Gutenberg impressive

Weisenheimer and my Sweetie, the official scorer, were founding subscribers to West Seattle's ArtsWest theater, and our names are carved on the facility's wall in recognition of our contributions to the capital campaign that made the gallery and performance space a reality. It had been several years since we'd taken in a show at the theater, but the blurb for the company's current production caught my eye:

GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL! is a loving spoof in which two aspiring playwrights perform a backers’ audition for their new project: A big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg (not Steve Guttenberg from the cinema classic Short Circuit).

Who could resist that? Gutenberg! The Musical! was written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, directed by Stephanie Farhood, and stars Chris Shea and Evan Woltz (at right) with Kim Dare on piano. Shea and Woltz play Doug and Bud, the playwrights who perform the entire show for all of the "Broadway producers" who may be in the audience.

The show is hilarious and Shea and Woltz do a great job wearing the hats -- literally -- of multiple characters. One thing scared me a little, and that was when Woltz was portraying the evil monk who didn't want everyone to learn to read. I swear he was channeling Wayne Knight's character Newman from the television series Seinfeld.

Sweetie and I really busted a gut at this one. It's worth a look, but there's only a week left in the run. Go see it in West Seattle!

Deedles disappoints

Weisenheimer has seen Diane Schuur perform maybe 20 times, dating back to when she was a virtual unknown playing clubs around town, and I've never been disappointed until yesterday's show at Jazz Alley.

It wasn't that the music was bad. In fact it was good. But Schuur had a decided lack of energy -- in fact she looked bad and I thought she might be ill. And there was almost none of the often-randy play with the audience that, while occasionally overdone, has usually been an enjoyable part of any concert by Schuur.

She played four tracks from her most recent album, Some Other Time: "Takin' a Chance on Love", "They Say it's Wonderful", "Beginner's Luck", and "My Favorite Things". The latter was my favorite thing of the evening, a lengthy piece that showcased the excellent band.

The one time we got to enjoy Schuur's personality a bit was when she actually left the stage mid-set for a potty break. "If you gotta go, you gotta go." The band played on, and when she returned Schuur played and sang a few bars from The Guess Who's "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature." I'll never again hear the lyric "that new splendid lady come to call" in quite the same way.

The band -- Scott Steed on bass, Dan Balmer on guitar, and Reggie Jackson on drums -- did a lot of extensive jamming, notably on "My Favorite Things", on Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing", and Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way." They were outstanding. But the instrument we came to hear was Schuur's voice, and she didn't have her usual spark and energy.

The turnout was surprisingly small for a Friday night, and we knew the late set was going to have some room when they offered everyone at the first the chance to stick around for the second at no cover. It didn't appear they were getting many takers, and there was just a small line waiting for the second set as we left the club.

Too bad. Some Other Time has received pretty good reviews, and by all accounts Schuur, one of my favorite recording artists, still has it. She didn't much last night. Maybe some other time.

Picasso and Einstein walk into a bar...

... and a Steve Martin comedy erupts! Balagan Theatre's production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, directed by Shawn Belyea, is a laugh riot, with talented actors using Martin's brilliant script to make me, like the character Gaston, have to pee. And laugh like hell.

Full disclosure: Weisenheimer has recently become a member and president of Balagan's board, but that doesn't mean I can't keep loving and reviewing their shows, as I did when just a civilian.

The premise of Picasso is as simple as the headline to this post. Picasso and Einstein meet up in a Paris bar around 1904, and hilarity ensues. The opening-night audience Thursday laughed at length throughout and gave a rousing ovation at the end.

Trick Danneker as Picasso and James Weidman as Einstein were a most entertaining lead duo. Danneker's Spanish accent seemed to come and go a bit. Weidman was quite German and played the great physicist with great humor (though it took a while on occasion.) The rest of the cast were also wonderful. Seanjohn Walsh was a hoot as the frequently urinating Gaston, Ray Tagavilla was marvelous as the pompous art dealer Sagot, and Megan Ahiers was busting out all over as Germaine the barmaid. Jason Harber stole his several scenes, as he is wont to do, as the bombastic Schmendiman. Balagan regular Mike Dooly had the sneer down as the strage visitor from the future, though my Sweetie, the official scorer, thinks he still needs to work on the pelvis action if he's going to be king on this stage.

In between all the tomfoolery the cast are able to shed some light on a bunch of key subjects: love, sex (Einstein gets the girl by going to a bar other than the one he tells her to. Try it, guys!), creativity in art and science, business, and how darn fine the 20th Century is going to be.

My friend Mark, who attended the performance (and actually visited the Lapin Agile in Paris), gave the show thumbs up, and felt the best of the many great laugh lines was delivered by Jane May as Suzanne, a lover of Picasso's: "When Picasso looked at me, the word 'no' became like a Polish village -- unpronouncable."

That was a great one. I give top joke to another, a one-liner from Terri Weagant as "Female Admirer" late in the show. I'm not giving it away, though. You'll have to see for yourself. Picasso runs at Balagan through May 30, though there's already talk of extending the production for at least a week. Go see it!

Maybe I wrote too soon

A week ago I marveled that the Mariners were looking pretty sharp and had a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL West at the end of May. Apparently this recognition from the West Seattle Weisenheimer was more than the club could bear. They've gone 2-5 since, are on a four-game losing skid after today's 3-1 loss to Kansas City, and will probably wind up a half game out, in second, if Oakland's 5-0 lead over Texas holds up.

Weisenheimer actually attended Tuesday afternoon's home game against the Rangers. It was the first time I've paid for a ticket in several years. I just couldn't bear giving money to the inept Bavasi regime; they'd just go blow it on Carlos Silva or something. But I'm on staycation this week and it seemed the best thing I could do; one can only have so many naps. 

Anyway, Tuesday's game underscored the fact that this M's team is a far cry from the Junior-Edgar-Bone-PayRod offensive juggernauts of the glory days. Through nine innings Tuesday the M's had ONE hit against the legendary Vicente Padilla, who came into the game with a robust ERA of 7.42. The M's scratched out a run without a hit in the sixth and were tied 1-1 before Denny Stark imploded in the tenth. It was an entertaining game to watch, as Erik Bedard held the Rangers in check save for one loooong homer.

Other than that the pitching wasn't so great this week, either, as Seattle was outscored 42-27 in the last seven games. Felix Hernandez had his first shaky outing of the year, and Silva has been just plain horrible.

Tuesday's game had Sweetie, the official scorer, pondering a change to the "dandy" rules. (A dandy is a game in which fewer than five runs scored, neither team with more than three, and in which no errors are committed.) A Texas error eliminated the 1-1 game from consideration. Late in the game the Mariners made a great play to snuff out a run at the plate. Sweetie, perhaps hoping for a dandy some time, suggested that a tremendous defensive play could negate an error and move a game back into the dandy column. I'm not sure that one will get out of committee, however.

Whazzat? M's in first?

As we prepare to flip our calendars to May I notice that the Seattle Mariners, losers of more than 100 games on a $100 million-plus payroll in 2008, are 13-9, in first place by 2 1/2 games, and are the only club above .500 in what is looking like a truly pathetic AL West.

Who'd-a thunk?

Pitching has been the key. As of this evening, the M's have the best ERA in the American League at 3.47, just a shade ahead of ... Kansas City? Felix Hernandez (4-0, 2.38) has been lights out, Erik "The Great" Bedard (2-1, 2.61) nearly as good, and Jarrod Washburn (3-1, 3.42) is doing well after putting up an atrocious 23-43 record with ERA in the mid/upper 4s in three years with the Mariners.

Sweetie the Official Scorer has taken an early liking to Chris Jakubauskas, an independent-league refugee who made the club at age 30 and has gone 1-3, 5.23 so far. The numbers are a bit deceptive; Jak has pitched well in four of five appearances, three of them starts. The high ERA is due mainly to one stinker of a start against Tampa Bay. The other day against the White Sox he pitched a complete game, allowed two runs on two hits, and lost. 

The defense has been much improved, especially in the outfield, where Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez have been a far sight better than the assorted cripples who flanked Ichiro last year. Though we can't help noticing that the statue known as Raul Ibanez is tearing it up to the tune of .359 with seven homers and 17 RBI for the Phillies. 

The offense has been another story. Russell Branyan leads the club in batting (.333) and homers (4). Meanwhile prodigal son Ken Griffey, Jr. is batting a robust .200 with a pair of 'taters and five RBI, but word is he's been great as judge of the kangaroo court. Ichiro missed the first eight games with ulcers -- what does this dude have to worry about? -- but is hitting over .300. 

Don't go printing up the playoff tickets just yet. But it looks like the Mariners have as good a chance as any of the flawed teams in the AL West to capture the flag and take their chances in the playoffs.

Sunday in the Park -- spot on!

The first act of 5th Avenue Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George was top-notch musical theater. By midway through Act II Weisenheimer found himself wishing he'd followed the lead of several audience members in his row who bolted at intermission in order to enjoy a sunny Seattle spring Sunday. Act I was a fascinating tale of French artist Georges Seurat, the making of his famed painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (at right), and all of the characters therein. Act II, however, devolved into a whiny complaint about having to hang out with PR people, Texas zillionaires, and museum board members in order to make art a living.

Long after the performances and music are fogotten I'll remember the amazing set, lighting, and projection of this production, designed by David Farley, Ken Billington, and Timothy Bird & the Knifedge Creative Network, respectively. The plain white walls of the set came alive with the ever-changing art, scenes, critters, and characters of the show. The scenes in George's studio as he worked on the giant-sized painting were great,  as we the audience looked through the back side of the work to watch George at work and explaining his technique, which became known as Pointillism.

The best part of Act II was the opening number, "It's Hot Up Here," in which the denizens of the painting voice their gripes with the hot weather and the fact that they're trapped in eternity with some folks who aren't necessarily to their liking. 

Billie Wildrick was marvelous as Dot, George's model and mistress in Act I, and as Marie, George's daughter and young George's grandmother, in Act II. Hugh Panaro played both Georges, though was much more interesting as the focused, creative genius Seurat in the first half. When he got all of those folks in place in their poses for the painting, Sondheim and Lapine should have left it at that. It would have been a plenty good story and straight to the point.

Sunday in the Park with George runs at the 5th through May 10.

One FUNNY Pez dispenser...

Princess Leia didn't actually drive Carrie Fisher to drink, dope, and bipolarism, but after seeing Fisher's one-woman show Wishful Drinking at Seattle Rep one realizes that the actress can't quite shake the character, as much as she'd like to. The show features not one but two Leia wigs, Leia shampoo, Leia action figures, a life-size, concrete Leia sex doll, a Leia sculpture on a turntable with anatomically correct "galaxy snatch," and more.

"I'm a PEZ dispenser and I'm in an abnormal psychology textbook," Fisher marvels. "Who says you can't have it all?"

And who's that on the cover of her book, adapted from the stage show? Yes, for Fisher, Leia is always there. Damn George Lucas.

"Lucas owns my image," Fisher deadpans. "When I look in the mirror I have to send him a couple bucks."

I tend to be skeptical of one-actor shows, which seem mostly aimed at being inexpensive and making money, especially when they feature someone of Fisher's star power. Wishful Drinking really isn't theater. It's more like a two-hour stand-up act with some psychotherapy thrown in. But it was a hell of a lot of fun.

"If my life wasn't funny it would just be true," Fisher says, "and that's unacceptable."

I thought the funniest part of the show was the complicated "family tree" of Fisher's parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and their multiple marriages and dalliances. Carrie uses the opportunity to skewer the folks, though she clearly still adores them -- she lives next door to her mom!

The set for the show was simple, with a comfy chair, a couch, a few tables, and a background wall on which scores of images were projected. 

Fisher's story is a wild one, and she has the performing chops to make it totally hilarious. Wishful Drinking will be at the Rep through May 3.