2007-01 Vital Source Mag – January 2007
Third and Oak
By Peggy Sue Dunigan Third and Oak is the third installment of Dramatists Theatre’s 2006-2007 season that is revisiting the work of Marsha Norman. Norman, who was most recently nominated for a 2006 Tony Award after comprising the libretto for The Color Purple, once again observes, as she puts it, “people you wouldn’t even notice in life.” In this two-act play, one set in a laundromat, another in a pool hall, both locations are placed at the corner of Third and Oak. At 3 in the morning, Alberta Johnson, an older woman seeking silence, and DeeDee Johnson, a young newly married woman seeking company, clash as they “suds their duds,” both literally and metaphorically as they wash and talk about the complexities in their marriages. Marilyn White as Alberta is quietly stilted as a grieving wife, while Libby Amato gives DeeDee a hurried, uncontrolled appeal. Although sometimes Amato’s speech is rushed, which gives the audience little time to understand what she is trying to tell Alberta. Norman gives the second act, which revolves around a pool table, weightier dialogue, with more emotion shot with lines of humor. Tony Mozli-Warren, as the father like figure of Willie, and Muhammad Mahdi, as Shooter, relate as if they truly are family. Here Shooter, a late night DJ, tries to settle his score in life as he and Willie discuss his relationships to the hard drinking trio his late father, Willie, and another friend, George, created. The relationship is complicated by the fact Shooter has married Sondra, George’s daughter, and there is no child to carry on the family name. Shooter, who dropped off his laundry before visiting Willie, has also invited DeeDee to join him in the pool hall, as these two characters overlap the two acts. The black box theatre on the fourth floor of the Marion Center, appropriately sparse for both settings, is long and narrow. However, occasionally the dialogue is difficult to hear when the actor’s backs are turned, or above the breaking of the cue balls. But as Shooter says every late evening as he signs off the radio and heads to Willie’s for pool, “it’s 3 in the morning when it’s time to rock your daddy to dreams of delight.” And unknown, this may be exactly the right time to discover the surprises in your dreams, your life and someone to share them with, whether searching for them or not. This play is an interesting addition to this season of Norman’s work, which, as she explains, continues to explore “people having the nerve to go on.” Fortunately small theater companies take these opportunities. VS Third and Oak runs through January 27at Dramtists Theatre on the fourth floor of the Marion Center, 3211 South Lake Drive, St. Francis. Ticket information at: www.dramtiststheatre.com.
Jan 23rd, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Jake’s Women
Everyone who has ever known anyone has talked to people while they weren’t there. The little fractions of imagination required to talk to people without them knowing about it keeps most people psychologically well adjusted. Everyone knows that. Not everyone writes a play about it, though. With Jake’s Women, Neil Simon explores imaginary conversations as they relate to writers and other people who suffer. The Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove continues its season with a thoughtful, tender production of Simon’s comic drama. Michael Chobanoff stars as Jake, a frazzled writer trying to confront his wife Maggie (Coleen Tutton) about the growing emotional distance between the two of them. Jake’s imagination is frequently visited by women he’s known over the course of his life. When he needs advice, for instance, he imagines conversations with his sister Karen (a brashly witty Jamieson Hawkins). When he feels the need to be comforted in a variety of different ways, he has conversations with his daughter Molly (played as a precocious girl by seasoned child actress Molly Langhenry and as a young adult by Shannon Ishizaki). Stand out performances by actresses playing women in Jake’s head include Bonnie Krah as Jake’s therapist and Lindsay Nylen as his late first wife Julie. The fact that Jake is having imaginary sessions with his therapist is one of the more inspired bits in the script and Krah delivers on it with a very precise comic presence. Nylen holds the right amount of charm and beauty to convincingly play that perfect woman in Jake’s past. Her character gains a dimension when she asks for Jake to have imaginary conversations with the whole her – imperfections and all. Nylen matches the character’s extra volume in very subtle but palpable shades. Ruth Arnell rounds out the cast as a young woman named Sheila. When Jake and his wife try some time away from each other, Jake dates Sheila to fill the void of intimacy in his life. She’s attractive. She’s affectionate. But she doesn’t know him, so there’s no real substantial intimacy. We see him speak with her while his mind is casually falling apart. It develops into a cleverly written dialogue between Jake, Sheila and Jake’s uncontrolled imaginary interruptions by Maggie. It’s an almost musical bit of three-part comedy. Arnell (who appeared as the female lead in Sunset’s production of The Seven Year Itch last season) is an excellent comic beauty, almost flawlessly performing her part in the three-person interaction. Happening early on after a 15-minute intermission, that dialogue is the last bit of truly inspired work on Simon’s end of things before the final curtain. Much of the last act is spent slowly wrapping things up in the most obvious way possible. The ending is far too tidy for the complexities Simon introduces in the hour or so before intermission. The cast glides through Simon’s occasional flashes of wit and brilliance with only a few moments of friction between stage and script. Chobanoff tackles the central role here remarkably […]
Jan 15th, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
The simple staging Nevermore Theatre adheres to works perfectly for William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark that opened the weekend of January 5. The audience focuses on the play, the verse and prose, where multiple lines of the most quoted and remembered words in the English language are given context. Recognized as perhaps the greatest tragedy written by Shakespeare, the production rivets eyes and ears even at a running time of three hours, which Nevermore supposedly reduced by a third. Not presented on a Milwaukee professional stage since 1959, this performance is a prerequisite for theater lovers. Believed to have been written somewhere around 1600, Hamlet represents the mid-point in Shakespeare’s career, casting variety to his verse, pauses becoming part of the rhythm to his prose and increased strength in his richness of imagery, irony, and intricate plots where war, love, revenge, murder and madness rival each other. Prince Hamlet is resentful that his Uncle Claudius, the King of Denmark, has married his mother, Gertrude, after the death of his father. He suspects his father was murdered, suggested by an apparition appearing to him, and vows to seek the truth, along with the appropriate revenge. To discover if these suspicions are truth, Hamlet stages a play: “The play’s the thing where I’ll catch the conscience of the King.” When performed before the court with lines showcasing murderous actions similar to his own father’s death, Claudius and Gertrude become visibly shaken. Hamlet, tormented by grief and the uncertainty of delivering thisnow known rightful revenge, descends into his own madness, rejects the love of Ophelia and ultimately induces a course of actions and reactions that spiral into more madness and death, sealing his own destiny but restoring righteousness to the crown of Denmark. One of Shakespeare’s most intelligently written characters, Hamlet is a choice performance for Joe Foust who gives the Prince a dry wit and youthful exuberance, not overly undone by his madness. Angela Iannone as Gertrude retains a powerful presence on stage, although a limited role, while Kelley Ristow depicts Ophelia as tender as the flowers she holds after her father’s funeral. Spending three hours with Shakespeare through the eyes of Hamlet sends a message that classical theatre is indeed timeless. The questions Hamlet asks of himself are again asked to the audience with renewed insight and reflection. The complications created by the course of individual human nature are often unpredictable. To accept circumstances as they are, the remnants of grief and suffering, or the reasoning behind chosen reactions to those circumstances that may lead to complex and unforeseen consequences spiraling into unfortunate destruction, remain relevant. And as such, Nevermore Theatre’s production of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, almost fifty years overdue, reminds us that Shakespeare’s words and plays are indeed the most important thing. VS Hamlet, Prince of Denmark runs at the Off-Broadway Theatre through January 21. Ticketsare $20.00, with reduced rates for students. Call 414.278.0765 for information.
Jan 9th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Marion Bridge
By Russ Bickerstaff Three somewhat estranged sisters come together and end up substantially closer as their mother passes away in Daniel McIvor’s Marion Bridge. The play, set in the pastoral stillness of Nova Scotia, has met with some considerable success since it first appeared on stage several years ago. The Boulevard Ensemble Studio Theater presents an intimate look at the drama and comedy of the three sisters in its production running through the middle of the month. The play opens with a monologue by Carol Hirschi in the role of Agnes. Agnes is a struggling actress living in Toronto and has been away from her mother and her sisters for quite some time. For the most part, Hirschi’s wild and brazen stage presence serves the role remarkably well. The edge of authenticity slides off her performance very occasionally, but it doesn’t detract from her overall effect on the production. Hirschi’s wild, frenzied energy is counterbalanced by Cheryl Ann in the role of Theresa, Agnes’ sister who happens to be a nun. Theresa is the pseudo maternal glue that holds the sisters together. She’s been looking after her ailing mother with a degree of Christian self-righteousness. McIvor’s script slowly adds emotional depth to the character over the course of the story and such subtlety isn’t lost to Cheryl Ann, who graciously complies with the level of depth the character is being offered, but it isn’t enough. McIvor simply does NOT allow Theresa enough of an opportunity to expand outside the standard image of a prim and proper nun. As a result, the character works best when placed in situations that are interesting enough to make her appear to have greater depth. Theresa is also looking after her sister Louise, who lives at home with her and their mother. Beth Monhollen plays the shy, inexpressive Louise, who spends much of her time watching TV. Gradually, the character opens up to cast and audience alike, providing some of the McIvor’s most vivid, descriptive dialogue. Each of the sisters has a monologue at some point in the play and Louise’s is by far the most moving. The really impressive end of Monhollen’s performance, however, doesn’t even involve dialogue. Hirschi and Monhollen share a scene playing a game of cards. There’s a lot here that isn’t expressed verbally between the characters. Something is communicated in actions and mannerisms over the course of the brief card game that is almost certainly being misunderstood by both parties. It’s a clever moment that recalls a similar scene in The Rep’s production of Born Yesterday. The production is modest, consisting of a very cozy-looking domestic set complete with a few small details. Occasionally we hear the sound of Louise’s soap opera coming in from the next room. The audio for the soap opera that’s been pre-recorded for the production is a lot of fun. An uncredited Joe Fransee and a similarly uncredited female actress ooze over-the-top melodrama ever so briefly. Even though it doesn’t sound at all like the […]
Jan 5th, 2007 by Vital Archives
Guys on Ice
By Peggy Sue Dunigan This wishing hole, found in Marvin’s wooden ice shanty, brings magic once again as Guys on Ice replays in The Rep’s Stiemke Theater for a record sixth engagement. Originally produced by The Rep and American Folklore Theater from Door County in 1998 as part of Wisconsin’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, Marvin and Lloyd’s day on the ice in Northern Wisconsin continues to fish for laughter. Imaginative lyrics by Fred Alley and memorable music by James Kaplan populate the delightful songs, including “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit,” which entertains while Marvin and Lloyd attempt to solve life’s problems attaching flatheads to hooks on a pole. Waiting for a prominent local TV host to capture their ice fishing wisdom on the tube, they wish for Leinenkugel beer and Green Bay Packer games. After Ernie the Moocher delivers shattering news, the two return to the comforts of ice fishing with a revised view of life, including the fact that heaven must be made of ice, with 50-pound perch, no limit. Doug Mancheski as Marvin and Steven M. Koehler as Lloyd retain their on-stage camaraderie that feels fresh even after 500 performances. Mancheski’s comedic timing and facial expressions are priceless, he seems to embody Marvin completely, especially in “The Ice Fishing King: What Elvis was to rock & roll, I’m with the ice fishing pole.” Both voices compliment James Kaplans’s keyboard, visually surrounded with lighted fish, while Lee Becker’s “Ernie” makes quick ad-libs during the slightly too long “half time intermission.” Like so many zips in a snowmobile suit, this cast is hard to resist. Capturing a bit of Wisconsin tradition and wit, Guys on Ice will resonate with all generations. The theater opening night was at capacity, and all ages were represented. This production, complete with charming ice shanty, reminisces Fred Alley’s performances of Lloyd before his untimely death in 2002. Mancheski and Koehler embrace Alley’s vision of upper Wisconsin characters and idiosyncrasies with warmth and affection. Even the lines about Vanna White and Brett Favre remain current. The Rep tours this production through several Wisconsin cities, Cedarburg, Hartford, Baraboo, Eau Claire, to name a few, and Red Wing, Minnesota, after the limited run at the Stiemke. Guys on Ice is a well-spent evening of entertainment, as Lloyd and Marvin become friends worth revisiting a second or third time. Alley’s tribute to ice fishing is timeless fun: “Life is short…winter is long. We all need a wishing hole.” VS Guys on Ice plays at the Stiemke Theater in the Patty and Jay Theater Complex until January 7, then tours from January 18-February 25. Ticket prices, performance times, and tour schedule: milwaukeerep.com.
Jan 2nd, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Dollars, Worries & Lives
By Amy Elliott + Photos by Richard Galling The Smith and Wesson Model 10 double-action revolver has been in continuous production for more than 100 years, and has been the weapon of choice for police departments everywhere for almost as long. An elegant piece with black grips and a carbon-steel barrel, it evokes suits, cocktails and spies. List price is $632; used models start at $350. The Glock .22 is a little less sexy than the revolver, but is the weapon of choice for graduates of the FBI training academy, U.S. Marshals and agents of the DEA. This heavy semi-automatic pistol, made from dense polymer and steel, will put you back at least $480. Nothing communicates quite as clearly as a well-placed Kalashnikov. Otherwise known as the AK-47, it is the world’s most widely used assault rifle, comprises a large chunk of the illicit small arms trade and is relatively cheap to acquire, starting in the $300 range for older models. If you’re the DIY type, you could consider purchasing a conversion kit to turn your semi-automatic pistol into a submachine gun. It wouldn’t run you more than $250. Of course, knock-off brands of any of these models are substantially cheaper, starting well under $200. And a 50-count box of .38 specials could cost you less than a quarter per bullet. Less than a gumball. Almost every gun on the illegal market starts out in the legal market. Somehow, through dealer negligence, criminal cunning or outright theft, these guns enter an ambiguous realm. They may stay in gray space forever, changing hands, stashed under beds. Then again, they may resurface. And they may do some damage. Ecology Some people call Riverwest the West Bank of Milwaukee. At least one man calls it the Gaza Strip – a narrow buffer zone between the city’s racial and economic zones. Don Krause has lived in the neighborhood for 17 years. He owns Art Bar on East Burleigh, a sunny, spacious corner where local artists and tipplers come to relax in the glow of collective creative energy. Drinks are cheap and the art on the walls is priced to move. In the summer of 2005, Krause was shot in the stomach by a teenager who was trying to rob a customer. For months, Krause was the poster child of gun violence in the neighborhood, and his colorful watering hole became the rallying banner of concerned citizens and community activists. “You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing ‘Art Bar’ and ‘shooting’ in the same sentence,” he says. But not all publicity is good publicity. The perception that an area is dangerous may determine its viability. A 2000 study by the National Institute of Justice found that fear of crime had a direct effect on a neighborhood’s social ecology – most commonly in the form of “spatial avoidance.” It makes sense – why spend time in a bad part of town? But it also makes it harder for businesses, and the communities they serve, to thrive. Krause’s […]
Jan 1st, 2007 by Amy Elliott
Berzerk!
By Russ Bickerstaff The Bucks won a close one against the Timberwolves at the Bradley Center on the evening of December 16. Across the street that night the late 19th century decay of the Tuner Hall Ballroom looked like something out of Escape From New York. Lights that were cast into a vast darkness mixed with light coming in from downtown to bathe the mostly empty 7,000 square feet in a pleasantly eerie visual drama. The restoration of the Ballroom is far from complete, giving the overall impression of a once great performance space that is slowly waking up from a long hibernation. Alamo Basement and Insurgent Theatre were set to perform a series of alarmingly short bits – an evening they’d titled: Gorilla Theater: Berzerk! Before the show began, Alamo Basement’s Mike Q. Hanlon took audience-suggested sentences and playwrights were then given the task of incorporating them into theatrical bits they were given 10 minutes to write. The bits were set to be performed at the end of the show. Someone in the audience suggested something about low-fat lard that fell on deaf ears. Local stand-up comic Rich Greenfield suggested, “The dog went home,” which was perfect. Anyone who has ever attended an improv comedy show knows that the vague and ambiguous suggestions tend to illicit the best responses. In the less than two hours that followed, roughly 20 – 22 short plays quickly cascaded through the shadows. Prior to the evening, local writers were given lines from Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and asked to form whole bits of staged comedy and drama from them in ten minutes or less. As evidenced by the show that night, the writers had met with mixed success. Voices and footsteps echoed around the darkness announcing the title and author of each piece. The lights raised and a piece was performed by actors dressed mostly in nondescript black garb. The lights fell and there was applause mingling with the sound of actors scurrying about in preparation for the next bit. With the audience flanking the actors on two sides with folding chairs in the big empty of Turner Hall Ballroom, voices echoed a bit much at times and it was a bit difficult to hear all the dialogue, but Alamo Basement and Insurgent Theatre put on an unsettlingly enjoyable evening with Gorilla Theater. The bits ranged in style quite a bit, but the overall feel was one of surrealist comedy. Stand outs included Hanlon’s eerie Anticipation and Wes Tank’s vividly surreal The Un-Rainbow Kind. John Manno’s Iphegenia’s Doggie was the story of a woman losing her pet dog as told in the fashion and passion of a Greek tragedy complete with chorus. Shannon Smith’s I Never Heard of Uglification featured perhaps the most visionary visualization for the space. A narrator from the second floor balcony vividly spoke words detailing actions performed in silence on the stage below. The Ballroom’s balcony was used in a number of pieces, most prominently in Alisa Rosenthal Haywire […]
Jan 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Jayk
By Evan Solochek + Photo by Dan Kocka With Robert Smith hair and a smooth yet commanding baritone that evokes a maturity and polish beyond his young age, Jayk is poised for big things. His debut album, everything ever, will be released any minute now, and yet Jayk has already landed a sponsorship deal with DC Shoes, toured the country from coast to coast and appeared on MTV2 and Fuel TV; not bad for a 22-year-old kid from West Bend. To hear more from Jayk, check out www.myspace.com/thatjaykwhosings. 1. What are your musical influences? I’ve always really appreciated the bands that I thought were great at writing lyrically as well as musically: Death Cab for Cutie, Rachael Yamagata, Tegan and Sara, City & Colour, Decibully… Most recently, Imogen Heap has really struck a chord with me. There is a side of me that still loves metal and hardcore too. 2. What was your earliest experience with music? Both my parents were involved with the church choir when I was very young; my father played the guitar and my mother sang. My dad was very much a jazz/blues guy, but he definitely had a lot of great classic rock albums. The first album I ever got into was a Yes album my dad kept in his collection. I remember being about 5 years old and I would sit in front of the record player and listen to “Roundabout” over and over. 3. What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far? The first real show I did was opening for Since By Man and Misery Signals. Apparently the original opener dropped off, and I was really worried that no one would like me. These were hardcore bands, for Christ’s sake, and I’m pretty much the furthest thing from it. I played like 5 songs and got the shakes really bad, but I got through it and with a very good response from the crowd. 4. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it? I’ve heard myself compared to many things I like (Jeff Buckley, City & Colour) and many things I dislike (Jason Mraz, Howie Day, even Ryan Cabrera). I like to let everyone make their own assumptions about what they think they hear. I play guitar and I sing. To me, I sound like me. 5. Where were you a year ago, and where do you see yourself this time next year? A year ago I was a struggling, inexperienced kid chasing what seemed like the impossible – no job and barely a roof over my head. Although I am now making giant steps in my career, it will always be a struggle to consistently create great music and keep everybody’s ears tuned in. By next year I hope to have settled with a record label that I am comfortable with, and be writing and recording more than I currently am; I’ve got a lot yet to say. VS
Jan 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
Listening to the new album from Austin’s …Trail of Dead reminds me of a 1992 quote from Faith No More’s keyboardist Roddy Bottum, regarding their tour mates Guns N’ Roses, who had morphed from a gritty LA sleaze-metal band into a bloated juggernaut: “I’m getting more and more confused about who’s in Guns N’ Roses, and it’s blowing my mind. Onstage now there’s a horn section, two chick backup singers, two keyboard players, an airplane pilot, a basketball coach, a coupla car mechanics…” One gets the same impression from So Divided. Back when TOD was unleashing chaos-rock on 2002’s brilliant Source Tags and Codes, they were lean and mean, but with their recent releases – 2005’s Worlds Apart and now So Divided – the band has chosen to expand their sound through bizarre stylistic shifts and ballooning instrumentation until you’re left wondering what these guys care about more – writing huge, epic songs, or just being huge and epic? “Stand in Silence,” the first proper song on the album, summarizes this frustration. The track opens with a classic TOD riff; the rhythm marches with a staggering, swaying funk backbeat while the vocals call the listener to action. But just as the song is about to take it to the bridge, it skids off the rails into a confusing symphonic second movement that sounds completely removed from the rock & roll book-ending it. The same thing happens to “Naked Sun,” which inexplicably transforms from a bluesy shuffle into more overwrought Tolkien-soundtrack shenanigans. When …Trail of Dead keep it simple, like on the title track, they’re still powerful, but overall So Divided is a mess with a badass rock record buried somewhere inside. VS
Jan 1st, 2007 by DJ Hostettler
