RABBIT HOLE

Realism isn’t a good thing when things aren’t ‘nice’ anymore, and thins definitely aren’t ‘nice’ any more and the pain all too real in RABBIT HOLE, the powerhouse drama about love, loss and family value at the Geffen.

An actors play, these actors take full advantage of the ripe human dialogue. As grieving parents Tate Donovan and Amy Ryan so understand each other, they literally finish each others thoughts non-verbally. Their emotions are so raw that you’re uneasy around them. Though a bit broad, Joyce Van Patten adds a bit of needed comedy, so we can breathe.

The play is so well constructed it is seemingly simple, allowing the very real humanity to tell it’s story. This family never gives up on one another, no matter how ‘not nice’ things become, which isn’t easy, neither is watching this painful play, but the lesson here is to remind us of how we should behave as real human beings.

JESUS CAMP

Muslims and liberals beware, the Christians are coming, basically announces the leader of a summer Bible camp for kids in a very red state in JESUS CAMP, an alarming documentary illuminating the deliberate tactical practice of the Religious Right to indoctrinate young minds to fight the literal Holy War against the enemy: Liberals and Muslims.

Attempting to be fair and balanced, the film shows Left Wing Air America unearthing this stagey. The abashed frankness of the ideals and goals of this ideology is frightening as they worship a cardboard cut-out of their Messiah Pres. George W. Bush. As they state proudly, their numbers are growing quickly and they’re already winning key battles: The Supreme Court, The Presidency, both chambers of Congress - ALL branches of Government!

The ripe young minds, which must be reached between 5 to 7 to be effective (which may I point out Hitler used for his righteousness). They children talk in tongues, writhe in trance-like devotion, play war games for Jesus, their mouths are taped shut with Right-To-Life tape, their mionds programmed that homosexuality is an abomination because it says so in the Bible, conveniently ignoring the myriad of other issues which apply more directly to theor own lives in which the Bible condemns by death (which apparently God endorses) and these children are taught to renounce non-Christian views as ‘sick.’

Fear is the key. When a child feels he needs to be ‘saved’ from the horrors of society by religion at age five, whom should he truly be saved from? We should all be afraid because their indoctrination has nothing to with the teachings of Christ, love and peace united, but that the Bible affirms literal war, because their religion alone is ‘right’, and the only way to win their battle is through these young programmable minds to become ‘martyrs’ for Christianity and to take over the Government to ensure their beliefs. No purple states, just the blood-red of Jesus’ suffering for us, but is this the ‘us’ we want the U.S. to stand for? We better start praying.

ALTERED STATES: DELIRIUM & WHAT TO WEAR

“It’s a good thing this is a dream, cause this is really weird.” A Freudian, multimedia, rock ‘n’ roll dream as seen through the amazing acrobats, musicians and state-of-the-art technology in Cirque Du Soleil’s DELIRIUM. A mushroom trip minus the mushrooms. Like a dream, somewhat disjointed, random and completely abstract with vivid colors and rich sounds. It’s fascinating to watch but inaccessible and the enormous Staples Center diffuses the potency of the dream-like state. Cirque Du Soleil is always mesmerizing and DELIRIUM doesn’t disappoint. This carnivale of the mind would have been more effective in anything smaller than a sports arena which was barely more than half full.

The live musicians incorporated on stage add to this carnivale atmosphere. The musicians are first rate, fusing rock, Spanish, African and various genres easily joined by the crystal clear vocalists all augmented by the high-tech visuals. One sequence featuring a butterfly catcher in a forest visualized through brilliant scrim work shows a creative imagination that Disney’s TARZAN lacked.

As usual, the Cirque acrobats possess jaw-dropping agility. The hoola-hoop girl moves parts of her body I didn’t know moved. It was painful just watching the sheer strength and flexibility of that balancing boy(s).

On the other hand, Michael Gordon and Richard Foreman’s WHAT TO WEAR is one of those shows that’s so cool and cutting edge that you have no idea what you’ve just seen. An avant-garde ‘raucous, biting funny, post-rock opera’ described as ‘a pageant of seductiveness gone wrong-as everyone on stage turns less and less beautiful, something more ecstatic than beauty slowly reveals it’s awesome 21st-century face.’ I’m not sure I got most of that out of it, but imagine ALICE IN WONDERLAND crossed with MOULIN ROUGE, it’s hypnotic sights and sounds filled with bright colors, minimalist staging, through-sung pop-operatic score and mind-altering scenery and costumes are entirely engaging but repetitive and hard to follow.

The capable, fine-voiced performers are generic, barely charicatures so as not to distract from the ultra-controlled staging. A God-like voice announces the themes of the sweeping generalizations onstage, ultimately announcing that ‘nothing changes,’ which despite all of the talent, creativity and pure artistry displayed in both shows is ironically true.

FENCES

“Don’t strike out” warns Laurence Fishburne repeatedly in August Wilson’s FENCES at the Pasadena Playhouse, the bases loaded with a cast including movie stars Mr. Fishburne, Angela Bassett, and a Pulitzer Prize winning play one would expect a grand slam, it’s not a strike out but we get a bunt.

This production feels trapped within the very fences that it’s characters are never able to overcome. Misdirected by Sheldon Epps, never delving deeper than surface scratching, it turns this powerful drama into a mello-dramatic soap opera. Mr. Epps’ staging is so unfocused it spills over into the acting in which everyone seems in different plays. It just seems Mr. Epps doesn’t know what the play is actually about. Every moment is on the same level and when characters deliver soliloquies his staging doesn’t clarify the fluidity of the writing, they just seem crazy.

Laurence Fishburne gives a truly heartfelt performance with moments of pure human complexity, but it is diffused into the blandness of the whole. Angela Bassett seems lost, giving a performance of pure affectation. Her constant voice inflections and fake nervous laugh pretty much personify this production and it’s a damn shame given the stellar talent provided.
Both Wendell Pierce and Kadeem Hardison give wonderful rich life to August Wilson characters but they are not the lynch pin of the show.

Even the set looks fake, no one ever quite feels at home.

Filling the emotional void onstage, the audience responded as if they were at ’A Night At The Apollo’ whooping and hollering at the melodrama onstage.

Mr. . Wilson’s symbolic emotional family fence that holds each character back is ironically this production’s director. Mr. Epps never dared to tear down the fence and risk a grand slam, he just bunted, resting on the laurels of movie star status. Game over.

VOLVER

Saw the new Pedro Almodovar film VOLVER starring Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura. His films are always enjoyable and this is no exception although I wouldn't say it is one of my favories, foor a few reasons.

The fim is about women, Penelope Cruz is beautiful, charming, fun, sexy and and a surprisingly good singer, Carmen Muara (from many of his earlier fims) gives a wonderfully tragic performance, many smaller roles have wonderful tender moments that reflect the multifacted lives of women, no naked Gael Garcia or hot drag sex here.

It's a film based on a gimmic that I will not reveal that in retrospect limits the film.

Sometimes tender and charming sometimes the introspection verged on boring. It's a womens film and mind set. If youre a fan of Almodovar you will definitely enjoy it but on a different level than most of hid films.

LOBSTER ALICE

Broad comedy in a 50 seat theatre is no easy feat, but the expert cast and production of ‘Lobster Alice’, the psychological comedy at The Blank Theatre Company’s 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood accomplishes it fantastically.

Set in a Walt Disney Studios production office in 1946, Salvador Dali arrives to help an animate animator and his secretary Alice develop ‘Alice In Wonderland’, Things quickly become curiouser and curiouser as the creative process clashes with the limits of reality. It’s a madcap mind fuck.

Things are kept perfectly on edge under the expert direction of Daniel Henning. The fine ensemble cast shines brightly.
Noah Wyle gives a performance of such depth and passion with expert comic timing one wonders how this much talent hasn’t been unearthed before (or if it has we weren’t looking.) His salvador Dali exudes charm, intellect, passion, charisma, sexuality & comedy integrally.

Dorie Barton’s Alice is hungry for life, her spunky quizzativeness is at one moment innocence, the next seductress. She’s a delight to watch.

Going on for Nicholas Brendon (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer), Eddie Mills is milk toast personified. Reminiscent of Matthew Broderick or Jack Lemmon being drug through hell, kicking and screaming, to the depraved world that’s Dali’s Wonderland.

A hoot and a holler, ‘Lobster Alice’ is L.A.’s best kept secret. Let’s get the word out.