Stage Left: romantic comedy

Showing posts with label romantic comedy. Show all posts

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of March 16, 2018

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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New This Week:

Caught
Photo by Peter Wochniak

Held Over:

The Looking Glass Playhouse presents the comedy Almost, Maine Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, March 8 - 18. "A woman carries her heart, broken into nineteen pieces, in a small paper bag. A man shrinks to half his former size, after losing hope in love. A couple keeps the love they have given each other in large red bags, or compress the mass into the size of a diamond. These playful and surreal experiences are commonplace in the world of John Cariani's Almost, Maine, where on one deeply cold and magical Midwinter Night, the citizens of Almost - not organized enough for a town, too populated for a wilderness - experience the life-altering power of the human heart. Relationships end, begin, or change beyond recognition, as strangers become friends, friends become lovers, and lovers turn into strangers. Propelled by the mystical energy of the aurora borealis and populated with characters who are humorous, plain-spoken, thoughtful, and sincere, Almost, Maine is a series of loosely connected tales about love, each with a compelling couple at its center, each with its own touch of sorcery." Performances take place at 301 West St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Ill. For more information, visit www.lookingglassplayhouse.com.

My take: This is a charming set of romantically comic one acts with a strong dose of a kind of magical realism. We did the local premier of this a few years back at West End Players Guild and the show has been cropping up here and there ever since. I haven't seen the Looking Glass production, but I can attest to the fact that the play itself is first-class stuff.

Anything Goes
Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg

New Line Theatre presents Cole Porter's Anything Goes Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm through March 24. "Anything Goes is a masterful mashup of musical comedy, gangster movie, screwball comedy, and social satire, because even in terms of form, anything goes. First opening in a time when John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, and evangelists Aimee Semple McPherson and Billy Sunday were all national celebrities, this was potent, pointed satire; and it's just as subversive today. The show's evangelist turned nightclub singer Reno Sweeney is equal parts McPherson and infamous speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan (the model for Velma Kelly in Chicago). And though we never meet gangster Snake Eyes Johnson, he's seems a fair double for Dillinger." Performances take place at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, three blocks east of Grand, in Grand Center. For more information, visit newlinetheatre.com or call 314-534-1111.

My take: Cole Porter's 1934 hit has undergone at least three major revivals (and, to quote Tom Lehrer in a radically different context, "God knows how many between"), each one of which involved significant alternations in the script and score. The New Line production has apparently gone back to the original book (a collaborative effort among Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse (of Jeeves and Wooster fame), Howard LIndsay, and Russel Crouse)—whch is perhaps the most radical thing one can do with this show at this point. It's apparently working; Steve Callahan at KDHX calls it a "triumph" while over at Ladue News, Mark Bretz says the production "blends silly comedy, stylish music and effervescent performances in a winning combination which cleverly utilizes all hands on deck." I guess I need to reserve a ticket.

The Last Romance
Photo by John Lamb

Menopause the Musical

Monday, March 12, 2018

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of March 12, 2018

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The Looking Glass Playhouse presents the comedy Almost, Maine Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, through March 18. "A woman carries her heart, broken into nineteen pieces, in a small paper bag. A man shrinks to half his former size, after losing hope in love. A couple keeps the love they have given each other in large red bags, or compress the mass into the size of a diamond. These playful and surreal experiences are commonplace in the world of John Cariani's Almost, Maine, where on one deeply cold and magical Midwinter Night, the citizens of Almost - not organized enough for a town, too populated for a wilderness - experience the life-altering power of the human heart. Relationships end, begin, or change beyond recognition, as strangers become friends, friends become lovers, and lovers turn into strangers. Propelled by the mystical energy of the aurora borealis and populated with characters who are humorous, plain-spoken, thoughtful, and sincere, Almost, Maine is a series of loosely connected tales about love, each with a compelling couple at its center, each with its own touch of sorcery." Performances take place at 301 West St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Ill. For more information, visit www.lookingglassplayhouse.com.

Anything Goes
Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg

As It Is in Heaven
Photo by Gerry Love

Mustard Seed Theatre presents the drama As It Is in Heaven Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, March 16 - 31. "The tranquility of women living in an 1830's Shaker community in Kentucky is threatened by the arrival of newcomers claiming to see angels." Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre, 6800 Wydown Blvd. For more information, call (314) 719-8060 or visit the web site at www.mustardseedtheatre.com.

A Call to Conscience, The Griot Museum of History, and 14th Street Gallery present A Black Woman Speaks Friday and Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, March 16 - 18. This one-woman show celebrates the life of African-American actress and political activist Beah Richards, who used her artistry to break down racial barriers. The performances take place at the 14th Street Gallery, 2701 N. 14th St. For more information: acalltoconscience.org.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents the classic comedy Born Yesterday March 14 - April 8. "Junkyard tycoon Harry Brock swaggers into Washington, D.C., determined to buy a senator or two. The monkey wrench in his schemes is Billie Dawn, his seemingly dim-witted ex-showgirl girlfriend. But when Brock hires a reporter to tutor Billie, she rapidly comes into her own as a force to be reckoned with. This sharp and snappy comedy hilariously skewers Beltway corruption." Performances take place at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information: repstl.org.

Caught
Photo by Peter Wochniak

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Caught through March 25. "In the era of 'fake news,' Caught creates a bracingly unique experience that will keep you wondering what's real and what's theatre. An art exhibition by a Chinese dissident is the first phase of a multi-layered puzzle, which presents the audience with an ever-changing set of rules. Chen's piece deftly examines the blurred lines between truth and artifice, both in the theatre and in life." Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information: repstl.org.

CSZ St. Louis presents The ComedySportz Show on Saturday nights at 7:30 pm. The show is "action-packed, interactive and hilarious comedy played as a sport. Two teams battle it out for points and your laughs! You choose the winners the teams provide the funny!" Performances take place on the second floor of the Sugar Cubed, 917 S Main St. in St Charles, Mo. For more information: www.cszstlouis.com.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents The Comic Book Killer through April 14. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com.

Alton Little Theater presents the comedy Exit Laughing Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, March 16 - 25. "EXIT LAUGHING by Paul Elliott has been likened to be part "Golden Girls" and part "Designing Women" in that it relies on characters who are well - 'characters'. And yes the play's initial premise is that we lose good friends and things can get difficult in the later years of life - but WAIT - the play is not at all about death but about living life to the fullest. When the biggest highlight of your life for the past thirty years has been your weekly card night out with the girls, what do you do when one of your foursome inconveniently dies? If you're Connie, Leona and Millie, three southern ladies from Birmingham you do the most daring thing you've ever done. You "borrow" the ashes from the funeral home for one last card game and the wildest, most exciting night of their life begins with a police raid, a stripper, mega-laughs and a whole new way of looking at all the fun you can have when you're truly living. And it turns out that the departed Mary has a lot to say through messages and gifts she has arranged to arrive after her death---she sets in motion a new beginning for her friends and even a recalcitrant daughter comes to understand the difference between living and just existing." Performances take place at 2450 North Henry in Alton, IL. For more information, call 618.462.6562 or visit altonlittletheater.org.

Over Due Theatre presents musical Godspell Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through March 18. Performances take place at the Olivette Community Center, 9723 Grandview Drive, in Olivette, MO. For more information, call 314-210-2959 or visit overduetheatrecompany.com.

O'Fallon TheatreWorks presents The Great Gatsby at the O'Fallon Municipal Centre auditorium Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, March 16 - 25. "Based on the classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the O'FallonTheatreWorks' production brings the breathtaking glamour and decadent excess of the Jazz Age to life with an original soundtrack and award-winning set designers. Synopsis: In this Simon Levy adaptation of the novel, self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby passionately and obsessively pursues Daisy Buchanan, the wife of another wealthy man." The O'Fallon Municipal Centre is located at 100 North Main Street in O'Fallon, MO. For more information, visit www.ofallon.mo.us or call 636-379-5606.

The Last Romance
Photo by John Lamb

Insight Theatre Company presents The Last Romance through March 18. "The Last Romance is about an opera-loving American in his 70s who once auditioned for the Met. Currently widowed, he meets an attractive woman named Carol while living with his sister Rose. This humorous and tender play will leave audiences of all ages with the idea that it is never too late to feel alive!" Performances take place at The .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Midtown. For more information, call 314-556-1293 or visit insighttheatrecompany.com.

The Theatre Guild of Webster Groves presents Neil Simon's comedy Laughter on the 23rd Floor Fridays through Sundays through March 18. "Inspired by the playwright's youthful experience as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, with all the attendant comic drama as the harried writing staff frantically scrambles to top each other with gags while competing for the attention of star madman 'Max Prince'." Performances take place in the Guild theatre at Newport and Summit in Webster Groves, MO. For more information: theatreguildwg.org or call 314-962-0876.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Mayhem in Mayberry through April. "Welcome to the 10th annual Mayberry-fest. Everyone is looking forward to the highlight of this event - the Miss Mayberry contest. YOU and Sheriff Andy Trailer will judge the contestants (chosen from the audience) on beauty, poise, cookin' skills and a new category this year - Hog callin'. Will the next Miss Mayberry be the vivacious Dazey Doof from Hazzard County? Or the beautiful hillbilly, Elly May Klumpett? Or will it be the lovely Lois Lame from Smallville? Don't county out the charming Paris Hoosier from Hoosierville. She's the main reason the train stops at Petticoat Junction! Sheriff Andy, Deputy Blarney and Aint Bee invite you to join the fun and the mayhem in Mayberry cause it won't be the same without y'all." The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com.

Menopause the Musical

The Playhouse at Westport Plaza presents Menopause the Musical, "a celebration of women and The Change," through March 31. Four women meet while shopping for a black lace bra at a lingerie sale. After noticing unmistakable similarities among one another, the cast jokes about their woeful hot flashes, mood swings, wrinkles, weight gain and much more. The Playhouse at Westport Plaza is at 635 West Port Plaza. For more information: playhouseatwestport.com.

Alpha Players present Neil Simon's comedy The Odd Couple March 16 -25. "This classic comedy opens as a group of the guys assemble for cards in the apartment of divorced Oscar Madison. And if the mess is any indication, it's no wonder that his wife left him. Late to arrive is Felix Unger, who has just been separated from his wife. Fastidious, depressed, and none too tense, Felix seems suicidal, but as the action unfolds, Oscar becomes the one with murder on his mind when the clean freak and the slob ultimately decide to room together with hilarious results as The Odd Couple is born." Performances take place at The Florissant Civic Center Theater, Parker Rd. at Waterford Dr. in Florissant, MO. For more information: alphaplayers.org, or call 314-921-5678.

Tesseract Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Purple Heart City, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m., March 16 - 25. "Nobody has seen Daniel in eighteen months. When he suddenly returns home, hoping to pick life up where he left it, he finds a family hesitant to forgive him and a community that is tired and haunted by a past of having nuclear waste contaminating its creeks and backyards." Performances take place at The .ZACK, 3224 Locust in Midtown. For more information: tesseracttheatre.org.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents Ruby Sunrise March 16 - 25. "Illuminating two fascinating moments in America's cultural and political history the play sets off from a farm in Indiana in 1937, as a young girl named Ruby struggles to turn her dream of the first all-electrical television system into a reality. Move to 1957, to a McCarthy-era New York TV studio as Lulu, Ruby's daughter, attempts to get her mother's story told through the medium of television. Groff's script is filled with humor and irony as the story charts the course of the phenomenon of television: from early idealism and sparks of genius, to promises fulfilled and compromises brokered, and beyond." Performances take place in the Robert G. Reim Theatre of the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, call 314-821-9956 or visit ktg-onstage.org.

The Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents Twisted Improv on Friday, March 16, at 8 p.m. at The Steamboat Room, 314 S. Clay in Kirkwood, MO. "Join Adam and his crew for an interactive night of fun and laughter.Beer, wine and food available from Kirkwood Station Brewery." For more information: ktg-onstage.org.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Review: The play's not the thing

This review originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Joneal Joplin and Susan Louise O'Connor
Photo: John Gitchoff

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The best things about the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis studio production of the 2015 comedy/drama Heisenberg by Simon Stephens (whose wonderful The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opened the Rep's mainstage season) are the parts that are, as they say in the restaurant biz, locally sourced. That includes the stellar performances by Joneal Joplin and Susan Louise O'Connor, the thoughtful direction by Rep Artistic Director Steve Woolf, and the subtle but effective sound design by Rusty Wandall.

The worst thing about it, unfortunately, is the script. Commissioned by the Manhattan Theatre Club, where it was performed by Mary Louise Parker and author/actor Denis Arndt, Heisenberg chronicles the developing relationship between Alex Priest, a quiet London butcher in his mid-seventies with an comprehensive love of music, and Georgie Burns, a forty-ish transplanted American with a flexible notion of truth.

They first meet in a railway station where Georgie has just kissed Alex on the back of the neck, claiming that she mistook him for her late husband. It's a bizarre story and, as it turns out, a wholly fictitious one, along with most of the autobiography that emerges from her long comic monologue. As written, Georgie is manic, self-obsessed, and chronically dishonest--basically the sort of person most of us would cross the street to avoid. And yet Alex not only becomes emotionally involved very quickly but, even more improbably, joins her in a quixotic quest to reconnect with her adult son, who has fled to America and has forcefully severed all ties to her.

The relationship between the two feels arbitrary and unmotivated, and the play itself feels like a seriocomic sketch that has gotten too big for its britches. That might be because, as Emmeline McCabe reports in her program note, the playwright made no attempt to plot out the script in advance but instead "was inspired by the idea of not knowing where something is or where it is going"—a very free interpretation of the Heisenberg Uncertainly Principle which gives the show its title. The result is a play that lacks any real dramatic shape and feels unfinished.

For me, ultimately, the rewards of this production came from watching two very talented actors create a credible relationship out of this material. Mr. Joplin's beautifully understated Alex is a subtle masterpiece, shaping a warm and sympathetic human being. Early on, Georgie accurately describes Alex as "not so much a creature of routine as a psychopathic raging monster of it." Watching him emerge from the cocoon of that routine is immensely gratifying.

Ms. O'Connor is just as impressive, rattling off Georgie's gargantuan line load in a way that makes it look as though she's riffing on the spot, and finding moments of vulnerability and even humanity in what is, for the most part, a pretty annoying character. Georgie talks a lot but reveals very little of herself; Ms. O'Connor givers her more depth than the playwright does.

Peter and Margery Spack's simple rectangular set divides the black box space in half, with the audience lined up facing each other on the long sides of the rectangle. The arrangement could have created sight line issues, but Mr. Woolf's blocking takes that into account, and his pacing keeps the show moving while still allowing room for it to breathe. This is, in short, a production that gives the script every possible advantage.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production of Heisenberg continues through November 12 in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For me, the strong acting and direction didn't compensate for the weakness of the material, but your mileage may vary.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Review: "Constellations" benefits from the star power of its actors and director

This review originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Eric Gilde and Ellen Adair
Photo: Eric Woolsey

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The road not taken; where does it lead? If this or that tiny aspect of my life changed, what would the result be? That's the question at the heart of British playwright Nick Payne's ingenious but less than compelling comedy/drama Constellations, getting its local premiere at the Rep Studio through February 5th.

It's not exactly a new question, of course. It's the basic premise behind theatrical vehicles as diverse as the 2014 musical If/Then and the 1921 play If by Lord Dunsany, to say nothing of numerous films and science fiction novels. Mr. Payne's take on it is somewhat innovative, though, in that he puts it in the context of the quantum physics concept of the "multiverse"—the idea that there is an effectively infinite number of different universes in which every possible permutation of every possible human decision and/or physical event exists.

So there's a universe in which I started writing this review at 11 p.m. on a Friday night, but there's another in which I started earlier or later, or never wrote it at all because I was hit by a truck on the way back from the theater. And yet another in which I never wrote it because I'm a world-famous actor and I get reviews instead of giving them. And so on.

In Constellations, the case for the multiverse is first made by Marianne, a cosmologist who links up (or doesn't) with beekeeper Roland at a cookout. The script gives us a half-dozen different variations of the scene, all slightly altered in tone and text, and then spins out permutations of the relationship between the two characters. Breakups and infidelity are involved, and marriage might be. There's also an illness for Marianne that is, in all but one version, fatal. Essentially, the play boils down to a handful of scenes repeated with variations so minor that they might as well be identical.

It's a clever and unorthodox structure. It's also the play's greatest weakness.

Final scene
Photo: Eric Woolsey

In an essay quoted in director Steve Woolf's program notes, Dr. Liliane Campos—a professor of Performing Arts, Literary Theory and English Literature at the Sorbonne—notes that in Constellations, Mr. Payne "creates a space for the spectator's active gaze, inviting us to group his fragments together and to find new meanings in the constellation they produce." Unfortunately, the repetitive nature of those fragments means that the characters never are allowed to take on any real depth, so there's not that much meaning to work with. In the final analysis, Constellations feels like an intricate piece of dramaturgical clockwork, fascinating to watch but not very engaging, somewhat like Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, but without the intellectual or dramatic depth.

Fortunately, the Rep has a wonderfully talented pair of actors to carry the burden of what strikes me as a very challenging script from the performer's point of view. As Marianne and Roland, Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde (who are married in real life) navigate all the twists, turns, and switchbacks of Mr. Payne's multiverse with impressive skill. The often-subtle differences among the scenes require performers with good ears for verbal nuance and a finely tuned feel of body language, which Ms. Adair and Mr. Gilde have in abundance.

The director's job calls for a similar level of subtlety, and Steve Woolf is up to that challenge as well. His well-considered blocking and pacing serve Mr. Payne's script very well and make the best possible case for it.

Constellations strikes me as a good idea that needs some work. Personally, I would have appreciated fewer scenes with more depth, so I could get to know the characters better. As the play stands now, it's hard to summon up much empathy. I would also have welcomed a more thorough exploration of the intellectual concepts behind the show. As it is, they're thrown out in the early scenes and never mentioned again.

It's always good to see new works, of course, and the Rep studio has an enviable track record of bringing worthwhile new scripts to the attention of local audiences. Performances of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production of Constellations continue through February 5 in the studio theatre of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University.

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