THEATRE COMMENTARY


twenty-something theatricals to stage a major event called 2X4 BASH: Theatre on the Edge guided by veteran Western Stage directors. This bold group is col- laborating on four contem- porary plays performed in rotating reper- tory through- out July and August. None of the Above by Jenny Lyn Bader opens on July 15; Oleanna by David Mamet opens July 16; The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute opens on July 22; and Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead by Bert V. Royal opens August 5. I am going to make every effort to see them all but I since I will be out of state for half the run it will be difficult.


The Music Man SAN BENITO STAGE CO


I dropped by a rehearsal of San Benito Stage Company’s summer musical The Music Man just before we went to press with this issue. I chatted with Amelia Souza-Hatcher, President of SBSC, as I watched the enthusiastic cast of fifty-nine actors work through Act I. With about three weeks of rehearsal left, the company, under the experienced direction of Colleen Blanchard (with her mom Kathy Tom helping ride her), pieced together the opening number “Rock Island” with salesmen chanting and rocking to the rhythms of a railcar, the full ensemble establishing the Iowa town of River City with “Iowa Stubborn” and flim- flam man Harold Hill (Mike Perry) putting the fear of God into the towns- people with “Trouble.” They were off- book for the most part and free to have fun and play. Other leading players include Beth Conner as Marian (the


42 July 2011 • Out & About


librarian), Christian Barrera as Harold Hill’s sidekick Marcellus Washburn and Jim Goudge, Sr. as Mayor Shinn. Seeing the rehearsal reminded me of what an ideal show The Music Man is and the perfect community theatre sum- mer project with whole families involved acting, building sets and cos- tumes and minding the army of kids. The Music Man opens July 15 at the Granada Theatre in downtown Hollister and runs through July 30.


Norman, Is That You? LIMELIGHT ACTORS THEATRE


Limelight Actors Theater’s production


of Norman, Is that You? – using an updated version of the 1970 script – was a clear crowd pleaser the night I attended. Times have greatly changed since the play was the first to treat homosexuality in an open and comedic way. The revised script throws in a contemporary reference to Bill and Hillary and the characters use cordless and cell phones, but the text shows its age when a character places a long distance call through an operator, asking to be informed of the charges when he’s done. When was the last time you made such a call?


When Ben Chambers (played with nat- uralistic ease by Bill Tindall) unexpectedly drops in on his son Norman (comic actor Kevin Heath who also directs) at his Manhattan apartment, he discovers to his great consternation that his son is gay. While dealing with his own problems (his wife – Barbara Bottini – has run off with his brother), he is at first hostile, then questioning, then desperate (he hires a prostitute – Charity Berg – for Norman thinking all his son needs is a good hetero- sexual boinking) and finally, grudgingly accepting. Norman’s partner Garson (a giddily flamboyant Lance LaShelle), a family counselor by profession, tries hard to intercede in all the family’s dilemmas leading situational humor of the best kind. The show was smartly produced at


Gilroy’s Center for the Arts, proving once again the viability and popularity of such a facility.


Three Dot Quick Takes…


Shakespeare time is here! In a depar- ture from the traditional adherence to the text, California Shakespeare Theatre opens with The Verona Project, a brand- new hybrid of play and rock concert inspired in part by Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona, July 6 – 31 at the Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda. Could be a gas…Shady Shakespeare presents Henry V July 29 – Sep 2 at Sanborn-Skyline County Park in Saratoga…Shakespeare Santa Cruz presents three shows on two stages on the University of California Santa Cruz campus – The Comedy of Errors run July 19 – Aug 28 in the Performing Arts Main Stage Theatre; The Three Musketeers (July 20 – Aug 28) and Henry IV, Part One (Aug 2 – 28) share the outdoor Sinsheimer-Stanley Glen…El Teatro Campesino’s epic play cycle Popul Vuh begins with Heart of Heaven July 23– September 5. The Story of Seven Macaw will be added in August and the cycle is complete when The Magic Twins join the repertory in September. We’ll keep you posted…One-Man Star Wars™ Trilogy, “a one-of-a-kind, side-splitting theatrical trib- ute to the sci-fi classic” written and per- formed by Charles Ross has a limited run at San Jose Repertory Theatre July 14- 17… Let the Eagle Fly a musical based on the story of Cesar Chavez and his struggle for social and economic justice is the next Main Stage musical at The Western Stage July 30 – Aug 14…and finally, the long awaited touring production of the Broadway hit Billy Elliot runs through Sep 17 at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. Look for my review in the August issue of Out & About Magazine or read it in a more timely fashion online at outandaboutmagazine.com. Click on the Theatre Notes link and scroll down. See you at intermission!


~ Paul Myrvold has been a member of Actors’ Equity since 1973 and has been writing and reviewing the- atre and cinema for twenty years. After 3 very busy years, he is currently between shows.


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