New immigrants celebrate first Thanksgiving in 'Heart Sellers'

 

Jane (Narea Kang, left) looks through Luna's (Nicole Javier) photo album in "The Heart Sellers," (Alessandra Mello)

Two immigrant women, both recently arrived from Asian countries, happen to meet in a grocery store and decide to spend their first American Thanksgiving together.

So begins Lloyd Suh’s “The Heart Sellers,” presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

It’s 1973 in a mid-sized U.S. city. Luna (Nicole Javier), who’s Filipino, welcomes Jane (Narea Kang), who’s South Korean, into her studio apartment. Both women are married to medical residents who can’t be with them.

At first Jane, whose English is limited, is leery, while Luna seems to talk nonstop.

As they wait for the frozen turkey to roast, they drink cheap wine, which fuels their conversation and interactions. Along the way, they reveal more of themselves and their backgrounds, gradually forging a friendship.

The play’s title comes from the Hart-Celler Act, aka the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Signed by President Lyndon Johnson, it gave priority to highly skilled immigrants, those who had family living in the U.S. and refugees. Before that, only Western and Northern Europeans had priority.

Although the play is set during Richard Nixon’s administration, it has resonance with today’s immigration policies and issues.

Thus the personal and political undertones make for intriguing theater.

However, the women’s accents are so difficult to understand that some of the meaning is lost despite fine acting by both women and adept direction by Jennifer Chang.

Also benefitting the production are the set by Arnel Sancianco, costumes by Lisa Misako Claybaugh, lighting by Wen-Ling Liao and sound by Ed Lee.

This Northern California premiere is a co-production with Capital Stage in Sacramento and Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley.

Running about 90 minutes with no intermission, it will continue through April 27 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.

For tickets and information, call (877) 662-8978 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Sex, seniors and murder make for laughs in 'Happy Pleasant Valley'

Dean (Miller Liberatore, left), Jade (Sophie Oda) and June (Emily Kuroda) review clues. (Kevin Berne)

 

“Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical” is making its world premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley after its enthusiastic reception at the company’s 2023 New Works Festival.

Most of the action is set in Happy Pleasant Valley, a senior residential facility in San Mateo, where several men have died after sexual encounters with June (Emily Kuroda). Because she’s suspected of being responsible for their death, she’s being threatened with eviction.

Her granddaughter, Jade (Sophie Oda), a Gen Z influencer, goes to the facility to help her find the real reason behind the men’s deaths. She’s accompanied by her nerdy cameraman, Dean (Miller Liberatore, who’s also an assistant director).

Several residents come under June’s suspicions. They include Bernice (Jacqueline De Muro), who’s pretending to be someone she’s not; Vicki (Lucinda Hitchcock Cone), who’s searching for Walter, a missing squirrel; and DeeDee (Cindy Goldfield), who has an open relationship with her bisexual husband, Mort (Danny Scheie).

Completing the cast are the two ensemble players: Michael Patrick Gaffney and Rinabeth Apostol. She’s noteworthy as Cara, the officious facility director.

As June, Jade and Dean team up to find who or what caused the men to die, secrets are uncovered before the culprit is discovered.

And there are many humorous moments, thanks to Min Kahng, who wrote the clever book, lyrics and music.

Director Jeffrey Lo has selected a top-notch cast of mostly Bay Area actors who excel in all aspects of their roles: acting, singing and dancing.

Musical director William Liberatore serves as conductor and keyboardist with the three other musicians in the orchestra pit.

The choreography is by Lee Ann Payne. The flexible set is by Arnel Sancianco, enhanced by David Lee Cuthbert’ projections, Kurt Landisman’s lighting, James Ard’s sound and Jill C. Bowers’ costumes.

Because “Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical” is a co-production with Center Repertory Company, it will move to Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts June 1-29.

Running about two and half hours with an intermission, TheatreWorks’ production will continue through March 30 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

For tickets and information, call (877) 662-8978 or visit www.theatrework.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power outage brings epiphanies in 'Fly By Night' at Hillbarn

 

Daphne (Kaylee Milteren) likes the script by Joey (Matt Herrero). (Photo by Mark Kitaoka)

Struck by a massive power outage, a large swath of the eastern United States and Canada was plunged into darkness for up to 13 hours on Nov. 9, 1965.

The three creators of “Fly by Night” go back to the year leading up to that event.

In the production by Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory, the Narrator (Cathleen Riddley) introduces the principal characters and the ways their lives come to be intertwined.

They are the just-widowed Mr. McClam (Lawrence-Michael C. Arias), who’s obsessed with “La Traviata” and carries a record player with him, and his young adult son, Harold (Chava Suarez), in New York City.

Harold works at a sandwich shop managed by Crabble (Sarah Jebian).

There also are South Dakota sisters Daphne (Kaylee Miltersen), an aspiring actress; and Miriam (Markaila Dyson), who’s fascinated by the stars.

Daphne decides to follow her dreams and go to New York City. Miriam reluctantly agrees to go with her. Both get entry-level jobs while Daphne goes to auditions, only to be rejected each time.

In the meantime, she happens to meet Harold in the smoky club where he’s playing guitar and singing. The two hit it off and fall in love.

Then she gets what she hopes will be her big chance when a playwright, Joey Storms (Matt Herrero), offers her a role in the play he hopes to open in the fall.

Complications develop when Joey declares Daphne his muse and when Harold and Miriam meet and fall in love despite her reluctance to interfere with Daphne’s relationship with him.

When the power outage hits, each character has an epiphany of sorts, but after a tragedy, Daphne and Harold are left to ponder what’s next.

The show was created by Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick and its conceiver, Kim Rosenstock, all of whom had a hand in the book, music and lyrics.

As directed by Cara Phipps, the cast excels at creating believable, vulnerable characters. Riddley as the Narrator plays a variety of characters such as Daphne and Miriam’s mother and others.

However, the show probably could benefit from some judicious pruning. For example, the scene between Miriam and a fortune teller (Riddley) goes on too long.

Musical director Diana Lee conducts the small band, seated onstage but mostly out of sight, and oversees the singing, which is good.

The production is well served by Sarah Phykitt’s simple, flexible set, Pamila Gray’s lighting, Jeff Mockus’ sound and Stephanie Dittbern’s costumes.

Running about two hours and 45 minutes with an intermission, “Fly by Night” will continue through March 23 at Hillbarn Theater, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.

For tickets and information, call (650) 349-6411 or visit www.hilbarntheatre.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hillbarn stages timely, scary 'Daisy'

 

Clifford (Terrance Austin Smith, left), Tony (Michael Champlin) and Louise (Roneet Aliza Rahamim) confer about the LBJ ad. (Tracy Martin photo)

The events in Sean Devine’s “Daisy” happened some six decades ago, but the play presented by Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory is timely and scary.

The title refers to an ad that ran once in 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson was running against conservative Republican Barry Goldwater of Arizona.

It shows a little girl counting the petals she removes from the daisy she holds. As she counts up from one, a male voice begins counting down from 10. When he reaches one, there’s a nuclear explosion.

It ends with the male voice saying, “The stakes are too high. Vote for President Johnson on Nov. 3.”

Although the ad was pulled immediately, it set the stage for negative presidential campaigns through 2024.

The action focuses on three writers for the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency. Their boss, Bill Bernbach (Glenn Havlan), has assigned them to create the TV ad campaign for Johnson.

As required by Clifford Lewis (Terrance Austin Smith), White House special counsel, they all must be Democrats.

A major player for them is Tony Schwartz (Michael Champlin), a sound theorist who records sounds of all kinds and files them in his basement studio. He’s brilliant, but he’s also agoraphobic, so he doesn’t want to venture any farther than four blocks from his home or be any higher than four stories up.

Perhaps the central character is Louise Brown (Roneet Aliza Rahamim), the only woman on the ad team. She embodies some of the moral dilemmas posed by running the ad.

Her two colleagues, Aaron Ehrlich (Keenan Murphy Flagg) and Sid Myers (George Psarras), get into sometimes heated discussions with her.

The acting is topnotch all around, with kudos especially going to Champlin as Tony, Smith as Clifford and Havlan as Bill.

Although the play is talky, director Jeffrey Bracco deftly guides his cast and keeps the action flowing smoothly.

He’s aided by Hillbarn artistic director Steve Muterspaugh’s set, which depicts Tony’s studio on one side, the ad agency office in the center and Clifford’s White House office on the other side.

He also is responsible for the projections featuring newsreel footage from the time: the beginnings of the Vietnam War, racial unrest and political events, among others.

Also instrumental in the production are the costumes by Lyre Alston, sound by Jeff Mockus and lighting by Pamila Gray.

Running about two hours and 15 minutes with an intermission, the timely “Daisy” will run only through Feb. 9 at Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.

For tickets and information, call (650) 349-6411. Ext. 2, or visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.

 

PA Players stages farce, 'Noises Off'

Kimberly Mohne Hill as Dotty in the opening scene. (Photo by Scott Lasky)

 

Presented by Palo Alto Players, Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off” looks at a third-rate English theater company rehearsing and then staging the world premiere of “Nothing On.”

The three-act farce starts with the final dress rehearsal. The second act takes place backstage during a performance about a month after the opening. The final act shows a performance from the audience’s perspective.

Each act gets progressively more frantic as the performers’ nerves are frayed and lines are botched. Jealousies emerge, as do outright efforts to sabotage the show.

As the show opens, Lloyd (Kyle Dayrit), the director, is trying to oversee Dotty (Kimberly Mohne Hill), the housekeeper of an English country home, as she deals with a telephone, newspaper and sardines (which figure into the action throughout the play), but she keeps botching her scene.

After she exits, lovers Garry (Brandon Silberstein) and the dense Brooke (Adriana Hokk) arrive for a tryst

While they’re checking out a bedroom, the home’s owners, Frederick (William Rhea) and Belinda (Michelle Skinner) unexpectedly return from Spain.

Also involved in the action are the stage managers, Poppy (Sierra Bolar) and Tim (Braden Taylor), and another actor, Selsdon (David Boyll), who plays a burglar.

As directed by Linda Piccone, each cast member creates an idiosyncratic character.

Noteworthy among them is Skinner as Belinda, who develops into a peacemaker, and Boyll as Selsdon, who has a fondness for drinking.

However, the performers’ English accents and Gregorio Perez’s low-volume sound design obscure some lines and plot developments.

Otherwise, the show benefits from Camryn Lang’s set design with its seven doors to be slammed, so essential in a farce.

Also beneficial are Katie Strawn’s costumes, Rue Zadik’s lighting and Katie O’Bryon Champlin’s coordination of fights and stunts.

The show runs about two and a half hours with one 15-minute intermission followed by a 10-minute pause. It continues through Feb. 2 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

For tickets and information, call (650) 329-0891 or visit www.paplayers.org.

 

Felder returns to TheatreWorks as Rachmaninoff

 

Jonathan Silvestri (left) plays the tsar. Hershey Felder is Rachmaninoff. (Stefano DeCarli photo)

Over the years, pianist-playwright Hershey Felder has delighted TheatreWorks Silicon Valley audiences with his one-man musical plays about composers like Gershwin, Berlin, Chopin, Beethoven and others.

He has returned with his latest creation, “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar,” in a new format: He’s joined by another performer, Jonathan Silvestri, who plays Russian Tsar Nicholas Romanov II.

This play begins in Beverly Hills in 1943, where Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer-pianist, has settled after fleeing Russia following the Bolshevik uprising in 1918. He’s now 70 years old and terminally ill. Because he’s in so much pain, he receives twice-daily morphine injections.

Under the drug’s influence, he harks back to his early life and education in Russia followed by travels with his wife.

He harbors deep ill will toward the tsar, blaming him for the problems and cruel oppression that led to the uprising.

A central theme involves the tsar’s daughter Anastasia, who might or might not have survived the firing squad that killed him and the rest of his family.

It’s all fascinating, but some of the story line is lost because of the Russian accents used by both performers.

Directed by Trevor Hay, the production is highlighted by Felder’s acting and his virtuosic performances of some of Rachmaninoff’s best known piano concertos.

On the other hand, Silvestri seems stiff, especially since he doesn’t always have much to do. I’m wondering if he was suffering from some disposition because he sounded hoarse during the Jan. 15 performance.

Production values are high with the garden set by Felder and costumes by Marysol M. Gabriel. Lighting by Erik S. Barry seemed to have some glitches as lights sometimes flickered against the house in the background.

This is reportedly Felder’s last show of its kind.

It will continue through Feb. 9 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View.

For tickets and information, call (877) 662-8978 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

 

 

 

 

 

Hillbarn's 'Anastasia' a holiday gift

 

Anya (Jillian Smith) and Dmitry (Brad Satterwhite) wonder if she's Anastasia. (Hillbarn photo)

“Anastasia” isn’t billed as a holiday show per se, but the production by Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory is truly a gift to its audiences.

This musical shifts from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Paris in the days and years following the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Its central character is Anya (Jillian Smith), a young Russian woman who’s not sure who she is, but she wants to find out.

She teams up with Dmitry (Brad Satterwhite) and Vlad (Alex Hsu) after rumors that one of Tsar Nicholas II’s daughters might have evaded the firing squad that killed him and his family in 1918.

They want to pass her off as that daughter, Anastasia, and possibly collect a reward. Therefore, they travel to Paris where the Tsar’s mother, the Dowager Empress (Judith Miller) has taken refuge.

Anya comes to suspect that she really is Anastasia. Is she Anastasia with repressed memories of trauma, or is she living out a fantasy? We never know, but it’s fun to speculate.

Astute direction by Catherine Weidner, along with a talented cast and production team, brings out the best of the music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Terrence McNally.

Smith as Anya embodies the character’s grit and determination as well as her vulnerability. She’s well paired with Satterwhite as Dmitry and Hsu as Vlad, especially as the attraction between her and Dmitry grows.

Miller has a dignified, regal presence to the Dowager Empress, and she’s one of the best singers in the cast.

She’s attended by her lady-in-waiting, Countess Lily (Jacqueline De Muro), who shows her versatility in singing and dancing scenes.

Dancing, ranging from waltzes to the Charleston and ballet, is another of the show’s strong points, thanks to choreographer Karen Law.

The set by Paulino Deleal (lighting by Pamila Gray) is relatively simple. It’s dominated by two large staircases, one at each side of the stage to start, but they’re  moved as scenes shift. Otherwise, only a few set pieces are used.

Instead, projections by Steve Muterspaugh, the company’s artistic director, help to evoke settings. Sound is by Jeff Mockus.

More kudos go to Nolan Miranda, who designed the character-specific costumes. The Dowager Empress’s dresses are quite elegant, as befits her character.

Most actors in the 18-member cast change character and costumes frequently. One can only imagine how busy things are backstage.

Musical direction is by Diana Lee, who plays the keyboard and conducts the other seven members of the orchestra, which is seated above the right side of the audience.

Running about two hours and 40 minutes, “Anastasia” will continue through Dec. 29 at Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.

For tickets and information, call (650) 349-6411 or visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.