When Charles Dickens. The Year in Review

Transcription

1 The Year in Review discussion in 2012, that these performances are noteworthy, aside for the sheer talent involved, demonstrates how far we still have to go. Some folks, though, keep going and going. Not one to rest on her comedic laurels, Varla Jean Merman took quite a gamble by essaying the title role in Menotti's The Medium, first in Provincetown during the summer and then off-broadway in New York in the Fall. And it truly paid off! Playing it completely straight, Merman (aka Jeffery Roberson) was convincing as a mean-spirited, vengeful woman who, with the help of her cowed kids, fools her clients who want to believe in her powers. Roberson's rich contralto brought out the beauty in Menotti's verissimo score and, by the end, when her Madame Flora had crossed over from "fake" to real madness, s/he was most poignant. While, unfortunately, there are currently no plans to bring The Medium to Nawlins (a shame since it's set in the Quarter), you can catch Varla reprising two of her favorite roles at the Mid City Theater, Scrooge in Rouge! (through Dec. 23) then Shut Up, Sweet Charlotte! (Dec. 29-Jan. 19 with a special show on New Year s Eve). Me, I'm still smiling from his/her and Ricky Graham's wickedly funny Ricky & Varla TURN YOU ON. Others have also had a very good year. A.J. Allegra began it with an amusing turn as a snarky front desk man in A Behanding in Spokane, is finishing it with the NOLA Project's (of which he's Artistic Director) revival of Romeo & Juliet at NOMA and, in between, as director, made a mediocre show phenomenal (NOCCA's Lucky Stiff) and phenomenal one (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) even more so by bringing out the characters' humanity and emotional lives in addition to gloriously imaginative staging. Not only did Butch Caire's direction of Plaza Suite get just about every laugh to be had but he created a wholly different look and body posture for each of the three characters he played with understated assurance. He went on to direct JPAS' Light in the Piazza, capturing the palpable longing and heartache in this challenging work, and getting outstanding performances from Nancy Ross, Ariel Assaf and Richard Arnold. And I first encountered Levy Easterly in Beauty, portraying Jean Genet in Hatchery's Garret in the Bywater, a difficult role for anyone let alone a relative newcomer. A month or so later he was in the dynamite revival of The American Dream at The Healing Center holding his own alongside such heavyweights as Kyle Daigrepont, Kim Marshall, Mary Pauley, and Matt Story. And then a featured role in the cintrodding the boards by Brian Sands bsnola2@hotmail.com When Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." he could have been describing New Orleans' 2012 theater season. For mixed in with some heady highs were some frustrating lows. Possibly the biggest blow came at the start of the year. Canal Place informed Southern Rep that it would have to vacate its third floor theater so that more cinemas could be installed. While this was well within the terms of the leasing agreement and Southern Rep acknowledged that Canal Place had been a good landlord for twenty years, the abbreviated lead time of the notification caused quite a bit of scrambling to find new venues. While all the main stage shows did go on, some of the auxiliary offerings, like 6 x 6, were cancelled or postponed. Meanwhile, out in Metairie, the plucky Actor's Theatre of New Orleans closed its doors depriving Jeffersonians, and those willing to make the trip out there, of their admirable mix of comedies, dramas and small-scale musicals. Further out in Kenner, there was a regime change as Charlie Ward and Rivertown Repertory Theatre were replaced by Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts led by the erstwhile leaders of Theatre 13, Gary Rucker and Kelly Fouchi. Nothing wrong with that, but Theatre 13 had seemed so adept at finding homes for its wide range of offerings that I'll miss the easy accessibility of their Orleans Parish locales as well as the more traditional fare RRT provided. At least Rivertown Rep went out on a high note with an enjoyable The Battle of Shallowford, inspired by Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds broadcast, and a consummate version of the Neil Simon chestnut Plaza Suite. Back in the Quarter, the Le Petit saga keeps going on. Though expected, at this time last year, to re-open in the Fall, Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré has remained shuttered as renovations continue to transform it into a restaurant/theater. There had also been some hope that the beloved Le Chat Noir might be reconstituted, but that's proven elusive and it, too, stays dark. And then there was Hurricane Isaac. Jefferson Performing Arts Society suffered tremendous damage to its theater in Westwego and had to postpone its entire fall season. The storm also caused serious injury to the Anthony Bean Community Theater on Carrollton Avenue; between that and the disruption to the lives of his cast and crew, Bean had to move all of his offerings up a slot. Lombardi, which was to have inaugurated the new Le Petit in January in time for the Super Bowl, had to be moved to the Fall as Isaac played havoc with the construction there; the Grande Dame of NOLA will now reopen in March with Death of a Salesman. A number of other productions including Rivertown Theaters' Legally Blonde and NOLA Project/Cripple Creek's Balm in Gilead had to be pushed back a week or so in the aftermath of Isaac. So much for careful planning. And whether it was Isaac, the economy or something else, other shows I was looking forward to, such as The Elm Theatre's Stop Kiss, never materialized. But the theatrical cup was not all empty. In fact, it was mostly quite full. Southern Rep relocated its Streetcar Named Desire to the Michalopoulos Studio on Elysian Fields not far from where the Kowalski's lived; pre-show walking tours of the neighborhood were able to give audiences added insights into the life and times of this classic. Having finally alighted at the CAC, SRep has been giving vibrant life to the underutilized theater there. While Actor's Theatre isn't quite back yet, its Artistic Director René J.F. Piazza brought his long-running A Christmas Carol: The Whole Story to the Joy Theater on Canal Street with movie star John Heard no less. Over by Bayou St. John, the Mid City Theater, which was just getting its bearings around this time last year, has blossomed into a popular home for, well, everything among its tenants have been modern classics (Tiny Alice), campy fun (The Divine Sister, Psycho Beach Party), musicals (C'est La Vie, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and new works (Visiting Hours along with SRep's 6x6, 3x3: The One Acts and Debauchery, Pat Bourgeois' monthly soap opera). Owner Fred Nuccio offered an exhilarating program of four plays in four weeks last summer and is now making the Mid City available for actor-driven productions on Mondays-Wednesdays. Similarly, not only has the AllWays Lounge and Theater been regularly hosting other companies (NOLA Project's Behanding in Spokane; Cripple Creek's Lysistrata; Skin Horse's 24 Hour Plays, etc.) but Artistic Director Dennis Monn scored with a triumvirate of musicals that he presented (Bingo! The Musical, the cheeky romp Shanghai!, and Monns spectacularly staged Sweeney Todd) under the AllWays banner. Joining the Allways, the Shadowbox, the Backyard Ballroom and Byrdie's along the St. Claude corridor has been Café Istanbul in the Healing Center. While more geared to music and cabaret performances, it's been home to the musical Tick, Tick...BOOM!, Fringe Festival shows, and the surreally fabulous Joan Rivers benefit in August. If there seemed to be fewer debuts of new companies this year-blame it on the economy, perhaps-two of last year's debutantes have bloomed: Skin Horse, with its Lewis Carroll adaptation Snark in the Park (for kids) and Snark After Dark (for adults) as well as The Importance of Being Earnest, and Rising Shiners whose C'est La Vie moved for an extended run to the Old U.S. Mint, the first time that historic building hosted a theatrical presentation. Still, Harold Gervais' Broken Glass premiered at the Shadowbox with Red Light Winter and Smudge, and Stephen Eckert's Promethean Theatre Co. just finished up its initial run of two Christopher Durang oneacts on the Tulane campus. As we scout out future theatrical leaders, in last year's round-up I wrote, "Each week our local TV broadcasts go on and on about college, and even high school, football and other sports teams. Why can't they give a little time to our younger thespians as well?" Sadly, nothing's changed though the quality of this year's university offerings and others featuring kids were, if possible, even higher. Boy Gets Girl and Born Yesterday (Delgado); For Colored Girls... and Two Trains Running (Dillard); Anton in Show Business and Blithe Spirit (Loyola); Avenue Q (Southern Rep's Summer Academy); Bat Boy (NOCCA); Holy Ghosts (UNO) all were season highlights. And if Crescent City Lights Youth Theater's Honk, Jr. isn't on the list, it's only because I hadn't seen it yet at press time. Apropos of Delgado's Born Yesterday, kudos to Director Kris La Morte for his color blind approach to casting. As Billie Dawn, Miriam Smith gave an absolutely delicious portrayal of the "dumb blonde" and it mattered not a whit that she happens to be Black. The same could be said about Rhonda Gibson in The Importance of Being Earnest (Slidell Little Theatre), Idella Johnson in Beirut (Mid City Theater), Jermaine Keelen in Psycho Beach Party (Mid City Theater), and Jarrod Mims Smith in Hamlet (Tulane Shakespeare Festival). Though it's a bit ridiculous that we're even having this [continued on 38] 36 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Dec. 18, 2012-Jan. 7, 2013 Official ficial Gay Mardi di Gras Guide GayMardiGras.COM

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3 trodding the boards...from 36 ematic masterpiece Beasts of the Southern Wild. Wow! Other notable productions: Anthony Bean's heartbreaking The Amen Corner featuring Vinnie Matthews in a stirring performance Silk Dress' Albee Season con- cluded with a fine production of the provocative Tiny Alice Psycho Beach Party's kast of krazies demonstrated that this 25 year old goof has aged well The tragedy of Director Emilie Whelan's Lysistrata, so intelligently, passionately done, was that its anti-war message never goes out of fashion Tulane Summer Lyric Theater's traditional Fiddler on the Roof, with Randy Cheramie near-perfect as Tevye, made me kvell the WWII Museum's Jump Jive & Wail: The Music of Louis Prima brought this native New Orleanian's story to exuberant life Playmakers' Moon Over Buffalo and Cutting Edge's Promises, Promises, among other productions, provided theatergoers on the North Shore with fun and, in the case of John Giraud's musical, Widow Bride, at Slidell Little Theatre, original works as well though I had some reservations about Balm in Gilead and The Lily's Revenge (Southern Rep at the Den of Muses) I tremendously admired their producers for presenting these large scale productions And at the risk of leaving somebody out, here are, in addition to those already mentioned, some other laudable folks who trod the boards in 2012: Elizabeth Argus, Katie Howe (Sunset Boulevard); Martin Bradford (Fishers of Men); Sheleta Burke-Manuel, Donna King (The Amen Corner); Kerry Cahill (Lysistrata); Lauren Channell (The Moments that Shape Us); Tracey Collins (Plaza Suite); Martin Covert, Nysa Loudon (Hamlet); Dave Davis (Hamlet and Battle of Shallowford); Joyce Deal, Garrett Prejean (The Gingham Dog); Bob Edes, Jr. (Anything Goes and Sunset Boulevard); Lucy Faust, Rudy Rasmussen (The Battle of Shallowford); Helen Gillet, Pandora Gastelum, David Symons (Sweeney Todd); John Michael Haas, Chris Wecklein, The Kahnartist (Shanghai!); Lucas Harms, Leslie Limberg, Keith Claverie (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson); Aimee Hayes, Ashley Ricord (A Streetcar Named Desire); Ian Hoch (Balm in Gilead and Lysistrata); Larry Johnson, Annie Gambino (Promises, Promises); Kate Kuhn (As You Like It); Inas Mahdi (Blues for an Alabama Sky); John "Spud" McConnell (A Christmas Carol); Matthew Mickal, Tari Hohn (Psycho Beach Party); Angela Papale, Joe Seibert (Becky Shaw); Mary Pauley (The Gnädiges Fräulein); Nicole Rae (Red Light Winter); [continued on 43] 38 The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM Dec. 18, 2012-Jan. 7, 2013 Of ficial Gay Mar di Gras Guide GayMar digras.com Official Mardi GayMardiGras.COM

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