Two Scalawags of Verona

We were a tiny bit skeptical when we heard Seattle Shakespeare Company was going to set its production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona in modern California. But director Marcus Goodwin's idea really worked, and a marvelous cast of local favorites made Two Gents an entertaining evening of theater on my Sweetie, the official scorer's birthday.

Hana Lass, at right, threatens to kick
Samie Detzer's ass. Photo: Erik Stuhaug.

They didn't lean on the California thing too much, but did make nice use of cell phones and cameras with pictures projected on the back wall of the set. They were also able to mine for new jokes this way, coming up, for example, with a funny visual gag for when Proteus (Daniel Brockley) gives a ring to his love, Julia (Hana Lass). We won't give it away, but this physical quip probably wouldn't have made much sense to the Bard's audiences.

Chris Ensweiler and "Russ"
Photo: Erik Stuhaug.

Speaking of the marvelous cast, it starts with Lass, who, as regular readers (are there any?) of WSW know, kicks ass. She also looks great with a soul patch. Connor Toms (Valentine) is a fine young talent and he and Lass have recently announced their engagement. Toms, David Goldstein (Speed), Brockley, and Chris Ensweiler (Lance) have a great deal of fun with the comic scenes. Ensweiler is an especially gifted comic and a regular at Seattle Shakes, where we've recently see him as Truffaldino in The Servant of Two Masters (for which he received a Wisey nomination for Best Clown) and as Feste in Twelfth Night. Ensweiler's Lance was a stoner/surfer/DJ dude who also had the challenging task of having a dog as co-star; Russ was great as "Crab."

The Two Gentlemen of Verona can be a bit challenging because, in the end, Proteus and Valentine turn out to be a couple of first-rate schmucks. Thus, Goodwin breaks form and stays away from a lives-happily-ever-after ending. It was refreshing and a great punch line to a good show.

Plenty of Whimsy at latest Brick House Gallery show

Proprietor Peter MacDonald writes that "Whimsy," the current show at his Brick House Gallery in Tacoma, was "conceived to make you smile" and to "feel a whole lot better about this crazy world we live in." MacDonald's whimsical show hits the mark, featuring the work of 18 artists, local and from up and down the coast.

Weisenheimer's favorite piece in the show is the one pictured at right, Galen Turner's sculpture "Funk-Bot-Three-80." It's described as a "deconstructed robotic kid toy with dead stuff, neon halo, and motion sensor." What's more, it dances to the Young MC tune "Bust a Move." We also loved Pat Schuman's bright, colorful paintings depicting junk drawers and cluttered refrigerators. Somewhat more disturbing was a painting by Alan S. Hopkins called, "Facts, Fantasies, and Fictions." It shows us a North Pole awash in melted ice cap, with Santa stranded on the rooftop awaiting rescue, next Christmas turned into mere flotsam among the walruses and polar bears.

Art lovers with a sweet tooth would appreciate a triptych by Judy Gilbert featuring candy corn, licorice ropes, and Smarties. Cathy Fields contributed a marvelous painting called "An Unlikely Parade." The marchers include monkeys, a tiger, a two-headed juggler, harem girls, a yak, and snake handlers. Monica Gonzalez has several jewelry pieces in the show, made of wire and various washers. And, had it not been already snapped up, Weisenheimer would have purchased Ellen Miffitt's drawing "Catbotage," of a naughty kitty shredding the toilet paper roll. My Sweetie, the official scorer, has a birthday coming up, and she thinks it's pretty cute when our cat does that!

Local photographer Steve Russell has a great shot of a T-Rex menacing the bridge of Glass in Tacoma. I bet he had to wait a long time for that shot! Last but not least, next to the gallery door is Frank Terrill's "In Case of Emergency," pictured at left. Duct tape is a good fix for anything!

The Brick House Gallery is open on third Thursdays each month, and by appointment. You can see all of the pieces in Whimsy, as well as the artists' statements, on the gallery Web site.

"The Jammer" runs circles around all of those other Roller Derby plays

The performance space at Balagan Theatre is on the tiny side. At maximum they can cram about 100 seats in there, but that leaves a stage the size of a ping pong table. Yet already this season they've managed to have an all-male strip show and a circus at Balagan with plenty of room to spare.

Just as impressive is the current production of The Jammer by Rolin Jones, directed by Terri Weagant. Weagant and set designer Jen Butler fit a Roller Derby rink, the team bus, a cathedral, and an amusement park all onto the stage for this laugh riot of a show -- "The King Lear of Roller Derby plays." Though none of the actors is actually on skates, Weagant uses other wheeled devices and set pieces to create that skating sound in the rink, to amazing effect.

The Jammer is a familiar story, really. Boy thinks his life is Dullsville, so he hits the road for a big adventure. The adventure turns out to be not so hot, and boy learns there's no place like home.

Boy in this case is Jack Lovington, played with aplomb by Nick Edwards. Christie Nelson was a ball of fire as Lindy Batello, chain-cursing, hard-drinking cannonball of a Derby girl and Lovington's love interest on the circuit. Unfortunately for Jack, she's only interested because she's being paid by slimy team owner Lenny Ringle, played with great relish by Balagan regular Ashley Bagwell. Michael D. Blum tries to keep Jack on the straight and narrow as Father Kosciusko; in the end it works out. Versatile and talented Ray Tagavilla plays four parts, including the doctor who cures Jack of what Lindy gives him. That's Nelson and Edwards at left above in a photo by Andrea Huysing from the play's Facebook page.

The Jammer provides non-stop laughs and is a great night out at the theater. It runs at Balagan through April 3.

DISCLOSURE: Weisenheimer is chair of the board at Balagan, but it doesn't make me biased!

Mavis Staples testifies at Jazz Alley

If you don't go see Mavis Staples this weekend at Jazz Gospel/Blues Alley, you're out of your frickin' mind.

Mavis rocked the Alley on Friday night, and now I won't have to go to choich for a couple of years at least.

It was an incredible show: a music legend, a kick-ass band, and great stories about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Pops Staples. I'm here to tell you that Mavis has still got it. It's a little known fact that I've always wanted to be a Supreme, but now at least I've sung with Mavis. Sure, it was just backup vocals with the rest of the audience on "I'll Take You There," but I think this will launch my singing career.

Staples sang a number of other classics, including "Freedom Highway," "The Weight," "Why Am I Treated So Bad?", and "Wade in the Water." That's two great ones in a row for Jazz Alley.

BUT -- a note to the alley: BUY A FRICKIN' GROUND PLUG!! The Janiva Magness show last weekend was marred by an annoying hum in the sound system, and the same was even more pronounced during Friday night's show by Staples. Radio Shack has them, I'm just sure of it. It's a little preposterous that the great acts the Alley is bringing in should have to put up with less-than-perfect sound.

Glengarry Glen Ross is the boss!

Whether you like David Mamet or not, you just knew the Seattle Rep's production of Glengarry Glen Ross, directed by Wilson Milam, was going to be brilliant just for the incredible cast.

Start off with three Seattle legends: R. Hamilton Wright as Ricky Roma, in his 45th play at the Rep since 1979. John Aylward as Shelly Levene, 47 productions at the Rep since 1970. Charles Leggett as Dave Moss, whose Rep performances aren't enumerated in the program, but who has run up a string of great performances of late, topped by his Shylock last year that garnered him both a Wisey Award for best actor and a Theatre Puget Sound "Gregory" (no relation) award for outstanding actor. Mix in a couple of future legends, MJ Sieber of the promising New Century Theatre Company and Shawn Belyea, who is executive producer of 14/48 and artistic director at Balagan Theatre, among other pursuits. Throw in solid performers Ian Bell and Russell Hodgkinson, and you've got a bunch of guys you'd pay to watch reading the phone book.

A couple of scenes really stick with me. There's one early between Hodgkinson and Leggett (L-R at right), talking in the Chinese restaurant, in which Moss is trying to convince George to rob the office and steal the leads. The dialog is so crisp, the banter so letter perfect and razor sharp, and Leggett's use of the shoulder poke and emphatic control of cigarette smoke so incredible that you're totally drawn in. Amazing timing, incredible precision. The second comes later, when Bell's character James Lingk comes in to the office to try to get out of a deal he made with Wright's Roma. Aylward and Wright work to dupe Bell, Sieber screws it up, and the tantrum Wright throws is priceless. In fact, there are a number of great tantrums in the show, with chair throwing, chair kicking, file box kicking. And it's all done with great verve and energy.

This is a short show. Curtain was at 7:30, and it finished at about 9:10 -- WITH INTERMISSION. I know, I know, you've got to sell a few cookies and glasses of wine, but the intermission messed with the flow of the show. We've seen enough great one-act plays and short productions, e.g. Balagan's great staging of another Mamet piece, Edmond, earlier this year, to come to think that intermission is the work of the devil. Maybe if you're doing full-text Hamlet you need a break, but even Americans can sit still for an hour and a half for some gripping, compelling theater.

Interestingly enough, Gary Cole was originally cast as Roma, with Wright as Dave Moss and Leggett as Lingk. Cole had to bow out just at the start of rehearsals because of a family emergency. I think director Milam lucked out. Right now it's about as hard to imagine anyone but Wright (OK, maybe Al Pacino) playing Roma as it is trying to imagine Ronald Reagan playing Rick in Casablanca. Leggett is an incredible actor and was fabulous as Moss. Trust your local talent!

All in all, Glengarry Glen Ross was great theater. I'd like to see it about five more times. Alas, it closed today.

Janiva Magness. WOW!

As a general rule Weisenheimer buys into the notion that live music beats the recorded variety. In the case of Janiva Magness, the CDs are marvelous, and we own several of them, but we learned this week that her live show is mind-bogglingly fantastic.

Magness played at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley Tuesday and Wednesday, turning the place into Smokin' Hot Blues Alley for a couple of nights. And damn, Magness is an incredible talent. A three-time winner of the Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year award from the Blues Foundation, she's up for the award again at the 31st annual Blues Music Awards coming up in Memphis in May. It's easy to see why. Magness has incredible pipes, passion, and range in her singing, and a great stage presence to boot.

I wasn't keeping notes, but a couple of moments stood out. First was the moving ballad "You Were Never Mine" from her 2006 album Do I Move You? Second was a great story she told about Taj Mahal and his opinion about the muscle tone of her arms. Third was the finale of her set, an incredible story about and tribute to Koko Taylor during a rollicking rendition of the classic "Wang Dang Doodle." The tune highlighted Magness' ability to tell a great story, and put on a theatrically great performance, with the band gradually picking up in volume as Janiva described Taylor climbing to the stage for one of her final performances. Taylor, Queen of the Blues, passed away last June. It was an amazing piece and wrapped up one of the most entertaining live music shows Weisenheimer has ever attended. I certainly pitched a wang dang doodle all night long!

Don't despair for missing these shows. Magness will be back in Seattle for a show at Highway 99 Blues Club April 17. Her new album, The Devil is an Angel Too, will be released April 13 on Alligator Records.

Yonkers, Trout Stanley, Schmorgasborg add up to fun theater weekend

We took in a great triple-header of fun theater this weekend.

Friday we made our first-ever trip out to the Village Theatre in Issaquah, where we saw Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, directed by Brian Yorkey. The play is the story of two teenagers left to live for a year with their difficult grandmother while their Pop, Eddie, goes off around the country selling scrap metal during WWII in order to make enough cash to pay off a couple of loan sharks. Along the way we meet a couple of their ditzy aunts and Uncle Louie, a small-time mobster. Each is doing his or her best to escape the reach of Grandma Kurnitz, a battle-axe of a candy and ice cream shop owner whose picture is in the dictionary next to the definition of “tough love.”

Special kudos to Jody McCoy, the understudy who stepped in to play Grandma Kurnitz in place of regular cast member Suzy Hunt Friday. As near as we could tell McCoy nailed it. Also fabulous was Mike Dooly as Uncle Louie. Dooly always has a kick-ass stage presence, and he was bigger than life as Louie. He's one of our favorite actors and the main reason we ventured out to Issaquah for the show (along with the opportunity for a double-date with our friends Heidi and Steve.) Nick Robinson was especially fine as Arty; Robinson is a fine young actor. Jennifer Lee Taylor was compelling as Aunt Bella, a kind spirit if she’s not necessarily the brightest. Collin Morris as Jay, Bradford Farwell as Eddie, and Karen Skrinde as Aunt Gert also were wonderful. (That's the cast above at right. Seated L-R are Morris, Hunt, and Robinson; behind the couch Taylor, Skrinde, Farwell, and Dooly. Not sure who took the photo; I lifted it from Dooly's Facebook page!)

Lost in Yonkers is highly recommended. It plays in Issaquah through Feb. 28, then moves to the Everett Performing Arts Center for a run from March 5-28.

Balagan Theatre’s production of Trout Stanley by Claudia Dey, directed by David Gassner, is a sweet-yet-disturbing tale of twin sisters whose solitary lifestyle is broken up by the appearance of the title character, a roast-eating, whiskey snitching, slipper sniffer if there ever was one. Wisey Award-winning director Ryan Higgins plays Trout with a certain degree of subtlety, though the character is not the least bit understated. He also gets to wrestle with sister Grace Ducharme (Sarah Budge) and smooch with sister Sugar Ducharme (Angela DiMarco) with whom he eventually runs off. DiMarco was a revelation as Sugar, displaying a wide range of emotion in a challenging role. We enjoyed her work at 14/48 last month, but missed well-received performances in Abe Lincoln in Illinois at Intiman and in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Village. We’re certainly looking forward to seeing more of DiMarco's work. (That's Higgins, DiMarco, and Budge in the Andrea Huysing photo above at left.)

As for the play itself, the story was interesting, but there sure was a lot of speechifying, with some long soliloquies. Those could have used a little editing, though my Sweetie, the official scorer, opines that Trout’s what-I-believe speech rivals that of Crash Davis from Bull Durham in this category. Trout Stanley runs at Balagan through March 6. It's been getting lots of great reviews, so go see it.

Following the show was Balagan’s monthly late-night cabaret mash-up, Schmorgasborg. It’s free, but hostesses Terri Weagant and Julia Griffin would be well worth the price of admission on their own even if it were substantially higher. Griffin was assistant director of Trout Stanley, and Weagant is directing Balagan’s next production, The Jammer. Billed as “the King Lear of Roller Derby plays,” The Jammer opens March 11 and runs through April 3.

Favorites Bucket of Honey, the Vaudevillians, and Fanny Tragic were on the Schmorgasborg bill. So were Higgins and Chris “Sloop” Bell, who both proved again that they are sick and twisted. We love them for it.