Jeanmarie Simpson - Page 2

Being out there, in nature, learning what many consider classic or ancient forms of performance, was almost a step back in time. It was a place to strip down theatre to its purest form, the actor/poet in space. It taught me to never take theatre for granted and to understand that it is a sacred practice and should be treated as such.

I have seen Scott this year in two different productions of Gypsy. He played the character Herbie in both of them. I'm inordinately fond of that show and have been a little in love with Herbie since I first saw the film sometime in the late '60s, with Karl Malden in the role. There have been many fine Herbies along the way, but none hit as many of the character's emotional and dramatic notes as did Scott in both productions, even surpassing Malden, in my view.

Loosely inspired by the life of Van Gogh, EAR is a story as old as time. A boy loves a girl. To prove he loves the girl, the boy gives her a gift. A BIG gift. The kind you can't take back. And now the boy is in a mental hospital, at the mercy of a doctor who's even crazier than he is. And the girl? Well, she's starting to hear things, WEIRD things, late at night. It's an all-American story about love, insanity, auditory phenomena, experimental therapy, cannibalism, and talking birds.

'This story explores a different, darker side of the classic Odd Couple scenario. 'The majority of my adult life has been spent living with roommates in order to afford the cost of an apartment in the new economy' says Maticic.

Devon Mahon is a delightful actor whom I've seen in several performances, including at Brelby in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Unexpected and at B3 in Droppin' Johns. Earlier this week, I reviewed Brelby's production of his first full-lenghth play, Whisper Sweetly.

Whisper Sweetly, directed with crackerjack control and precision by Perovich. Mahon has created a world that is at once funny and terrifying. He has approached his creation with wild abandon, and the story is an hilarious nightmare.

Shrewdly directed by the great Ilana Lydia, B3's searing production of My Love, My Lumberjack opened last Friday and runs for only two more performances, next weekend. The piece is presented on B3's modest, storefront stage, however the production feels remarkably eerie and magical - and, GLORY BE, the voices aren't amplified!

Director Cambrian James' fast paced, delightful Kiss and Tell gave this grumpy critic more laughs than she has experienced in a good long time - and the rest of the Hale's opening night audience was right there with her.

Amanda Glenn's turn as Louise is lovely and heartbreaking. Glenn has a beautiful voice and exquisite is her painstaking, delicate interpretation of the awkward, plain Jane who becomes the iconic burlesque queen.

In an eerie forest by the sea, far removed from the comfort of her village, Sandra escapes from loneliness into the arms of Peter, her simple, handsome lumberjack.

Wildly talented, vastly experienced director/choreographer Cambrian James' staging is at times crisp and clear and spot on.

Arizona-based playwright and theater producer James E. Garcia will dedicate this weekend's performances of '1070 (We Were Strangers Once, Too)' to the memory of Heather Heyer, the young civil rights activist killed in Charlottesville.

Droppin' Johns is as shamelessly subversive, as courageously adventurous and as boldly resolute a piece of Feminist Fringe Theatre as any you'll find, anywhere.

I guess I've never been one to shy away from risky material. I think art is the most useful and impactful way to tackle some of these topics, and I think this script does it with honesty and beauty. The women in this show are put into an incredibly ugly situation, but they also exude a level of strength that I think many can connect to and find inspiration in. In their own ways, both of our primary female characters take ownership of the way they have been treated by the men around them and in turn they take control of their storylines.

Ilana Lydia is an Arizona-based playwright and director. Her new play, Droppin' Johns is produced by B3 Theatre Company and premieres at SIC Sense July 14th and runs just two weekends, closing on the 22nd. The play is clever and shocking, funny and profoundly sad, but reading it didn't leave me crying - I was chuckling and shaking my head.

Megan O'Connor's The Pledge is a startlingly clever new play that opened last Friday at Historic Downtown Glendale's Brelby Theatre Company.

Jennifer Gantwerker is an Illinois native. She told me she made her theatrical debut at age eight in a summer camp production of Prejudice is an Ugly Color. 'There was definitely face paint and a candlelit performance of Imagine,' she said. She went on to graduate from the University of Southern California with degrees in Theater and International Relations. Having spent four years arguing cases for the nationally-competitive USC Mock Trial team, she said she 'ultimately decided to follow the career path that guaranteed her the smallest income.'

The relationships in unexpected take surprising turns - thus, the title. The story follows a Hero's Journey trajectory, but remains unpredictable, which allows for some marvelous exchanges. There is genuine pathos in the play, however Perovich's skillful construct doesn't allow the fable to be bogged down in sentimentality.

Interrupting Vanessa is a very sweet compact play; it is slow, compassionate, and very concise. It does not pander to its audience, and is not superfluous in its story telling. It is beautifully paced and allows for audiences of different ages to enjoy it. The message of holding on, and moving on, is gentle and very organic in its writing. Adults experience a very different play than the children do. It is such a joy to be part of telling this story.

As an event organizer, I always feel like it's important that I organize the types of events that I see myself going to. If I can't personally see myself attending or spending money to see my own performances then how can I expect other people who don't know me to do the same. What that means for me as a classically-based musician is that I always try to redefine not only how I present the music to audiences but also how I determine what constitutes meaningful and significant repertoire worthy of performance. That's why at many of Driftwood's performances you'll hear music by video game and film composers such as Nobuo Uematsu or Joe Hisaishi alongside works by Mahler or William Grant Still. It's very important to me that we always treat the music with the same due level of care and interpretation whether we're playing an arrangement of Fake Love by Drake or Handel's Water Music. We take the same approach with our collaborations as well. We've played soundtracks to live films, performed with jazz rhythm sections, and performed music that's paired with poetry and spoken word.