Friday, November 2, 2018

Drama in Herndon in 'East of Eden'



From left are Kari Ginsburg, Annie Ottati and John Sygar in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden at NextStop Theatre Company/Photo by Lock and Company

The acting is great. Ditto the set. The set and lighting are terrific. No complaints about the directing.
 

It's just the script which needs work.
The play is East of Eden, NextStop Theatre Company's newest production whose crews excel at their assignments.

It is no surprise that John Sygar who has demanding roles as a father and then a son, was earlier nominated for a Helen Hayes Award.

He is a young newly-wed, Adam Trask, and later, the guilt-ridden son, Caleb, of the father he played in the first act.

In a troubling production that eschews little hope for a sunnier future until the very end, Caleb writhes on the wooden floor in agony and torment over the grief and hurt he brings others, including himself, because of the choices he has made. 


Caleb and his brother, Aron (Annie Ottati) are twins born to Adam and his wife, Kathy (also Annie Ottati).

The play was adapted by Frank Galati from John Steinbeck's 1952 novel of the same name. It is no coincidence that Caleb and Aron have names similar to the first children of Adam and Eve: Cain and Abel. 


Steinbeck's title comes from Genesis 4: 8, 16: "Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him... And Cain went away and dwelled in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."

Like Cain in the Bible story, Caleb struggles to gain his father's love and respect like his father (Zach Brewster-Geisz) bestows on Aron.

Kate (rhymes with hate) is the boys' mother who flees the family after giving birth to her sons.  She does not return. Never one to exude sensitivity or love for anyone else save herself, she is a role model for every misogynist's notebook, a spiteful, bitter person from beginning to end, skillfully portrayed by Kari Ginsburg, also a Helen Hayes nominee.

Here, Kate reminds you of animals which kill their young.

Acting on rumors that their mother is not dead, Caleb goes in search to learn the truth. He tells Aron who joins the Army to fight in World War I.

Until a love triangle develops, Aron's girlfriend (Nina Marti) is the only glimmer of sunshine in the sad yarn.

Kathy is a younger Kate in the first act who fills the venue with piercing screams as she gives birth to her sons in a too-long scene to make every mother wince at the memory. (And, no doubt, some fathers, too. I don't guess you have to be a parent to shrink at the sounds.)

It's not only the mother's yells the audience hears for plenty more lie ahead.
 

Another actor, Reginald Richard, convincingly carries dual responsibilities as the steadfast father and, later, son, Samuel and Will Hamilton, who are Trask neighbors.

Lee (Jacob Yeh) is Adam's right-hand man, a reliable character who assists Adam in running the household.

From left are Nina Marti, Eva Jaber, Lorenzo Aten and Annie Ottati in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden at NextStop Theatre Company/Photo by Lock and Company

The experienced child actors who play young Cal (William Price), Aron (Lorenzo Aten Falconi) and Abra (Eva Jaber) add curiosity and fun at the beginning, and then they grow up.
 

The beginning of this Eden opens with a beautiful landscape setting which hangs as backdrop throughout the show, a constant contrast to the script. Lighting director Brittany Shemuga weaves time's passages in her valley with visual changes in the landscape and sky.

Wooden furniture and surroundings bring warmth to the ambience and help to mask the family's uncomfortable relationships.
 

Adding dimension is the use of 21st century electronic musical accompaniment whose absence is noticeable during short pauses in the dialogue. 

Confusing, at least at first, are the actors who stand silently in the shadows on either side of the stage while another actor representing the same person at a different age speaks. While the adults hold hands and converse, child actors sit on a bed in the shadows and hold hands.
 

For scene changes the actors move furniture, tables, and chairs stored in sight on either side of the stage to the center stage and sometimes slam them in unison on the floor. (Assistant director, Hollyann Bucci, also was the props director.)
 

Moyenda Kulemeka has dressed the actors in beautifully designed costumes for the turning of the century in California.

Until death comes to call, hope sinks with the setting sun east of this Eden.

Others in the cast are Alana Sharp and Nahm Darr.
 

Creative team members are Evan Hoffman, director; Jaclyn Young, wigs; Sarah Usary, stage manager; Laura Moody, assistant stage manager; Casey Kaleba, fight choreographer; Meghan Behm, intimacy director; and Jonathan Abolins, master electrician.

What: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Adapted for the stage by Frank Galati

When: Thursday (Nov. 8 and Nov. 15) through Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Sundays, at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., now through November 18, 2018 with
the 2 p.m. matinee.

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. A wee big hard to find on a first visit, so allow an extra 15 minutes. The program notes that GPS map systems often give incorrect driving directions once inside the Sunset Business Park. From the "Taste of the World" restaurant, circle counter-clockwise around the building and look for maroon awning. Lots of great restaurants nearby.

Free parking: Available near the door.

Admission: General admission tickets are $35.

Duration: About two and 15 minutes with one intermission

Rating:
Adult themes

For more information: 703-481-5930 or BoxOffice@NextStopTheatre.org
 

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Thursday, October 25, 2018

Reston's 'Hairspray' is lots of fun and action

From left, Jessica Walton, Bruni Herring, and Jalen Robinson in Reston Community Players' Hairspray/Chip McCrea Photography

I can think of only one other production I've attended  when some members of the audience stood midway through a scene to applaud and cheer. The captivated could not wait for intermission or the end to praise the actors 

That performance was by Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly!  in New York.  The second time I saw it happen was last weekend in Reston when Bruni Herring sang  "I Know Where I've Been" in Hairspray.

They stood on their feet and shouted "Bravo!"

Ms. Herring's knock-you-out voice left many in wonder and hopes her song would never end. Rather than teaching Spanish at Fairfax High School, Ms. Herring should be singing on Broadway.  

That and two more scenes (please read on) are well worth the price of admission alone to the new show by the Reston Community Players.

It is far better that the 1988 movie of the same name which gave birth to the 2003 Broadway show that won eight Tonys (including "Best Musical") and ran about five years. 

The huge Reston cast is happy to be on stage where their good times transition to the audience.

Hairspray is much more than a common tale about an outcast, overweight teen whose exuberance and self-confidence embolden her to cast her net farther than her body and self-image would typically allow

Underlying themes of fat shaming and discrimination are often understated here but convey their messages without beating you over the head with pronouncements. Fifty years later and the implications remind us of the significance of tolerance and acceptance. 

Sensitivity to these matters nor historical knowledge of circumstances, however, is not required to enjoy the show for the just plain fun it is

Tracy Turnblad (Dana Robinson) is an odd ball teenager (as are/were most of us) who is dying to be a guest on Corny Collins's (Benjamin Simpson) televised teen dance program.

Her energy and cheerful personality keep her standing, like she does in the clever opening scene which features her lying down in bed although she's standing up in a vertical design. (Convincing sets by designers and artists Sandy Dodson, Dan Widerski, Cathy Rieder and Sabrina Begley change almost as often as the dancers kick their heels.) 


Naturally, Tracy makes it to Corny's show (or we wouldn't have a play), and in one scene she imagines her heartthrob, Link (Jake Lefler) to be smitten by her. Backdrop actors become effective stand still shadowy silhouettes as Tracy and Link dance in Tracy's dream.


My favorite characters all played the same roles with different names, the mothers. Edna (David M. Moretti, yes, a man in woman's clothing) is Tracy's mom who steals the show. 

It's an hysterical start when Edna comes out with hair in rollers under a scarf, wearing dowdy clothing. (Hats off to costumers Lori Crockett and Ashley-Rose Dickey
whose plentiful designs and choices for 28 actors are varied and attractive.) No chance Edna is really a woman.

Edna's spouse is Wilbur (Richard Bird appearing in his first musical to huge success). A shimmering curtain serves as backdrop when the couple dance and sing   "You're Timeless to Me" in the second act, and they came back for more. 


Richard Bird, left, and David M. Moretti, as parents in love in Reston Community Players' Hairspray/Chip McCrea Photography

They are likable parents, unlike the antagonist, pushy mother, Velma (Katie Kramer) whose daughter, Amber (Maura Lacy) competes with Tracy for Teen Queen and, gulp, Link. (Ms. Kramer plays her sassy role with relish and is thoroughly believable and obnoxious. After all,  "It's all about us!" [Sound familiar?])

Another mother is Amy Griffin in triple roles as the bent (try L-shaped) masculine gym teacher, prison matron, and perfectly coiffed (white gloves, mousy brown-ugh-suit,and hat) "Prudy Pingleton" whose daughter is Tracy's best friend, Penny (Eva Gary).

When Penny develops a fondness for a black student named Seaweed (Jalen Robinson), her mom goes ballistic. (Gasp. It is 1962 in Baltimore,  two years before the passage of the Civil Rights Act.)

Another favorite scene was the prison with long (10-12') grey pieces of "steel" to house captives who shake their bars to the tune of "The Big Dollhouse." (May I suggest a play subtitle:  Big, Bold Women.) 

With sound much louder at times than a 10-person orchestra might suggest, the musicians sit in the pit under the direction of Kirsten Boyd on keyboards and add sizzle and swing to enrich the entertainment.

It's a jolly good show, one sure to shake you from  election eve (or later) doldrums, if you happen to be so stricken. 

The company boasted two sold-out performances on opening weekend.

Others in the cast are Sierra Aylor, Kurtis Carter, Teryn Cuozzo, Khyrin DeBose, Steven Eckloff, Madalyn Farmer, Alyia Gardmer, Hunter Gross, Khanner Hancock, Wayne Jacques, Tatiana Jones, Ashley Kaplan, Evie Korovesis, Henry Metcalf, Alexis Shellow, Brandon Steele, and Jessica Walton.

Creative team members include Jacob Ferchaud, producer; Erich DiCenzo, director and choreographer; Colleen Stock, stage manager;
Sara Birkhead, running crew and co-technical director
Sue Pinkman, wigs; Bianca Lara, make up; Mary Jo Ford, properties; Andy Shaw, lighting; Phil Natalini, sound; and Anna Michelle Jackson, assistant wigs.

Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan

Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman  

Music by Marc Shaiman 

Based on the film by John Waters

Rated: PG (a few "damns" and a "hell") with some low-profile groping


Ages: Appropriate for most ages

Who: Reston Community Players


What: Hairspray: The Broadway Musical

When: Thursday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. through Nov. 3 with matinees at 2 p.m., Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, 2018.

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


 Tickets: Buy online, at the box office at the Community Center, or call 703-476-4500 and press 3 for 24-hour service.  $28, adults; $24, students and seniors.
 

Duration: About 2.5 hours with one intermission.


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Monday, October 8, 2018

Pollock's 'Mural' ending its Washington debut


At the National Gallery of Art is Jackson Pollock's Mural which has three dates: 1943, 1944, and 1947. (The National Gallery says 1943.) Mural was donated to to the University of Iowa.by Peggy Guggenheim which loaned it to the National Gallery of Art.  Pollock was born in Iowa, his parents' home /Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of the greatest paintings of the 20th century having its debut in Washington will come down this month after almost a year in residency at the National Gallery of Art.

The work is Mural and the artist is Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) who was commissioned by his benefactress, Peggy Guggenheim, to make it for her New York City townhouse.
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Mural, the University of Iowa/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Since Ms. Guggenhein provided no direction for the work other than the size, Pollock had free subject rein but suffered "artist's block." His wife said he had to rush to finish it in a single day although the National Gallery says recent analysis supports the artist's statement, that he worked on it the summer of 1943.

Before Pollock met Guggenheim in the mid-1940s, he worked in maintenance for a New York museum which became the forerunner for one established by her uncle, Solomon Guggenheim. Pollock, desperate for cash, had followed his brother, Charles, also an artist, from California to New York where they both attended art school and studied under Thomas Hart Benton. Ms. Guggenheim invited Pollock to show his work in her New York gallery, a contract critical to his initial success.
Jackson Pollock (1912- 1956), a close-up of Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist), 1950, National Gallery of Art also on view/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Pollock lived an alcoholic and died an alcoholic at age 44 in a single-car crash in East Hampton, killing one of his passengers, but the other, his mistress, survived. He was married at the time to the artist, Lee Krasner (1908-1984), also an abstract expressionist and one of only four women who has enjoyed retrospective shows at the Museum of Modern Art.  

Krasner was critical to her husband's success and rescued him and his art more than once. One art dealer noted:  "There would never have been a Jackson Pollock without Lee Pollock."  (Note to National Museum of Women in the Arts and the National Gallery of Art:  Please consider a showing of Krasner's works. I counted 21 in NGA's collection; none on view. Thank you.) 

Mural is Pollock's largest canvas, almost 20 feet long and clearly one of his best. After seeing it, critic Clement Greenburg wrote, "I knew Jackson was the greatest painter this country had produced." 

It is one of Pollock's "drip paintings" (leading to his nickname by Time, "Jack the Dripper") which he made before his peak  years, 1947-1950. Not long afterwards, he abandoned "drips" and entered his "black" period, unpopular with collectors until Krasner helped steer him back to colors and figures.

In 2016 Mural's value was placed around $140 million. I think worth a look!

What: Jackson Pollock's Mural and more.

When: The National Gallery of Art is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday. The exhibition closes Sunday, October 28, 2018.

Where: East Building, Upper Level, Bridge, the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission charge: It's always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215


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