This past Sunday I made a much overdue first visit to The Marsh in San Francisco to see Dan Hoyle perform The Real Americans, show #42 for the year.

(Entry to be expanded later.)

Bay Area theatre artist Mike Ward passed away today. I served as his stage manager for a 2009 workshop musical production that spanned from San Francisco to San Jose. Coincidentally I thought of him this evening before learning this news.

I’ll always remember Mike’s creative energy, dedication to the artistic task at hand, and delight in steering and mentoring fellow performing artists. As a small example, he offered individual coaching sessions to each one of us involved with the musical project after we’d completed working together. When I met with him, he offered concise and direct feedback and advice. At the time I found it surprising, but now I am grateful for his clairvoyance.

I’d heard that he had become ill again, but was not able to see him in these last few months. I will think of him now, and appreciated my friend Dale Albright’s tribute just posted over at Theatre Bay Area.

A few days ago a visiting friend and I ventured over to Orinda for Cal Shakes’ The Verona Project, my 41st show of this year. I see the theatre has made a point of highlighting the musicality of the production via YouTube in these videos:

Practicing a song:

“Making of” video:

This production was like jumping into a perfect temperature ocean sea of Shakespeare. The essence of Shakespeare’s writing was there, but with a decidedly modern touch.

I want to say more, so I will intend to come back and revise this post. I wish I had written it immediately following the show… but the power outage made that option not feasible.

On Friday night I ventured over to Berkeley for a much overdue first visit to Impact Theatre. The occasion was their current revival production of Working for the Mouse, a solo show about the backstage side of life at Disneyland, written and performed by Trevor Allen, a noted local playwright. Allen is also married to one of my former work supervisors. It was a suitably memorable way to mark my 40th show for this year.

Working for the Mouse has developed an esteemed local following since its premiere way back in 2002, and a few subsequent runs since then. I can’t remember the first time I heard about it, but I was familiar with it. It could have been in the blog form of the play, which continues to evolve at this website.

The real live version had immediacy and a strong dose of humor, as Allen vividly explored his memories and experiences from a three year period in and out of Disneyland. He conveyed the wide open choices of late teendom and the carefree mentality that often comes along with those years. It was easy to see the influences of other co-workers on him, whether from an attractive “Alice” working alongside his “Mad Hatter”, or observing and being led on by fellow character actors in the park.

I did wonder about the process of putting the experiences into a wider context. Could they be seen as his last blast of childhood innocence? Wanting to get away from family? Not wanting a real job? A real life? Those questions were left unanswered, at least in the public version.

The Disney corporation is notoriously secretive. This wasn’t quite the expose or rag-fest that it might be, but it has comedy, pathos and potential. The show seems to clearly feed on a wide-ranging fascination that exists for well known organizations… and turn it on its head. Extra kudos should be given to Allen and his team for bringing it back to the stage for a fresh look and new generation of theatregoers such as myself.

I offer a belated commentary on show #39 from this past week, Billy Elliot: The Musical, seen in its opening performance of a three month run in San Francisco.

I am not a devout fan of the 2000 film that inspired this play, but I had heard many comments and impressions of the show over the last few years. I was in London when the original production was going into rehearsal (fall 2004 for a spring 2005 opening) and later heard about the Broadway version storming into the theatre district in 2008. I couldn’t shake a feeling that the musical had been Americanized somewhere along the way, and would have liked to have seen the original British version at some point. It is still playing at the Victoria Theatre in London, a venue that is noticeably separate from the rest of the primary West End theatre district. But perhaps Billy needs a space all of his own.

In this touring production, the lead role of Billy is shared by five young actors. I didn’t realize that it would be such a demanding part, as it requires extensive dancing and sizable acting as well. On opening night, a Bay Area native named JP Viernes appeared in the role. I liked that his name is JP, and I was impressed that no attention was made of his Asian heritage in the part. It seems the casting directors very deliberately chose color-blind casting for the show, which is commendable. Billy is supported by a wide ensemble of adults, with well known theatrical maven Faith Prince appearing in the key role of dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson.

The British authenticity of the cast (accents, demeanor, etc) was commendable (they tried hard), but a bit slipshod at the same time. This may have been my reaction to the stretched-out plot, which takes a simple story of Billy discovering the power of dance in a time of strife… and amps up the strife to a degree much higher than what was apparently on screen. I felt this technique was most successful in an act 1 song called “Solidarity” – but at other times it was more uneven. A different-feeling highlight appeared when younger Billy danced with his older self, played by a fellow cast member, to the stirring symphonies of Swan Lake.

Overall I found this to be an impressive, though overlong, production, with particularly notable roles for young actors from any background, and a clearly powerful example of the moving powers of the arts.

On Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25, I saw three shows that all had “T” as a prominent letter in their titles…
#36: Tender Loin at the Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco
#37: Titus Andronicus at the California Shakespeare Theatre in Orinda
#38: Care of Trees at Shotgun Players in Berkeley
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TENDER LOIN was actually a “sneak preview” (staged reading) of a play in progress that will return to the Cutting Ball’s stage next year in a fully staged production. I’d heard a little bit about the show from two actors in the cast. Director Annie Elias, also a theatre teacher at Marin Academy near where I live, has spent an extensive amount of time researching the history and life of San Francisco’s “Tenderloin” neighborhood. This is a place that is often maligned – and neglected – as one of the roughest areas of the city. However, the reality is more complex. Elias involved all of the actors in her initial rounds of interviewing, so that they could gain additional higher understanding of their subjects and what they are doing for each other.

Unfortunately, this show experience fell victim to my difficulties with Golden Gate Transit late night travel, and I chose to only stay for the first act in order to get home at 11:30pm instead of 1:30am. Nonetheless, I found the production to be well-intentioned, if in need of some (sure to come) script editing and tightening. Considering the individual stories as they were told made me question my own assumptions about city life and what the people of San Francisco have to say for themselves. I was reminded of the sometimes invisible challenges of privilege, community and choice that one often makes in a public setting whether you realize it or not.
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TITUS told a familiar story with a certain degree of elegant ferocity. Cal Shakes made a big deal of how this production was their first of this particular Shakespeare play in the 38 years of the company’s existence. They secured powerful Bay Area actor (and company associate artist) James Carpenter for the lead role, and built up a solid ensemble around him, with the wide-ranging local actor Stacy Ross particularly standing out for me in her role as Tamora. It didn’t seem quite as violent as local press had made it out to be. I also felt that the set design, a large cement hulk wall with some creative indentations here and there, was more limiting than enhancing of the play’s actions. Finally, seeing the show on a matinee performance was an undeniably different impression than if I’d gone in the evening. I wondered if a few of the actors were “tuning up” for the evening show, while also feeling sympathetic that they had to perform twice in one day, and very aware of how they needed to hold the bar high before their closing on Sunday.
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Shotgun Players is celebrating their 20th anniversary this season, and they chose an intriguing and provocative piece in CARE OF TREES. The two-hander play seemed to allow slightly more economic and creative flexibility than they usually display, with two AEA actors in the cast, an elaborate set design, and extensive usage of video storytelling in the narrative. I was surprised to realize that it had been over a year since I last attended a Shotgun play in their home space. The company was a frequent theatrical destination for me earlier in my Bay Area life, but its attraction had faded somewhat. During that time, they’ve only gotten more dynamic in their marketing and outreach, painting the outside of their Ashby Stage building based on the current show of the moment, and clearly thriving based on word of mouth and their location right next to a BART station.

CARE OF TREES itself was captivating. I always appreciate stories that are told in a non-linear fashion and leave assembling the pieces up to the audience member. Director Susannah Martin and the two actors, Liz Sklar and Patrick Russell, really built up the character intensity and motivation. The actors brought a passionate, forceful urgency to their roles that upped the ante for the story’s poignancy and emotional impact. At the same time, they kept their versatility in motion and didn’t hesitate to invest in additional portrayals of supporting characters. The story took on a supernatural flair as it went on, but it was to the actors credit how that dimension did not feel forced or awkwardly developed. Eventually and inevitably, the intensity led to a lingering, powerful conclusion of the story.