Review: Blue Before Morning

October 21, 2008 by  

(This review was originally published on Blogcritics.)

The blue of the morning just before the sun breaks the horizon can be a quiet, peaceful time, a time of peace that can be hard to find in the other hours of the day.

Blue Before Morning by Kate McGovern centers on the journey of three characters who are escaping from their pasts. As the story unfolds the characters find themselves on an unexpected trip from New York to South Carolina. During the road trip their pasts come to the surface and propel each into an unlikely future.

Ava hails a cab as she is running late to catch a bus to South Carolina. When she misses the bus she convinces the cab driver, Jerry, to drive her south. They soon meet Ella, a pregnant woman who has decided to leave her boyfriend. The three travelers begin to share stories, and questions begin to rise about each person’s life. The connections each character has to the destination are revealed through flashbacks: Ava is an NYU student who is coming home to deal with family issues; Ella is escaping from a boyfriend, Steve, who is willing to change his life to raise a family; Jerry’s wife Rita and family live in South Carolina. In their twelve hour journey there are twists and turns that pull the characters apart and bring them closer together in hopes of second chances and missed opportunities.

This new work went through a four-year workshop process through terraNOVA Collective’s Groundbreakers Writer’s Workshop. All that hard work is most evident in the first two-thirds of the play. The dialogue is sharp between the three main characters as they move from being strangers towards their destined connections. But McGovern rushes the last few scenes as she tries to tie up the three plot lines, leaving the audience with some confused moments.

Veteran cast member Chris McKinney carries the show as the cab driver Jerry. Kether Donohue as Juno-esque Ava and Jenny Maguire as Ella complete the traveling trio with compelling richness. Phyllis Johnson brings class to the role of Rita, Jerry’s wife. Jennifer Dorr White is strong as Eileen, Ava’s mother, in what seems to be a one-note role. Flaco Navaja brings freshness to the role of Steve, Eileen’s boyfriend, who desires to create a better life for his new family.

Director Gia Forakis has assembled a strong ensemble, and orchestrates solid transitions between past and present to create memorable moments that highlight the script’s strong points. The production is well supported by a creative set by Derek McLane and video design by S. Katy Tucker.

Blue Before Morning by Kate McGovern; with Kether Donohue (Ava), Phyllis Johnson (Rita), Jenny Maguire (Ella), Chris McKinney (Jerry), Flaco Navaja (Steve) and Jennifer Dorr White (Eileen); Directed by Gia Forakis; sets by Derek McLane; costumes by Suzanne Chesney; lighting by Bruce Steinberg; original music and sound by Katie Down; production stage manager, Kathleen E.G. Munroe. Presented by terraNOVA Collective, at DR2 Theatre, 103 East 15th Street, Union Square; (212) 239-6200. Through November 8. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Filed under: New York, Reviews, Theater/Theatre
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Win Copies of Milton Katselas’ “Acting Class: Take a Seat”

October 17, 2008 by  

We know you just love the chance to win something, so here at DENNIS BAKER LLC we want to start rewarding our loyal readers.
milton katselas acting class
The first giveaway is of Milton Katselas new book Acting Class: Take a Seat. I try to only giveaway books that I’ve read and would actually recommend. I have began to read it and do enjoy it, a full review will be coming soon.

“Previously only available to Katselas’ students at the prestigious Beverly Hills Playhouse, Acting Class presents the concepts and methods that have helped lead a generation of actors to success on stage, in cinema, and on television. Now for the first time, this all-encompassing book is available to the general public, taking readers and sitting them in the legendary acting class of Milton Katselas, where he not only covers techniques and methods, but also includes valuable discussions on the attitude any artist needs to fulfill his or her dream.”

Now you know you want to win it, right? Good, because we have 2 copies to give away!

How to enter this contest? Simply leave a comment below and we’ll randomly pick 2 winners (deadline for entry is 6pm ET Friday, Oct. 24th).

That’s all you need to do! And, if you’re not a lucky winner, you can be a winner anyway by picking up a copy of Acting Class: Take a Seat for yourself.

Filed under: Acting, Auditioning, Books, Film, Los Angeles, Teaching, Theater/Theatre
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Review: Fifty Words

October 11, 2008 by  

(This review was originally published on Blogcritics.)

In Michael Weller’s new play Fifty Words, Jan and Adam are reveling in their Brooklyn brownstone at the freedom of their first night home alone in nine years without their son, Greg. While this might be a time for great passion it also leads to years of built up tension finally being revealed.

Adam states “There is no stress in Brooklyn tonight,” but the audience knows that is not true. In the beginning of the play we see two characters that seem to be excited at the idea of being home alone but at the same time stop themselves from saying certain things and keep themselves at a distance. A simmer has started and we are just waiting for the pot to boil over. What boils over is an evening is failed dreams, difficult challenges, and disappointments that all contribute to the unraveling of this middle class marriage.

While the play reminds us of the domestic classics from Strindberg, O’Neill and Albee what this play focuses on is that love is many things all at the same time. The show’s title comes from Jan’s suggestion that there should be 50 words for love, the way Eskimos have so many words for snow. The play weaves through an extreme of emotions all grounded in Jan and Adam’s desire to connect and find meaning in what has become of their marriage and their lives.

While Weller’s dialogue is clean and sharp the strength is in performances by Elizabeth Marvel and Norbert Leo Butz. They are lead by the direction of Austin Pendleton who juxtaposes fast paced dialogue with long pauses to let the audience reflect and transition deeper into the evening. The subtle shift of time is aided greatly by the lighting of Michelle Habeck. Neil Patel’s set design is clean and concise and Mimi O’Donnell costume’s fit the story. Josh Schmidt wrote the original music; and Fitz Patton created the sound.

Fifty Words By Michael Weller; Norbert Leo Butz (Adam) and Elizabeth Marvel (Jan); directed by Austin Pendleton; sets by Neil Patel; costumes by Mimi O’Donnell; lighting by Michelle Habeck; original music by Josh Schmidt; sound by Fitz Patton; production stage manager, Pamela Edington. Presented by the MCC Theater, At the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 279-4200. EXTENDED through Nov. 8. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes.

Filed under: New York, Reviews, Theater/Theatre
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Theaters To Do List

October 10, 2008 by  

Brendan Kiley wrote an article for Seattle’s The Stranger entitled Ten Things Theaters Need to Do Right Now to Save Themselves: In No Particular Order. Below is the top ten with my reactions. Th article focuses on the fringe as the main type of theater that should implement these changes. What do you thing?

1. Enough with the goddamned Shakespeare already. The greatest playwright in history has become your enabler and your crutch, the man you call when you’re timid and out of ideas. It’s time for a five-year moratorium—no more high schoolers pecking at Romeo and Juliet, no more NEA funding for Shakespeare in the heartland, and no more fringe companies trying to ennoble themselves with Hamlet. (Or with anything. Fringe theater shouldn’t be in the game of ennobling, it should be in the game of debasement.) Stretch yourself. Live a little. Find new, good, weird plays nobody has heard of. Teach your audiences to want surprises, not pacifiers.

Goes big right off the bat. I am torn by this one as I both agree and disagree. I am sure we have all seen one too many shows of Midsummers or Romeo and Juliet. But when Shakespeare is done well it is it amazing. There are also so many students every year that see a production and then are turned on to the work. Maybe we modify this recommendation that we put a cap on the amount of Shakespeare a theater company can do. One show per year?  One every other year?

2. Tell us something we don’t know. Every play in your season should be a premiere—a world premiere, an American premiere, or at least a regional premiere. Everybody has to help. Directors: Find a new play to help develop in the next 12 months. Actors: Ditto. Playwrights: Quit developing your plays into the ground with workshop after workshop after workshop—get them out there. Critics: Reward theaters that risk new work by making a special effort to review them. Unions, especially Actors’ Equity: You are a problem. Fringe theaters are the research-and-development wing of the theater world, the place where new work happens—but most of them can’t afford to go union, so union actors are stuck in the regional theaters, which are skittish about new work and early-career playwrights. You must break this deadlock by giving a pass to union actors to work in nonunion houses, if they are working on new plays.

New works are a must! I love when I see a play that I don’t know and it takes on me on a ride of discovery. I think this can also go for published work as well. Maybe poll the audience of what plays they have seen so a theater knows which ones to avoid.

I think the union/non-union issue is the bigger issue. Just coming back from a theater conference in San Francisco this is a major issue for the actors in the Bay area. Most theaters there are non-union which leaves the union actors with little opportunity to work on new works or anything at all for that matter. There is a 99-seat code in Los Angeles and a workshop code in New York. Why can’t we get a code across the board or at least in all the major theater cities?

3. Produce dirty, fast, and often. Fringe theaters: Recall that 20 years ago, in 1988, a fringe company called Annex produced 27 plays, 16 of them world premieres—and hang your heads in shame. This season, Annex will produce 10 plays, 4 of them world premieres, which is still pretty good. Washington Ensemble Theatre will only produce three plays, one of them a world premiere. (An adaptation of… Shakespeare!) What else happened in 1988? Nirvana began recording Bleach—and played a concert at Annex Theatre. By the next year, Nirvana was on their first world tour. The lesson: Produce enough new plays and Kurt Cobain will come back from the grave and play your theater.

I am not 100% sold on producing that many shows in a season. I worked with a theater company in Los Angeles that prided itself on performing two shows in repertory.  I think for the smaller theaters it can stretch its already limited personal and budget. While it might be great for all the actors who want to work, the quality pf the show can suffer, which then effects the perception of the work being done for future shows. Also these artists also have full time jobs and other major responsibilities so while I agree maybe more than three shows per season I think twenty-seven is a bit much.

4. Get them young. Seattle playwright Paul Mullin said it best in an e-mail last week: “Bring in people under 60. Do whatever it takes. If you have to break your theater to get young butts in seats, then do it. Because if you don’t, your theater’s already broke—the snapping sound just hasn’t reached your ears yet.”

I think all theater companies should have some education ties to it. That does not mean that they have this education department that creates a touring show, but they should have a connection with a local English teacher where they can come into the class and present scenes and work with the students. Most kids think Shakespeare is boring until they experience how active the text is and then kids begin to love it. If the kids connect with the visiting actors they will ask the parents to go to that theater. There is you under 60 audience members. Then it is also the theaters responsibility to do work that appeals to both young adults and their parents at the same time. That does not mean you have to produce a fairytale, but you can’t have your whole season be crazy, sexual, avant-guard theater either.

5. Offer child care. Sunday school is the most successful guerrilla education program in American history. Steal it. People with young children should be able to show up and drop their kids off with some young actors in a rehearsal room for two hours of theater games. The benefits: First, it will be easier to convince the nouveau riche (many of whom have young children) to commit to season tickets. Second, it will satisfy your education mission (and will be more fun, and therefore more effective, for the kids). Third, it will teach children to go to the theater regularly. And they’ll look forward to the day they graduate to sitting with the grown-ups. Getting dragged to the theater will shift from punishment to reward.

But when you do produce your avant-guard play that is not appropriate for children, in stead of alienating the parents give them the option of childcare so they can still come see the show. Yes, there are legal issues here that will need to be worked out, but it could be well worth it. How many theaters are offering childcare? Imagine if you were the first. You would be the talk of the PTA and the buzz around all the playgrounds. Get those soccer moms to work for you!

6. Fight for real estate. In 1999, musician Neko Case broke up with Seattle, leaving us for Chicago. (It still hurts, Neko.) When asked why in an interview, she explained, “Chicago is a lot friendlier, especially toward its artists. Seattle is very unfriendly toward artists. There’s no artists’ housing—they really like to use the arts community, but they don’t like to put anything back into the arts community.” Our failure abides. Push government for cheap artists’ housing and hook up with CODAC, a committee that wants developers on Capitol Hill—and, eventually, everywhere—to build affordable arts spaces into their new condos. (CODAC’s tools of persuasion: tax, zoning, and business incentives.) Development smothers artists, who can’t afford the rising property values that they—by turning cheap neighborhoods into trendy arts districts—helped create. To get involved with CODAC, e-mail frank.video@seattle.gov.

A definite must. Lean on the government to recognize artists as important and worth the time and money.

7. Build bars. Alcohol is the only liquid on earth that functions as both lubricant and bonding agent. Exploit it. Treat your plays like parties and your audience like guests. Encourage them to come early, drink lots, and stay late. Even the meanest fringe company can afford a tub full of ice and beer, and the state of regional- theater bars is deplorable: long lines, overpriced drinks, and a famine of comfortable chairs. Theaters try to “build community” with postplay talkbacks and lectures and other versions of you’ve spent two hours watching my play, now look at me some more! You want community? Give people a place to sit, something to talk about (the play they just saw), and a bottle. As a gesture of hospitality, offer people who want to quit at intermission a free drink, so they can wait for their companions who are watching act two. Just take care of people. They get drinks, you get money, everybody wins. Tax, zoning, and liquor laws in your way? Change them or ignore them. Do what it takes.

Embrace the idea of third space that made Starbucks what it is today. Third space is that place that is not work or home where people come together to talk, socialize and share ideas. The theater is a perfect place to do that. Make the lobby a third space. If that is not an option work with a local bar that you can encourage your audience to attend after the show. Theater is meant to create ideas and dialogue so lets give people that place to have that dialogue.

8. Boors’ night out. You know what else builds community? Audience participation, on the audience’s terms. For one performance of each show, invite the crowd to behave like an Elizabethan or vaudeville audience: Sell cheap tickets, serve popcorn, encourage people to boo, heckle, and shout out their favorite lines. (“Stella!”) The sucky, facile Rocky Horror Picture Show only survives because it’s the only play people are encouraged to mess with. Steal the gimmick.

I am hesitant to agree with this. I think there are some great shows that this can work and if a theater wants to explore melodrama (maybe Greek plays) than this might be suitable. I am not sure beyond that.

9. Expect poverty. Theater is a drowning man, and its unions—in their current state—are anvils disguised as life preservers. Theater might drown without its unions, but it will certainly drown with them. And actors have to jettison the living-wage argument. Nobody deserves a living wage for having talent and a mountain of grad-school debt. Sorry.

When referring to fringe theaters I agree there is no money to be had for any of the artists there. Work done is for the love of the art and to grow as artists. I do not think this comment should apply to the bigger regional theaters.

10. Drop out of graduate school. Most of you students in MFA programs don’t belong there—your two or three years would be more profitable, financially and artistically, out in the world, making theater. Drama departments are staffed by has-beens and never-weres, artists who might be able to tell you something worthwhile about the past, but not about the present, and certainly not about the future. Historians excepted—art historians are great. If things don’t turn around, they may be the only ones left.

Interesting comment in light of what I have been writing about the Rutgers MFA acting program. I do think more artists are going into financial debt over education which will catch up to them much like the sub-prime loans and housing bubble. Those artists will have to work more to pay off those debts and that means less time creating art. I think all artists need some education how to live financially simple.  And also be encouraged that doing the work is very important.

Filed under: Acting, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Shakespeare, Theater/Theatre
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