Simon tried to rally the troops through e-mails and on Facebook to address the Broward County Commission Sept. 22. But he called the turnout of theater professionals "invisible."He also lists some of the shows opening this month. And check out the bottom of the page, under "related stories:"
Richard Jay Simon directs a cast that includes Antonio Amadeo, Meredith Bartmon, Dana Colagiovanni, Scott Genn, Gordon McConnell, Deborah L. Sherman, Stephanie Simon, Adam Simpson, David Sirois, and Laura Turnbull.It's August 1968, and Russian tanks are rolling into Prague... Jan, the Czech student, lives for rock music; Max, the English professor, lives for Communism; and Esme, the flower child, is high. By 1990, the tanks are rolling out, the Stones are rolling in and idealism has hit the wall. Stoppard's sweeping and passionate play spans two countries, three generations and 22 turbulent years, at the end of which, love remains - and so does rock 'n' roll.
Is it enough just to appreciate the peerless acting, gasp-worthy humor and, above all, essential music buried beneath the sheen of perplexing political theory?
...keeping up with every plot movement is a fool's errand. For this one-of-a-kind labor of love, it's best to let it envelop you, taking in what you can, whether it's the poetic irony in the soundtrack's usage of the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't it Be Nice," Turnbull describing what she would do to a certain anatomical region of a young protégé, or Eleanor's fascination with the most important offstage character in the play: the legendary singer Syd Barrett.
After the cancer takes Eleanor away from us, Turnbull returns as her character's daughter in Act Two, knocking that role out of the park with equal ardor.
To go back to my earlier question: Does it matter that much of the plot of "Rock 'n' Roll" will stream through one ear and zip out the other? Not really. It is fair to criticize a play for not breaking the material down into terms its audience will understand, but when there is so much exciting stuff going on regardless, it's hard to leave the theater disappointed.Ron Levitt reviewed for ENV Magazine:
One must give credit to Mosaic’s talented Executive/Artistic Director Richard Jay Simon. For his tiny Mosaic theatre to attempt such a multi-cast, intellectually dominant play is something rarely seen in South Florida. If he diminished his seating capacity for Sean McClelland’s wall-to-wall set, it was not noticeable. If he selected a super South Florida cast to tackle this difficult-to-produce play, it was visibly apparent. If this production doesn’t get award-time attention, one would and should be surprised!
Amadeo’s Czech dialect was so on target, his ability to do “accents” could make him a South Florida male version of Meryl Streep. Ditto for David Sirois, as his Czech buddy. Amadeo, McConnell and Turnbull dominate the stage, along with this cast – Sirois, Adam Simpson, Stephanie Simon, Deborah Sherman, Scott Genn, Dana Colagiovanni, and Meredith Bartman.Mary Damiano reviewed for MiamiArtzine.com:
Matt Corey is responsible for the sound (including the music which sets the stage for each scene), John Hall for the lighting and K. Blair Brown for the authentic costumes.
Mosaic Theatre artistic director Richard Jay Simon certainly has chutzpah for choosing Tom Stoppard’s weighty, brain-expanding drama, Rock ‘n’ Roll. But Simon has never shied away from a challenge, and Rock ‘n’ Roll might just be his most challenging production yet.
Amadeo does a terrific job of illustrating what belief and oppression does to a man—there are moments when you can see his whole life on his face.
Laura Turnbull play’s Max’s wife in the first act and his grown daughter in the second act, and does it so well that it’s hard to believe it’s the same actress. She also nails one of the juiciest lines ever when she’s telling off a colleague who’s been flirting with Max. McConnell plays Max as a gruff lion of a man who realizes he’s been roaring at the wind.
The 22 songs Stoppard chose to punctuate the plot—songs by Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, U2, Czech band The Plastic People of the Universe, among others—are used to great effect in Matt Corey’s sound design.Hap Erstein reviewed for the Palm Beach ArtsPaper:
Rock ‘n’ Roll is for people who like to think, but also like to feel.
Artistic director Richard Jay Simon deserves credit for stretching himself and his actors with Rock ‘n’ Roll, but in its opening weekend, it was the ambition that was most evident rather than the mastery of the material.
Simon has certainly gathered some of the area’s best performers for the three central roles, but at this point, they still seem to be wrestling with their dialogue, spouting diatribes from the author rather than conversing. It is that ownership of the script by their characters that is missing, the potential portal to the play’s heart.
Sean McClelland takes over much of the theater with his scenic design, with the twin poles of Prague and Cambridge at opposite sides of the space, and a versatile middle ground playing area in between. Nothing has been stinted on this season opener for Mosaic, except perhaps some additional rehearsal time for the cast.
This is not a fully satisfying evening of theater, but there is so much to take in in Rock ‘n’ Roll that it can be sufficient nourishment for the mind regardless of how much of the play flies by overhead.
(Playwright Tom) Stoppard, director Richard Jay Simon, a sublime cast and design team tell a compelling story, one full of wit, insight and theatricality.
As challenging as Rock 'n' Roll is for the audience, doing the play justice is a test for any theater, particularly a modest-sized one like Mosaic. With a few caveats (some actors barely project, for example), Simon and company have done an excellent job of bringing Stoppard's work to life.Bill Hirschman reviewed for the Sun-Sentinel:
Matt Corey's stop-on-a-dime rock sound design is brilliant. Set designer Sean McClelland supplies both Max's Communist academic-at-home habitat and Jan's graffiti-splashed flat. K. Blair Brown's costumes and wigs are transformative, turning Turnbull from Eleanor in Act One to grown-up Esme in Act Two. Turnbull and Amadeo, two of the region's finest actors, turn in wonderfully detailed, moving performances. McConnell is still fighting for the laser precision Stoppard's dialogue demands, but his Max is there emotionally. Scott Genn, in a variety of roles, and David Sirois stand out among supporting players.Stoppard's plays are too rare in South Florida. They demand much from artists and audiences, but done well, they deliver much too. Mosaic is delivering a potent Rock 'n' Roll.
...this is a titanium-dense Tom Stoppard play about the unlikely intersection of idealism, disillusionment, political science, classical Greek literature, pop culture, art, freedom of speech, the failure of Communism -- brilliant intellectual discussions racing past too fast to understand.
Just savor some solid performances, the witty wordplay and cerebral acrobatics. And do read the cheat sheet inside the program identifying political figures and laying out the chronology of Czech history before the show starts.
It is an Everest of a play and Mosaic's skilled team here under the direction of Richard Jay Simon has mounted a brave expedition to scale what likely cannot be completely conquered with a few weeks' rehearsal. Still, they get pretty far up the mountain.
Almost all of the cast members in this highly-skilled troupe are unable to break down the unending complexity of the material so that every moment is comprehensible. Not surprisingly, the most effective moments are the most accessible ones when the characters' intellect is eclipsed by familiar emotions of joy and frustration, such as the anger of the professor's wife (well-played by Laura Turnbull) who needs emotional support from her husband as she battles cancer.Rock 'N' Roll will play at Mosaic Theatre through October 4th, 2009.
Seattle's ACT Theatre is offering this option to patrons who prefer the flat monthly rate of a "basic membership" that lets users see just about anything playing in ACT's various performance spaces for one low price. For example, during September a basic membership participant can get a ticket to any or all of the following for his one monthly fee of $25 (or $20 if he's under 30): "Das Barbecü," "Until the Last Dog Dies" and "Runt of the Litter."That's bold. That's really bold. (h/t to Philip Watson via Twitter)
"Unlike other places where the play has been produced, Miami has in its hands all of the decoders necessary to decipher a work written in Cuban code," he says.The play will be presented in Spanish with English supertitles.
Not three words most of us would put together, but they are the short description of the next project for New Theatre.Sex, death, and dramaturgy take the stage at a summer conference for aspiring young playwrights and their legendary mentor. Lusty, blustering playwright Gideon Flynn struggles to keep his psyche and his dominance intact as he deals with the demons of the previous summer.Performances run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 1 pm
...a group whose name was inspired by a line in The Wizard of Oz -- is a collection of actors, directors and playwrights (some do all three things) who have decided to showcase their original work
Let's face the music...Rogers & Hammerstein have passed. Their last show was 50 years ago (and it wasn't even very good) so lets move on. After all, British director Peter Hall says, "What attracts audiences finally is new questions, not old answers."Some of the shows on their wish list have had major local productions in the last few years; La Cage Aux Folles, The Full Monty, Altar Boyz, Urinetown, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and Aida. Others we haven't seen in a little while: Big River, Bat Boy, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, and Rocky Horror Show. I'd love to see City of Angels.
We're committed to bringing high-quality contemporary musical theatre to the community. And delivering new broadway to a new audience showing that theatre can ROCK.
Richard Jay Simon tells me he's been selling out houses, so make sure you call ahead for your ticket.
"You know, he got a call from The Bandit..."
Of course, anyone who's ever worked for Burt (which includes me, my old friend, and Ken Kay and his wife and a score of others) knows that "The Bandit" can only be one person: Burt Reynolds. Film icon and Florida native Burt Reynolds is reopening his Jupiter acting conservatory that trained hundreds of students during the 1980s and '90s.
Although the new Burt Reynolds Institute of Film and Theatre Training will not revive the dinner theater that starred celebrities, the long-range plans include finding a 99-seat theater, said Suzanne Niedland, chairman of the board.
A key element will fall in place this week when veteran South Florida actor and director Kenneth Kay returns to become executive director and the institute's only paid employee. Kay was an intern at the old institute in the 1981 and served as its artistic director in 1993-95.
Rising Action Theatre opened Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out on August 28, 2009, an ambitious project for the company.Darren Lemming, the star center fielder of the world champion New York Empires, is young, rich, famous, talented, handsome and so convinced of his popularity that when he casually announces he's gay, he assumes the news will be readily accepted by everyone.David Goldyn directed a cast that includes Larry Buzzeo, Laris Macario, Terry Cuzzort, Cyril Cerrao, Carlos Palacios, George Vince, Bill Dobbins, Eric Jensen, Daryl Lennard Walton, Ted Dvoracek, and Louis San Luis.
The Rising Action Theatre turns in a surprisingly solid production of Take Me Out. Though some of the actors are a bit older than most baseball players, the performances are quite good. Darren Lemming is played by handsome Laris Macario. He has enough confidence and charm to carry the part without being too cocky to be sympathetic. He also gives us just enough of a connection to the character of Mason Marzac to let us believe that there could potentially be something more between them. Marzac is played by Ted Dvoracek, who whips through lengthy dialogue with comedic deftness. His fussy, nervous energy earns him entrance laughter more than once. Though Terry Cuzzort is a bit old for the role of Shane Mungitt (who is twice referred to as "a kid" in the script), he captures the desired simple roughness of the role. He is quietly menacing. Mungitt is someone best left alone with his thoughts. Cuzzort gives us a believable anger that results from being prodded to open up. Larry Buzzeo as Kippy Sunderstrom does a nice job with the narrative nature of his role, but is missing a tangibly affectionate connection to Lemming.Dmitry Rashnitsov reviewed for the South Florida Blade:
While there are good cameo acting moments by supporting actors in the show, such as Louis San Luis as Kawabata, Take Me Out is by nature an ensemble piece. There were some lighting issues on the night attended, but the technical aspects of the show serve the show well enough in this small space. Filled with nudity and coarse language, it is a realistic portrayal of the world of baseball behind the scenes. This production in three acts is well worth seeing for the performances and for Greenberg's intelligent writing.
When a gay theater puts on a play about pitchers and catchers, you would think a lot of innuendos and subtleties would find their way on stage, but Rising Action Theater’s version of Take Me Out plays it “straight” in telling the coming out story of a superstar baseball player in New York. The result is an enjoyable show with a solid performances from the ensemble cast.
Macario hits a home run in his steady performance, boasting the God-like stature and disposition needed at the start to convey his characters beyond mortal abilities. Macario’s character range is long, and vulnerable moments show this young stage actor’s versatility and ability to carry a show.
Of particular note should be paid to Dvoracek’s comedy-foil role of Mars, a fish-out-of-water, lonely, older gay gentleman who’s thrown into the sports world and essentially becomes the gay community’s mentor for the newly outed baseball star.
Walton, a newcomer in the cast, seems to be learning on the job and needs to convey a stronger stage presence for audiences to take him seriously. He does fit the part physically, however, as opposed to several of the actors who are obviously older than the Major League Baseball players they portray. But ignore that obvious fact, and there are still some nice performances. Buzzeo... in particular is older than his character, but he delivers an engrossing performance in this supporting role.Christine Dolen reviewed for the Miami Herald:
Take Me Out has been staged in South Florida before, in a bigger budget 2004 production at the Caldwell Theatre Company. The key difference between the Caldwell's Take Me Out and Rising Action's isn't money, though: It's casting.
A few happy exceptions aside, Rising Action's performers neither look nor act like World Series-contending baseball players. And that's precisely what the members of Greenberg's fictional Empires are supposed to be.
Director David Goldyn has some real assets in Macario, Dvoracek and Larry Buzzeo, who plays Darren's best pal on the team and serves as the play's narrator. Macario exudes both a mischievous confidence and the wariness of a man who spent years compartmentalizing his life. Dvoracek radiates Mason's captivating quirkiness, and Buzzeo is solidly engaging.The Sun Sentinel sent out Rod Stafford Hagwood, who inflicts another smattering of fragmentary jottings he calls a review:
Louis San Luis rocks his Japanese lines as pitcher Takeshi Kawabata, a frustrated man in a slump. But most of the other ``boys'' of summer haven't been boys for a long time. Cuzzort, especially, will make you hoot when his Shane describes himself as a dumb ``kid.'' There are plenty of laughs in Take Me Out, but that's not supposed to be one of them.
Like baseball itself, the drama Take Me Out is inning after inning of sweeping allegories and big ideas.Which Rod never does tell us about.
But in the three-act production directed by David Goldyn at Rising Action Theatre, the best moments — and there are many — are not in the big, swing-for-the-fences scenes, but in the smaller passages.
The clumsy silences; the blank looks as something sinks in; the loping grace of athletes crossing the stage; the tight smile after swigging a beer – basically any time the 12 actors aren't acting all actorly... y'know: acting with a capital "A."
Darren Lemming (played in sulking monotone by Laris Macario)
Kippy Sundstrom (Larry Buzzeo in strong, acerbic form)
Shane Mungitt (Terry Cuzzort doing a passable job of channeling a John Rocker type)
Mason Marzac (Ted Dvoracek substituting cutesy for innocence and repression)Most of Rod's...'article'... was his recitation of the entire story, and a thumbs up for the three times the stage is full of naked men. - "quite the marketing tool" is how he puts it. Me, I pick plays for the quality of production; I can find nekkid folk at Haulover Beach.
Believe it or not, the Theatre League of South Florida has thrown a Theatre Festival for the last three years. If you didn't know that, you're not alone; it basically amounted to declaring any shows by member theatres in a certain date range to being part of the festival, and a party being thrown at some point. There wasn't a whole lot of cohesiveness to it.“We hope this year’s Festival will bring a whole new body of fans to the many theatrical venues in the tri-county area,”- Meredith Lasher, TLSF President.
This year, there are two opening night programs at opposite ends of South Florida on Monday, October 12th; the 24 Hour Theatre Project at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, and the local presentation of the nationwide reading of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later at Florida Stage in Manalapan. The program in Coral Gables is also a fundraiser for the Naked Stage, and includes the kind of lavish pre-show party and post-show reception as only Actors' Playhouse could put together.
At least 8 South Florida Theatres will be participating in the national Free Night of Theatre on Thursday, October 15th. This will be the Theatre Communications Group 5th year of promoting theatre across the country: participating theatres put aside blocks of tickets to lure in first-time theatre goers - or long time patrons who call far enough in advance to take advantage of the deal - in to see a show FOR FREE. But before you go off to see a free show, there's an open party and trade show at America's Backyard in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Most people, when given the option to attend a performing arts event, are more scared that the performance is going to be disappointing then they are excited that the performance is going to be good.Yikes! Imagine going to a restaurant expecting to hate your meal; expectations tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies! His point is that we're not selling the play so much as convincing the audience to trust that they will be seeing something worth the price of admission.
My observation is that most of us in the arts are very good at putting up programming, but we aren't good at building relationships.Butts In Seats picks up on this topic; he first thought of a post from awhile back that touched on the subject:
In the entry I talked about the efforts I was going to inform people about performances since they often commented they hadn’t seen anything about the show.This is important, because this is why the Theatre Scene was started; to provide a place for people to learn about the shows going on in the area.
In that entry I spoke of using electronic notifications, word of mouth and opinion leaders to help disseminate information about performances. One thing I missed that Adam speaks about is relationship building. It is true that people need to view the information you provide as credible, but they also need to believe that you will provide an enjoyable experience even if they end up less than thrilled about the performance.I have always been proud of my former employer, Florida Stage, for the level of trust they've built with their audience. They sell out most of their tickets before they even announce what shows they will be doing. Back then, Louis Tyrell boasted that he was selling theatre, not plays. But now I realize that what he'd really done was to build exactly the kind of relationship described above.
Imagine contacting 3,000 high schools and finding 500 willing to join together and agree to act as a buying cartel. Now, the organizer can poll the directors at these schools and find thirty plays they'd be willing to put on next year.I dunno. I think I'd rather herd cats than get 3,000 high school drama departments to agree on something.
Success is poorly defined. A show that sells badly can still be an artistic success. A show that no one liked can still be beloved by its creators. If success is poorly defined, failure is also poorly defined, and thus a company ceasing production is largely based on factors that have little to do with the actual work.This article has spawned a lively discussion from different regions around the country.
The New Theatre opened its latest Summer Shakespeare offering of Taming of the Shrew on August 27, 2009.The Taming of the Shrew takes place in Italy, where Commedia dell'Arte flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries. Its plot involves lovers, old men and crafty servants, all stock characters in improvised Commedia theater. And though Shakespeare's original has almost 30 parts, New Theatre's version demonstrates the play can be performed by 10 actors, the standard number in a Commedia company.
How much you'll enjoy New Theatre's Taming of the Shrew, however, may depend on how much you appreciate -- or can tolerate -- the relentless silliness of Commedia style.
What too often is lost in this high-energy, intensely busy production is The Taming of the Shrew.
Odious as the idea of a man ``taming'' his wife seems to us in the 21st century, if you're going to play Petruchio, you do it with all the wiliness and bombast the Bard wrote into the character. Garcia is masterful, and you have to wonder what this Shrew might have been like had his cast mates risen to his level.
Karen Garcia (no relation) doesn't come close as Katharina, aka the shrewish Kate. A beauty with a sultry voice, she spends much of the play arranging her hands into various poses, as if getting ready to vogue down a runway.
Clint Hooper has a whistling, scene-stealing turn as Vincentio, the aged father of Lucentio (Joshua Horn), one of the pretty Bianca's many suitors. But such small moments of true theatrical comedy get swamped by a frenzied Commedia tidal wave.Mary Damiano reviewed for MiamiArtzine.com:
It's New Theatre's custom to do a little summer Shakespeare. I used to think that it was a good thing, if only to expose audiences to the Bard's work, but now I question whether bad Bard is better than no Bard at all.
The Taming of the Shrew is Shakespeare's battle of the sexes tale of spirited, headstrong Katherina and Petruchio's scheme to mold her into a submissive wife. In New Theatre's production, the misogyny is played with full force, without the wink to the audience that many directors include to soften the edges of cruelty.
The saving grace... is Israel Garcia. His Petruchio is clever and roguish, and he's the only actor who imbues his delivery with meaning. As Katharina, Karen Garcia (no relation) looks as if she's a marionette--her entire performance consists of posing, pouting and sneering. The unrelated Garcias do manage to conjure up some lustiness in an early scene together, but they don't maintain that chemistry.
Shakespeare's plays require actors trained in his work. Not every performer, no matter how talented they might be in other areas of theatre, can perform Shakespeare's dialogue with the feeling and rhythm it should have. There's a lot of talent on New Theatre's stage during The Taming of the Shrew; the performers have proven themselves in other productions. There are probably performers in South Florida who can ably perform Shakespeare, they just don't seem to get cast at New Theatre.Ron Levitt reviewed for ENV Magazine:
This production certainly has a different flair. New Theatre Artistic chief Ricky J. Martinez chose a visiting “theatre-maker” from Italy, Roberto Prestigiacomo, to direct this production, and selected a topnotch cast of ten – some obviously playing multiple roles — to ham it up for the audience in the tiny space on Laguna Street.
In this play within a play, Katharina ( a talented Karen Garcia) is known for her volatile temper and for her reputation that no man can tame her. Her younger sister Bianca (Jackie Rivera) is much sought after, but – according to her father Baptista (Stephen Neal), she cannot wed until her older sister takes the marriage vow, much to the chagrin of Lucentio (Joshua Horn) and Hortensio (Clint Hooper) and other suitors. Then, on the scene comes Petruchio ( a scene-stealing Israel Garcia) who — though only interested in money and fine jewels – eventually weds and turns Kate into an obedient woman.
The charming Christopher Viccihiollo, Rusty Allison, Adriana Perez and Dawn A.A. Plummer round out the ensemble company of actors (and actresses).Taming of the Shrew plays at New Theatre through September 27, 2009.
The British adaptation of the 1972 movie The Harder They Come opened on September 29, and will play at the Arsht Center through September 12.A hard-driving, irresistible musical celebration! Young singer Ivan Martin heads to Kingston with dreams of becoming a reggae star, but a corrupt and drug-fueled music industry drives him into a fast and furious life as Jamaica's most-wanted outlaw and most-celebrated underground star.Dawn Reid and Kerry Michael direct a cast that includes Rolan Bell and Joanna Francis.
That The Harder They Come is now a stage musical should surprise no one. (If Abba made the grade, anything can.) What's surprising is how gritty it remains. Even at the posh Adrienne Arsht Center, the rude boy magic is rude and boyish. The music helps, as does a stripped-back set.... What sells it is a brilliant young cast, which takes the old bones of Martin's story and rattles them into something new and beautiful.
If I've heard more expressive singing in a touring musical, I can't remember it; the harmonies are strong, sure, and lovely, and the soloists deserve immediate record contracts. I'm thinking of Lain Gray, who plays Pedro, the man closest to Ivanhoe. He's blessed with an impossibly sad voice that seems to sob each time it swoops into falsetto. And I'm thinking of Joanna Francis as Ivanhoe's church-mouse girlfriend, Elsa, whose voice begins all silky-wispy and then grows higher, stronger, and steelier, climbing up and up until it's like a glittering edifice in the sky. A young woman sitting behind me in the theater described Francis's singing as "The craziest shit I've ever heard."
But most of all, I'm thinking of Rolan Bell, who plays Ivanhoe... Bell is full of such irrepressible cheer that his arrival onstage is something very much like dawn breaking... Bell's smile, naive charisma, and plain goodwill are reminiscent of Ragged Dick with a beat. He's galvanizing.Christine Dolen reviewed for the Miami Herald:
To twist an old ad slogan, you don't have to be Jamaican to love The Harder They Come. But truth be told, in order to absorb all the cultural resonances in the stage version of Perry Henzell's famous 1972 movie, you almost have to be Jamaican.
Directors Dawn Reid and Kerry Michael keep their large cast and six fine musicians constantly onstage, as if everyone had crowded into a church hall colored Rastafarian green, yellow and red.
Onstage, that verbal and visual exposition is limited by the need to make room for songs. Watching The Harder They Come in the theater, you may wonder just why the innocent, church-going Elsa (Joanna Francis) falls so fast and so hard for Ivan. Or why Elsa winds up taking care of a motherless baby whose father, Pedro (Lain Gray), gets Ivan into the ganja trade. The shorthand storytelling can be confusing.
What is undeniable is how powerfully the cast delivers the show's music. Many of the performers have been with The Harder They Come since it was created in 2006, and that makes for a polished ensemble. Although some of the characters have become caricatures, the songs (in the words of a borrowed Jackie Wilson tune) keep lifting the show Higher and Higher. Particularly memorable are Gray's haunting version of Cliff's Many Rivers To Cross, Bell's striving You Can Get It If You Really Want and his re-creation of that star-is-born moment in the studio. It's then that The Harder They Come connects with everyone.The Harder They Come will play at the Arsht Center through September 12.
