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Regional Reviews: San Francisco The Verona Project, Indulgences in the Louisville Harem and Nancy Dussault at the Rrazz Room
Eight musicians ramble onto the outdoor stage of the Bruins Amphitheatre and you wonder if this is going to be a rock concert or a Shakespearean play. One of the musicians tells us that we are to see a story of childhood friends: Proteus, Valentine and Julia, the girl who comes between them. This is the world premiere of The Verona Project, written, composed and directed by nationally acclaimed director Amanda Dehnert and presented as California Shakespeare Company's second production of the season. The Verona Project isn't just a play, it's also a band composed of eight actors playing three times as many instruments, performing a hybrid of theatre that marries Shakespeare's tales to real life. There is a bit of the Bard's words thrown in for good measure. The music is a wonderful array of musical styles from folk to polka to rock. I also detected some Kurt Weill influence and traditional show tunes in this eclectic score. Dehnert's work is a transformation of the friendship of two 13-year-old boys, Proteus (Dan Clegg) and Valentine (Nate Trinrud), growing up in the small town of True along with Julia (Arwen Anderson), also 13. She eventually becomes Proteus' intended as he grows up to be a young adult. The couple vow their love and become engaged to be engaged once they discover who they really are. Meanwhile, Valentine has run off to the big city to be a poet for hire. Proteus' father tells him he should go out and find himself before wedding the lovely Julia, so he also heads to the city in hopes of finding his friend Valentine so they can sow some "wild oats" together. All does not go smoothly in the second act when Valentine discovers his homosexual side and begins an affair with Sylvio, the son of the Duke (Adam Yazbeck) of the city. Sylvio has been promised to Thuria (Elena Wright), his childhood girlfriend, because his father wishes it so. The Duke is not only unhappy about this turn of events but with the idea that his son is gay. He throws his son into prison, and the guard is Julia dressed as a man. To make all of this more confusing, Proteus thinks he might be gay and "falls" for Sylvio. Of course all's well that ends well. The young actors give excellent performances and play well the various instruments, which include the prerequisite acoustic guitar and electric bass and also the unusual: accordion, ukulele, washboard, harmonica, French horn and mandolin. Daniel Ostling has designed an interesting backdrop that slides from right to left showing weird drawings of life and death and even a tree covered with blood. Arwen Anderson (Love in American Times) gives a winning performance as Julia. Her timing and even her short little sentences in the second act are magnetizing. She has melodic vocal cords singing two of the show's finest ballads: The Quiet," with the harmonic voices of Marisa Duchowny and Elena Wright; and the beautiful love duet "Meaning of O" with Dan Clegg. She rocks the house with her vibrant solo "Julia Says." Dan Clegg (young Scrooge in A.C.T. A Christmas Carol and numerous productions in Montreal) is enchantingly muddled enough to be pleasant, even when he deceives his best friend Valentine and girlfriend Julia and tries to make Valentine's lover. Phil Mills (numerous productions for A.C.T's Master of Fine Arts Program) gives an appealing performance as Sylvio. Nate Trinrud (Chicago actor, recent graduate of Northwestern University) holds his own in an enamoring and penetrating performance as Valentine, especially in the developing love story with Sylvio. Adam Yazbeck (Man of Rock) gives a strong performance as the Duke and he shows strong vocal cords in his solos. Elena Wright gives a great performance as Sylvio's fiancée Thuria. Harold Pierce is entertainingly restless as Speed. The Verona Project is being presented at the California Shakespeare Theatre in Orinda through July 31. Tickets can be purchased at 510-548-9666 or online at www.calshakes.org. Coming next is George Bernard Shaw's Candida opening on August 10 and running through September 4.
Indulgences in the Louisville Harem is about two spinster sisters in 1902 in Louisville, Kentucky. They have lived in the same house since they were children. They refer to an uncle in two lovely monologues to the audience at the beginning of the two-hour play. He comes by occasionally to make sure the house is in good order. (He is not seen in the play). These two middle-age sisters have lived in quiet solitude for several years when they receive in the mail "Mrs. Whiting's New Book of Eligible Gentlemen." They decide to so something impetuous and unusual by treating themselves to an "order" of two escorts. Two very unusual bachelors show up on their door, Amos and his assistant Winfield. Amos hasn't spoken since seven years prior when he woke up and could not speak (the reason is never explained) so he mouths his words while Winfield speaks for him in a different voice. He tells the ladies that he has a psychotic connection with his partner. We find out that the ventriloquism is really a deception; these two guys are a comparable to snake-oil salesmen. The ladies agree to marry these sham artists since they appear to be very desperate for male companionship. I won't disclose the ending but it does come as a bit of a surprise. Kim Saunders is very good as the frail woman-child Viola. She delicately addresses the audience at the beginning of the drama about a dream, and explains why she loves to squish peas during the dinner conversation with her sister. Florence is played strikingly by Jocelyn Stringer. She perfectly establishes the character as a person who has self doubts and is something of a prig. Paul Stout is outstanding as the vigorous, bombastic Winfield. His captivating interpretation of a classic snake-oil salesman provides plenty of laughs with his old fashioned Southern drawl and sharp comic timing. Damien Cin Seperi is wonderful as the slim, reticent Amos, who never speaks. Both refrain from overplaying the roles, and there is a sense of plausibility in their sham. Director Richard Harder has an ideal understanding of the play; all of the actors show spotless timing thanks to his direction. The set is a lovely early 20th century drawing room one would see in a southern home, thanks the designer Bert van Aalsburg. Indulgences in the Louisville Harem ran through July 30th at the Phoenix Theatre, Suite 601, 414 Mason Street, San Francisco. For more information, visit www.offbroadwaywest.org.
Tony nominee Nancy Dussault captured the passion and complexity of every song she delivered on June 27 at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco. My love for this wonderful artist goes back when I first saw her as Tilda Mullen at the St. James Theatre in New York during the winter of 1961 in Do Re Me. Later I reviewed her in two American Conservatory Theater productions: Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid playing the bossy servant Toinette; and later as Mrs. Peachum in Threepenny Opera. I last saw this wonderful singer in the 42nd Street Moon gala celebrating the composer Charles Strouse in 2008. In this show, Nancy Dussault created and presented a touching love letter to her husband Valentine, who was in the audience. She told us that after 25 years of marriage she was still in love with her husband. She met him through the stage manager when she was appearing in Side by Side by Sondheim. The manager told her that this man was going to be his replacement and that he was "handsome, single and straight." The affair started almost immediately, and they had a seven year relationship before actually getting married. (Nancy said that during that seven-year relationship she did not tell her mother.) Nancy Dussault called the 90-minute evening I'm In Love Again and the songs ranged from Coleman and Leigh's "You Fascinate Me So" to a wacky rendering of Bock and Harnick's "Tonight at Eight" from She Loves Me. Her sumptuous tones were on display as she sang Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love" and a smooth rendition of "Time After Time." She sang in French "Sous Le Cie" and then went into a droll version of "Another Song About Paris." She even supplied her own sensual sound effects for a great reading of "Do It Again." The evening was a captivating, entertaining, poignant and genuine love letter designed and fashioned by Nancy Dussault. Her dazzling accompanist on piano was Christopher Marlowe. For upcoming events at the Rrazz Room go to www.TheRrazzRoom.com.
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