May Theatre Reviews

May Theatre reviews
Thrill Killers Leopold and Loeb at the New Conservatory Center

In Stephen Dolginoff's award-winning musical drama "Thrill Me' directed
by Dennis Lickteig, the passion of a young future law student, Nathan
Leopold, for his future law student lover Richard Loeb leads from
smaller to larger and more and more crimes that eventually lands them
in prison. Based on a true event in Chicago in 1924, the musical play
develops step by step the relationship and events that end in their
demise.
Nathan's adoration and love for Richard, a follower of the superman
philosophy of Nietzsche, causes the former to do whatever the latter
commands in order to retain his love. The dramatic action revolves
around Richard's addiction to experiencing thrills and his need to
prove his superior intelligence that will propel the two on to commit
any kind of crime. This results in their progressing from small
robberies to the murder of a young boy only for the thrill of being
able to accomplish the crime.

This combination of the passion of a young lover for another student
who will do anything to win his love and pay the price for it along
with some of the suspense elements of a murder mystery is the basis of
this compelling Leopold and Loeb story. These romantic and suspense
elements offer both lyricism and drama to this musical theatre piece.
Stephen Dolginoff's book, music, and lyrics, well directed (aside from
a repetitive use of blocking and stage movement downstage center) by
Dennis Lickteig and Tim Hanson (Musical Director), are clearly and
vividly developed. The roles of actor/singers Ricardo Rust (Nathan) and
William Giammona (Richard) are believably, sensitively and emotionally
well rendered.
This seventy-five minute piece about an obsessive love and a youthful
need for the thrill of committing crime that destroys the lives of two
students offers dramatic content well performed and sung that pulls on
the heart strings of the spectator.
"Thrill Me" plays at the New Conservatory until May 4. For info (415)
861-8972 or visit www.nctcsf.org.
Annette Lust

Euripides Inspired Anti-War Trojan Women at the Aurora

Ellen McLaughlin's Euripides-inspired Trojan Women at the Aurora
Theatre depicts the fate of the Trojan women after the Greek defeat of
Troy. This drama is visually reinforced by John Iacovelli's set that
offers a modern depiction of the giant wooden horse that hid a few
dozen soldiers who then surprise attacked the Trojans, leaving behind
their wives and daughters to mourn their fate under the tyranny of the
Greeks.
McLaughlin, who herself has been an actress on and off Broadway and has
written plays that were nationally and internationally produced, has
created a work that requires a dynamic and increasing level of dramatic
performance throughout. The dramatic intensity increases as it moves
from the lamenting of these women's losses of their husbands and
fathers and the cruelty of their vanquishers to a scene of the now
demented Cassandra, the prophetic daughter of Hecuba, to another
horrific scene of the slaying of Hecuba's baby grandson by the Greeks,
and a final scene of the women being led away in barbaric enslavement
by Greek soldiers.
These high voltage scenes are knowledgeably piloted by veteran stage
director Barbara Oliver who worked with both professional as well as
student intern actors from U.C. Berkeley as members of the chorus to
create a mix of experienced actors with student actors. Although this
has lent a youthful dynamism to the production, the all-around
rendition, and particularly the stylization of the production does
suffer a bit at times from this mix of performers not acting and moving
on the same performance level.
More training of student actors could remedy this drawback.

Carla Spindt's role as Hecuba evokes a modern CEO in control of
all-even in tragic times. Nora el Samathy plays Helen like a 21st
century model. Sarah Nealis's Cassandra and Emilie Talbot's Andromache,
whose baby is killed by the Greeks, offer dramatically potent
characterizations that provoke our pity.
Julian Lopez-Morillas' Poseidon, god of the ocean, in a naval officer's
suit, plays the role with authority but wears an officer's hat that
covers half of his face (supposedly to give the effect of a mask) that
is distracting if not comical.
John Iacovelli's giant modern horse is a breathtaking sculpture
representing the fall of Troy but takes up a third of the stage space
to considerably limit the choral and other movements in the piece.

Costumes by Anna Oliver, with the exception of Helen who is dressed in
the attractive attire of a privileged female, are simple and plain to
suit the impoverished state of the Troy women.

One of the finest aspects of this production is the collaboration with
the drama department at U C Berkeley that integrates a number of drama
students into the staging to bring with it fresh artistic vitality. As
this production opens its doors to the merging of drama students with
professional actors, directors and playwrights in the Bay Area, it sets
a precedent for the same kind of collaboration in other parts of the
country.

The Trojan Women plays until May 11. For information call 510-843-4822.
Or visit auroratheatre.org.
Annette Lust

FRINGE OF MARIN Spring 2008. Call for Fall Short Plays for Fall 08.

The 21st Season of the Marin Fringe once again did not disappoint.
Program One staged six fresh, original short plays with themes ranging
from the state of war veterans to wanna-be lesbians.
The program led off with the excellent comedy, "Board Stiff," with a
clever script by Michael-Paul Thomsett who also directed. Six community
theatre (or semi-professional, as one member insisted) board members
gossiped as well as voiced conflicts about the status of their actors,
raising money, or whether oatmeal-raisin (touted by Pam, an effectively
prim Lynn Lewis) or chocolate chip cookies should be offered in the
fundraiser. Right off, George (Bill Lehrke) got the audience's
attention by screaming, "Hot!" as he set down his cup of coffee.
President Tracey (Linda Ward) tries to keep things together as Dexter
(Skye Pelicrow) tears them apart. Dorie (Erika Alstrom), in black top
over a white lace blouse, sits silently, taking in everything. Cut off
when she does begin to speak, she blows, jumping to her feet and
shouting, "I wasn't finished!" The play ends with a tableau of Pam
holding a box of oatmeal cookies, George, his coffee cup, and Dexter
and George choking each other as the rest look on in horror.
"Lesbian Rhapsody" written and directed by Carol Marshall, is a
light-hearted number featuring frustrated wives: Judy and Susie,
believably and naturally acted by Candice Brown and Janice Bacich. They
start off by dissing their husbands. One says, "Too bad we're not
lesbians." Entertaining this idea, they argue whether lesbians are born
or made. "What do lesbians do?" Susie asks. They drink wine, play
romantic music, dance to turn themselves on. When Judy puckers up to
kiss Susie, they break up, laughing hysterically, then decide that
their husbands aren't so bad after all.

The subject of the Iraq war, let alone its returning veterans, is a
subject that makes some people uncomfortable. Playwright David Talley's
brave "Heroes," partly based on a true story, tells of two generations
of Marines, played by actor Johann Schiffer in an honest portrayal of a
by-the-book Lance Corporal and his Colonel (John Clevenger). Schiffer
goes before his hard-line Colonel to sign papers declaring him PTSD. It
is revealed that the Colonel is a Vietnam vet who has seen his share of
horrors. He razzes the soldier for weakness; the Marine stands up to
him. When a gun is drawn, the suspense and tension had the audience
holding its collective breath. Talley gives his play a poignant ending,
in which the Colonel exposes another side of himself. The truth of
Talley's script is enhanced by Albert Goodwyn's fine direction.
Actress Molly McCarthy, in her role as Virginia Woolfe in Roberta M.
Palumbo's biographically interesting, but rather static, "Leonard &
Virginia", directed by Flora Lynn Isaacson, brought out impeccably
Woolfe's conflicts regarding marriage, children,and her staid suitor,
Leonard.(Charles Grant). The play suffers by its condensed time-frame
as it covers many years. Much of it involves the characters' sitting,
reading aloud letters they are writing to each other. Ms. McCarthy's
costumes are wonderful. When she puts on her cloche hat and long dark
coat, I couldn't help thinking that she would soon put rocks in her
pockets and throw herself into the river.
Robert Estes is a fine comic actor and writer of comedies. His "Bar
Scene" which he also directed, is a sad tale of two aging bachelors:
Don Juan (David Shirk) and Roger (Robin Schild), making the - - what
else? the bar scene. Gray-haired Don Juan, in loose shirt over a
T-shirt, cut-offs, and tennis shoes, replays his life as a 20 year old
and brags about last night's score with a woman decades younger Friend
Roger, bald with a fringe, glasses, and in a suit, though he enjoys
listening and relating experiences, tries to bring Don back to earth.
Roger has had a meeting with Don's score , but is conflicted about
telling Don. The girl, Christina, shows up. Played by Marion Durham in
, a wonderful enactment of the true-to-life mannerisms of a mixed up,
troubled, 19-year-old alcoholic. Christina brings up a startling
secret concerning the woman Don had had a one night stand with twenty
years ago.
Solo Artist Lynn Ruth Miller's monologue is a poignant memoir of
growing up with immigrant Jewish parents in America: a cold, stern
mother and a seemingly distant father. There's conflict between
Christmas and Hanukah. Her only source of love and affection comes from
her grandmother. While her mother wants to adapt to life in her new
country and dresses her children so, Lynn's grandmother dresses Lynn,
to the child's delight, in 19th Century styles, angering Lynn's mother.
Lynn's gifts to her mother are disdained. Yet she surprises her
daughter with a 16th birthday party at a hotel with a band. Thinking
her father is incapacitated after surgery, she receives the greatest
gift of all when he appears, asking her for a dance. Her best line goes
something like "Seymour (her friend) is afraid of Santa, but not Jesus."
The Spring 2008 Fringe Festival runs from Friday through Sunday, April
25 to 27, with awards given at the Sunday matinee at 2 pm.
For submission of Fall Fringe short plays, call 415-673-3131.
Gaetana Caldwell-Smith.

Program 2 Diversity is Key to Fringe of Marin's 21st Season
The first play of Program 2 was "Soul" written and directed by Sasha
Litovchenko, a Faustian legend about a man who sells his soul to the
devil. It is
sexily played by beautiful Jena Hunt. After the death of Man (Rick
Rotinger),
the beautiful Woman and the Angel (Anatoly) struggle for the Man's soul.
It offered an unusual staging of a bedroom in the back stage area with
eerie light
streaming through a backstage window along with other highly dramatic
scenes
such as a fatal car accident, expertly staged by the director.
"Seymour and Santa," a solo performance written and performed by
Sandy Steinman contrasted Hanukkah and
Christmas from a child's point of view. Seymour, Sandy's younger
brother
tells Santa that he is Jewish and is praised by his mother for standing
up for
what he is. Steinman's second solo, "Rehearsal ," like"Seymour and
Santa"
is another mother-daughter monologue. The mother is conducting a
rehearsal for her
5th grade daughter Roberta as she is making her "debut." The mother
tells Roberta to
stand straight and tall and speak slowly and loud. Roberta feels the
pressure
from her mother "who always wanted to be an actress." In both of her
presentations, directed by Suresa Dundes, Sandy Steinman brings us a
great
deal of humor and warmth.
"First Impressions" by Helen and John Gomez, a play about the
celebrated
fringe artist, Monet, was the most ambitious of the plays since it
combined
both theater and opera in its presentation. We open with an elderly
Monet
(played with relish by Byron Lambie) and his friend, George Clemenceau
(beautifully performed by Robin Schild) looking at Monet's painting of
the
"Water Lilies" and looking back over Monet's life. Clemenceau would
like
to publish a biography of Monet. They look back 50 years when Monet
was having difficulty painting a Japanese bridge. Monet marries his
model Camille
who gives birth to his child. Shawn Michelle Creighton has a lovely
operatic aria
as Camille. Dorothy Merlino plays Monet's mistress with grace and
style.
Monet's wife tells him he does not see the truth of each moment.
Miguel Garcia expertly handled the challenging direction.
"Flashlight," (my particular favorite) was written by Ruth Kirschner
and directed
by Rich Baker. This play is interestingly staged in complete darkness
with the
use of two flashlights. An art student, Arley Levine is discovered
working in the dark on the painting after hours by Woody, the school
custodian. Arley gets Woody who is an African to pose for her
painting. The dialogue and the performances of the two actors, Brianne
Kostielney and David Moore were
very moving as they develop a sense of trust of each other.
"Aria," iwritten and directed by Jenna Hunt, is a graduating
Dominican senior project "dramatizing passionate love in Italian
Verisimo
opera-style." Tosca, played by Jenna Hunt, is a girl in an abusive
relationship with a wealthy older man (Greg Land). She loves opera and
looks for records in trash bins thrown out by Deidra, a saucy waitress,
perfectly played by Merrily Martin. Tosca looks after her male
friend's
retarded brother Mutt (Emily Surface) whose pantomime was clever
but hard to understand. "Aria" is an imaginative piece and difficult
to execute.

The last play of the evening, "Horn of Vengeance" was written by Bobbie
Bradford
and directed by Steve Galiani. Jeff Taylor, who played a bank
president, had a
great sense of comedy. This bank president was being held up by the
Horn of Vengeance Liberation Army with Brittany Hogan as Colonel
Morgana
and Erica Badgeley as Oxblood, her stooge, who also had a great sense
of comic timing along with the excellent direction of Steve Galiani.
Bobby Bradford is an imaginative playwright whose plays are always
intriguing.

Thanks to Dr. Annette Lust, the Fringe of Marin is celebrating its 21st
season,
a great gift to the Marin community.
The Fringe of Marin plays at Meadowlands Assembly Hall, Dominican
University, San Rafael, through April 27. For
reservations/information,call 415-673-3131.

Flora Lynn Isaacson
Diversity is Key to Fringe of Marin's 21st Season

The Spring 2008 21st Anniversary Fringe Festival is producing 13 new
short plays and solos. Program Two opened with 7 of these plays. The
first play was "Soul" written and directed by Sasha. "Soul" is based
on the old Faustian legend of a man who sells his soul to the devil.
In this play, the devil is sexily played by a Beautiful Woman, Jenna
Hunt. After the death of Man (played by Rick Roitinger) the Beautiful
Woman and the Angel (played by Anatoly) struggles for the soul of Man.
The staging was unusual with a bedroom in the back stage area with an
eerie light streaming through an upstage window. The upper left stage
area was used for an automobile while the main action took place center
stage.

"Soul" was followed by "Seymour and Santa," a solo performance, written
and performed by Sandy Steinman and directed by Suresa Dundes. Sandy
Steinman contrasts Hanukkah and Christmas from a child's point of view
and wanting to fit in with a secular holiday with a Christmas tree and
being allowed to sing Christmas carols. Seymour was Sandy's younger
brother who told Santa he was Jewish and is praised by his mother for
standing up for what he is.

The last play of the first half of the program, "Flashlight," (my
particular favorite) was written by Ruth Kirschner and directed by Rick
Baker. This play is interestingly staged in complete darkness with the
use of two flashlights. An art student, Arley Levine is discovered
working in the dark on the painting after hours by Woody, the school
custodian. Arley gets Woody who is an African to pose for her
painting. The dialogue and the performances of the two actors, Brianne
Kostielney and David Moore was very moving as they develop a sense of
trust of each other.

"First Impressions" by Helen and John Gomez, a play about the
celebrated fringe artist, Monet, was the most ambitious of the plays
since it combined both theater and opera in its presentation. We open
with an elderly Monet (played with relish by Byron Lambie) and his
friend, George Clemenceau (beautifully performed by Robin Schild)
looking at Monet's painting of the "Water Lilies" and looking back over
Monet's life. Clemenceau would like to publish a biography of Monet.
They look back 50 years when Monet was having difficulty painting a
Japanese bridge. Monet marries his model Camille who gives birth to his
child. Shawn Michelle Creighton has a lovely operatic aria as Camille.
Dorothy Merlino plays Monet's mistress with grace and style. Monet's
wife tells him he does not see the truth of each moment—that he is
selectively blind. Miguel Garcia expertly handled the challenging
direction

Another solo presentation, "Rehearsal" brings back Sandy Steinman,
again directed by Suresa Dundes. Like "Seymour and Santa" this is
another mother-daughter monologue. The mother is conducting a
rehearsal for her 5th grade daughter Roberta as she is making her
"debut." The mother tells Roberta to stand straight and tall and speak
slowly and loud. Roberta feels under a great deal of pressure from her
mother "who always wanted to be an actress." In both of her
presentations, Sandy Steinman brings us a great deal of humor and
warmth.

The 6th play, "Aria" is written and directed by Jenna Hunt. "Aria" is
a graduating Dominican senior project "dramatizing passionate love in
Italian Verisimo opera-style." In "Aria," Tosca, played by Jenna Hunt,
is a girl in an abusive relationship with a wealthy older man (Greg
Land). She loves opera and looks for records in trash bins thrown out
by Deidra, a saucy waitress, perfectly played by Merrily Martin. Tosca
looks after her male friend's retarded brother Mutt (Emily Surface)
whose pantomime was clever but hard to understand. "Aria" is an
imaginative piece and difficult to execute.

The last play of the evening, "Horn of Vengeance" was written by Bobbie
Bradford and directed by Steve Galiani. Jeff Taylor, who played a bank
president, had a great sense of comedy. This bank president was being
held up by the Horn of Vengeance Liberation Army with Brittany Hogan as
Colonel Morgana and Erica Badgeley as Oxblood, her stooge, who also had
a great sense of comic timing due to the excellent direction of Steve
Galiani. Bobby Bradford is an imaginative playwright whose plays are
always intriguing.

Thanks to Dr. Annette Lust, the Fringe of Marin is celebrating its 21st
season, a great gift to the Marin community.

The Fringe of Marin continues to play at Meadowlands Assembly Hall,
Dominican University, 50 Acacia at Grand Avenue, San Rafael in November
08.
Play submissions underr 20 minutes are still being accepted until May
20. For infomation call Annette Lust 415-673-3131 mornings between 10
a.m. and 2p.m. and some eves after 8 p.m.
Flora Lynn Isaacson