The Molière Comedies
by Archie Rothman
Molière - the master of misunderstanding and coincidences - is as hilarious today as it was when first presented to Louis the XIV's Palais Royal in the 1660s, now delighting contemporary audiences at the Mark Taper Forum.
Turning a pair of old classics into one of the most richly rewarding and entertaining shows ever presented at the Forum took the combined skill of director/actor Brian Bed-ford and translator Richard Wilbur. Wilbur's translation ressurects the original vigor of Molière's scripts, updating them into modern English and stylizing them with witty rhyming couplets. This production of the comedies “The School for Husbands” and “The Imaginary Cuckold” received critical acclaim on Broadway and played before sold-out houses before coming to Los Angeles. The show changed coasts without losing a beat, or any of its key players. And for this, Gordon Davidson, the Forum's Artistic Director, deserves much of the praise.
The two plays have a similar theme - the rights of women, including women every bit as silly as their men, and how easily men become delusional about the women in their lives. Both “Husbands” and “Cuckold” deal with the prevention of a forced, unhappy marriage and involve a character named Sganarelle. Bedford plays the woman-hating, urbane, bourgeois Sganarelle in “Husbands” as a Parisian guardian of a young girl hoping he can make her into the obedient wife he desires. In “Cuckold,” Bedford plays the country Sganarelle, who suspects his wife is being unfaithful.
Nine actors turn up in both plays, but like Bedford, they don’t play the same roles. Anna Belknap is the endearing ingenue in “Husbands,” but is unrecognizable as the frumpy maid in “Cuckold.” Ned Schmidtke plays Ariste, the epitome of brotherly moderation, then Gorgibus, the model of fatherly oppression. Katie MacNichol is perfect as Leonor, who believes in liberation, and then as Celie, enslaved to heroic bombast. As comic servants there’s wily Jeff Klein and the whining Jerry Kernion.
But it’s Bedford who deserves the most honors. His direction makes Molière vital and contemporary, and his charming performance in two different roles elicits endless belly laughs, in these fluffy yet moral tales. If you miss The Molière Comedies, you’ll be missing one of the great treats of the year.

New Frequency
by Steve Roeser
The night before going to Hollywood’s Jewel Box Theatre to be entertained by the cast of New Frequency: A Theatre of the Mind, I happened upon a classic broadcast on KNX radio. It was an episode of Jack Benny’s radio show that must have originally aired during World War II.
Those days are long gone, but apparently not entirely forgotten—certainly not by writer/director Matt Johnson, who created New Frequency partly in homage to the Golden Age of Radio. Johnson directs the evening’s series of aural vignettes as if that era had never passed into history.
The content of the presentation is due to change each time Johnson’s able players take the stage. The stories enacted for us on March 3rd will not be the same as what’s in store the first Sunday of each coming month at the Jewel Box.
But as an ongoing enterprise, New Frequency’s originality bodes well and the actors (some of whom double as live sound effects engineers) acquit themselves admirably, conveying a wide range of moods and human emotions, not to the exclusion of humor.
Gil Glasgow and Suzan Hendershot were deeply affecting as brother and sister driving on the highway, back to the routine of their lives after having gone home to bury their mother. The brother’s irrational outburst in the men’s room at a fast food stop reveals the loss of his mother as hurting him much more than he was letting on in conversation with his sibling. Mark Daniel Cade made a good cameo here, confronting the emotionally-distraught guy, far different from his earlier turn as “Tax Tip Man.”
Joanna Rubiner did a nice job with her part as a jaded lounge singer. Jeff Hohimer and Traci Crouch experienced some intimate moments hiding inside a magician’s box, anxiously awaiting the final cut. James Napoli played an errant young man who finds out the hard way that you really can’t go home again, especially if you’re hooked up with a wild, tough-talking woman, portrayed by the smokin’-hot Theresa Arrison.
Robert Izenberg is excellent playing live keyboards throughout.

A Lie of the Mind
by Vanessa Roveto
It is never a good sign when the patron in front of you is reading his playbill upside down before the performance. And yet, the other night, it ended up being an appropriate prelude to Sam Shepard’s unpredictable play, A Lie of the Mind.
Directed by Flora Plumb and showing at Theater Forty, the meat of the piece centers around the story of Jake (David Forseth), who savagely beats his wife Beth (Naz Deravian), leaves her for dead, and returns to his childhood home in order to grieve and lose his mind. Unbeknownst to Jake, Beth lives, albeit now as a vegetable, and moves in with her parents. The two recovering lovers, and their eccentric others, mirror each other on a split stage. By the end of the play, their stories and personalities have melded into each other. Characters have trouble distinguishing each other and indeed reality itself. The present becomes the past becomes the present. The lines between parent and child, man and wife, male and female become as obscure as a regular cup of coffee.
Shepard’s themes emerge as forceful as ever: the inability to communicate, the plurality of personalities, the human emotions that divide individuals from others and, perhaps more importantly, from themselves.
The performances are uniformly competent. Special praise goes to David Hunt Stafford, Esther Richman and Rhonda Lord, playing the various parental figures. The direction is minimal, unobtrusive, and to the point—all good things. Evan A. Bartoletti’s set design and Ellen Monocroussos’s lighting design are both proficient. My only caveat concerns the choice of music. In the original Broadway production, a marathon running over four hours, a Bluegrass band played along to this very American drama. Here, the choice of Led Zeppelin—a British band, I might add—feels out of place.
Given how rarely this play is seen, I give a great deal of credit to Theater Forty for producing it. It was a worthwhile risk. Go see it. And feel free to read the playbill upside down. This is one wild ride.

Mark and Barbara Frog Go Green
“All the frogs are disappearing, even in some pristine clearing,” sing the title characters in Glenn Hopkins's new green musical, Mark and Barbara Frog, opening March 23 at the Masquers Cabaret in Hollywood and also in West L.A.
In this Brechtian story, Mark and Barbara Frog are about to leave on their dream vacation to a place where frogs live comfortably on farms and are fed wonderful food, when Old Indian Spirit reminds them that frogs all over are disappearing. With the help of the seemingly trustful Dr. Science, they must now leave their tadpole behind and go off in search of the big picture.
The creation of critically acclaimed writer/director Glenn Hopkins, Mark and Barbara Frog Go Green was born out of a dual artistic residency he shared with his wife, concert pianist Christina Jhun, at the Montana Artists Refuge in Basin, Montana during the spring of 2000. “Tina performed a concert of Gershwin's ‘Rhapsody’ there,” Hopkins recollects, “I think there is a lot of Gershwin influence in the froggy music I’ve come up with.”
Hopkins’s research for the play became an interesting blend of music, mythology and science. "Native American belief casts frogs as the harbingers of the future," he says. "This doesn't bode too well for humankind. Frog populations all over the world are diminishing rapidly. Wild and bizarre mutations are occurring. Nature is giving us a warning and we don't seem to be paying very much attention."
This artist blend comes to life on-stage with the help of Mark and Barbara Frog's all-female cast. Merriana Henriq plays the part of the Indian Spirit, Melissa Bear plays Mark Frog, Tanna Frederick plays Barbara Frog, and Candice Walker plays Tadpole. Sharon King, a former spokesperson for Reptile and Amphibian Rescue appears as Dr. Science and doubles as the show's technical advisor.

That's Life
by Bryan Carrigan
When a burned out rock and roller returns home after ten years of scraping by in Los Angeles, he finds that even though everything changes, everything stays the same, in That's Life: a play with songs by Steve Monarque, now playing at the Egyptian Arena Theatre in Hollywood.
Writer/producer Monarque stars as John Buck, the would-be rock star who returns to his New Jersey home after ten soul-crushing years in LA. On the verge of suicide, John moves in to the spare room above a bar owned by long-time friend, Boss (Ronald Hunter). There, he struggles with his sanity while being haunted by a karaokee machine and pestered by his old band-mate, Spunk (Michael Wyle). But the real ghost who haunts him embodies the form of Brenda (Brenda), the girl he left behind and never stopped loving. While Boss tries to score enough at the track to retire and Spunk tries to get the old band back together, John sets out on a quest to reunite with his long-time love. The only problem is, she's married. As the bar's resident drunk Charlie (Rob Terrell) mutters in the background, Brenda tries to find the love she once felt, both for life, John, and herself. John's guardian angel, Crooner (Eddie Lynch), a rat-pack suicide stuck guarding musicians on the verge of repeating his mistake, struggles to convince John that life is worth living and music can be his salvation. Brenda's husband Smitty (Silas Weir Mitchell) has other things in mind, and together with his grease-monkey friends (Joe Avalon and Michael Patrick McGill), he does his best to send John back to LA, in as many pieces as humanly possible.
Michael Wyle steals the show with his stuttering, tongue-tied, mullet-headed Spunk. And while Jennifer Beach shines as Brenda, her role, like so many others, is constrained by the under developed script, and the play barely makes use of her talent.
The real star of That's Life: a play with songs ought to be the music, but the play features too few songs and repetitiously plays the few it has. The only stand out musical moment is jammed out by John and Spunk in a fleeting attempt to revive their rock and roll glory days. If only they had succeeded, That's Life might have been a better play.

Anything I Want
by Michael Jarrett Christensen
Should actors be allowed to utilize the theatre for the express purpose of showcasing their talents? Roz Browne opens Anything I Want at The Complex in Hollywood with 10 minutes of standup comedy. She claims it is a warmup to make the audience “loose and pliable” and to help them practice laughter before the main piece. The lady is quite funny as she dishes married life. “I’m not a housewife, rather an apartment wife.” Being a stepmother “I’m gonna step out of here, because they’re not my kids.”
However, when the central piece Anything I Want begins, it does not take long to realize that there is very little, if any, humor to laugh at in Philip Bell’s hour-long presentation. It is deadly serious stuff. So what was the point of this warmup, if not as a showcase for Roz? It seems unnecessary.
Anything has far more value. In the first place, this one-man show has Philip Bell who is very adept at creating characters. Secondly, in composing Anything, he has pieced together several fascinating monologues from some of the greatest Black writers, such as Lorraine Hans-berry, George C. Wolfe, Gayle Jones and Martin Luther King. Within the monologues, Bell portrays a magician, a drug dealer, a soldier, a preacher and a drag queen as well as a young teen who aspires to become an actor. His characterizations are all grounded in reality and achingly passionate. He even encourages audience members to sing along with him in the pursuit of making dreams come alive. “If I’m dreaming, I can be anything I want to be” - with patience and persistence.
It’s not bad advice, and this actor is talented and sincere. The show should be lauded for its built-in motivational qualities. It helps to build self-esteem and is ideally suited to tour schools and prisons.

More Theatre
by Archie Rothman
Into the Woods returns to the
Ahmanson Theatre improved and better than ever. It was wise to give this Broadway-bound revival of the original 1986 musical a new look and treatment. Still grand are the contributions of the original creative team. Author James Lapine still amazes with his jumbling of several fairy tales together, and composer Stephen Sondheim still enchants with his musical artistry. Into the Woods still can please young and old, with production values that improve on the original with elaborate Douglas Schmidt sets. With leather-bound books, dense forest canopys, and lush and leafy backgrounds that are gnarled and decayed, this production is lovely to look at.
Adam Wylie and Marylouise Burje splendidly star as Jack and his mother. There’s also Laura Benantj as Cinderella, Gregg Edelman as the prince; Melissa Dye as Rapunzel, and her prince Christopher Sieber, Molly Ephraim as Little Red Riding Hood, Stephen DeRosa as the baker and his wife played by Kerry O’Malley, and the spiteful witch of Vanessa Williams. Last but not least is the way narrator John McMartin sort things out. Director Lapine’s ensemble cast is fine, especially Chad Kimball as Jack’s cow Milky-White, all befitting a show that doesn’t need stars.
Sylvia, originally produced by New York’s Manhattan Theatre, is at the West Coast Ensemble in Holly-wood. It’s a dizzy romantic comedy about mid-life marriage and a mutt, a street-smart mix of lab and poodle called Sylvia. When Greg (Greg Monaghan), deep in the dolldrums of middle age meets Sylvia (Sally Ann Brooks), she gives him the unconditional love he craves. As Greg finds escape from his mid-life crisis, his wife Kate (Jon Sheldrick) finds a rival for his affections (John O’Brien). And Sylvia finds that human relationships are much more complex than tbe relationship between a man and his dog. Directed by John Langs, artistic direction by Les Hanson, with an award-winning design team, Sylvia is a handsome and diverting romantic comedy.
The Odyssey Theatre in West L.A. goes “gay” with Murray Schisgal’s comedy We Are Family. This is far removed from the usual Odyssey plays and it may shock some while pleasing others. Sam, played by Allan Miller, is convinced hetrosexuality doesn’t work anymore, after three failed marrriages, so he proposes to an old straight buddy Billy (Michael Cavanaugh) that they turn gay together. Two more characters are introduced in the second act. Alan Blumenfeld hams it up with coy poses and come-hither looks as a fat middle-aged friend who is ready to try Sam’s experiment. Salome Jens, displaying a beautiful set of legs, tries to resume her loving relationship with Sam, and is so successful that he rejects his gay plans for love with Salome. Under the swift-paced direction of Conrad John Schuck the exceptionally talented veteran cast are superb.

Interview with El Portal’s Stuart Rogers by Don Grigware


Stuart Rogers, no stranger to show business, is third generation theatre and the son of Herb Rogers, who produced at La Mirada for 18 years. He is Artistic Director of the Theatre Tribe that has just moved into the storefront theatre (at one time Actors Alley) adjacent to the El Portal Center for the Arts in NoHo. Stuart has ambitious goals and talks about how Theatre Tribe will make its mark on the NoHo Arts District over the next four years. The company opens this Friday, March 15 with Lanford Wilson’s Sympathetic Magic.

DG Where did the Tribe call home before this?
SR We were at the Jewelbox Theatre Center in Holly-wood. It used to be the Off-Ramp Theatre.
DG Why did you move?
SR It’s not in a great neighborhood and the theatre community out there is not incredible. We wanted to move someplace where there is more of a community. The NoHo Arts District is a really giving environment. I used to teach down the street at Peter Strauss’s The Raven [theatre], and he was always so amazingly supportive of whatever we were doing. Theatre should inspire more theatre. The more theaters there are, ideally, the more theatre goers there are, and we can all share in the benefits of that. And it really seems like there’s an up-and-coming theatre community here. And it’s getting more and more power. We came to this neighborhood because we want to be working around companies of really high caliber.
DG What is Tribe’s mission?
SR The idea in Tribe is you want other people around you to succeed because it benefits the whole. What can sometimes happen in a showcase environment or a television environment, there’s real jealousy when someone gets work… Writers get a lot of honor in theatre and then just get crapped on in film. We’re trying to develop writers, because everything starts with the written word.
DG Why have you chosen Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson to open your season here?
SR It’s a West Coast premiere. Lanford Wilson won an Obie in 1997-1998. He is one of the great American playwrights and such a smart writer. My only fear with this piece, frankly, is that he is smarter than some of the audience. They may be in manifest danger of not understanding. The play is amazing. It deals with where science and religion and humanity meet. He really gets to the underbelly of it and he still has such a sense of humor.
DG Do you have a season mapped out beyond Sympathetic Magic?
SR I am planning a three-show season, next season. I want Obie-award winning plays or plays that have had a successful Off-Broadway run. And bringing that to this area—that’s the niche I’m hoping to fill. I’m trying to get plays that have not played here before. I don’t want to do old chestnuts. And we’re also doing one original play a season.
DG Has most of your company moved with you?
SR Yes. We have a dues-paying company and some associate members, like [veteran actress] Jenny O’Hara who is appearing in Sympathetic Magic.
DG What is your perspective of smaller theatre?
SR I hate showcases. I like theatre for the sake of theatre, not for TV or something else. It should be its own entity. This is art. Art can grow into something beautiful, but it takes time. If you have no money, it takes time.
DG Do you have any long range goals?
SR …an independent film company which will work for and in support of the theatre company. It’s taking film sensibility to theatre and the theatre sensibility to films. That’s the concept at least. It’s doable. If Ingmar Bergman can do it…he was using a theatre company in his films. If you offer writers a home, and directors a home, I think it’s just possible.