The Week in Theatre December 7-11
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| Charlene Baldridge Photo by Ken Howard |
Snow White a
delightful surprise
Without hope of being wildly entertained, I went to the
Lythgoe Family Panto titled Snow White
Christmas that’s playing at San Diego Repertory Theatre through December
24. Though I wasn’t wildly entertained – when was the last time? The opening of
Memphis? – the family friendly piece
certainly exceeded my expectations, and I would see it again next year even
though it’s not strictly Christmas entertainment.
Book writer Kris Lythgoe tells the story of a handsome
prince (James Royce Edwards – heavy on the biceps, light on the brains) who
must marry or lose his kingdom. The Wicked Queen (Yvette Cason) has just found
out from her Magic Mirror (Neil Patrick Harris, projected in a descending frame)
that she is no longer fairest of them all, and, hoping for replenishment of her
coffers, sequesters her ward, the fairest Snow White (Olivia Stuck), so that
handsome Prince Harry of La Jolla won’t see her. Meanwhile Snow has champions
in the palace, adorable Muddles the Jester (Jonathan Meza, an appealing and
adept physical comedian and singer and graduate of Coronado School of the Arts)
and Herman the Huntsman (Neil Dale, best set of pipes in the show). Herman is
ordered to take Snow into the forest and slay her. Fortunately he disobeys.
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| Olivia Stuck as Snow White, with the Seven Dwarves |
Snow White instead hides in the forest, eventually at the
cabin inhabited by the Seven Dwarves, who are played by charming and talented
young folks in enormous fake heads.
It’s a darling show, easily followed by the youngest
audience members and enjoyed by the adults – parents, grandparents, uncles and
aunts. A truly delightful, shared activity for all. There are 12 musical
numbers, including “YMCA,” and a number of additional opportunities to sing
along. You’re even invited to boo the villainous Queen. The show is directed
and choreographed by Chris Baldock.
Presented Wednesdays through Sundays by San Diego
Theatres in collaboration with San Diego Repertory Theatre, Snow White Christmas continues through
December 24 in the Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza. Tickets at San Diego
Theatres’ advance sales windows at 3rd and B (adjacent to the Civic
Theatre), or via phone at (619/760/858) 570-1100 or http://sandiegotheatres.org/a-snow-white-christmas.
Diversionary presents The Mystery of Love and Sex
It’s an exceptionally funny yet profound,
four-character work that explores how we love each other, make assumptions, and
ultimately make room for one another's quirks in intimate relationships that matter,
relationships with parents, best friends, and ourselves. Principally, it
concerns how we discover ourselves as sexual beings, loving, and accepting who we
are, who we are becoming, and in the process still forgiving self and others.
Howard (Mike Sears), the patriarch, is really pissed off at his
daughter, Charlotte (Rachael VanWormer), because she gave up Yale attendance in
order to attend a less prestigious university in a nearby southern town (there’s
moss growing on the trees) to be close to Jonny (John W. Wells III in
his Diversionary debut) who’s been her best pal since they were 9. In fact, the
African-American boy has spent so much time at his home that Howard considers
him another child).
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| John W. Wells III, Marci Anne Wuebben and Mike Sears Photo: Courtesy of Diversionary Theatre |
Howard’s wife, Lucinda (Marci Anne Wuebben), no
longer loves him. He’s put her aside in many ways for at least seven years, too
engrossed in writing hit detective novels and sleeping with others to pay her
any mind. Lucinda has resorted at last to marijuana and booze to fill the void.
She, too, loves Charlotte, and when Charlotte and Jonny invite the older couple
to their college dorm room for dinner, the parental units begin projecting the
future, which is not at all what they imagine.
Jonny, a closeted Baptist, is a virgin. Though she
tries to seduce him in one of play’s funniest scenes, Charlotte is attracted to
another woman.
All four characters have a lot of self-discovery
and growing up to do, and they do it in the funniest and most endearing ways.
Even Howard’s racism, superiority complex and patriarchal privilege are funny
and forgivable because he is basically a good guy. But then, in the hands of
Sears, how could it be otherwise?
VanWormer, Wuebben and Wells are edgy, adept and well
used, and although the play does have its Act II longueurs, the evening is extremely
humorous, with the humor emanating from character, and that’s the best kind.
Lee Howeth contributes an admirable 11th hour cameo appearance Howard’s
father.
Bravo Elisa Benzoni’s costume design and Sean
Fanning’s scenic design, which features a most fascinating tree emblematic of
the lives so meticulously limned by the playwright.
The Mystery
of Love and Sex continues Thursdays through Sundays through December 24 at
Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, University Heights, diversionary.org
or 619-220-0097.
New Village Arts The 1940s Radio Hour
It’s frightening to see a show you thought you’d
seen and not recall a moment of it. This was the case with New Village Arts’ The 1940s Radio Hour, Sunday, Dec. 11. Relief came the next day when I found
the title in last year’s schedule with a line drawn through it; if I recall it
had something to do with scheduling conflict occasioned by a trip to San
Francisco.
Be that as it may, I was delighted by the quality
of this show, too, though Kelly Kissinger’s all-interior scenic design is nuts
and bolts compared to Michael McKeon’s opulent set for SDMT. NVA’s is likely
much more realistic, though I do recall the ambience of live audience radio
shows of the era such as Don McNeill’s “Breakfast Club” as pretty opulent.
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| Wolfe and Levas, sweethearts of 1940s Photo by Shaun Hagen, Top Shelf Photo |
Writer Walton Jones sets his musical revue on
Christmas Eve 1942 at WOV, New York City, where one of the characters, B.J.
Gibson (appealing Zackary Scot Wolfe) is about to ship overseas in the hope of
ending the war by Christmas 1944. His sweetheart, Connie Miller, is played by Danielle
Levas, a zesty blond who is also choreographer. The two perform a lovely dance
duet, and Levas has a patriotic tap number at the 11th hour. Dana
Case directed the two-hour production.
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| The company of The 1940s Musical Radio Show Photo by Shaun Hagen, Top Shelf Photo |
This over-stuffed production (would that it were
over-stuffed with consistently outstanding talent), though it has a Christmas
tree, is not so much a holiday show as a variety show. There are five songs of
the season among the 19 musical numbers and a brief reference to A Christmas Carol. Otherwise, it’s
musical nostalgia about the WWII era.
The 1940s
Radio Hour continues through December 31 at New Village Arts, 2767 State
Street, Carlsbad Village. www.newvillagearts.org or 760-433-3245.
The Monday after
The week that was began anew on Monday, Dec 12
with attendance of Write Out Loud’s Voices
of Christmas at Cygnet’s Old Town Theater. If I weren’t in the holiday
spirit already, this marvelously rich entertainment would have put me there.
With music by Celtic Echoes, the program of literary works included vocal solos
by Walter Ritter and Kürt Norby, whose sweet and lovely rendition of “I’ll be
Home for Christmas” closed the program, which included works by W.H. Auden,
Katherine Ann Porter, among others, and Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory,” superbly
read by Steven J. Warner. Other actor/readers were Mark Christopher Lawrence
and Veronica Murphy.
The coming week is devoted to social activities,
but culminates in San Diego Symphony’s Noel Noel featuring Brian Stokes
Mitchell. Then I am silent through the end of the year, but returning December
21 on my own dime and my own time to ion theatre’s wondrous The Normal Heart. It’s a good way to end the theatrical year.
Happy holidays, everyone.
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