Photo: Greg Mooney
If “A Life in the Theatre” were as interesting as Andre De Shields is in its lead role at the Alliance Theatre, I’d say David Mamet had written a winner.
The screenwriter (“The Verdict” and “Wag the Dog”) and playwright who penned such notables as “American Buffalo,” “Speed-the-Plow,” “Sexual Perversity in Chicago,” and “Glengarry Glen Ross,” preceded them all with “A Life in the Theatre,” which played in a New York theater in the Village in 1977.
“A Life in the Theatre” presents snippets of the lives of two theater actors who are part of an acting company. Robert (Andres de Shilds) is an experienced actor around age 60, and John (Ariel Shafir) is a neophyte around age 25.
Scene: In the greenroom just after a performance, Robert and John discuss the stage performance they just gave–what made it great and what could have been better. They connect the most when they agree the actress they shared the stage with overacted horribly.
Scene: On the battlefield. Backstage John and Robert, dressed in Army fatigues, kiss each other on the lips. Kaboom! They run downstage with their rifles, huddle behind a sandbag barricade and fight the enemy.
Scene: In the 1600s(?) in Romania, or France, or Russia. The exact date and place of all the scenes are unknown. John portrays a servant to Robert, who portrays an old decrepit woman (or man?) who wears a robe with a flowing train. As the elderly character slowly crosses the stage, comedy blinks. The flowing train of the robe extends all the way from one end of the stage to the next. Both master and servant are dressed in white wigs, brocade garments and high heeled shoes. In what looks like a scene from a haunted movie from the 1930s, as the master slowly relaxes in her/his chair, the servant stabs his master, who claws his fingers and grimaces while dying a gruesome death.
Scene: Inside a sci-fi doctor’s office an unusal creature with a very large head lies on a silver gurney under bright lights. Two doctors argue while pulling the innards out of the creature.
Scene: John, now an experienced actor after many years of working in the theater, finds Robert in the shower wearing tight boxer shorts. Robert is holding a white towel around his wrist and has blood smeared in large splotches on his boxers. Blood drips down his arms. John offers to call a doctor, but Robert insists he not.
Does the play have a plot? Does anyone care about Robert and John?
Not I.
As for the real actors: Andres de Shields is fantastic!
“A Life in the Theatre” runs at the Alliance Theatre through this weekend.
Photo: Joan Marcus
There are only three days left to see the 2008 Tony Award-winning play “In the Heights” at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. The show is fabulous!
Part “Rent” and part “West Side Story,” “In the Heights” is a story about the pains of life just north of Harlem in the poor Latino community of Washington Heights.
While there are subplots throughout the play, the main question these characters face is how are we going to get out of this barrio and make better lives for ourselves?
Although the script seems to linger at places, what makes this show fantastic is the extraordinary acting, singing and dancing by performers who are electric.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who grew up in a Latino community in northern Manhattan, developed the show, mixing rap, spoken word and Latino music with modern dance.
Bodega owner Usnavi (Kyle Beltran) seems like a character from a modern-day Shakespeare play with his rap and spoken word rhymes. He waves his arms like a star rapper, crossing his arms in front of him and jumping through the air, reaching to the sky, pointing the way toward life outside of the barrio.
Andy Blankenbuehler’s choreography fuses hip-hop and contemporary dance (think “So You Think You Can Dance”) with sensuous salsa dances that are as hot as fire.
However, not all is perfect. The book, written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, seems to lack authenticity as do the accents of the performers, who sing in standard English and speak with a far less Latino accent than what is heard in the Heights.
Nonetheless, the story and characters are full of life. This show brings tears to the eyes and knocks you off your seat.
“In the Heights” won a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album and two Tony Awards (Best Musical and Best Original Score).
“In the Heights” runs at The Fox Theatre through Nov. 8.
All you hep cats who want to boogie to some hot swinging tunes and a fine jazz singer, head to Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville this Saturday.
Maxine Cummins, now in her 70s, has been singing since she was 3 years old. She has performed with orchestras and combos and has appeared on radio, TV and stage. She began singing jazz more than 50 years ago, and she is still swinging hard!
The Metro Jazz Band is composed of local musicians, some of whom have played professionally. The band mixes notables such as Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller with Frank Sinatra and Richard Rodgers standards.
The band will also feature guest vocalist Eric Moore, whose soulful voice will transport you to a whole other galaxy. Moore’ s credits include the musicals “Five Guys Named Moe,” “Jesus Christ Superstar: The Gospel” and “Once on this Island.”
At Aurora you are invited to either relax as a spectator in your nice, plush comfy seat or dance in front of the stage.
The Metro Jazz Club performs at Aurora Theatre Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.
Photo: Cristopher P. Kettrey
There are a few surprises in Theatrical Outfit’s “Around the World in 80 Days.”
The play, whose script is different than that of the movie, holds your attention with a story that constantly moves forward.
If you’re expecting to see what you saw in the movie version where David Niven travels the world in a hot-air balloon, forget it. There’s no balloon in the play. There’s no balloon in the original book by Jules Verne either.
Mark Brown, who adapted the play from Verne’s novel, seems to draw upon the Marx Brothers for added humor. He has characters speaking silly asides to the audience, à la Groucho, and three priests tipping over a man to steal the shoes off his feet, à la Groucho, Chico and Harpo.
The year is 1872. Just after a bank has been robbed Phileas Fogg (Tom Key) sits at a card game in London, waging 20,000 pounds–an inordinate amount of money–that he can travel around the world in 80 days.
Fogg leaves hastily with his new servant, Monsieur Passepartout (Paul Hester), to travel around the world. Detective Fix (Bill Murphey), however, hears that descriptions of the bank robber look uncannily like Fogg. Fix tails Fogg and Passepartout as they travel around the world switching from trains to steamboats to sailboat.
During their journey, Fogg and Passepartout meet a bevy of unusual and memorable characters and save the life of an Indian woman, Miss Aouda (Kate Donadio), just as she is about to be burned on a pyre. On their journey, the two travelers battle American Indians and come close to a shooting match with cowboy Col. Proctor (James Donadio, father of Kate), and miss their trains or boats because of a number of mishaps.
The acting in the show is about as fine as it gets in Atlanta. Although there are some silly characters in the play, the actors play the characters in a truthful and believable manner and don’t get caught up in trying to be funny. Although Passepartout needs more work on his French accent–a lot more work–at least his acting is truthful.
The set is commendable. Maclare “MC” Park uses platform and bellhop carts to create sailboats, steamboats and trains. A cane becomes the trunk of an elephant, straw fans become its ears, a cart and people on it magically look like an elephant that people ride. With just a few charts, carts, maps, a table and chairs, Park creates visions from around the world.
If you see this production, you’ll laugh along the way, maybe draw a tear at the end, and likely enjoy the ride.
“Around the World in 80 Days” runs at Theatrical Outfit through this Sunday, Nov. 8
The French jazz band Alain Brunet & Akpé Motion will perform at Café 290 Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8:30 p.m.
Alain Brunet & Akpé Motion combines swing, contemporary jazz, bop, rock and funk with Latin and African rhythms and an underlying electric sound.
What does that sound like? Think Weather Report mixed with Miles Davis, Roy Hargrove and a touch of Led Zeppelin.
Trumpet player Alain Brunet has played with Clark Terry, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Daniel Humair, Kenny Baron, Prince Lasha, and numerous other well-known jazz artists.
Akpé Motion will feature Alain Brunet, trumpet and vocals; Romain Simeray, guitar and vocals, Steve Florczykowski, bass; and Pascal Bouterin, drums.
Alain Brunet has toured throughout Europe, Brazil, India, Japan, and the U.S.
Doyle Reynolds and Lala Cochran Photo: Aurora Theatre
“Buy My House Please!” made its world premiere at Aurora Theatre Thursday night and most of the audience gave it a standing ovation.
Were they serious?
The new comedy by playwright Gabriel Dean revolves around the financial plight of a young couple, Tim Lark (Matthew Myers) and Bryn Lark (Bethany Anne Lind).
Tim works as a barista at Starbucks since he was laid off from his advertising job months ago. His wife, an elementary school art teacher, is pregnant. The couple needs to sell their home to prevent it from going into foreclosure.
Their real estate agent, Peter Shaw (Doyle Reynolds), gets them on a reality show so they can show their home to thousands of TV viewers. The host of the show, Shelby Whitstone (LaLa Cochran), turns on the charm for the cameras and the haughty bitchiness for everyone around her.
Shelby insists that the couple empty their home so the show can properly stage it. Bryn insists that the urn she made out of her mother’s deceased remains stay on the mantel. She says she made the urn with her mother’s remains cast as part of the urn. They’re not inside it. Her mother, she says, will remain on the mantel.
When a prospective buyer visits the home, she says she will only take it if she can have the urn as well. This is one of a few situations that make this play a dream for someone who is fond of absurd comedies and a conundrum for the rest of us.
While Dean keeps the pace moving with many different characters walking in and out of scenes, the situations are over the top. For instance, people who work for the reality show dress up in outrageous costumes—two men dress up like women—to look like prospective buyers for the house.
The show is neatly wrapped up with Peter saying, “Reality TV is not reality. It’s bullshit.” And Tim says, “Home isn’t something you buy. It’s something you build.”
“Buy My House” is a fast-paced show but is light on substance. To me, it brings to mind the TV comedy show “Two and a Half Men.” People find it funny, but I don’t understand why.
“Buy My House Please!” continues through Nov. 1 at Aurora Theatre.
Jimi Kocina as Harold the dog Photo: Amy Sinclair
Part Dracula and part cartoon, “Bunnicula” is a musical based on a series of popular children’s books about a bunny named Bunnicula who sucks the life out of vegetables and turns them white. Produced by Synchronicity, the show is playing at the Hertz Theatre at Woodruff Arts Center and is suitable for children ages 5 and above.
Soon after the Monroe family brings home a new bunny found in a movie theater, the vegetables in the refrigerator turn white. No one can figure out why. Harold the dog and Chester the cat slowly unravel the mystery. Harold, played by Jim Kocina, and Chester, played by Erin Lorette, do a wonderful job of acting like animals and putting us humans in the shoes of our pets.
Mr. Monroe (Nick Arapaglou), a professor, and Mrs. Monroe (Rachel White), a lawyer, are married with two young boys, Toby (Royce Mann) and Pete (Tendall Mann). The Monroes adore their new bunny and sometimes take out their hostilities on their innocent dog and cat. Mrs. Monroe can be stern and scary sometimes, especially when she wields a big kitchen knife and stabs the kitchen table. She can also be charming, especially when she and Mr. Monroe make goo-goo eyes at each other and sing and dance together.
Bunnicula, a puppet the size of a toddler, comes to life with expressive movements that make him look like he runs a gamut of emotions. He also can look like an evil monster when his eyes literally light up and glow. Puppeteer Amy Rush is fully visible but inconspicuous in a mummy-like costume.
Just before the play opens, an announcer warns children that there may be some scary parts in the show. He says, “This is what the theater will look like when there is thunder.” Lights and strobes flicker quickly to represent lightning. The voice continues, “This is what the room will sound like when there is thunder.” Rumblings and booms are heard over the sound system. The voice says that there is nothing to be scared about.
Leigh Partington’s two daughters, Audrey, 7, and Eleanor, 10, were a couple of the children attending the show last weekend. Both have read a few of the Bunnicula series of books. They both said they liked the show a lot. Audrey said, “I really liked Mrs. Monroe. She was funny.”
“Bunnicula” continues at the Hertz Theatre at Woodruff Arts Center through Oct. 18.
- Eddie Gomez, Photo: Ponaé
Joe Gransden teamed up with legendary jazz bassist Eddie Gomez and a 16-piece big band from Jazz Orchestra Atlanta on Monday at Café 290. Gomez will play again tonight at Georgia State University.
Gomez, who lives in New York, played with JOA on the Gershwin Brothers’ “The Man I Love,” and on two big-band hits, “Cherokee,” by Ray Noble, and “Vine Street Rumble,” by Bennie Carter.
Playing professionally since graduating from Julliard in 1963, Gomez has a distinct sound. Whether he’s playing in the high register or rapping on the bass strings creating a percussive sound to emulate whatever he hears in his head, Gomez has a sound like no other. His melodic phrasing is sometimes suggestive of Bill Evans, the late great pianist he played with for more than a decade.
Gomez has played with the biggest names in jazz, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Chick Corea.
Conducted by trumpeter Joe Gransden, JOA performs at Café 290 for two sets the first and third Monday of each month. JOA, an organization of professional jazz musicians, rotates its artists to provide the best jazz musicians in Atlanta an opportunity to play and present their art.
As well as Gransden, members include Georgia State University professors Gordon Vernick, trumpet; and Mace Hibbard, sax. Vernick has played in symphony orchestras and jazz bands around the world, as well as with Randy Brecker and Paul McCandless. Hibbard, a jazz composer who has written hundreds of arrangements for horn sections, has played with Phil Woods, Michael Brecker and James Moody.
Gransden had played with the big bands of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. He has also performed with Barry White, The Moody Blues, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Diana Krall, The Temptations, and Aretha Franklin.
Gomez is in town to teach a Master Class at Georgia State University and to perform with the Georgia State University Faculty Jazztet this evening.
Laura Mead and Charles Neshyba-Hodges, Photo: Greg Mooney
The world premiere of “Come Fly With Me,” conceived and choreographed by Emmy and Tony Award-winner and dancer Twyla Tharp, opened two weeks ago at the Alliance Theatre in preparation for Broadway. The show is already perfect and is some of the best theater I’ve ever seen.
Broadway actors and dancers from top dance companies around the country perform slice-of-life vignettes to vocal recordings of Frank Sinatra and a live band. Many of its musicians actually played with Sinatra.
The show presents four couples in a series of scenes surrounding their courtships, and in some cases, their separations. There’s the young, shy couple (Charlie Neshyba-Hodges and Laura Mead) who meet at a restaurant and are attracted to each other, but they are so inexperienced at courting they stumble and trip over one another. While the couple grows together over a course of songs, Neshyba-Hodges’s performs outstanding acrobatic feats and slapstick comedy, serving as the perfect foil for the prim and proper Mead.
Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts are the couple with the most volatile relationship. They taunt each other, flirt with others, and continually play the cat-and-mouse game of come close go away. In “That’s Life,” they have a rousing fight. They shove and hit one another, kiss and caress each other, beg for forgiveness, hit again, until finally Roberts throws her across the stage and refuses her advances. On another tune, Plantadit hunches down in a cougar pose, pounces on different men, struts across the stage and is thrown from man to man.
There is heat throughout the show. In “Teach Me Tonight” passion overwhelms the couples. They pair up with their partners and others for sultry encounters in sexual love.
These dancers are among the best in the business—they come from Merce Cunningham, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey, and New York City Ballet. But Plantadit is a star like no other. She is a sexy vixen who commands the stage with her power, energy and grace.
Plantadit danced in another musical conceived by Tharp, “Movin’ Out,” the Broadway show based on the songs of Billy Joel. “Movin’ Out” was nominated for nine Tony Awards. It won two, one of which Tharp won for best choreography.
Once it gets to Broadway “Come Fly With Me” could also be nominated for one or more Tony Awards. The dancing, music, acting and choreography are superb.
If you see only one show this year, this is the one to see. It’s not only the best theater I’ve ever seen at the Alliance Theatre, it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen anywhere.
“We’d love to continue finding and producing work of this caliber,” said Susan Booth, artistic director of the Alliance Theatre. “A college kid told his parents he’d trade his Falcons tickets for season tickets to the theatre if they were all this good.”
“Come Fly With Me” runs at the Alliance Theatre through October 11.
Tina Sloan, Photo: Andrea Berry
Almost anyone would envy Tina Sloan. Looking back on her life, so would she.
Peering from the outside in, it seems as if Sloan has had it all. She has had a 40-year-career in film and TV—26 of them on “The Guiding Light”—a 34-year marriage to a man she adores, looks to die for, and now her own show.
In “Changing Shoes,” the one-woman show based on Sloan’s life, the actress reveals how she made it to the top, what she did when her youthful Cybill Shepherd-looks faded, and how she has started life anew.
In a poignant, touching and well-acted show, Sloan takes us back to the time when she was in fourth grade. Known then as “the talking tomato” for her incessant chatter, she had already decided to become an actress.
Portraying herself at different ages and the people in her life, Sloan, 66, shares her professional and personal glamorous times and hardships.
We meet her haughty mother who warned her, “Don’t become an actress. It’s déclassé.” And we meet the men who made passes at her, and the woman who inspired her career the most.
With videos running intermittently behind her on the stage, we see Sloan’s first trip to Paris upon graduating college. She arrives there to spend a summer with an old friend of her mother’s who continually encourages her to go for her dreams and become an actress. “You can do it,” says Aga. “Just put one foot in front of the other.”
When Sloan returns to her parents’ home, a tony suburb just outside of New York City, she becomes a secretary but soon sneaks out to audition for roles. She gets in a play, gets an agent, and then acts in one commercial after another. On the screen behind Sloan, we see clips of her in her salad days, a beautiful blonde selling Clairol, Colgate, Stove Top, Tiparillo, Geritol, and more.
We see a short clip of Sloan in her first role on a soap opera, “Somerset.” She plays a sweet, innocent love scene with its leading man. She is so believable and sexy in it that after the director yells, “cut,” the star whispers to her, “You are the first woman who has ever made me hard!”
She does more soap operas, TV shows, acts in films directed by Woody Allen, and becomes a regular cast member of “The Guiding Light. The beautiful, sexy blonde has it all. Until she reaches her 50s.
That’s when heads stop turning, her love scenes wane, and her character on “The Guiding Light” has only a couple of words to say each episode, “Where is Beth?” Her heyday has gone, and newer, bolder and more beautiful actresses on the set scoot her out of their way so they can primp before mirrors and cameras.
At the same time, her personal life falters. Her loving father develops bone cancer and lashes out at her each time she visits. Her mother develops senile dementia and doesn’t recognize her. Her son, Renny, joins the Marines and deploys into Iraq. And she gains more than 40 pounds, a death knell for an actress.
But there is something that gets her through the tough times. It becomes her mantra: “One foot in front of the other.” The line gives her the strength to spend time with her parents each week, to lose the weight, and to hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Sloan does a good job of portraying herself and others, and living truthfully on stage. She also connects with the audience and makes them laugh and cry.
“Changing Shoes” began as a book Sloan started writing when her parents became ill. She later would work with actor and director Joe Plummer to help her write the play. Originally, it was to be a book about how to care for aging parents, but over time the book grew to be more about how to live life to its fullest.
Sloan would know about that. She just signed a deal with Penguin to publish the book next year.
“Changing Shoes,” directed by Joe Plummer, runs at the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta through Oct. 8.
