 
Mary Dunleavy and Roderick Dixon in The
Dwarf, part of Recovered
Voices at Los
Angeles Opera. Photo by Robert Millard. 
L to R - Obaa-san (Amy Hill), Yasunobu (Kotaro Watanabe), Kama (Joseph
Kim) in Voices From Okinawa at Eas West Players. Photo by Michael
Lamont. 
Mark Feuerstein and Justina Machado in Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) at Geffen Playhouse. |
Cabaret at International City
He (Christopher Carothers) is a quintessential American
writer abroad, she (Erin Bennett) is an elegant young Englishwoman who
sells her numbers with panache. While we may not be convinced of her
wild, wild life or his bent for gay affairs, despite the occasional
illustration of cocaine snorting or homosexual cuddling, that is
because the script is scrupulously cleaned up. We do get a full whiff
of the horror attending Germany’s Hitler. Eileen T’Kaye and Paul Zegler
get into the plight of Jews, and those who love them, in 1930’s
Germany. The play ends with a display of “Arbeit Macht Frei”, the
infinitely cynical motto of Auschwitz. I wonder how that reads in
Farsi?
The gang at the Kit Kat Club are in good spirits. Jason
Currie makes a menacing master of ceremonies in part because he towers
over the cast, in part because of his throaty, vibrato-laden voice. The
working girls are not too tawdry, not too bored—just... working. A
nifty band plays the canny genre music with verve.
Through Mar. 9 at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach. For tickets and info, call 562-436-4610 or browse ICTLongBeach.com.
Some Girl(s) at Geffen
Our hero (sic), a callow, shallow, twitchy guy (tireless Mark
Feuerstein), has arrived at the eve of marriage and authored a story in
The New Yorker, without (it seems) figuring out the women in his life.
So he sets off on a cross country tour, ostensibly to straighten out
his affairs. Literally. A humble apology to each of the women would
have done the trick, but our un-hero seems intent on justifying
himself. One (irrepressible Justina Machado) just wants a roll in the
hay. The others—down home Paula Cale Lisbe; elegant Rosalind Chao; and
very together Jaime Ray Newman, want to shake and bake him.
As they mock his efforts at relationships, the good times
roll. Then we discover his real manipulative, exploitive mission. Icky.
He pays the price but will he ever learn? If you enjoy humiliation of the deserving boor or even
just smug laugh at a hopeless jerk, this is your meat. Playwright Neil
LaBute directed.
Through Mar. 9 at 10886 Le Conte Ave. in Westwood. For ticket and info, call (310) 208-5454 or browse GeffenPlayhouse.com
Voices From Okinawa at East West
The lack of pretension and ‘tude in Jon Shirota’s play grows on you.
Okinawa has endured American and Japanese control for a long time, but
our wandering, one-quarter Okinawan (Joseph Kim) just wants to go home
again for the first time. Amiable Kim is everyone’s straight man for
their confessions.
The flashiest is Obaa-San (charm your socks off, take no
prisoners Amy Hill), a very old, very mystical and sometimes maddening
woman who knows all and is exceedingly anxious to share all (within the
limits of self interest). Mari Ueda does the dramatic heavy lifting in
retelling a rape by a GI. Kotaro Watanabe is a sprightly, harmless con
man. Teruko Kataoka also knows how to beguile. Sachiko Hayashi is a
strong minded romantic interest. Director Tim Dang presided.
You may be surprised that the goofing around carries a strong message.
Through Mar. 9 at 120 Aiso St. in Little Tokyo. For tickets and info, call 213-625-7000 or browse EastWestPlayers,org.
Recovered Voices at LA Opera
Two of the composers brutalized by the German Nazis were
Alexander Zemlinsky, who sneaked out, and Viktor Ullman, who was
murdered in a concentration camp. In Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf, adapted from Oscar Wilde’s
story, Mary Dunleavy is a glittering, willful Infante, a Spanish
Princess out of Velazquez’ “Las Meninas.” Rodrick Dixon twists himself,
and his soul, into the malformed dwarf who is her favorite companion.
He falls in love and thinks himself a plausible match, despite the
evidence of the mirror which he sees as a fabrication of an evil enemy,
like Don Quixote’s evil Enchanter.
The experience is elegant, somber, heart breaking, and
inspiring thanks to Zemlinsky’s brilliantly theatrical and passionately
expressive music and the virtuoso playing under conductor James Conlon.
The curtain raiser, Ulmann’s The Broken Jug, is an amiable romp with
clever, wiry music.
These works and their composers were banned by Hitler and
it is Conlon’s admirable self-imposed mission to restore them to the
public. Thank you.
Through Mar. 8 at 135 N. Grand at the Music Center. For rickets and info, call (213) 972-8001 or browse LosAngelesOpera.com. |
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