Charming 'Annie" a big hit for Palo Alto Players

 

Annie (Julie Li) has a new friend, Sandy (Jinkua). (Photo by Scott Lasky)

Palo Alto Players has a smash hit with its production of “Annie.”

Although it’s almost 50 years old, this Tony-winning musical still has the power to charm, thanks to its characters and story.

Inspired by the once-popular comic strip, “Little Orphan Annie,” the book by Thomas Meehan with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin keeps only a few main characters and tells its own story.

In this version, 11-year-old Annie (Julie Li) lives in a New York City orphanage for girls in 1933, during the depths of the Great Depression. Her parents left her there when she was an infant but said they’d come back for her when they could.

The orphanage is overseen by the tippling, tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Morgan Dayley). Her song, “Little Girls,” says all you need to know about how she regards her charges.

Hoping to find her parents, Annie runs away but is soon found and returned to the orphanage. While on the lam, however, she befriends a stray dog, Sandy, here portrayed by Jinkua, a lovable golden retriever.

Back at the orphanage, she happens to be in the right place at the right time when Grace Farrell (Marie Finch) comes by to say that her employer, billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Joey McDaniel), wants an orphan to stay with him in his mansion over Christmas.

Warbucks is so taken with Annie that he wants to adopt her, but she’s supposedly not an orphan. Instead, he pulls strings with Washington higher-ups to launch a national search for her parents.

Aided by his sister, Miss Hannigan, Rooster Hannigan (Brandon Savage) and his girlfriend, Lily St. Regis (Vanessa Mendy), pretend to be Annie’s parents in order to collect a $50,000 reward, but the scheme is uncovered and the three culprits are brought to justice.

Then thanks to an FBI investigation, information is found that clears the way for Warbucks to adopt Annie. In the meantime, she also has charmed President Roosevelt (Charles Evans) and inspired his New Deal.

The show is full of memorable music like “It’s a Hard Knock Life,” sung by the orphans as they scrub the floor, and the show’s optimistic anthem, “Tomorrow,” a real show-stopper.

Director/choreographer Joey Dippel has chosen a terrific, diverse cast of talented actors who sing and dance well.

Li as the endearing title character meets its challenges and then some. All of the other principal characters are noteworthy along with the entire cast.

This production opens with grainy newsreels from the Depression, showing long bread lines, the homeless and unemployed people. Given the crises created by the recent government shutdown, these newsreels are timely.

Adding to the show’s enjoyment are the costumes by Nolan Miranda, set by PAP artistic director Patrick Klein, lighting by Edward Hunter and sound by Brian Foley. The vocal/music director is Pamela Serrano, while the orchestral accompaniment is recorded.

Running about two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission, “Annie” will continue through Nov. 23 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

It has proven so popular that another performance has been added. For details and tickets, call (650) 329-0891 or visit info@paplayers.org.  

 

 

Mateo (Jon Victor Corpuz) and Diane (Lee Anne Payne) drive to San Diego. (Kevin Berne photo)

 

What starts as a journey of discovery for an adopted teenager turns out to reveal discoveries for both him and his adoptive mother.

In this world premiere presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, playwright Jordan Ramirez Puckett’s “The Driving Beat” features Jon Viktor Corpuz as Mateo, a brown, almost 15-year-old, and Lee Ann Payne as Diane, his white adoptive mother.

Livia Gomes Demarchi plays the other characters they encounter as they drive from their home in Ohio to the San Diego hospital where Mateo was born. He hopes to learn about his birth mother.

What Mateo learns about her changes his perception of his ethnicity and causes him and Diane to re-examine and strengthen their relationship.

It also causes him to encourage Diane to stop mourning for her deceased lesbian partner and to open herself to new possibilities.

As directed by TheatreWorks’ Jeffrey Lo, all three actors are outstanding. Payne and Corpuz are convincing as mother and son.

Demarchi embodies all of her miscellaneous characters such as the swaggering cop who stops the travelers’ car and questions whether Mateo is a U.S. citizen. As the waitress in the restaurant of the hotel where they’re staying one night, she inadvertently helps Diane to begin coming to terms with her repressed sexuality.

The play has its moments of humor. However, Mateo’s launching into rap and beatboxing while dancing could be a turnoff to some viewers. According to a Wikipedia entry, beatboxing is “a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.”

Rather than the main stage at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, this play is being presented in the smaller SecondStage with the audience seated on three sides.

Christopher Fitzer’s flexible scenic design uses the space well with only a few set pieces. However, the theater’s walls are filled with traffic signs, license plates and other items to emphasize the road trip.

Other design elements complement the production with lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt, costumes by Lisa Misako Claybaugh and sound by Cliff Caruthers.

First seen in TheatreWorks’ 2024 New Works Festival, this production will continue through Nov. 23 in the theater at 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Some performances will assist people who are hearing or vision impaired.

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

Hillbarn stages 'Murder for Two'

 

Kevin Kelly and Michelle Lemon in "Murder for Two." (Tracy Martin photo)

It was supposed to be a surprise birthday party for successful mystery writer, Arthur Whitney, but just as he was walking through the front door of his New England mansion, he was shot dead.

So begins “Murder for Two,” the musical mystery presented by Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory.

The “two” in the title refers to the fact that only two actors play all of the parts.

Kevin Kelly is Marcus, a local police officer with hopes of becoming a detective, who’s dispatched to investigate, along with his unseen partner.

Michelle Lemon plays the other 12 characters of both genders. All are considered a suspect because everyone had a reason to want to kill Arthur.

With a book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair, the show has shades of Agatha Christie as each suspect’s possible motives are revealed before the surprise ending.

Directed by Jeffrey Bracco with musical direction by Rick Reynolds, both actors do well, especially Lemon, a multi-talented performer who can sing and dance as well differentiate each character with only a shift in vocal tone or posture. Like Kelly, who also sings, she plays the piano, too. Her performance is a true tour-de-force.

The stage design by Eric Olson and mood lighting by Pamila Gray, along with sound by Jeff Mockus and costumes by Madeline Berger, help to set the appropriate mood.

Despite the fine performances, this production seems to drag, especially when a suspect sings his or her story. And then after the actors take what one assumes is their final bow, they return for one more song.

Nevertheless, the opening night audience seemed to enjoy it.

Running about an hour and 45 minutes with no intermission, “Murder for Two” will continue through Nov. 2 at Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.

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

 

 

'Little Women' comes to life at TheatreWorks

 

The March women are, from left, Meg (Emily Ota), Amy (Sharon Shao), Marmee (Cathleen Ridley), Jo (Elissa Beth Stebbins) and Beth (Lauren Hart). Kevin Berne photo

Playwright Lauren Gunderson has an affinity for 19^th century female authors, as evidenced by her adaptations inspired by Jane Austen and now in “Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women,” receiving its world premiere by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

Set in New England during the Civil War, it focuses on the impoverished March family – mother and four daughters – while the father is away at war.

The central character is the second-oldest daughter, Jo (Elissa Beth Stebbins), who sometimes speaks as Alcott herself and who aspires to be a writer. Early in the play she also says she has wished she were a boy.

Meg (Emily Ota) is the oldest sister. Behind them in age are Beth (Lauren Hart) and the youngest, Amy (Sharon Shao). Their mother is called Marmee (Cathleen Riddley), an island of calm and good sense.

Her daughters have their share of sisterly squabbles as well as traumas such as the scarlet fever that Beth contracts. Nevertheless, familial love unites them.

Their neighbor, the personable Laurie (Max Tachis), is deeply in love with Jo, who cherishes their friendship but can’t return his love.

Completing the cast is George Psarras as John, who courts Meg and does double duty as Bhaer, the German scholar who connects with Jo.

Director Giovanna Sardelli has assembled an outstanding group of actors, each one believably embodying his or her character in an endearing fashion. The audience comes to care for each one.

The action occurs over several years and moves from the March household to Europe. Annie Smart’s austere set aids each transition, enhanced by Kurt Landisman’s lighting design and James Ard’s sound design.

Period costumes by Meg Neville are praiseworthy, too.

Running about two and a half hours with a 15-minute intermission, this memorable production will continue through Oct. 12 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.

For tickets and information, including performances to enhance accessibility, call (877) 662-8978 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

 

'Gypsy' gets Palo Alto Players off to a great start

 

Ray D’Ambrosio is Herbie, Whitney Hisako Moore is Louise and  Caitlin Gjerdrum is Mama Rose. (Scott Lasky photo)

Palo Alto players has opened its 95^th season with a splendid production of a musical theater classic, “Gypsy.”

With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents, this 66-year-old masterpiece was inspired by the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee.

Its central character is Mama Rose, the stage mother from hell, who pushed and manipulated her daughters, Louise and June, toward what she hoped would be vaudeville success. In the process, she strained her finances and kept the girls out of school.

Although June showed more promise, she escaped her mother’s clutches by eloping with one of the boys in their act. She became actor June Havoc.

Rose then focused on the reluctant Louise, who eventually blossomed into Gypsy Rose Lee.

Director Janie Scott has assembled a 29-member cast ranging from kids to adults, each creating a believable character.

As Mama Rose, Caitlin Gjerdrum embodies the character’s fierce determination, apparently undaunted by one setback after another. She’s also a terrific singer who belts out such songs as “Everything’s Coming up Roses” and her finale, “Rose’s Turn.”

Portraying her daughters as young girls are Caitlin Segal as June and Phoebe Wagner as Louise. Segal’s June is featured in “Let Me Entertain You,” singing, dancing and, in another sequence, baton twirling, while Wagner’s Louise is clearly uncomfortable. She knows that she doesn’t have Louise’s talent.

However, they both sing well.

Their adult characters are played by Samantha Borthwick as June and Whitney Hisako Moore as Louise, both of whom are talented.

Another noteworthy performance comes from Ray D’Ambrosio as the longsuffering Herbie, who becomes the girls’ manager and falls in love with Rose. He hopes to marry her, but she keeps putting him off.

The three burlesque strippers add comic touches thanks to Kristina Nakagawa as Tessie Tura, Chloe Angst as the horn-tooting Mazeppa and Barbara Heninger as a decrepit Electra in “You Gotta Get a Gimmick.”

Scott’s direction is enhanced by choreography by Michael Saenz, especially his routine for Tulsa (Ralph Shehayed) in “All I Need Is the Girl.”

Kudos to music and vocal director Amanda Ku, who conducts from the orchestra pit.

Costumes by Jenny Garcia help to define the characters, as do the hair, wigs and makeup by Nicole Hoke.

Scenic design by Kevin Davies establishes each scene yet is flexible enough for quick changes. The sound is by Chris Beer, the lighting by Noah Price.

The Sept. 7 matinee featured two ASL interpreters seated house left who made the show accessible to the hearing impaired.

Theatergoers also saw some construction equipment and fencing around Lucie Stern Center, which is undergoing roof repairs.

Running about three hours with one intermission, this thoroughly entertaining production of “Gypsy” will continue through Sept. 21 in the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

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

Hillbarn opens season with laugh-filled 'Plaza Suite'

 

Karen (Laura Jane Young, center) has her doubts about the relationship between Sam (Will Springhorn Jr.) and Jean (Jessie Kirkwood). Photo by Mark Kitaoka

Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory is launching its 85^th season with a Neil Simon comedy, “Plaza Suite.”

Set in the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City in late 1968 and early 1969, its three acts spotlight three different couples who stay there. The couples are played by the same two actors, Will Springhorn Jr. and Laura Jane Young.

In Act1, the couple is staying there while their suburban house is being painted. As it opens, the wife, Karen, is waiting for her husband, Sam, so that they can celebrate their 40-something anniversary.

When Sam arrives, he’s busy with business reports and tries to ignore her. He’s soon joined by his secretary, Jean (Jessie Kirkwood), supposedly to review those reports before they go back to the office.

Karen intuits that Sam and Jean are having an affair. It’s not a happy ending.

In Act 2, a successful Hollywood movie producer, Jessie, connects with his high school girlfriend, Muriel. She’s married with children, while he has had three unsuccessful marriages.

He has an idealized view of her and tries to seduce her. She resists at first, but eventually gives in.

In Act 3, Roy and Norma are all set for their daughter’s marriage, but Mimsey  (Kirkwood) has locked herself in the bathroom and refuses to come out. When they finally learn why she’s so afraid of marriage, they’re forced to look at their own relationship.

Completing the cast are Will Livingston (on opening night) as a bellhop and the groom-to-be and Mauricio Suarez as a room service waiter.

As directed by Marissa Keltie and aided by costume designer Lisa Claybaugh, Springhorn and Young successfully navigate the challenges of their characters.

However, Simon tends to make the male lead domineering and the female lead dithering. Hence there’s an underlying sameness to them, especially the two husbands.

Nevertheless, there are lots of laughs as well as insights into the perils of coupledom.

Production values are high with lighting by Pamila Gray, set by Eric Olson and sound by Jeff Mockus.

The program has interesting information about the history of Hillbarn as well the Plaza Hotel. For example, the hotel was bought by Donald Trump in 1988. He installed his then-wife, Ivana, as president and manager. They made renovations and redecorated before going through a nasty divorce and losing the hotel to foreclosure in 1995.

Running about two and a half hours with two intermissions, “Plaza Suite” will continue through Sept. 14 in Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.

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

 

TheatreWorks premieres 'Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical'

 

From left: Ashley Cowl as Edna, Stepanie Gibson as Sissy, Shakina as Joanne and Stella Mae (Hayley Lovgren) gather for their reunion. (Photo by Kevin Berne)

James Dean was movie idol whose death in a car accident in 1955 at the age of 24 caused his legions of fans, especially teenage girls, to go into mourning.

In “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical,” some fan club members gather for a reunion honoring him 20 years later. Their small hometown in Texas is near the setting of his last film, “Giant.”

In this world premiere presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, they meet in a dime store owned by Loretta (Judith Miller) a Southern Baptist widow. They include Mona (Lauren Marcus), Sissy (Stephanie Gibson), Stella Mae (Hayley Lovgren) and Edna Louise (Ashley Cowl).

They’re soon joined by a mysterious stranger driving a Porsche. She reveals herself to be Joanne (Shakin

a), who 20 years ago was known as Joe, Mona’s husband.

On top of that, Mona has a son (Ellie Van Amerongen) whom she has named Jimmy Dean because she supposedly had a one-night stand with the movie star when he was in the area. She also makes a claim to fame because she was in a crowd scene in “Giant.”

Secrets are revealed and relationships challenged during the reunion.

Director Giovanna Sardelli, who is TheatreWorks’ artistic director, has assembled a talented ensemble cast with each member spotlighted individually or in a group and creating a memorable character.

Although everyone sings well, Shakina’s lyrics can be hard to discern in Dan Gillespie Sells’ country western-style music. It might be helpful to follow the San Francisco Opera’s use of supertitles -- even for operas in English.

The book by Ashley Robinson is based on Ed Graczyk’s play, which has had several stage and film iterations.

The artistic team makes noteworthy contributions with musical direction by Jacob Yates, set by Nina Ball, costumes by Alina Bokovikova, lighting by Kurt Landisman and sound by Cliff Caruthers.

TheatreWorks presented a staged reading of the show in its New Works Festival last year.

Running just under two hours with no intermission, “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” will continue through July 13 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.