21. November 2009 by admin.

SOUTHERN CHARM LACED WITH TREACHERY

F. J. Hartland

Swindling.  Thievery. Back-stabling relations.  Alcoholism.  Domestic violence.  Family secrets.  Adultery.

Just another night on Desperate Housewives?No.  It’s Lillian Hellman’s masterpiece The Little Foxes currently playing at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.

Think your family is bad?  Meet the Hubbards.  Not only will they swindle everyone in town out of their last nickel, they aren’t above cheating each other!

At the turn of the last century, Hubbard family matriarch Regina conspires with her brothers Oscar and Ben to build a cotton mill that will make them millions.  First, they need another $75,000 to partner with Mr. Marshall from Chicago.  Regina’s estranged and sickly husband Horace just happens to have $75,000 in bonds in his safety deposit box at the bank.  When Horace decides not to invest, chicanery is afoot.

Ross Bickel and John Shepherd are delightful as the conniving brothers.  Lara Hillier plays Regina’s innocent daughter Alexandra without falling into the trap of being sickeningly sugary sweet.  Chris Landis is sufficiently slimy as Alexandra’s cousin Leo.

Deirdre Madigan steals the show as Oscar’s long-suffering wife Birdie.  A daughter of Southern aristocracy, she is a faded belle stuck in a loveless marriage.  Gentle Birdie is no match for the ruthless Hubbards and finds comfort in her music—and the bottle.  It’s a difficult character to play, and Madigan always manages to make Birdie sympathetic—never pathetic.

While Helena Ruoti is good when she plays Regina’s evil side, she does not capture the sexy seductiveness of the character.  This is particularly evident in the opening scene when she is dealing with the visiting Mr. Marshall.

Michael McKenzie also falls short as Regina’s ill husband Horace. Physically, he was not convincing as a man suffering from debilitating heart problems.

Linda Haston, Wali Jamal and Philip Winters all shine in their brief roles.

Director Ted Pappas keeps the story moving.  Despite the fact that The Little Foxes is three acts long, the story never stalls or gets bogged down.

The whole ugly story is carried out on a breath-takingly beautiful set by James Noone.  With its grand staircase, pocket doors with leaded glass, parquet floor and plush Victorian furniture, it’s difficult to imagine such horrible deeds will be committed here—but they will!    Kirk Bookman’s lighting is subtle, yet effective.  Costumes by David R. Zyla are elegant and stylish.  It must be a treat for the cast to perform in such lavish splendor!

In short, The Little Foxes is a stylish and engaging production, well-worth seeing.

The Little Foxes continues through December 13.

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16. November 2009 by admin.

THE REAL WORLD OF REAL ESTATE

F. J. Hartland

David Mamet dissects ambition, greed and real estate in his drama Glengarry Glen Ross, the current offering from barebones productions.

Act One is set in a Chinese restaurant where we meet all the main players—four real estate agents, the office manager and a client.  In the four brief vignettes, we see lying, cheating and all sorts of trickery and deception.

Bingo O’Malley shines as Shelley “The Machine” Levene, a real estate agent whose best days are behind him—think a modern day Willy Loman.

Patrick Jordan plays Richard Roma, the kind of slimy, fast-talking salesman that nightmares are made of, to perfection…right down to his moustache.

In fact the entire cast is outstanding—not a weak link in the ensemble.  They deliver Mamet’s rapid-fire dialogue with a staccato perfection.  And director Melissa Martin does what she can with these static short scenes where people do nothing but talk…and talk…and talk.  And in the Mamet fashion, they talk so much, they even talk over each other.  Act One clocks in at a brief thirty minutes.

Act Two takes us to the real estate office—where a break-in has occurred.  There’s still a great deal of chat—but now there’s action and movement—and no choppy short scenes.  Act Two is longer than Act One—but feels much shorter.

(As a side note, Glengarry Glen Ross also contains another Mamet trademark—a plethora of four-letter words.  They don’t bother me…but if offensive language upsets you, this is NOT the show for you!)

The two sets by Douglas McDermott are as different as night-and-day.  Both are stunning—in different ways.  And kudos to the stage crew who make the major transformation between the two locales in very little time.

As with all barebones production, artistic director Patrick Jordan assembles a team of amazingly talented artists.  I just wish I liked the script better. 

Glengarry Glen Ross continues through November 29 at the New Hazlett Theatre

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7. November 2009 by admin.

QUANTUM’S CANDIDE: BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS?

F. J. Hartland

Some major talent created a musical version of Voltaire’s classic Candide: Leonard Bernstein, Hugh Wheeler, Stephen Sondheim and John Latouche.

In short, that’s a lot of genius.And because we’re dealing with such a magnitude of genius, this musical is not an easy one to produce.  In fact I haven’t seen a production of Candide in 25 years.  (And for those of you trying to guess my age, I will say I was a mere child at the time…right.)

Four young people (Candide, Cunegonde, Paquette and Maximilian) are the students of Dr. Pangloss, who teaches them that because we live in the only world that exists, it is, therefore, the best of all possible worlds.  It soon because apparent (through all the maladies that befall them) that it is also the worst of all possible worlds.

Director Karla Boos and Quantum Theatre tackle this masterpiece in—of all places—the garage of the former Don Allen Auto City.  This leads to using a variety of automobile-related set and prop pieces.  Some of these uses are brilliant, some not-so and after more than two hours, it becomes tedious.

When Cunegonde sings “Glitter and Be Gay,” it is disconcerting to see her placing lug nuts (instead of diamonds and pearls) around her neck

Also, a cavernous garage is not always the most appropriate venue to watch a play.  It’s drafty, the acoustics aren’t the best, and creature comforts are at a minimum.

Boos keeps the pace rapid-fire and she has assembled a cast of powerful voices and strong performers, full of energy—particularly John Wescavage as Candide, Nicole Kaplan as Cunegonde and Jeffrey P. Howell in a variety of roles (most notably Dr. Pangloss).  Lisa Ann Goldsmith and Jeffrey Gross are stand-outs in the ensemble

But no matter how powerful the singers, there are problems.  The size of the garage coupled with the arena setting often makes it hard to hear the lyrics.  The vocalists also compete with seven musicians.

The small (but outstanding) pit orchestra is in the center of the oval race-track set and in constant view of the audience.  Unfortunately, many of the musicisnas look bored throughout the performance.  Not so with conductor Andres Cladera, who is a delight to watch.  Whether he is conducting—or participating in the action of the show—he adds energy and spark!

Tony Ferrari’s set is simple—but allows the action to move quickly from scene to scene.  Allan Hahn’s bright white lighting gives the show a harsh, flat look, full of shadows.  I’m not sure how appropriate that was for all the scenes.

Richard Parsakian’s costumes begin white…then slowly make the transition to a rainbow of sparkles and color.  Befitting the location of the show, the orchestra (and some of the ensemble) wears grey mechanic’s coveralls.

This production of Candide isn’t the best of all possible productions—but it certainly isn’t the worst either.  It falls somewhere in between.

Candide continues through November 22. Call ProArts for tickets.

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