Assassins on the way

Ray of Light Theatre is bringing Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins to the San Francisco. The press release calls it "Bold, original, surreal, disturbing, thought-provoking and alarmingly funny, Assassins is perhaps the uttermost controversial musical ever written." It has a longstanding reputation as one of Sondheim's best and I've been waiting months for this production to hit the stage, since I've never seen it.

"Part vaudeville extravaganza, part exposé and wholly electrifying, this most American of musicals (winner of five Tony® Awards) lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical "revusical" that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish rollercoaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and, in an intense final scene, inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream."

Ray of Light is calling this "the must-see show of the year" and that bit of hyperbole wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be true. After all, this is the same company that put on last year's Jerry Springer, the Opera, which was one of my favorite theater experiences from the past couple of years.

It's a four week run at the Eureka Theater (215 Jackson St., SF),  June 2 - 25 Thursday- Saturday nights @ 8:00 and a Sunday matinee at 2:00.  For tickets ($20-$36) and information, visit www.roltheatre.com or check out TIX Bay Area (online or at Booth in Union Square) . I've also seen them available for some of the runs early performances on Goldstar. Student/group discounts available. Email tix@roltheatre.com for group discount tickets.

I say don't miss it, but if you don't want to pull the trigger, look for my post the first week of June.

Ray of Light Theatre's Assassins

Ray of Light Theatre likes to take risks. Last year they presented the uproarious West Coast premiere of Jerry Springer, the Opera and now they're back with Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) and John Weidman's (book) Assassins. As directors Jason Hoover and David Moschler note in the program, Assassins is about failing to achieve the American Dream and how individuals desperately strike out against the dream in the midst of their failures in an attempt to connect with other people in some way that forces others to pay attention to them.

 

 

Within its 90 minutes are a lot of complex ideas unfolding among the carnage and comedy and the troupe does an excellent job of creating juxtapositions onstage that bring those ideas vividly to life. It becomes crowded, with 14 or 15 people on the small stage of the Eureka theater at some points (plus the musicians), with everything overflowing into the carnivalesque by the end of the show. The strong cast (unfortunately miked) gives their all to what is in all likelihood the most unlikely group of historical figures to ever appear in a play together (John Wilkes Booth and Squeaky Fromme, just to get started). By the time the entire ensemble gathers onstage for the final reprise of "Everybody's Got the Right" Assassins succeeds in making us re-think who these people were and what motivated them to grab a gun and point it at a President. That's no small feat, and will definitely give you something to talk about after the show.

 

 

Assassins runs through June 25th at the Eureka Theater. Tickets are available on the ROLT website, though you may want to keep an eye out for them on Goldstar.

 

 

Before the show, Isabella and I had dinner at Credo, which, as usual, was delicious and we appreciated their flexibility with our fluctuating party.

Ray of Light goes the Full Monty

Six guys from Buffalo preparing to go "The Full Monty." Photo by Claire Rice. 

There are some things, I think, that are just plain wrong. Then there are some things I think that are just plain wrong. For an example of the first, I think it's always a bad idea to adapt a non-musical film into a work of musical theater (or opera). It seems so facile, such an obvious example of how our culture has become lazy, using a popular movie as the basis for a stage work. Built-in audience and all of that, creating a new work which seems to exist for no other reason that its can exploit the financial success of its ancestor to sell tickets. The notion of creating "art" seems wholly absent to me in such adaptations. However, in one of the myriad ways in which my thinking is riddled with prejudices which don't hold up to scrutiny, for some reason the reverse, turning a play into a film, doesn't bother me very much, even though in many ways it's probably a worse exploitation and likely to yield an equally offensive, it not worse, result (Doubt, for example).

I'm obviously wrong for thinking this, which I was reminded of as I sat in my seat enjoying Ray of Light Theatre Company's new production of "The Full Monty" immensely- in fact much more than I thought I would. Much more than I wanted to, truth be told, because as I said, turning a film into a musical is a bad idea. But if it's such a bad idea than why was the play so much fun?

Credit Ray of Light for once again gathering a great cast in a wisely-chosen show and making it work really well. Make no mistake- "The Full Monty" isn't a great play- with the exception of a couple of tunes (the opening "Scrap" and the James Brown-influenced-to-point-of-homage "Big Black Man") the music by David Yazbek isn't all that memorable and Terrence McNally's book utilizes stock characters rather than creates interesting new ones, but this matters little in the end because if there's one thing "The Full Monty" does have going for it, it's heart, and this production fully capitalizes on that.

The plot is pretty much the same as the film's- a group of men's identities and lives are deteriorating under the withering toll of unemployment and in a last-ditch, desperate effort to raise some much-needed cash and their own self-esteem, decide to become male strippers for a night. The only difference from the film is that the guys are now from Buffalo instead of somewhere in England, allowing the jokes and references to be more culturally relevant to American audiences. Except for their also laid-off boss, these man live in a blue-collar world, paycheck-to-paycheck, and now without one, with their only prospect being low-paid gigs as security guards. Though the characters are working-class, their crushed self-esteem, anxiety about the future, self-doubt and diminished futures are now issues for everyone and these laid-off mill workers from Buffalo are pretty much today's everyman. The cast does an excellent job at bringing out the impact  of these circumstances through nuances which aren't in the script- the use of expressions, body language and intonation all add depth to characters which in the hands of less-talented actors could easily be little more than stereotypes or caricatures.

Of special note among thoroughly solid cast are the acting chops of Joshua Fryvecind as schlumpy ringleader Jerry Lukowski, the singing chops of Cami Thompson as Jeanette Burmeister, Derek Travis Collard as Harold Nichols has perhaps the most difficult role and really shines, as does Wendell Wilson as Horse. The women have less thankful roles, but Helen Laroche and  Sophia Campobasso leave lasting impressions in this funny, entertaining show.

And yes, in case you were wondering, they do go all they way, delivering "the full monty."

The sets by Maya Linke are unusually dark and gritty, but allow the cast to move about freely. Mary Kalita's choreography works for the ensemble numbers and Scarlett Kellum's costumes are spot on. The musicians under Ben Prince are too loud for the Eureka Theater- a problem in last season's Assassins as well- turn the amplification down, please, way down. But these are minor quibbles- the show is well-worth seeing.

The Full Monty runs through June 30th at the Eureka Theater (215 Jackson Street, at Battery, SF). The company brings Sondheim's Sweeney Todd to the same space beginning July 13th for a month-long run. You can get tickets here, and the company is offering a discount if you buy tickets to both shows. See their website for the deal.

Free for All next weekend

On Sunday, September 30th, Cal Performances presents its third annual Free For All- an all-day event which takes place on the UC Berkeley campus in a multitude of venues both indoors and out. Last year's  festivities attracted over 10,000 people, so this year the family-friendly event has been expanded to provide even more things to do, see and hear, including dance performances, concerts, puppet shows, and an instrument petting zoo. The event is completely free and if you RSVP online (which is not necessary to attend- you can just show up and have fun) you'll receive a 25% discount off tickets to any Cal Performances event during the upcoming season (you must purchase them at Free For All). 

Schedules by stage and by time, as well as list of all the artists who'll be performing are on the Cal Performances website. Food and beverage vendors will be onsite. Among the performers are the Chitresh Das Dance Company; Cypress String Quartet; Davitt Moroney; story tellers Diane Ferlatte and Eth-Noh Tec; shadow puppets with Daniel Barash; Gamelan Sekar Jaya; saxophonist George Brooks' jazz/Indian fusion music; Kitka; Kronos Quartet; Lily Cai Dance Company; Pamela Rose; Marcos Silva's Brazilian jazz; pianist Shai Wosner; Shotgun Players with songs from Stephen Sondheim's Assassins; San Francisco Taiko; plus ensembles from the UC Berkeley Departments of Music and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; Student Musical Activities vocal and jazz ensembles, the Cal Band; and more. See you there?

Monsters of Riddim

Sly &  Robbie rolled into Yoshi's with the Taxi Gang in tow for a two night stand at Yoshi's this week and I caught the second show after a double feature at the Viz. These two guys have worked together for more than thirty years and they are probably the world's best rhythm section. They've worked with and for more people than you can even imagine. It's somewhat staggering. Sometimes their albums are fantastic (Rhythm Killers) sometimes confusing (Material's The Third Power) sometimes just so-so (Silent Assassins) but this show was guaranteed to have some serious chops on display and they didn't disappoint.

I have to admit to not being able to understand the name of anyone in the Taxi Gang, though they were announced twice. I can't find the current line-up online, but know that the two keyboard players, sax, trombonist/vocalist who threw it down with them were great. The guitarist however, was fantastic. I wish I knew who he was- if you do, please mention it in the comments. A singer named Peter G. came out and did a couple of tunes with the band toward the end and almost got done by a woman from the audience.

The hour and a half set, played for an enthusiastic, often high, distressingly and overwhelmingly Caucasian full-house, was heavy on monster slabs of dub. Though Dunbar's drum kit was more modest than I expected, the band doesn't shy away from using computer effects on their instruments and Dunbar crafted thick percussive beats that seemed to come from three different players. The sound of the drums shifted all night, and you could never tell where he was going to take it next. While he sometimes called out cues, more often the music just suddenly shifted into another zone with no effort, smooth as glass but sharp as a knife.

Shakespeare is simply an amazing bass player- he plays it with right hand, he plays it with his left, and he makes it  look so effortless as he rolls his shoulders to the rhythm. He almost never looked at Dunbar, yet the two of them were as in sync as any two musicians I've ever seen play together. Never flashy, but the man can make you move your body with his bass like you're a puppet. The songs ranged from straightforward reggae to dub with heavy metal guitar laid over the top like a machine gun. But mostly it was about the rhythm and on that score, it was a funkin' dub monster gig.

Once again, a shout-out to Yoshi's for being a great place to see a show. I went by myself and when I told the host upstairs I wanted to eat she asked me if minded sharing a table with a child. Surprised by the question, I said "not at all" and sat down next to Eduardo and Kelly from Bishop, there to get their groove on with their charming young son Mattias.  A super-nice family who chatted me up while I ate my burger and fries, quickly and efficiently delivered by one of the joint's excellent servers. Though I've seen a couple of mishaps in the place, all in all Yoshi's has to be one of the very best venues in San Francisco for live music.