Staring at the ceiling recuperating from surgery gives one vast opportunities,  painkillers being not too dulling, to contemplate our faith that the show must and will go on.  So many of our activities as actors depend on a hale & hearty frame.  No good  showing up at an audition without a clear sense that one is going to stay til the end; no good sneaking out & collapsing back into bed.  Definitely sub-par to last a few run-throughs, then announce that one is scheduled for a liver transplant.  This month’s offerings, limited only by my inability to be present at more, coincidentally brought up in spades this very dilemma.  

Currently running through October 20^th at Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theatre, directed by Barbara Damashek, is John Guare’s HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES.  The opening of this revival was delayed by the unfortunate illness of Marisa Redanty, late of THE SOPRANOS, in the role of Bunny Flingus. A decision was made to delay the opening two days & move Jeri Lynn Cohen, playing Second Nun, into the role of Bunny.   Ms. Cohen gamely stepped into Bunny’s pumps, script in hand, which had the effect of making opening night an uneven affair;  reminded me of an opera I attended in which the soprano with the swollen chords lip-synched on stage while off to the left on the apron, her substitute sang the part.  The distraction may only be overcome by an assured performance which begs the question—is it possible to be ‘assured’ whilst tethered to a script?  I believe the answer is in Ms. Cohen’s knock ‘em dead rendition of a very short song which she quite obviously relished & for which she clearly needed no prompting.  Meanwhile, the play’s shortcomings will be left to someone else to analyse.  My first viewing of this work left me with admiration for Rebecca Wisocky as Bananas Shaughnessy—how ironic that her pliable & expressive neck should also be the means to her end.  Jarion Monroe’s vocal talent is an integral part of his success as Artie—bespeaks of the good old days when actors were expected to be triple threats.  The early scenes with Artie & Bananas begin to set the right connections & pacing which were lacking due to Bunny’s over-playing.   I’m not going to go back to check on the progress since opening, however it does seem likely that things have settled in by now given the general strength the production shows otherwise.

Through the tunnel into Lafayette yet another community theater production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is having a brief run through next weekend at Town Hall Theatre. A short while ago, the group endured the demise of one of its cast members during an otherwise routine rehearsal; the director Shaun-Michael Morse took over the role of  Voice of Audrey II. Now what sets this apart? The cast & crew  proceeded on beyond the call to perform a show that can be (& certainly has been) amateur night at its worst, except for the ease & professionalism they summoned. For those who only saw the movie, the stage version is  nicely expanded, with even more grit than promised by the opening ‘Skid Row’ number. Patrick Michael Dukeman does Seymour, long-limbed & herky-jerky, with John Blytt’s unique take on the standard Yiddish Mushnik;  the duet ‘Mushnik & Son’ (cut from the movie along with most of Mushnik’s stuff) highlights the fine physical comedy skills of both.  Cynthia Myers as Audrey manages to blend herself quite seamlessly with the movie’s Ellen Greene so that her performance is fresh. Indeed, she & Seymour do take flight with finely matched voices.  Everybody’s waiting for the arrival of the Dentist, of course, and Dennis O’Brien is a micron short of terrific;  I blame the pants—they shoulda been leather, otherwise he flaps too much & reminds me of my father.  Town Hall had the great fortune to find a fabulous Audrey II & puppet master William Giammona to run it, otherwise, we might be looking at globs of green paper mache (yikes!)  The band made up of Dean Starnes, Michael Fritch & Tom Myers gets the night off on exactly the right footing with the help of (look out, boys) Anna Albanese, Michelle Krapp & Shari Oret as the Doo-Wop trio.  It is a testimonial to the rest of the cast that they can keep up with this Skid Row Greek Chorus.  Their snappy, smooth, clearly articulated through-line means that we have a sense of security from start to finish.   

So what lesson from these productions?  At every gathering of theater folk, there will be a tale to share of arrival at five minutes to curtain, costume left in the trunk of a car, miraculous success despite crushing difficulties.  Sometimes it doesn’t happen for us, true.  But we never stop giving it our all, do we?

 © 2002 Claudine Jones

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