'Blithe Spirits' land in Alexandria

From left are Cameron McBride (Dr. George Bradman), Eric Kennedy (Charles Condomine), Eleanore Tapscott (Madame Arcati), Sarah Cusenza (Ruth Condomine), and Raeanna Nicole Larson (Mrs. Violet Bradman) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blithe Spirit/Photo by Matt Liptak

The Little Theatre of Alexandria stages another welcome classic with Sir Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, a comedy that’s been around longer than most (b.1941) and there's a reason for its continual return to the world's stage: It's a treat and a (sky) lark (?)! A great escape!

Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819: "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!"

It was England and World War II when the bombs were dropping a'plenty, but its citizens needed a respite every now and then, like we all do (like now).

To the manor house, they go, some, from the “other side.”

Ruth (Sarah Cusenza) and Charles Condomine (Eric Kennedy) are hosting a dinner party in their elegant home with friends (who are real life husband and wife, Cameron McBride and Raeanna Nicole Larson) and a “medium” (Eleanore Tapscott).

Charles is a famous novelist and plans to milk medium Madame Arcati for any tips she can give him for a story he’s writing.

Things do not go as planned. Madame Arcati is anything but "medium."

Post dinner, she becomes a big scarlet macaw (whose colors Madame matches), sweeping around the room, landing momentarily at one spot or another before flying to her next perch with a wingspan of almost four feet, while the other adults in the room sit in amazement, mouths ajar.

Katie Weigl is Elvira in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blithe Spirit/Photo by Matt Liptak

Madame conducts a séance and unwittingly summons the ghost of Charles’s first wife, Elvira (Katie Weigl), who died young, after only five years of marriage.

And here she comes, through windswept doors, the sassy Elvira, dressed all in grey, a long flowing gown with cape and face color to match.

Like all ghosts, she flits around the stage, rushing left to right and back again, throwing her hands in the air and seeking to disrupt Charles and Ruth’s marriage.

Charles is the only one who, initially, can see and hear Elvira, her teasing which begins to create havoc in the Condomines’ household.

Ruth can hear Charles speaking to Elvira and thinks his words are meant for her.

Charles to Elvira: "I could drink you under the table."

Ruth: "There's no need to be aggressive, Charles. I'm doing my best to help you."

A few minutes later, Charles tells Elvira to "shut up!"

Ruth: "How dare you speak to me like that!"

(Ms. Cusenza’s Ruth is splendid, talking to a wall or sofa or portrait on the wall, the piano, wherever she thinks Elvira sits or stands, not an easy task to perform with someone who is not there but is there. [Huh? You have to be there.])

Soon, there’s a murder and now there are two ghosts, each in ghostly grey apparel and caked in heavy grey makeup (which made me wince to think about removing it. Maureen Roult designed the hair and makeup).

Just what a man needs: Two wives screaming at him simultaneously after a brief interlude in a menage a trois ahead of chaos. (May I suggest to a producer that he or she exchange principal roles so the wife endures two ghostly husbands?)

The setting is absolutely divine, darling (by Julie Fischer), the parlor of a 1930s luxurious home where the servant, Edith (Caroline J. Berger) runs hither and yon or slows (per Ruth) to serve tea and refreshments to gents and ladies whom costumers Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley have dressed to the nines: the women in floor length silken gowns with gloves and fancy jewelry, the men in equal getup.

Which ghost “wins”? Come, blithe spirits, see and laugh at them.

The biggest “star” of the night was the superb acting by all the characters, no disappointments by nary a one. Hats off to director Ward Kay, assisted by Liz Isbell.

Other crew members are David Correia, sound; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Maureen Dawson and Jennifer Rhorer, stage managers; Olivia Hinebaugh and Misty White, combat and intimacy directors; Meredith J. Ludwig, producer; Monique Morman, technical director; and Emilie Pade, properties.

I’ll have one of those cucumber sandwiches, if you please and thank you.

What: Blithe Spirit

When: Now thru Sept.19, 2026, Thursday – Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sunday matinees, 2 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314  

Admission: $30 (fee, included)

Duration: Almost three hours with one intermission

Audience: Mature teens on up

Language: A few “adult” words sprinkled here and there 

Parking: Park for free on the streets or at the nearby Capital One Bank. 

For more information: Box Office, 703-683-0496; boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com

patricialesli@gmail.com 

'Fallen Angels' fly high in Herndon's hit

 Elizabeth Anne Jernigan, left, and Teresa Spencer in Noel Coward's Fallen Angels at NextStop Theatre Company/Photo by Lock and Company

If NextStop's Fallen Angels were on Broadway, the show would last for weeks and weeks because theatergoers would demand it.  One can only hope these "angels" fly longer than intended in Herndon.

I had a "presentiment" I would like it.  Expectations, exceeded.  

It's charming, it's fun, it's a delight.

Two married women lament their passionless marriages (five years) and dream about the one-time lover they both shared (at different times) before they got married.  

Maurice! 

While their husbands (John Strange and James Finley who treat their wives like pets) take off on a golfing trip, Julia (Teresa Spencer) and Jane (Elizabeth Anne Jernigan) spend an evening together, drinking and eating and drinking (mostly) reminiscing about their long lost lover who has written he is coming to town.

As the evening wears on, the ladies gradually get sloshed and wind up crawling on the floor and over and on each other. 

They talk, they sigh, and they dream about Maurice and what was, and what they hope to be!

The more she drinks, the longer and more drawn out are Julia's words which complement her demeanor and attitude, thanks to the artistry of Director Abigail Fine and Ms. Spencer, who also serves as dialect coach.
 
Julia and Jane interlock arms and with their hands, the two become entangled like long vines spreading across the stage.

Sliding from a chair onto the floor with her arms and legs intertwined, Julia is a circus act worthy of Houdini.

At one point last Saturday night, the top of one of the liquor bottles fell impromptu to the floor and while the ladies looked for it from their seats at the dining table, Saunders, the maid (Lorraine Magee), never missed a beat or a moment to scoot under and around the table, hunting the lost top.  

Meanwhile, above her, the actors almost lost it which the audience certainly did. 

The time is 1925 when playwright, Sir Noël Coward (1899-1973)
wrote Angels (soon to celebrate its centennial!). Since he never married and his homosexuality was not publicly revealed until after his death, how did Mr. Coward know so much about married women? 

Angels' costuming by Moyenda Kulemeka and the setting by Emily Lotz are quite fitting, darling, for the era and presentation of residents of an upper-class London flat.

The rich are different from you and me.

An elegant chandelier flanked by two lantern lights on the walls hangs center stage near a velvety Victorian settee. On the side stands a baby grand piano which adds to the mood and refinement.
  
When the ladies' talk turns more romantic as they recall the past, lighting director, James Morrison, dims the lights to a soft hue which quickly change and brighten when life interrupts.
  
The phone rings. 

Someone knocks on the door.  

Maurice?  Is that you? Please come in!  Please come!

Is he a figment of their imaginations? A miracle mirage whom these dreamy travelers believe they see in their desert of life?

Will you come, my Prince in Shining Armour, my darling, and rescue me from my boring existence?
 
Suspense builds.
 
Reid May, sound director, effectively makes noisy, unseen vehicles stop on the street outside the curtained window where the women quickly rush to see who it is. 

It could be Maurice getting out of a car!  Maybe? Perhaps?
 
Meanwhile, females in the audience silently plead for Maurice to show and give a glimmer of hope that Prince Charming does indeed exist.   

The transitions from sophisticated ladies to tanked trollops match increasing audience laughter, a tribute not only to the fine acting by Ms. Spencer and Ms. Jernigan but to Ms. Fine's marvelous directing which keeps the actors in constant motion.

What a delight to attend theatre and have a good time. To not be depressed about the "state of things" like many contemporary playwrights leave us. 

Going to the theatre is a bit like going on a blind date:  You are not sure of what he looks like nor how charming he may be until you get there and a few moments pass. Vulgar language, grey sets, and harsh scripts leave me depressed and downfallen. 

Not a good date, not like the good time I had with Fallen Angels.

The 1925 British censor unenthusiastically let the script pass to the stage, convinced there was no such thing as upperclass women who engaged in premarital sex, let alone, God forbid, thoughts about it while wed!
 
Not so in Amsterdam where the censors knew better and banned the show after a few performances.

In her program notes, Ms. Fine writes that this may be the first production of Fallen Angels in the Washington area.

Also in the cast is Robert Pike. 

Other creative team members are: Hollyann Bucci, assistant director; Alex Wade, properties;  Claire Turner, Cathy Reider, Suzy Alden, scenic painters; Nicholas J Goodman, stage manager; Hollyann Bucci, Marilyn Lopes, Kate York, assistant stage managers; and Jonathan Abolins, electrician

What:  Fallen Angels 
 
When:  Thursday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Through April 7, 2019 

Where: NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. Lots of great restaurants nearby.

Lighted, free parking: Available near the door.

Admission: General admission tickets start at $35. Buy online or through the box office at 866-811-4111.

Duration: About two hours with one intermission

Rating: G

For more information: 703-481-5930 or info@nextstoptheatre.org

patricialesli@gmail.com

Reston's 'Private Lives' is rich comedy and delight

Richard Isaacs is Elyot, and Rachael Hubbard is Amanda in Reston Community Players' Private Lives/Traci J. Brooks Photography

A play to see before you die.

It's one of the classics that you've always wanted to see and see again, it's so funny, and now's your chance for Private Lives in Reston.

The "comedy of manners" demonstrates how small, petty things can quickly morph into big, paltry things.  And what's it all about, anyway?

Let the Reston Community Players show you in their 200th production in their 50th anniversary year.  

Much to celebrate!  Including marriage(s) and more of them, darling.

The stunning Art Deco set* (by Maggie Modig, and Bea and Jerry Morse) for the second and third acts makes it hard to divorce your eyes and pay attention to the quick and fast dialogue of couples on honeymoon in France.

Yes, that's couples, plural, who just happen to share the same veranda at the same hotel, two newlyweds who were previously married to the ex right across the terrace! Can you imagine?  

Let the fun begin!

Shades of Shakespeare and watch them weave in and out of their bedchambers until Amanda (Rachael Hubbard) catches on, and (deserving an award for her response) dips up and down in horror, her knees buckling, her mouth flipping open and shut with nary a sound, until she grasps the reality that her ex has landed beside her, married to another woman!

The nerve.

Director Adam Konowe (who triples as lighting designer and fight choreographer) carries off his subjects with aplomb.  The acting is superb although delivery by Sybil (Caity Brown) is sometimes hard to understand, since she speaks quickly, dearie, with the affected British accent shared by all which comes over, really, quite unaffected. (Tel Monks is dialect coach.)

The lean-back, concave postures at 200 degrees maintained by Amanda and Elyot (Richard Isaacs) with
cigarettes in hand (where are those elongated cigarette holders, prop mistress?) lend themselves perfectly well to their characters as they lounge in Amanda's Parisian love flat where they have fled to escape their new spouses and where the party eventually lands.

Andy Gable is Victor, the fourth member of this quartet, lovingly holding the group together, and married to Amanda.

Lisa Young is Louise in Reston Community Players' Private Lives/Traci J. Brooks Photography

Lisa Young is the French maid, Louise, and although she only speaks her native tongue when she makes her brief appearances to tidy up and whirl around the apartment, it is not necessary to understand French since your imagined script produces the desired effects. 

It is not unexpected that, at times, audience laughter will drown out the dialogue which happens here.  

The biggest guffaw from the crowd erupted when Elyot tells Amanda that his affairs are okay because "I'm a man," to which Amanda retorts: "Excuse me a moment while I get a caraway biscuit and change my crinoline." 

Elyot decries her "advanced views" that "it doesn't suit men for women to be promiscuous."

Mind you, Sir Noël Coward (1899-1973) wrote this play in 1929, one year after women over age 22 got the right to vote in the United Kingdom. He was ahead of his time by about 100 years since women worldwide are not accorded equal rights or pay even today, but, that's another story.

The play first opened in 1930 in London starring Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, and Laurence Olivier, and it played here in 1983 at the Kennedy Center with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton earning a horrid review in the Washington Post. (The link doesn't work. Just Google it.)
 
Other key Reston crew members include Suzy Alden, assistant director; Laura Baughman, producer; Mary Ann Hall, stage manager; Scott Birkhead, co-master carpenter; William Chrapcynski, sound designer; Judy Whelihan and Charlotte Marson, costume designers; Chris Dore, hair and makeup; Mary Jo Ford, props designer.

*According to program notes, the set details are from the Peace Hotel in Shanghai where Coward wrote the play.

Who: Reston Community Players

What: Private Lives by Sir Noël Coward
 
When: 8 p.m., May 12-13, 19-20, and 2 p.m., May 14

Where: Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA 20191

How much: $21, adults; $18, students and seniors

Tickets: Buy online, at the box office, or call 703-476-4500 and press 3 for 24-hour ticket orders.

Duration: 2.5 hours (which seem much shorter) and one intermission.


patricialesli@gmail.com