fact, we do not learn the truth about Billy's dead parents - the circumstances surrounding the deaths and how he was provided for - until the very end. If in fact, that is the truth(?) Along the way the stories entertain and sometimes sadden depending upon the rage and spite of the characters telling them. There's a little of both in Mammy O'Dougal's case (Nancy E. Carroll). Mammy, Johnny Pateen's drunken mother, confesses with cocky pride the amount of her daily liquid regimen to Doctor McSharry (Paul Vincent O'Connor), a fact that is simultaneously funny and pathetic.

  

As to the main plot, Babby Bobby (Liam Carney) who owns a boat, offers to take holy terror Slippy Helen (Clare Dunne) and her friend whiney Bartley (Laurence Kinlan) over to Inishmore to watch a Hollywood movie company making a film. "Everyone wants to come to Ireland, 'cause the people are so friendly" becomes one of Johnny Pateen's funniest appraisals. Cripple Billy, secretly enamored of Helen, will do just about anything to stave off boredom and go to Inishmore, so he tells Babby Bobby a sob story, which gets him in hot water later on. As it turns out, Bobby buys into the story and Billy goes with them and on Inishmore is chosen to go to Hollywood for a screen test to possibly play a cripple in an upcoming movie there. He leaves his aunties without a word for four months. When he returns dejected and seriously ill, his confessed affection for Helen is acknowledged, but at that juncture fate doles out a melancholy hand to Billy.

This is a deeply tragic tale with acts of violence and harsh rude behavior amongst friends and relatives that is made digestible because it is heartily sprinkled with the indomitable humor of the Irish, who have always kept their heads above water no matter how rough the waves. McDoangh's writing is so infectious and absorbing because it has the true flavor of these stalwart Irish, who can take the most deadly serious fact and make a joke out of it ... and in this production, they are played by a troupe of magnificent Irish actors - the real thing - all of whom give stellar performances. Bravo to them one and all; they will touch you, make you laugh, cry and pull at your heartstrings. Kudos again to McDonagh and to Garry Hynes for her fantastic direction! Set design and costumes by Francis O'Connor. and lighting design by Davy Cunningham are simply outstanding.

If it's sweeties you're cravin', go treat yourselves to The Cripple of Inishmaan for a brief immersion into some past Irish culture. But stand warned: the humor is so genuinely Irish, so authentically blunt and real, so heartwarmingly human!

5 out of 5 stars

review - George Gershwin Alone

CRITIC'S PICK
George Gershwin Alone
written and performed by Hershey Felder
directed by Joel Zwick
Pasadena Playhouse
through May 8

Actor/singer/musician/author Hershey Felder's multi Award winning depiction of composer George Gershwin in George Gershwin Alone is now on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse for a limited run through May 8 celebrating a ten year anniversary. Felder fills the space with his virtuoso musicianship and creates such an extraordinary stir and love affair with his public that he is becoming almost as popular as the legendary composer himself.

Born of Russian Jewish immigrants in 1898 Gershwin died much too early in 1937 at the age of 38. With his beginnings in the Ziegfeld Follies and on Broadway, Gershwin, often in collaboration with his brother Ira, also worked for years in Hollywood and in Paris. But as much as his audience adored him, he never hit it off with the critics. Compared to friend Irving Berlin, Berlin was the commercial songwriter, whereas Gershwin remained the true musical artist that was never satisfied, never yielding to limitations. He created opera with Porgy and Bess, which some critics considered too Broadway pop to be called opera, the incredible "An American in Paris" (1928) long before the movie of the same name - by the way, critics called the piece too pedestrian, and of course the brilliantly complex "Rhapsody in Blue". He claimed that everything about him was in his music, and if that is truly the case, he was a genius of overwhelming proportions.

Felder starts at the beginning, telling deliciously humorous stories about Gershwin's parents and close brother Ira, and takes his audience on a detailed musical journey that both entertains and educates as it delves into how and when the compositions came about and, more to the point, how difficult it was to be taken seriously as a musician. He worked for years in radio to become financially secure enough to compose the risky "Rhapsody in Blue". Like actors who work in film and television to support their true artistic endeavors in the theatre, Gershwin was the real thing and started his "An American in Paris" from the ground up by first of all delighting himself by listening to the cacophony of sounds made by taxi cab horns he heard in the streets and next by purchasing musical horns of varied shapes and sizes and fooling around with them until he got the musical sounds he was looking for. Felder has a deep attraction to this man's work that takes possession of his entire spirit, which in turn he is able to thrillingly translate in full to the audience. It is sublime to witness Gershwin and Felder blend together.

Highlights of the evening include: "Someone to Watch Over Me", "Embraceable You", "Fascinatin' Rhythm", "S'Wonderful", "Not For Me", "The Man I Love", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "Our Love Is Here to Stay", "It Ain't Necessarily So" and of course "Summertime" and other selections from Porgy and as finale to the piece "Rhapsody in Blue". There is now a terrific audience participation segment added to the show that Felder compares to a Gershwin after-party at his Beverly Hills abode where throngs of people would lift their glasses of champagne as well as their voices in song as they gathered around the piano. What would they sing? Why, Gershwin songs, of course!  This segment included some wonderful impromptu solos from the audience on opening night, with a lovely soprano music teacher essaying "Someone to Watch Over Me".

Zwick has Felder utilizing most of the stage ultra-smoothly, but at this stage of the game, it's almost as comfortable for him as if he were inviting us into his own drawing room. Scenic design by Yael Pardess includes some haunting background projections of Gershwin and the people from his much too brief life and career, like composer Kay Swift with whom he had a ten-year affair.
If you haven't seen Gershwin/Felder, go, go, go! If you have, go again, as this may be a farewell of the evening to Los Angeles.

5 out of 5 stars

review - Eccentricities of a Nightingale

RECOMMENDED
The Eccentricities of a Nightingale
by Tennessee Williams
directed by Damaso Rodriguez
@ A Noise Within, Glendale
through May 28

1948's Summer and Smoke was rewritten in the 60s by Tennessee Williams and what resulted was a more clearly structured/themed play with the same central characters entitled The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. Music teacher Miss Alma, daughter of an Episcopalean minister, was passionately in love with her neighbor young Dr. John Buchanan and when that love was unrequited rather than become a miserable spinster, she turned to  prostitution. Now in a rare and lovely production of the refined play @ A Noise Within, Williams poetic spirit is alive and well in Miss Alma, the Spanish word for soul.


Williams removed the violent plot elements of Summer and Smoke, creating a more gentle Dr. John and with the addition of a doting mother, his John becomes a mama's boy incapable of sharing love. He is cold whereas Alma is hot, consumed with passion. In Eccentricities, Alma and John consummate their fondness for one another with a sexual encounter, that despite its much less than perfect results, helps to explain Alma's choice. Spiritual/earthly pleasures tear at Miss Alma, who seems rather an early version of Williams' Blanche Du Bois. Alma's mother is slowly going insane like Blanche and Williams' own mother and sister; as it seems to run in the family, it is no small wonder that Alma attempts to veer away from the destiny of gloom that hangs over her like a cloud.

A Noise Within's production is beautifully staged, acted and directed. Damaso Rodriguez makes full use of the stage to represent Glorious Hill, Mississippi with the town square in the foreground, people passing by in the background and a screen to display fireworks. The screen also serves to project the titles of the various sections of the play, like Feelings of a Singer, Tenderness of a Mother and A Cavalier's Plume. The fountain with its angel is ever present as is the church steeple. In the interior of the Winemiller residence there is movement behind to give the feel of an outer corridor and the screen serves to show the silhouette of Alma's mother sitting in her upstairs room in a state of mental deterioration. Good effect and fine scenic design by Joel Daavid.

The ensemble is excellent. Deborah Puette's Miss Alma is fluttery, with a spirited nervous laugh to mask her consuming inner fire. In spite of an accent that at times makes her words somewhat difficult to comprehend, she maintains a steady sense of propriety throughout which John calls gallantry. Puette's Alma is controlled but effective. Jason Dechert does well as John, making him appropriately reserved, cool and complex. Jill Hill is wonderful with Mrs. Winemiller's desperation and Christopher Callen superb as the obsessive Mrs. Buchanan. The members of Alma's literary club steal that second act scene especially Jacque Lynn Colton as the gossipy and whiney Mrs. Bassett and Dave Kirkpatrick as the awkwardly unappealing Roger Doremus. Mitchell Edmonds is the epitome of stern as Reverend Winemiller and Hank Ostendorf  perfectly naive as the Salesman who falls into Alma's trap. Darby Bricker and David LM McIntyre complete the cast.

Summer and Smoke receives more attention and productions than the revised Eccentricities, so it is a treat to see the latter performed. Eccentricities plays in rep with Comedy of Errors and The Chairs through May 28 @ A Noise Within on South Brand Blvd in Glendale.

4 out of 5 stars

review - God of Carnage

CRITIC'S PICK
God of Carnage
by Yasmina Reza
translated by Christopher Hampton
directed by Matthew Warchus
Ahmanson Theatre
through May 29

What Edward Albee boldly achieved with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the 60s fiercely influenced Yasmina Reza as she seizes the moment and goes a giant step further in her brilliant recreation of human savagery in God of Carnage now onstage @ the Ahmanson Theatre until May 29. With the complete original award-winning Broadway cast in tact, this Comedy of Manners - Without the Manners, like an explosive, tears the roof right off the theatre.

Reza places her characters in a very uncomfortable situation and allows them to say and do all the things that people trapped similarly would like to say and do, but, fearing the consequences of their actions, hold back. So, in this light, what we see is an exaggerated reality. What starts out as a gentle face-to-face chat between two sets of parents (Marcia Gay Harden and James Gandolfini; Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels) who have met to discuss an unpleasant incident that occurred between their sons turns into a free-for-all bordering on the primitive carnage suggested by the title. Verbal insults turn into physical assaults on property and people and there's a total loss of control. Each person becomes an isolated beast left to lick his own wounds without one shred of caring left between any of them. The playwright does not depict the scene, however, in a serious vein, but, au contraire, lets the sparks  fly in an all out comedic roast. And, as black comedies go, what makes the audience react with gales of laughter is the instant recognition through shock and dismay of their very own feelings. "Boy oh boy, does he (she) deserve that, so let him (her) have it!" Shockingly hilarious!

Suffice to say the cast is ingenious. Harden as caring yet outspoken supermom and writer Veronica is astonishing. Her obsessive-compulsive reactions to Annette's throwing up all over her priceless coffee table book about Africa is a stitch. Rather than attend to her guest she puts on rubber gloves like Felix Unger and proceeds to clean up the mess. Then her vicious attack on husband Michael (Gandolfini), which is like a tiger pouncing upon its prey, is viciously delicious.

Davis as more soft-spoken Annette makes a delightfully realistic drunk. In that state she finds the peace that is so lacking around her. The women's roles dominate the piece, as the female species definitely comes off stronger and more victorious. But the weaker men, who more than display their true colors are superbly played by Gandolfini as the indifferent nihilist Michael and Jeff Daniels as Alan, a lawyer whose cell phone is more precious than life itself. A pretty common image in today's society! Both men are portrayed as uncaring, macho creatures without a shred of decency. What child would want to call either one father! The women are just as violent, but somehow want and care more for the human condition.

Mark Thompson's set is like a bleak painting with the stone cold living room area of Michael and Veronica's home stage left set off by a blood red carpet and very large red background wall. At first glance, all you see is red, like a battlefield. His black costumes work beautifully against the blood red decor. Matthew Warchus' direction is spot-on dynamic as the play's pacing is fast and furious in the showdowns and then comes to a screeching halt in several pauses as the opponents rest and prepare for the next round.

In spite of the unreality of the behavior in Reza's God of Carnage, life as we know it is moving so fast and people care so much about themselves as opposed to others, that what she portrays might sadly be right around the next corner. An isolated existence - pitiful but true!
Brilliant play; brilliant production!

out of 5 stars: a 5+

review - Rain

RECOMMENDED
Rain
A Tribute to the Beatles
Pantages Theatre
through April 17 only

For those of us who lived through the 60s and saw firsthand the arrival of the Beatles in the US and their premiere on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, we know the impact that they had on pop culture and on female fans, who screamed, yelled and literally passed out while watching them. Like Elvis, they were a phenomenon and to think of how they revolutionized music over the course of the next twenty+ years! Paul, George (deceased), John (deceased) and Ringo were IT for a long time, and now the band Rain is replicating their look and musical style to the letter on Broadway and  for one week only at the Pantages. Steve Landes, Joey Curatolo, Joe Bithorn, Ralph Castelli and Mark Beyer are Rain and they are as big a smash as those Liverpool youngsters who preceded them. These very same boys who played the show at the Pantages in 2009 are back once more, but will return to New York next week.

Act One has the early hits like "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Yesterday" and all the great Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band songs like "Eleanor Rigby" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" to name but two. In Act Two, the boys get more relaxed and perform some of the later stuff like "Hey Jude", "Let It Be", and some less familiar but still curiously entertaining tunes. Backed by three screens that show a stream of psychedelic images, TV news footage of the period and  hilarious 60s commercials, the evening is a haven for those with a penchant for reminiscing about 60s-70s Americana: some joyous, some tragic, but all leaving an indelible mark on the memory.

In spite of Beatlemania and other Beatle shows which have saturated the public, Rain is a highly enjoyable trip down memory lane. "Get on your feet, LA!" was the call more than once and Los Angelenos followed suit, as they love the Beatles, their music and now Rain, who keep it forever young and fresh....and the legacy alive. I'm still waiting and hoping for that big book musical to chronicle the Beatles' lives.

4 out of 5 stars

PS Be sure to pack an earplug or two. I loved what I heard but found myself in a somewhat deafened state when I left the Pantages!

The Gersons After a Smashing Concert @ Sterling's

Zane Gerson performed with his wife Stephanie Burkett Gerson at her CD release party concert @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's Sunday April 10. CD is entitled Once Upon a Time.
review below!

review - The Chairs

CRITIC'S PICK
The Chairs
by Eugene Ionesco
directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott
A Noise Within, Glendale
through May 21

Eugene Ionesco's classic absurdist play The Chairs (1952) has had many interpretations through the years including political and religious, from soup to nuts. Now onstage at A Noise Within in a marvelously crafted production, The Chairs boasts a tremendous trio of actors under the expert direction of Julia Rodriguez-Elliott.

An Old Woman (Deborah Strang) and an Old Man (Geoff Elliott) in the waning years of their life together play out a charade - or is it? - in which there are throngs of people invited to their abode to hear a first and final public presentation of the Old Man's message about the meaning of life. Before the preparations, they sit in two chairs reminiscing about ambition and what he could have become. They express a state of boredom, but at times mixed with anxiety and even some jubilation about what is to come. Once the bell rings and the guests start arriving - they are all invisible - they pull out a multitude of chairs to accommodate the crowd and start to cavort and converse with the people in one-sided conversations, again reminiscing about better days gone by. The man's memories are of the war, as he is a general factotum, whereas the woman's are more of an overtly flirtatious and wildly sexual nature. Some stories are contradictory: she claims a son; he says they have no children; she says he adored his parents; he claims to have left his mother in a ditch to die. Once the guests have all arrived, the emperor makes a grand entrance - again invisible, is seated on a throne, and once the two settle the crowd down for the orator, who has been asked to deliver the Old Man's speech, the two commit suicide by jumping out the window into the river. The orator, a deaf mute, tries to address the audience, but nothing comes out except incomprehensible sounds. He then tries to write the meaning on a slate with words that make no sense.

As to my personal interpretation, two people live out their final days of desperation trying to make sense of their lives. They want a throng around them but are forced to imagine the guests. Maybe they are the last people on earth, or maybe their friends no longer come by because they've stopped caring or have themselves passed on. When the orator arrives, he is a symbol of death and the two people depart, killing themselves in a way of their own choosing. The orator cannot speak, as there is no message, no apparent meaning to life. It is as it is. When the orator leaves the stage, there is a long pause and then a crowd of people is heard talking. Life goes on without the man and woman. Ionesco's language of repetition, like humiliation, miliation, miliation or majesty, jesty, jesty adds much to the message of fultility, as do the contradictory stories about their lives. What are we to believe and who cares?
Like Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, the whole piece comes off as a giant vaudeville act with comedy masking the sadness of the drama. How successfully two people live with and play off of each other depends entirely on them. If they choose, they enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Strang and Elliott are wonderfully vibrant and physically adept throughout, making us believe the presence of people where there are none. Strang is simply great reliving her sexual escapades and Elliott just being the totally human, humble servant that he has always been. Their comic timing is impeccable, thanks to precise direction from Rodriguez-Elliott. Andy Stokan is fine in his brief appearance as the orator.

This is an excellent representation of Ionesco's work told simply and energetically with great pacing to avoid any gaps in continuity. The Chairs plays in repertory with Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and Tennessee Williams' Eccentricities of a Nightingale.
visit:
www.anoisewithin.org for schedule info
5 out of 5 stars