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Regional Reviews: San Francisco Antony and Cleopatra, The Picture of Dorian Gray and How Lucky Can You Get?
Antony and Cleopatra is infrequently staged since the action ranges from Rome to Alexandria, with epic battles, legions of soldiers, and all of the extravagance and opulence of Cleopatra's Egypt. It needs expensive theatrical designs to make it work. This is a simpler version without a lot of bells and whistles. This marks the third time I have seen this "Roman" play, beginning with the legendary production with Laurence Olivier as Antony and Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra at the St. James Theatre in 1951. The last time I saw the historical drama was at the National Theatre in 1998 with Anthony Hopkins as Antony and Judi Dench as Cleopatra. The Bard's play takes place after the death of Caesar, and Rome is being ruled by a triumvirate of Mark Antony (Marvin Greene), Octavius Caesar (William Elsman) and Lepidus (Julian Lopez-Morillas). Of course, Mark Antony, who is a goodtime Charlie, loves to throw parties and spends most of his time with the sensuous Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra (Marcia Pizzo). What happens after that are wars, battles and people changing sides in the conflicts. The company has left the ship used in The Taming of the Shrew on stage, and it now becomes the ship of Pompey (Matt Franta), who is instrumental in the battles. Marvin Greene gives a mannered performance as Antony. He offers a more modern take of the general who is smitten with Cleopatra. It's a robust performance. Marcia Pizzo is provocative as Cleopatra, and one can see why Antony has fallen head over heels in love with the Egyptian Queen. She successfully conveys mercurial wittiness, especially in the scene where the messenger, played very well by Darren Bridget, delivers the news that Antony is married. She jealously delivers a joke rather than a threat: "though I am mad, I will not bite him," regarding the messenger who has delivered the bad news. Her death scene is beautifully accomplished. William Elsman, playing Octavius, once again proves that he is a good Shakespearian actor. He has the commanding theatrical voice of a Roman general in every scene in which he appears. Julian Lopez-Morillas as Lepidus handles the Shakespearean dialogue perfectly. Stephen Klum, with a great dramatic voice, is galvanizing with the poetic speech of Enobarbus who remains loyal to Mark Antony. Cat Thompson in a small role as Mark Antony's second wife Octavia gives a genuine performance. Garry Grossman does a fine portrayal of the eunuch Mardian. Matt Franta swaggers through the role of Pompey (usually played by Mark Robinson). The rest of the supporting cast is excellent in various roles. Special credit should go to Richard Lane for his tight and speedy fight scenes and Abra Bermann, whose lavish costumes are realistic to the period. Lesley Currier moves the large cast smoothly around the large outdoor set. Antony and Cleopatra will run with The Taming of the Shrew through September 25th. For tickets call 415-499-4488 or visit at www.marinshakespeare.org.
Over the years I have seen several productions of Oscar Wilde's classic in London, starting in 1970 with The Evils of Dorian Gray with Helmut Berger, playing the man who did not age, supported by Richard Todd and Herbert Lom. Later I saw a John Osborne adaptation and then a production at the Hammersmith off the West End with Rupert Everett and Tim Pigott-Smith. There have been excellent films on this iniquitous character, including MGM's classic starring Hurd Hatfield and George Sanders, and the BBC production starring Peter Firth, John Gielgud and Jeremy Brent. John Fisher has made a lot of changes for this three-hour presentation. It is part avant-garde theatre, part overly melodramatic acting, part opera, part Martha Graham dance and even a little of the Expressionistic films of the '20s. In one scene, Dorian, Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward are talking while four actors playing servers do a Germanic dance straight out of German films of the '20s—in pantomime. The audience watches this extraordinary scene rather than listening to the three men talking. The Picture of Dorian Gray contains many inventive scenes, such as the overly long masochistic scene when the actors slap themselves silly, which indicates that dear Dorian is going to become a sadist and sink into the depravity of a bisexual who frequents opium dens in the back alleys of Victorian London. Dorian even strips himself completely naked before the audience to show he has become that person. The play is presented in a completely plain black box with no props other than a few chairs. There is a strong homoerotic subtext brought out through the characters Dorian, Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward. Many of the scenes are dramatized by loud, operatic music, some from film scores. Unfortunately, there is not enough Wilde in this play and maybe just too many bells and whistles. The production seriously needs cutting by thirty to forty five minutes. The acting is very good, with Aaron Martinsen (Ishi; Eastenders and Masque productions) playing the degenerate Dorian Gray. He gives an interesting performance, especially when Dorian becomes a malevolent person in the murky Victorian world of backstreet theatres and opium dens. The Lord Henry role is a difficult one for an actor since most of the lines are Wildean witticisms. John Fisher pulls this off very adeptly without seeming as though he memorized the book of quotations. He delivers Wilde's aphorisms as though they are natural speech. However, sometimes they lose some punch or wittiness. Jef Valentine (Pearls over Shanghai, Theodora: She-Bitch of Byzantium, Hot Greeks) is excellent as Basil Hallward. He is suitability intense as the obsessed painter in an adaptation that brings to the surface the homoerotic subtext of Wilde's novel. Maryssa Wanlass works well with the character Sybil Vane. Her suicide scene is straight out of the movie The Snake Pit. Stephen Chun, Celia Maurice and Adam Simpson are first rate playing various roles in this production. Special mention should be made of Christine U'Ren's Victorian costumes, which are very authentic to the period. Anthony Power's lighting and Mark O'Brien's sound design are great assets to the presentation of the drama. The Picture of Dorian Gray plays through September 19th at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco. For tickets call 415-552-4100 or visit www.TheRhino.org. Coming up next for the Rhinoceros Theatre will be Marga Gomez New Year's Eve Spectacular on December 31 at the Eureka Theatre. On February 2, 2011, they will present Stephen Sondheim's Marry Me a Little. Photo: David Wilson
The immensely talented and versatile songstress Darlene Popovic recently presented a very good laid-back show called How Lucky Can You Get? at the intimate showroom at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. The chanteuse has graced the stage in many 42nd Street Moon musical productions and now she had a chance to shine on her own. Darlene Popovic, with Joe Wicht on piano, presented an all Kander and Ebb program with numbers from Cabaret and Chicago plus their lesser known shows like The Act, 70 Girls 70, The Rink and The Happy Time. This artist showed she can belt out songs like "Razzle Dazzle" from Chicago or "Ring Them Bells" from Liza with a Z. On "The Money Song" Joe Wicht joined in on the chorus, segueing into a heartwarming rendition of "Meeskite" followed by "Maybe This Time." Darlene also sang a swinging arrangement of "Don't Tell Mama" and ended the two-hour gig with "Why Should I Wake Up" from the original production of Cabaret. She sang "Walking Among My Yesterdays" from The Happy Time and "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" from The Rink. She was sincere singing "I Don't Need Much" from 70 Girls 70 and a droll version of one of my favorite songs from the show,"The Elephant Song." The singer did a sensual rendition of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" from the musical of the same name and a cool reading of "How Lucky Can You Get" from the film Funny Lady. She was bouncy singing "The Grass Is Always Greener" from Woman of the Year and comical singing "Arthur in the Afternoon" from The Act. She also sang "Sara Lee" from And the World Goes 'Round with great verve. She was naughty singing the Debra Monk song from Steel Pier called "Everybody's Girl." Popovic told the audience that as a child her grandmother who, knew only a few words of English, loved "I Love Lucy." The grandmother once missed an episode so Darlene had to tell her the story in Serbo-Croatian. She repeated the story to the audience in that language and then went into a great arrangement of "New York, New York" in that language. This was a great informal show listening to some of Kander and Ebb's greatest songs. How Lucky Can You Get? ran through September 11 at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness off Market, San Francisco.
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