Tag: Theatre

by Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

Playwright Ed Dixon’s “L’Hotel” is the new Hotel California. You can check in, but you can never leave. In a boutique hotel across from the Père-LachaiseCemetery in Paris, several historical figures; Victor Hugo (Sam Tsoutsouvas), Oscar Wilde (Brent Harris), Isadora Duncan (Kati Brazda), Gioachino Rossini (Tony Triano), Sarah Bernhardt (Deanne Lorette) and, of all people, Jim Morrison (Daniel Hartley) comingle. They share a common factor; all of them were buried in the cemetery outside the door.

WATCH/LISTEN: ‘Burgh Vivant’s interview with playwright Ed Dixon.

The historic and often histrionic figures snipe at one another for fun while a hapless Waiter (Evan Zes) devotes himself to their whims. They are in some in-between state between life and death. Wilde is dandy. Hugo is repressed. Bernhardt is chewing the opulent scenery. Morrison is making Limbo rock. Then, a young woman (Erika Cuenca) enters the famous French cemetery and festoons a small, unadorned grave with flowers, and, suddenly, there is a seismic shift in the world beyond. Bernhardt hatches a loony plot that involves an eerie incantation that will affect the future of their gravesite visitor.

L’Hotel is a strange beast. It’s a mash-up of “No Exit” and every Italian Commedia dell’Arte merged together. The Waiter, like Truffaldino, is a servant of many masters. He is buffoonish and childlike, a Gilligan surrounded by Howells. He is also the unwitting hero of this misanthropic menagerie.

The set is gorgeous. Scenic Designer James Noone pulls out all the stops. The eponymous luxury hotel is a dazzling sight. The centerpiece is a marvelous faux marble staircase with a scarlet carpet, befitting the grand entrances and exits for which it was built.

Costume Designer David C. Woolard provided wardrobe to match the elegant surroundings. Oscar Wilde looks as if he stepped out of a book and come to life (or afterlife in this case).

In the very late seventies/early eighties, bona fide bon vivant Steve Allen hosted the PBS classic show “Meeting of the Minds,” wherein famous historical figures debated a plethora of issues from religion, science, philosophy, etc. “L’Hotel” recalls those halcyon days where the dead debated armed with only a witty bon mot. It’s a delightful premise that needs further exploration: Picture a Hollywood Forever Cemetery version with Charlie Chaplin, Estelle Getty, Iron Eyes Cody and Mel Blanc.

Unfortunately, the play suffered a few grating flaws: Everyone was over-the-top. When everyone is trying really hard to outdo one another, it’s hard to care about any of them (a fault of the personalities of the aforementioned afterlifers, not of the actors). Also, the jokes were broadcast on a loudspeaker when a whisper would do. Not only did characters point to the jokes, they circled back, pushed you face down and rubbed your nose in them.

Despite its a few niggling flaws, there are some terrific performances.

Because she was unable to hear or see any of the celebrity specters, the Young Woman spoke in monologues to her departed loved one. Cuenca pulls it off with charm and aplomb.

Lorette and Brazda do a remarkable job as ambitious apparitions, and Triano’s buffoonish composer garnered the lion’s share of the laughs. He does, however, try to pull off a joke older than the cemetery itself (My eyes rolled so far back into the head, I thought I was going to need an optometrist).

Harris walked on the Wilde side with wit and grace. He plays most sympathetic character in the play, yet another unlikely hero in the tale of moribund masterminds.

“L’Hotel” is a little long on expository set-ups and speeches. A leaner, lighter version could make this show sparkle (it’s a two hours from start to finish, including the fifteen minute intermission). It might be a bit talky, but it’s never boring. The central conceit is intriguing and the characters are interesting, and there really are some top-notch performances, but, for a play about the afterlife, it lacked soul.

L’HOTEL continues at Pittsburgh Public Theater through December 14th.  www.ppt.org

– MB.

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

Try It, You’ll Like It.

The actors in Point Park’s Conservatory Theater Company run rampant in the Forest of Arden in this season’s production of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” It’s a delightful romp.

The play itself seems to be conceived on a whim. You could almost picture some merry fellow in Elizabethan times saying to the Bard, “Why do you always write tragedies, Will?” On this utterance Shakespeare rushed back to his ink and parchment and penned “As You Like It,” a play wherein no one dies, everyone gets a happy ending (even the most vile of villains). The title supports the hypothesis, “As YOU Like It,” as if he were challenging his audience. The play has plot contrivances that will strain your willing suspension of disbelief. Though, there are quite a few memorable lines, speeches and comic moments.

Even with the contrived plot, director John Amplas is making the most of it. He squeezes the lemons into the sweetest of lemonades. There’s lots of sugar in this production.

The set, designed by Lindsey B. Mayer, is a series of freshly-hewn wooden platforms. The set smells delightfully piney, like a lumber yard. When the lights dim, curlicues of green light spiral up and “grow” onto the wooden surfaces, in a stop-motion springtime. Animated deer frolic in the background. The trick of light and sound immediately immerses the audience into the show. We’re already rooting for Orlando (Mike Nicosia) when the lights come up on him.

This “As You Like It” teeters between the Elizabethan Age and the Age of Aquarius. The music cues are jaunty 60s tunes. The costumes are beautifully rendered by Michael Montgomery. They look like they were stolen from a Broadway production of “Hair.”

Orlando’s older brother Oliver (Tal Kroser) is being a douche. He’s usurped the land and treating his baby bro harshly. Meanwhile across the land, Duke Frederick (Perris Drew) had toppled his older brother Duke Senior (Stanley Graham) and banished him to the forest.

Things heat up when Duke Senior’s daughter Rosalind (Jennifer Arfsten) has a meet-cute moment with Orlando at a wrestling match.

The now love-struck Orlando returns home only to be told he must flee Oliver’s wrath. He is banished to the woods of Arden..

Meanwhile, Frederick grows weary of Rosalind’s presence and banishes her. There’s a lot of banishing going on here. Fred’s own daughter Celia (Hannah Morris) distraught by her father’s cruelty follows her dearest cousin Rosalind into banishment.

Fearing that they will be set upon by thieves and rapists, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy named Ganymede (the cup-bearer from Greek myth, male concubine of Zeus). Though her disguise is extremely thin, she fools all of the other characters in the play. Picture Lucy Ricardo dressed in a man’s clothes, but still retaining her eye shadow and lipstick. Ganymede and Aliena (Celia’s own thin disguise) take the court jester, Touchstone (Conner Gillooly) with them.

Doe-eyed Orlando pines for his love, pinning pine trees with putrid poetry. Ganymede wants to spend time with Orlando (for reasons obvious to the audience), and offers to instruct Orlando on how to fall out of love. Hint: It doesn’t take. Instead, Ganymede desperately wants to Orlando the truth, but, for some reason, has to wait till the last act to tell him.

Meanwhile, everyone in the forest is falling in love: Touchstone and Audrey (Angela D’Occhio), Silvius (Ricky Gee) for Phoebe (Doninique Brock); Phoebe for Ganymede (she doesn’t have a clue). Even Oliver’s heart turns from stone to butter at the sight of Aliena (ne: Celia).

The play ends with four weddings and no funerals. Even though early on, you’re hoping someone would have run a sword through Rosalind’s villainous uncle or Orlando’s spiteful brother.

The performances in the show are top notch. The leading man and his leading lady/boy are terrific. Nicosia is charismatic as Orlando. Arfsten does a masterful job. The play is a great showcase of Point Park’s talent pool.

Morris’s Celia/Aliena has impeccable comic timing. With tiny, crisply choreographed gestures she produced some laugh out loud moments.

If you like your comedy over-the-top; let me introduce you to Conner Gillooly’s Touchstone.

In this production, Touchstone is dressed like amalgam of bat-villains, circa ’66. The clown even brandishes an umbrella about like a weapon. Though he’s more Riddler than Penguin, as if channeling native Pittsburgher Frank Gorshin, owning every over-the-top, scenery-chewing moment he’s on stage. He sizzles with kinetic energy, a veritable whirling dervish.

Honorable mentions go to Toree Alexandre, Neiman Outlen (hilarious), Dominique Brock (beautiful and funny), Angela D’Occhio and Tal Kroser, and Stanley Graham; nearly everyone, actually.

George Bernard Shaw once criticized “As You Like It” as a “mere crowd pleaser.” However, pleasing a crowd is not necessarily a bad thing. The audience quickly rose to their feet with thunderous applause, a standing ovation without hesitation. It was a perfectly pleasing production with a cool set, clever actors and a terrific director. There’s a lot to like in “As You Like It.”

-MB.