PROMO: Love Letters for Valentine's Day

Evergreen Players presents

Love Letters

by A.R Gurney

Directed by Len Matheo

Starring P.K. Worley and Donna Worley.

Evergreen Players presents “Love Letters” February 13 and 14 at Center/Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen, CO. Performances are Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 Adults; $14 seniors (60+)/Students and available by calling 303-674-4934 or online at www.evergreenplayers.org. Group discounts available.

 

Tracing the lifelong correspondence of the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner, these two childhood friends began a lifelong correspondence with birthday party thank-you notes, Valentine's Day cards, and summer camp postcards. Their exchange of letters continues through the years, making it eloquently clear that although they are physically apart, these two friends are as spiritually close as only true lovers can be. The story of their bittersweet relationship unfolds from what is written--and what is left unsaid--in their letters.

 

The performing home of The Evergreen Players is Center/Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen, CO, 80439.   Directions to Center/Stage are at www.evergreenplayers.org.  The Evergreen Players is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization producing six shows per year in the foothills. Established in 1950, the Players’ mission is to create professional quality theater to inspire, engage, and entertain.  P.O. Box 1271, Evergreen, CO  80437. 

 

Evergreen Players

“Love Letters”

“A story of love through a lifetime of letters”

Sat. Feb 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Feb 14 at 2 p.m.

$18 Adults; $14 seniors (60+)/Students

303-674-4934 or on line at www.evergreenplayers.org

Center/Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen, CO.

REVIEW: Parallel Lives

LIBERATED WOMEN? Gail Montgomery and Lisa DeCaro play a wide array of complex characters sampling shallow 80s lifestyles and trends in Evergreen Players' hilarious and heart-breaking production of Parallel Lives. Photo Credit: Ellen Nelson.

The aptly-titled Parallel Lives is a sketch comedy in which two women play a variety of unique characters, mostly female and a few male, who make an effort to bridge the gap between their inherent differences, attempting to connect at a shared human level. Some succeed, some fail, and a few compromise, agreeing to live and let live.

The remarkable success of the Evergreen Players' current production of Parallel Lives may be credited primarily to the extraordinary talents of its two actresses, Lisa DeCaro and Gail Montgomery, along with director Len Matheo. As one richly layered character appeared after another, with transformations happening both in between and even during scenes, I was awed by the sheer virtuosity of the two actresses. Whether playing dippy Jersey teenagers, drunk and depressed rednecks, eager but misguided angels, Catholic girls dodging Mass or liberated little old Jewish ladies, DeCaro and Montgomery are always surprising and interesting, portraying rich and often sympathetic character who resist stereotypes and caricatures.

The physical and vocal interpretation, timing, nuances, depth and breadth of characters DeCaro and Montgomery bring to what amounts to a series of stand-alone comedy sketches is a tremendous achievement, dancing circles around similar shows like the "Tuna" franchise. The people are real, but the lifestyles and interests they pursue reflect the often misguided, sometimes downright silly attempts we made in the 80s to explore other ways of living once our cherished institutions and moral foundation collapsed.


Written and originally performed by activist comediennes Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy back in the days when people knew Robin Williams as that crazy alien guy from Mork & Mindy, many references and jokes resonate only with older audiences. This is a seldom-performed, dated show, and attempts to bring some of the jokes into the 21st century merely feel anachronistic. It's especially interesting to see how the pendulum has swung regarding "hot button" issues like homosexual relationships and abortion rights, as audience members who may have felt one way 25 or 30 years ago, squirm in embarrassed discomfort now.


Sure, we can laugh at health food hippies, self-indulgent lesbian performance artists, feminine hygiene commercials and other "fringe" experiments in empowerment. But striking a deeper chord were scenes in which curious and rebellious Catholic school girls grow up to reap the whirlwind consequences of bad choices and we wonder why religion couldn't protect them from their own fallen humanity. Later, three adult sisters reunite at their grandmother's wake, only to realize how far apart they've drifted from each other, and how painfully lonely their lives have become. Many nuclear families disintegrated in the 80s, sacrificed on the altar of self-actualization.


As with all sketch comedies, a few pieces fall flat, and could have been cut or substantially edited without anyone but the authors noticing. A gender bending Shakespearean spoof makes no sense at all, and the ongoing adventures of two little old ladies who take women's studies classes at the local junior college could be trimmed way back. There are numerous unwelcome moments of special pleading that come off desperate and preachy, because characters we've come to love suddenly become puppets and mouthpieces for a liberal activist agenda.


But again and again, DeCaro and Montgomery pull the show up out of a nosedive with their energy, lightning quick transitions, amazing chemistry and onstage rapport, so that the audience feels a pang of sadness one moment, then finds itself giggling the next.


The fascinating characters of Parallel Lives deserve a better decade than the 80s. We all did.


Evergreen Players' production of Parallel Lives performs at Center/Stage in Evergreen, through January 31. Call 303-674-4934 or visit www.evergreenplayers.org for information and reservations.

REVIEW: Habeas Corpus

PERMISSIVE SOCIETY: The cast of Miners Alley Playhouse's silly yet cerebral production of Habeas Corpus includes, left to right standing: Deborah Persoff, Jon Diack, Todd Sorensen, David Blumenstock, Kestrel Burley, Bethany Lillis, Adam Perkes, Nathan Bock, Verl Hite, Lindsey Pierce, and reclining, Theresa Reid. Photo credit: Richard H. Pegg.

A philosophical sex farce? No way! A comedy that is both cerebral and saucy? Impossible! Meditations on mortality mixed with ribald revelry? Unthinkable! Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus achieves the distinction of being both bawdy AND brainy, and Miners Alley Playhouse's bold and brilliant production, directed with vision and precision by Richard Pegg, is frantic fun that satisfies on every level.

The play is set in Swingin' Sixties England, when "liberated" adults attempted to leave moral constraints behind but lacked the imagination to stray far from fumbling bourgeois naughtiness. This is, after all, the "Austin Powers" era. A married doctor (Verl Hite) lusts after a well-endowed "bird" in go-go boots (Bethany Lillis) resisting the inevitable libidinous decline that comes with middle age. Embarrassingly, his nerdy, hypochondriac son (Adam Perkes) is more successful in the seduction department. His neglected wife (Lindsey Pierce) likewise has a wandering eye, setting her sights on her husband's diminutive colleague and nemesis (Jon Diack). Meanwhile, his flat-chested, spinster sister-in-law (Kestrel Burkey) orders an "appliance" to increase her bust size, which comes with a quality control expert, who ends up professionally groping several of the women until he finds the right one (or two).

A virginal vicar (Nathan Bock) pines for the spinster, an old-school gold digger (Deborah Persoff) finds a lost lover, and a perpetually depressed patient (David Blumenstock) tries unsuccessfully to end his miserable life, while a remarkably astute maid (Theresa Reid) remains above it all, providing perky perspective and amusing commentary throughout.

Unlike most "door slamming" sex farces, Habeas Corpus goes way beyond the fringe in two other directions. On the one hand, the set, staging and performances are highly stylized, so that none of the carrying on ever feels real. A respected physician converses with a hand puppet, then later spouts philosophical musings while roller skating across the stage. Any number of characters recite rhymed couplets in the manner of Moliere. This effectively defuses the inflammatory themes of infidelity, promiscuity, unwed pregnancy, etc., but also undermines any possibility of romance, tenderness or real emotion. The longing for intimacy is mostly hormonal, flesh craving flesh. How appropriate that "Flight of the Bumblebee" is the show's theme song.

Far more disturbing than all the skirt chasing, is how both physicians compartmentalize their professional detachment while lustily leering at patients. And how interesting it is that a betrayal of professional ethics is a more egregious sin than adultery.

On the other hand, the specter of death hangs over the entire play, coldly grinning at the frantic actions people suffer to make contact and find some warmth before the grave's chill rises up to claim them. How ironic that war and the prospect of violent death is celebrated as an aphrodisiac. The play doesn't shy away from loneliness, sadness and despair, even if these themes are treated lightly. Still, an unhappy man attempting suicide simply isn't funny, even if he has lost his pants and is wearing colorful boxers. But what a profound, "sad clown" image!

As the complications mount and desperation sets in, the sassy maid reminds us that lust and love, morals and marriage are all ultimately absurd concepts, so it's perfectly all right to laugh as much as we'd like. And we do.

The cast is superb, but this is high concept comedy, and so top honors go to the playwright and director. Personally, I don't condone any of the behavior, nor the ideas presented, because I do believe that character matters, that people are infinitely precious, and that life is sacred and eternal. But Habeas Corpus certainly is a pretty poison, a thrilling and thoughtful Valentine's Day treat.

Habeas Corpus performs at Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden, Fridays-Sundays through February 28, 2010. For tickets and information, call 303-935-3044 or visit www.minersalley.com.

PROMO: Colorado ACTS presents 'You Can't Take It With You'

Colorado ACTS presents…
Faculty and Alumni Show

You Can’t Take It With You

by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman
 

Feb 5 at 7:00, Feb 6 at 2:00 & 7:00
Tickets $6.00
Feb 11, 12, 13 at 7:00
Tickets $7.50

 (Call for Group Discounts)

Actors Company and Theatre School
Located at 4905 W. 60th Ave,
Arvada CO 80003
www.coloradoacts.org
Reservations: 303 456-6772

or e-mail coloradoacts@yahoo.com

Show features:
Marianne Henning, Rand Moritzky, Erin Buterbaugh, Jonathan Will, Stacey Kasper, Chad Nelson, Nelicia Miranda-Troup, Joe Mondragon, Olen Davis, Shannon Stricker, Sean Moritzky, Rachel Buterbaugh, Bethany Krebs, Claire LeBorgne, Andrew Long, Barb Mortizky

Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service

REVIEW: Voices in the Dark

Annie Gavin Li as Dr. Lil in the Denver Victorian Playhouse's taut production of the thriller Voices in the Dark. Photo Credit: Erin Leonard


If you squirmed through Sorry, Wrong Number. If you gripped your arm rest during Dial M for Murder. If you jumped into the lap of the stranger sitting next to you during Wait Until Dark, then by all means go and see Voices in the Dark, and bring a seatbelt. 

Isolated women in peril. What's the appeal? Maybe women find a story about a female character who fights for survival against a psycho killer empowering. Maybe seeing a fragile, barely coping woman in danger appeals to a man's protective instinct. Maybe we all like to get an adrenaline jolt now and then. Whatever the reason, it takes skillful writing, direction and acting to get an audience to lose itself in a thriller, and John Pielmeier's script, El Armstrong's direction, and leading lady Annie Gavin Li, with her supporting cast, pull it off quite nicely.

Dr. Lil (Gavin Li) is a radio talk show psychiatrist who's had enough with crazy people (especially one played with wrenching desperation by Erica Lyn Cain) who call a radio show as a last resort. She's got issues of her own: a traumatic childhood, a failing marriage, a problem with alcohol, and professional burnout. She goes to a remote cabin in Lake Placid, New York, where there are thunderstorms AND blizzards, creepy locals, and a homicidal maniac who decides to "teach her a lesson."

An atmosphere of foreboding and menace looms around her, but Lil isn't the jittery type, despite a number of red flags that would give a more alert person pause. But harassing telephone calls, her husband's failure to join her at the cabin (a role literally "phoned in" by Austin Terrell), and bizarre, desperate behavior by her radio show producer (Joe Wilson), a local cretin (Wade Livingston), a simpleton with no sense of boundaries (Seth Maisel) and a mysterious detective (Wade Wood) compound her anxiety, bringing her to a breaking point. At which time, the maniac makes his dreaded appearance.

An inordinate amount of the rising tension depends on telephone calls and a superb sound design, a specialty of award-winning director Armstrong's. The maniac is a little too chatty, several characters have one scene and never appear again, a few clues are a little too obvious, and the language and some references are quite vulgar, so Voices in the Dark isn't a masterpiece, by any means. Still, Annie Gavin Li commands the stage as the damsel in distress who has to get it together and save herself in a deadly situation, and where knights in shining armor are in short supply.


For thrills, chills, and jump out of your seat shock value, the Denver Vic is the place to be. Just don't go alone.


Voices in the Dark plays at the Denver Victorian Playhouse through February 20, 2010. Tickets are $22. Call 303-433-4343 or visit online at www.denvervic.com for information and reservations.

PROMO: 'Cats' strays into Denver Center Jan. 13

ON THE PROWL: The cast of Cats © 2008, G CREATIVE

The Buell Theatre's stage is being transformed into an over-sized, fantastic junk yard in preparation for the arrival of the touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S. Eliot's Cats.

Poet T.S. Eliot was born in Missouri, but fell in love with British culture, and after a period of despair, converted to Anglicanism and wrote a poem about the struggles of someone who moves from hopelessness to faith in his poem "Ash Wednesday." He also wrote a magnificent play, "Murder in the Cathedral," about the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

His beloved book of light verse, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," is a charming collection of character studies of remarkable cats, but also reveals much about human nature, personalities and British culture. After Eliot's death, Andrew Lloyd Webber allegedly came across a copy of the book in an airport book stall, and the rest is history.

Cats opened in London in 1981, and Broadway in 1982, running for 21 and 18 years respectively. The show won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical. Typical of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, there is at least one unforgettable ballad, and the breakout song from this show is "Memory."

As a Christian playwright, I appreciate director Trevor Nunn's work in tying together stand-alone poems into a cohesive story about the celebration of life, the appreciation of mystery, and the possibility of redemption. The music is delightful, the choreography astounding, the costumes, makeup and special effects are spectacular, but there's unexpected spiritual depth in this musical, even after the touring production has expended more than its nine lives.

Cats plays at the Buell Theatre January 13-17, 2010. Tickets start at $15. The running time is a very quick two and a half hours, with one intermission. For tickets and information, call 303-893-4100 or visit www.denvercenter.org.