Fore! Alexandria has 'A Fox on the Fairway'

 Raeanna Larson is Louise Heindbedder and Cameron McBride is Justin Hicks in Little Theatre of Alexandria's A Fox on the Fairway/Photo by Matt Liptak

Just in time for summer comes a golfing show with hilarious hi jinks and laughs which is better than a good round, but knowledge or practice of the sport is not required to have a good time in the tap room of the Quail Valley Golf and Country Club. 

It's the place for A Fox on the Fairway at the Little Theatre of Alexandria.

From left are Patricia Nicklin as Pamela Peabody, Ken Kemp as Henry Bingham and Cameron McBride as Justin Hicks in Little Theatre of Alexandria's A Fox on the Fairway/Photo by Matt Liptak

The show takes off as fast as a ball hit by Brooks Koepka, which means there is nothing slow about these players who do more than choke, fade, or hook competitors. They dice 'em and feed 'em to each other (?).

The action happens in a nicely designed setting (by Marian Holmes) of a formerly elegant golf club whose owner, Bingham (Ken Kemp) has bet $200,000 and his angry wife's antique shop that his golfers are better than those golfers from the Crouching Squirrel Country Club.

With a name like Crouching Squirrel, you might expect its owner, Dickie (Brendan Chaney) to be anything but suave and you would be right.

Costumers Ceci Albert and Lisa Brownsword have dressed Dickie in uglier sweaters than any to be found at the ugliest Christmas Ugly Sweater Contest. Dickie's ensembles fit his ugly personality of tricks and smooth operations. He's a hulk of a man, and Chaney carries the role splendidly.

On the other side of the ring putters poor Bingham with troubles aplenty, stuck in the rough, caught between his wife, a new love life, the club's deterioration, and the golf contest.

You were expecting anything less?

Three couples are off balance in Fox.

One is the energetic young couple, Louise (Raeanna Nicole Larson) and Justin (Cameron McBride), who just happen to get engaged on set (and who in life are an energetic young couple who just happen to be their own team).

The other two couples are mostly splitsville: Bingham and his screechy wife, Muriel (Lorraine Bouchard); and Dickie and his ex-wife, Pamela (Patricia Nicklin).

While the older ones tolerate rough patches, Louise works in the tap room and Justin comes to work and they make par.

Can Justin save Bingham's bogeys?

Adding to the merry-go-round are Louise's occasional drifts into soliloquy under a single spotlight to discharge classic lines while the cast stands in freeze mode.

Dickie's approach to winning is complicated by Pamela whose presence always increases the rhythm and temperature.

Although it is gauche to laugh at drunkenness, I could not help but admire Ms. Nicklin's portrayal of progressive inebriation as the night wears on.

Meanwhile, Bingham grows increasingly anxious as his greens wear thin, Muriel is barking, and his top golfer has jumped club, but wait, where is that new hire?

As the central figure, Kemp is spot-on.
 
His grouchy, screechy spouse is dressed as dull as a monk, but a monk, she's not, performing a shrewd mad wife who, like the rest of us, is vulnerable to seduction by attention.

The Fox in Alexandria has its minor deficiencies, namely, the ending on the golf course with a handsome greens backdrop encumbered by a confusing mix from other scenes which could be covered or removed, and (am I the only one who cares?) the "bad words" which are gratuitous and offensive. Ain't life realistic enough to escape ear hurts for a while? They add nothing and diminish the enjoyment.

Still, this Fox is lots of fun on Alexandria's fairway where it scores a birdie and an eagle.

Applause to Scott J. Strasbaugh, making his directorial debut at LTA, and to sound designers Krista White and Alan Wray who will certainly be nominated for a WATCH award since they effectively contribute to almost every scene with a splash, thud, or crash.

Fore!

A Fox on the Fairway made its debut at Signature Theatre in Washington on October 9, 2010. The playwright is DC's own, Ken Lend Me a Tenor Ludwig.

Other creative team members are Luana Bossolo & Russ Wyland, producers; Stacey Becker, properties; Susan Boyd, hair and makeup; Sherry Clarke and Brittany Huffman, stage managers; April Bridgeman and Brendan Quinn, assistant stage managers; Michael Page, fight choreographer; Ken Brown, set construction; Jeffrey Auerbach and Kimberly Crago lighting designers.

What: A Fox on the Fairway by Ken Ludwig

When: Now through June 29, 2019. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee, June 23 at 3 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Tickets: $21 to $24

Rating: PG-13

Duration: Two hours with one 15-minute intermission

Public transportation: Check the Metro website which supplies information to LTA during Metro station improvements.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby. If Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets is closed, the bank's lot is open to LTA patrons at no charge.
 

For more information: 703-683-0496

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Cato's first art exhibition ends on Flag Day

 Allen Hart, The Harpist, oil on canvas, 2006

Giuseppe Palumbo, Sword vs. Pen, bronze, 2016/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the first, but certainly not the last, Cato Institute's art exhibition with works by 76 artists will close on Flag Day, two months after opening for public viewing.

Entitled Freedom: Art as the Messenger, the curators invited artists to explore the meaning of freedom and identity, embracing "manifestations through art." 

It is fitting that the exhibition closes on June 14, a time which coincides with the think tank's mission to follow the principles of Cato's Letters of the 18th century "that presented a vision of society free from excessive government power." 

The show's contents are not the extreme, harsh examples by contemporary artists as one has grown to expect and often observes in public and private galleries, but the artists here offer more promise in attempts to evoke personal reflections upon the theme.

Still, the connections between art you see and theme are frequently hard to discern. That the artists could be present to explain or have available their intent and meanings would be welcome guidance, but as with most exhibitions, "beauty" and meaning belong to the viewer.

Two of the most interesting works (at least to this beholder) are shown above, and all may be seen at the website. The curators received almost 2,200 submissions from 500 artists in 40 states, a much larger response than they anticipated. (Why the U.S. was only represented is a question.) 

Brief essays by Cato's president and CEO, Peter Goettler, and the curators, Harriet Lesser and June Linowitz, are included in the softbound 76-paged, free, color catalog printed on glossy stock. (Do 76 pages and 76 artists have anything in common with 1776?)

Ms. Lesser writes the purpose of the exhibition at Cato “is to provide a medium for conversation about freedom through art” since the two "have always been allies" and fit Cato's dedication "to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace."

She believes each selection “has something special and unique to say about freedom."

Ms. Linowitz hopes the show leads each viewer “to contemplate what freedom means.” She decided that, although her own political philosophy differs "notably" from Cato's, she and Cato would make a good match since the institute exhibits its own tolerance and respect for views and expressions in the show which it doesn't necessarily hold.

Mr. Goettler trusts that the exhibition “may teach us a lot about what freedom means to us and to others.” The essence of Cato is “freedom of speech and expression" which "are among our most cherished values and only with them can art prosper.” The “unconventional, the controversial, and even the distasteful” may call for limits on our freedoms which need to be protected. 

What:  Freedom:  Art as the Messenger

When:  10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closing June 14, 2019 

Where:  Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20001

Closest Metro station:   Green, Yellow and Orange lines all have stops close to Cato. Check Metro.

For more information:  Call Cato at (202) 842 0200.

patricialesli@gmail.com

'Singin' (and dancin') in the Rain' in Herndon

The cast of Singin' in the Rain at NextStop Theatre Company/Photo by Lock and Company

Gotta dance!  Gotta dance! 

He sings and skips and tap dances through the rain water in Herndon, happy and "in love."

Folks, that's real water pouring on his head, just like in the movie!

Applause to the technical director who accomplished this feat  in Singin' in the Rain now playing at NextStop Theatre Company.

The dancing and choreography are the stars in this production, based on the classic 1952 movie with Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Gene Kelly.  

NextStop's show is choreographed by one of its own stars, Robert Mintz, who plays the boyish "Cosmo" in a role which binds the story with his silly antics and smiles while he twirls, hops, and dances across the floor, and he plays trombone. 

Continuing their string of hits at NextStop and other theatres in the DMV are Max Doolittle, lighting designer, and Evan Hoffman, Herndon High graduate, who directs and designed the set.

It's an elevated stage on a stage in this 1920s Hollywood show with colored lights and a massive red curtain which opens from time to time to reveal the backstage and action there: the dressing gowns, ladders, actors conversing, and all necessary accoutrements that go into a big production like this one.

The plot involves a villainess, the screechy, possessive Ms. Lina Lamont (Carolyn Burke) who hangs on to her beau, a Hollywood star, Don Lockwood (Wood van Meter).  Despite her catlike howls (which could be softened a bit), Ms. Burke is a lady of confidence and assurance whose slithery mannerisms effectively exaggerate her character and make her more unlikable.

It works!

Her goal is to make Don succumb to her wiles, despite his affinity for a new girlfriend, the cute, adorable, and innocent Kathy Selden (Morgan Kelleher), who pops out of a cake!

This being the age of transition from silent films to talkies, Ms. Selden's voice becomes Ms. Lamont's who can't talk for screeching.   

Do you get the picture? 

Scene stealers are the constantly smiling and conniving Zelda (Melrose Pyne Anderson), who plays another starlet, and "R.F." Simpson (Duane Monahan) with his powerful, deep d.j. voice who is the studio head, ostensibly calling the shots.

Eight actors dance and sing across the small stage and magically seem to enlarge the floor space. The audience gets a hand in, too.

Sitting in an elevated window overlooking the action is the bouncy music director, Elisa Rosman, who plays keyboards with alternating drummers Alex Aucoin and Glenn Scimonelli. 

Moyenda Kulemeka has designed beautiful gowns and apparel for the times.


The Broadway play, which was directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, followed the movie by 33 years and lasted about a year, but Wikipedia says the movie is regarded by some as the best film comedy ever made, and it is listed as the fifth greatest American movie of all time.

If you miss the Herndon show, you can see the film July 10 at West End Cinema. 

Other NextStop cast members are Elizabeth Spikes, Ethan Van Slyke and swings, Suzy Alden and Joseph McAlonan.

Creative staff also includes Hollyann Bucci, assistant director; Kevin Alexander, sound; Laura Moody, stage manager; Amelia McGinnis and Kate York, assistant stage managers; Alex Wade, properties; and Dylan Lambert, choreography assistant.

Until July 1 NextStop offers deep discounts on next season's shows starting at $119 for six performances.  Go here or call 866-811-4111 for information. 

What: Singin' in the Rain by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed

When: Now through June 23, 2019, Thursday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and a Sunday evening show on June 16 at 7 p.m.

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 $40. Buy online or through the box office at 866-811-4111.

Duration: About two hours with one intermission

Rating: G

Refreshments:  Available and may be taken to seats

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

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Noseda and the National Symphony

Gianandrea Noseda from his website


The performance on Saturday night was too good to pass up when circumstances took me to the Kennedy Center for the second time that day (after the ballet) and the opportunity to hear and see the National Symphony Orchestra again. 

At 7 p.m. I found myself stationed at the box office where indeed a last-minute ticket for another performance by the NSO awaited my purchase.

The Saturday presentation was as good as Thursday's, beginning with Ottorino Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, followed by my favorite composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini I listen to now while writing this.

Francesco Piemontesi by Marco Borggreve

Making the debut in the second part of the program was Alfredo Casella's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, marvelous in every respect with especial adoration of the forces Casella composed, resurrected by conductor Gianandrea Noseda in 2010, the piece long languishing in music archives, according to notes in the program.

For my Saturday Symphony seatmates, neither of whom I knew, I was unable to restrain my enthusiasm and tipped them to the glorious earful which was coming in the second act. 

One seatmate said Casella was unknown to him, as I imagine he was to most in the audience. 

The other seatmate I may have frightened since she, a Latina, was either scared by my gushiness or may not have spoken English, since she smiled and looked at me in astonishment, never saying a word, but what does it matter when the international language of music speaks to us all?

I know she was not deaf. 

Maestro Noseda, 55, and guest artist Francesco Piemontesi, 35, received rapturous applause from audiences both nights, and it was odd, at least to me, that the conductor changed his introductory remarks from Thursday to Saturday, but this was not church, after all, where the preacher repeats his sermon from one service to the next to the next. (Thursday night Maestro talked about the "Italian connection." Saturday night? I have forgotten. It is a shame.)

(For encores demanded by both audiences at the conclusion of Rachmaninoff, Mr. Piemontesi played Clair de Lune on Saturday and a comparatively boring (is this heresy?) Bach (!) on Thursday.)

Given my wont to "explore," at intermission I "chanced" upon what turned out to be a member of the orchestra's technical staff whom I grilled as much as time allowed.  The person said it was common for the maestro to make comments which were never the same and no one knew ahead of time what they would be or if he would even talk!  

But, smiling the whole time, the technician said Maestro was quite beloved, and "you see, don't you?  That I am here listening and not in the back, reading my book like I usually do!"  

We marveled at Mr. Noseda's strength and endurance since he holds current leadership posts in London and Israel and Italy and Zurich and Catalonia and Georgia, and we figured he must reside in an airplane. 

On Thursday night I sat in the second row (B) and lost, I think, about five pounds just watching Mr. Noseda lead, afraid his baton might go sailing, as I have seen that happen.  

But Saturday found me far back in orchestra (row EE), my view of the conductor blocked by the lid of the piano open for Rachmaninoff and Mr. Piemontesi.  Not a heavy burden to suffer.

You see what you missed!  It pays to get out.

patricialesli@gmail.com 

Movie review: 'Biggest Little Farm' is biggest best farm movie

 Emma and Greasy in The Biggest Little Farm


The one best word to describe this film is charming. 

Can a 97% audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes be wrong?* Nada.

Love of farming is not required to adore The Biggest Little Farm which, from beginning to end, keeps its aura of unfolding the grand involuntary life circle we mammals follow, according to nature's way.

What fun to see a farm spring to life, and hummingbirds, lady bugs, and other living creatures up close, and I mean really up close, their wings fluttering in slow motion, or catch animals at night on hidden cameras.  

Not much new there with hidden cameras, but the scenes add to the majesty of this documentary made over a course of eight years by one of the farm's owners, John Chester, an Emmy winner, who, with his wife, Molly, started Apricot Lane Farms on 200 acres near Los Angeles, all because (or mostly because) of their barking dog, Todd. (Thank you, barking dog, Todd!)

What's not to love about goats? These two baa-baas are in The Biggest Little Farm.

The couple strive to make their farm as natural as can be, and what they achieved in the first year was stunning.

The music by Jeff Beal is the best accompaniment to falling in love with Emma, the pig, and her lifemate, Greasy, the rooster.

Take a break from contemporary life and enjoy this harmony with nature.  A more pleasant way to spend 90 minutes is practically unknown.

Animation by Jason Carpenter is excellent, but the "PG" rating is perplexing.  This is life, judges! A "G" is more appropriate.  

*Even the big, bad critics rate it at 90%.

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