BLITHE SPIRIT reviewed by J Smith EMMA: The Romantic Musical Comedy of the Year
BLITHE SPIRIT
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
If Noel Coward's BLITHE SPIRIT could divert Londoners' minds from the quotidian pummeling delivered by the Nazi blitz, imagine how the same show could divert your attention from your skirmishes with Marin County angst, psychosomatic neuroses and the molds, spores and funguses that have cast a dark pale over your tile grouting.
In 1941 a Londoner could take a 15-minute intermission from a rollicking play and when he or she returned for the second half of the show instead of finding his or her seat and program waiting, he or she found a smoking crater big enough to swallow a Wall Mart or a Hum-Vee.
While many people go on vacation to get away form it all, Noel Coward took leave from the frenetic pace of World War II and British Army Intelligence to craft a wistful play that intentionally side-stepped any references to the war, Nazi Bombers, V-1 Buzz Bombs, V-2 Ballistic Missiles or gasoline rationing.
In two weeks, Noel tapped out a funny, flawless play that would immediately become an immensely enjoyed stage classic.
For those who cannot remember the plot of BLITHE SPIRIT a little recap might be in order.
Charles Condomine—played superbly by the ever-rising star of Marin stage: Ron Severdia—is well into enjoying his second marriage to Ruth—played by Theresa Miller.
Like typical suburbanites who lacked sufficient cable TV options, a little ennui has descended over the lives of Charles and Ruth.
Because the British had yet to embrace wholesale moral ambiguity, Charles and Ruth faced certain constraints on what represented an acceptable yet exciting evening.
To perk things up, Charles and Ruth invite the local necromancer over for drinks, dinner and a séance.
Nothing big mind you: just one other non-believing couple: Doctor Bradman—played by Hugh Campion—and his wife, MRS Bradman—played by Kim Bromley.
While neither the Condomines nor the Bradmans believed in the black arts or the astral plane, they collectively enjoyed indulging and goading the exotic and eccentric charlatan: Madame Arcati—played by Lynn-Audrey Tijerina.
Snickering at the charlatan's mumbo jumbo and half-baked attempts at communicating with the deceased, the Bradmans and Condomines had an entertaining evening.
As anyone who has ever dabbled in the black arts will tell you, the only thing worse than no contact with the dead is contact with the dead, and, the only thing worse than that is inadvertently inviting your first wife to come visit you from her grave.
Like many houseguests, getting an over-stayed guest to leave is a bigger problem than getting them to visit in the first place.
When the guest is a pneuma from the Bardo Plane or the great beyond, shoving them back through the mystical portal is a bit of trick.
Elvira, the deceased wife, stays long enough to upset the staid Condomine household.
While ghosts neither eat, drink nor tie-up the bathrooms, they do become a nuisance around the house; hence the exorbitant fees charged by exorcists.
Failing to rid himself of one ghost, Charles finds himself cohabitating with two ghosts and thus takes to the road.
While life offers many distractions, few do it with the elegance, grace, rapier wit and eloquence of a Noel Coward play and few small theaters can boast the awards, accolades and sustained quality of the Ross Valley Players.
Ron Severdia, one of the RVP stalwarts, is a tremendous asset to the show.
Ron has mastered the art of being a seriously good actor without having his aspirations and good intentions spill into his character; he has certain subtlety and nuance on stage that is rarely witnessed in big or large houses.
To escape the hum-drum of life in the Lexus lane, visit http://www.rossvalleyplayers.com or call the Ross Valley Players ticket office at 415 456-9555.
EMMA
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle
When someone invites you to get in at the ground floor, it is usually a ne'er do well, panhandling relative, using the occasion of a wedding, funeral or bar mitzvah, to invite you to join his Ponzi scheme or Pyramid scam.
Or more likely yet, it is a liberal arts in-law, who has not yet to come to grips with the fact that he may have to get a real job or else continue building his on-line astrological prognostication empire from a trailer park in South Dakota or a sod hut in Kansas.
Fortunately the ground floor in literature or the performing arts means something entirely different.
Getting in at the ground floor in literature means, you as a book browser, picked up a hard cover, first edition of GRAVITY'S RAINBOW back in 1974 or bought TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA back in 1967.
Or, it means you saw the ROCKY HORROR SHOW back when it was onstage in London in 1973 or Tom Stoppard's TRAVESTIES in 1975.
Or, you caught JEFFERSON AIRPLANE at the Fillmore in 1966.
Unless you are a time traveler, all those prescient windows of opportunity have slammed shut.
But you still have a chance.
Theatre Works is boldly world premiering Paul Gordon's latest romantic musical comedy: EMMA.
When one watches such musical classics as MY FAIR LADY, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, EVITA, PORGY AND BESS or KISS ME KATE, one might ask oneself, "What will be the next musical to equal one of these masterpieces?" or, "Would I even recognize the birth a new classic?"
EMMA is without a doubt the most delightful musical to hit a bay area stage in years.
As one overwhelmed critic remarked to cast member Timothy Gulan (MR KNIGHTLEY), "If the public ever gets an inkling as to how enjoyable this show is, there will never be an empty seat in the house."
Unequivocally, the namesake star of the show is the flawlessly beautiful, regally poised and radiantly effusive Lianne Marie Dobbs.
Miss Dobbs vocal skills reach the empyrean: she sings with a composed, easy, mellifluous grace that communicates sweetly and clearly with her enraptured audience.
Recrafting the novel by Jane Austen into a script, Paul Gordon has brought the wry wit of Austen up to the gleaming genius level of Shaw or Wilde or Noel Coward.
Given the stunning performance of Miss Dobbs and the strength of her character, Timothy Gulan has the prodigious challenge creating a credible Mister Knightley capable of holding a taper to Emma's charm and wit.
And, MR Gulan succeeds—in spades one might add: in the closing minutes of the show, the audience is viscerally urging the two reluctant lovers to confess their love for each other.
If grades were given to the essential elements of a show, Costume Designer Fumiko Bielefeldt would earn an A+ and a fashion spa in Milano, Sound Designer Cliff Caruthers would max out on points and have a speaker system named in his honor, and Scenic Designer Joe Ragey would get a perfect score plus a photo spread in BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS.
This show, Theatre Works 50th World Premiere, is really going places.
Years from now, your philistine neighbors will be telling you to go see EMMA—the road show production—at the hoi polloi Curran Theatre.
If you play your cards right, you be able to retort politely, "I saw EMMA when it world premiered at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts . . . I think that was back in 2007."
To get in on the ground floor of this most delightful and enchanting show, visit the web site at www.theatreworks.org or call the box office at 650-463-1960.
Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.