Santaland Diaries comment

What a wonderful show. If you saw Ross in this piece a few years ago at the Vortex, you really need to see it again. Audiences last weekend keep saying how much better it is this time around. It got a great review in the Alibi: http://www.alibi.com/index.php?story=21534&scn=art DM

REVIEW LINK: Santaland Diaries at the Box

For a review of "The Santaland Diaries" by the Albuquerque Journal's Barry Gaines, go to
http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/content/view/5683/45/

REVIEW LINK: A Tuna Christmas at the Vortex

For a review of "A Tuna Christmas" by the Albuquerque Journal's Barry Gaines, go to
http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5630&&Itemid=45

REVIEW LINK: American Buffalo

For a review of American Buffalo by the Alibi's Steven Robert Allen, go to

http://alibi.com/index.php?story=20822&scn=art

REVIEW LINK: American Buffalo

For a review of American Buffalo by the Albuquerque Journal's drama critic, Barry Gaines, go to:

http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/content/view/5184/45/ or

http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5184&&Itemid=45

REVIEW LINK: Little Women

For a review of Little Women by the Albuquerque Journal's drama critic, Barry Gaines, go to:
http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/content/view/5243/45/ or
http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5243&&Itemid=45

THIS IS OUR YOUTH - SEE THEM NOW!

By Hal Simons

I had a great weekend of theatre two weekends ago when I saw LITTLE WOMEN at the South Broadway Cultural Center, BUNNICULA at the Little Theater, and LORD OF THE FLIES at the North 4th Arts Center. These were three excellent productions featuring some of our best young actors (and some really wonderful adults as well.) They need your support, and it will be time well spent. I can't think of a better way to encourage young people today for their well spent efforts than applauding them for a job well done. On a sentimental note, it was wonderful for me to see at least one participant in each show that I had worked with when they were “making their stage debut”, and were now “seasoned veterans.” They all have one more weekend of performances, and rumor has it, there are tickets to available for all of them.

REVIEW: Mamet's American Buffalo at the Vortex

By the "H" Man

I happened to view the Vortex's production of American Buffalo on Sat. the 20th. Here are some of my comments:
The music could have fit the show better. It seemed to be chosen at randum and was too mello. This American Buffalo not spanish Buffalo.
The set was too clean for a pawn shop. Needed to look dirtier.
As to the acting: The show started out a little slow and Teach's opening speech could have been more edgy and hateful sounding. John Wiley seemed a little too laid back in his portrayal as Donny the shop owner. The actor playing Bobby needed to have that junkie look and sound. It would have been more believable when Teach pushed him around. Timing was a little off at the very start but began to get better as the first act went on. This audience member missed seeing some snippets of anger in the first act between Teach and Donny. However, the second act definetly got more edgy and threatening.
Frank Melcori did a good job keeping his actors moving the play along. In general this audience member enjoyed the show and the performances which were solid.
American Buffalo runs for the next two weekends Fri. and Sat. at 8:00 and Sundays at 6:00 p.m. at the Vortex Theatre. For reservations, call 247-8600.

REVIEW: Little Women at South Broadway Cultural Center

By Nancy Jeris

LITTLE WOMEN, THE MUSICAL, Produced by The Growing Stage, Ltd.,Directed by Matthew Naegeli

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing a really terrific show. I am new here in Albuquerque and this is the first musical I had set out to see since my arrival in town. From the moment the delightful orchestra struck its first notes (conduced by Brady Gear) I sat transfixed. The performers were as good as anything I have seen in any Equity house in Los Angeles or New York. Beautifully trained singers and actors, all. The direction by the talented Matthew Naegeli was flawless.
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At first I was a little distracted by the orchestra as it is in the rear of the stage, but the fine work of these performers soon took over and the distraction faded away. The musical sticks to the Louisa May Alcott classic and warms your heart as that timeless story unfolds and harkens you back to those sweet, innocent times in America’s history.

Performances continue Fri and Sat at 7:00pm, Sunday at 2:00pm. Oct 19, 20, 21 and Oct 26, 27, and 28th
At the South Broadway Cultural Center, Call 848-1323 or 288-1205 for reservations.

On Selecting a Season

By David Richard Jones, President and Artistic Director of the Vortex Theatre.

From the mid-1980s to 2005 at The Vortex, season selection mainly involved inviting proposals to the entire board and then approving those that seemed workable, desirable, or useable. This left director selection up to the volunteer spirit and repertory selection up to the taste of willing directors.

In the past year or two, we have (1) recruited directors more actively from the community, (2) established a 5-person subcommittee as an "Artistic Committee" that develops 6 to 9-month seasons and proposes them as a unit to the entire board, and (3) created a more collaborative dialogue with interested directors to blend their taste with the Artistic Committee's sense of what the theatre ought to be doing.

Whether we are willing to take the next step and design seasons before recruiting directors remains to be seen. The dialogue on this issue is a genuine one: on the one hand, the "community theatre" spirit that sees the house as a more or less passive venue for community energy; on the other, the "artistic direction" impulse that sees the theatre's identity as based in its repertory profile and the maintenance of that identity as a job for the people who run the place. Both sides of the debate have excellent arguments.

On Choosing a Season

By Jessica Barkl

I will speak for myself, not necessarily for VSA, though I can speak a little about that.

For me I look to find plays that will challenge the company members I have (characters and theories) that would expand their vocabulary as theater artists and keep them growing as artists and thus make our company grow in the progess.

I also, and I have to admit this is the dramaturg in me, look for plays that ask questions of our time, or that asked important questions of the period it was written in. So...this season we chose to produce THE ORESTEIA (and we will continue to explore that saga) and TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. Current politics of annoyance of war and throwing oneself into hedonism to avoid that annoyance, I think, are particularly poignant right now. The idea of vengeance and how futile that truly is, and how right now we know it's futile, yet we still try to avoid any responsibility in those facts. I think both of these plays live in that world, and question that tendency of human nature to shut off and just eat, drink, and sleep with one another...or just
off one another...to avoid talking about the truth...or at least questioning it.

Then, of course, we get into the conversation of new plays vs. classics. Right now, as a company, we are trying to develop new skills and strong skills in all walks of live theater. My own conservatory training tells me that if you can perform the classics with finesse, you can perform anything. Our ORESTEIA was a new adaptation, but not a new play. New plays also
require royalties, and as a new company we can't afford that...a national problem that I am keenly aware of and not necessarily proud that I have to be a part of that community choosing to avoid new plays because of the cost, but.. However, we only produce two shows a year, and so far in our history we've produced 2 new plays, one contemporary Korean play, 1 adaptation, and 1 classic...so I don't think we are necessarily guilty on any level of adding to the problem of new plays not being produced. However, the Catholic in me, feels extremelly guilty that she's not producing more new plays.

VSA is mostly a presenting house that sees holes in the community in regards to contemporary theater/dance and will present those works. We noticed that there wasn't a theater committed to producing works by Native Americans, so we
decided that we should, and we have produced two in addition to cultivating Native American actors, directors, and designers. We actively search for them and that community is growing with us. VSA also will co-produce any good idea
that comes to us that we see isn't already in the community. For that reason we are producing with PLAY CONSERVATORY (Jonathan Dunski's organization) LORD OF THE FLIES because this is a children's play that is not necessarily family-friendly. We produced the 365 DAYS/365 PLAYS by Suzan-Lori Parks because no one else was and By JesiAlbuquerque needed to be represented. We noticed that there was a lot of Shakespeare happening and chose to organize a Shakespeare festival (which
we want to do again and have written to the other theaters, but no response as of yet...so...) Other than that, VSA, as an organization produces one show a year for our multi-ability company Equilibrium Theater Company that advocates for
adults with developmental disabilities in a very avant-garde fashion. This year they have written their first film noir play called THE JEWELED EYE, which will begin touring in March - Molly Kohl, the Artistic Director, also always looks for material that will challenge her actors and expand their vocabulary as artists. Last year they performed their first comedy. VSA
co-produces two of In Strange Company's shows and that's about it other than contemporary dance, local dance, and some music events.

Jessica is Managing Director and Programming Assistant for Theater at North Fourth Arts

A View of the The New and Exciting growth thanks to the Albuquerque Theatre Guild right here in Our Land of Enchantment

By William Derringer

As far as I know at least since 1991 there has been discussion about organizing a forming an Albuquerque Theatre Guild not only here but in surrounding areas. We needed to find a unity of theatres and this also includes the Theatre lovers from the schools, UNM and the College of Santa Fe. There is a theatrical family that does exist here, not only in our city but throughout the whole state of New Mexico. We needed to unite and skillfully reach out to as many theatergoers as possible. Awhile back the Vortex Theatre celebrated their 30th Anniversary at their present theatre and it was a joyous and hopeful encouragement. The Adobe Theatre also reaches out to not only The Rio Rancho area but for the last few years has been growing and trying to present all kinds of theatre. They now have a consistent group of theatre goers waiting to see their next season. Albuquerque Little Theatre the oldest member of over 70 years of theatre here in our city and is adding a new agenda of theatrical highlights to their upcoming season. The Cells-Fusion Theatre is celebrating several seasons of theatrical magic to the agenda as they skillfully bring a professional theatre to our city.

We have a wonderful theatrical family of not only talented theatre Directors, Actors, Stage Managers and hard working and reliable technical assistants. We also have a hopeful growing audience that will attend, support and enjoy the theatres here within our City and State. Thanks to Ray Orley, Claudia Mathes, TJ Cardella and several other theatre people in our City who were able to organize and give to us our first positive move of Theatre Unity and support.
We all need to support and encourage all of the new theatres that are opening and as theatre people we should support every new group and nourish not just the larger theatres but the small groups that are trying their hands and talents in doing the cutting edge plays, the classics, the uplifting comedic plays that in their delightful way brings back the entertainment of the theatrical scene. .

Most tourists who don’t know about our growing theatre scene have to be reached out to, and told about the blossoming theatre scene here in Albuquerque. Just because the theatre is there doesn’t mean that they will come. They have to know regularly what is happening in our City and our State.

I remember when we moved here in 1991 that I heard a comment from a tourist passing through Albuquerque. During our chat they spoke out and said that all they saw as they traveled through Albuquerque was grocery stores, Wal-Mart’s and Movie Theatres. That floored and amazed me. Before we moved here my Partner Bob and I each time we would visit we would check out the Albuquerque Journal and the weekly pages to find out what was happening with the theatre scene. We would attend every theatre we could. The Vortex, Original New Plays and Classic plays. The Adobe who not only presented entertaining comedies they did venues of Shakespeare productions that included Twelfth Night by the Swap Lab Organization and many other chosen productions.
The \CenterStage. at that time was a blossoming theatre on Central Avenue that was produced and run by the talented Director, Actor, and teacher (THEATRE IN THE MAKING) one of my favorite directors Paul Ford. What a joy it is to work with him.
He’s a gift to writers and actors. Within two weeks from our moving and living here in Albuquerque in 1991, I was already getting open arms to be part of the theatre scene here. I was called by Phil and Barbara Boch to come and audition for a replacement role in SOCIAL SECURITY at The Adobe Theatre and within five minutes of my audition with the director Kathryn Howell it was a instant bond for both of us and for the next two years we worked continually together at the Adobe and later at other theatres. Again at the Adobe I was joyous about being cast by Kathryn Howell as the American Character Actor’s dream role of Willy Loman in Kathryn’s upcoming production of DEATH OF A SALESMAN and I was definitely enriched by playing this role and working with her again.. We were blessed with a talented ensemble of actors and we all treasured being in the Adobe’s Production.

For the next nine years I viewed and became part of a very rich and growing theatre scene from the fine work done at The Vortex Theatre. ACLO a –musical theatre who throughout the city added many fine productions of Musicals – The extremely successful production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, GUYS AND DOLLS, and more recently over at the Highland Theatre the groups name was changed to MTS which presented Candide and in the smaller space next to the Highland did a very special and intimate Musical production of “A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE directed by Hal Simons Within the late nineties, I was fortunate enough to direct the highly successful Neil Simon Play LAUGHTER ON THE 24TH FLOOR at the Vortex Theatre. It was so great to see audiences lining up around the corner of the theatre and with fine reviews we were fortunate to play this robust comedy to several sold out houses. I felt very grateful to have a wonderful cast and we all enjoyed the whole experience. A more recent gift was working with Peter Kierst at the VortexTheatre, who directed with gifted hands, a sterling production of Hamlet played by Chad Blummett of the TRICKLOCK Theatre and an extremely talented cast.

Within those nine years of working with The Riverside Rep Theatre which in the last few years became the Tricklock Theatre within their space at UNM. Again I was fortunate to be cast by director by Leo Shapiro who directed this very gripping production of Chekov’s “THE SEA GULL” which we presented at the Kimo Theatre and at that time The Match Box Theatre where we were spotted there by a theatre company in Baltimore and we later toured the production there for a very successful two weeks run. The history of theatres is still within many memories and with the help of our new theatre league we will be viewing live theatre in New Mexico for treasured decades. So many new and exciting companies will join the already established theatres, and we will get the news out there that Talented, Gifted and Dedicated theatre groups are constantly at work. A younger generation of actors, writers, and directors are here in New Mexico from all over the country sharing, learning, and nurturing their talents with many devoted audiences. It’s time for tourists who visit our gifted state to get to know that there are all kinds of art events, museums and theatres here in The Land of Enchantment.

By William Derringer

Review: The Orestia Live! at 4th St. Arts

By Hakim Bellamy

If you like Greek Mythology, you LOVE Greek playwriting. If you are still tripping over the “visual spectacle” that was 300, then be more impressed by the live comedy, harmony and over the top absurdity of Aeschylus’s Trojan trilogy for a fraction of 300’s opulent budget. Don’t just support live art, but support art that is “LIVE”! (The ebonetically correct translation of live can be phat, hot, decent, way cool, far out, etc.) The manifestation of this “liveliness” happens at the North 4th Arts Center this Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm (September 28th-30th). It happens when you put two of your favorite historical time periods together, in your favorite town, in one hour’s time. The era of the Trojan War, mixed with the Vaudevillian flair of a 1940’s USO radio show, set in…get this…Albuquerque, for one of the most existential and entertaining hours in your life that you could equate with time traveling.

Now, if you are thinking that you could never follow those daytime soap addled, Greek tragedies in high school, no worries! This play/comedy/musical is as accessible as it is accurate. Trust me, I know, I sat in the audience this past Saturday having known nothing about Aeschylus or his Oresteia. And having not read the program prior because I arrived in my typical moviegoer fashion, early enough to miss all the pre-stuff, but late enough so the lights just went down as I entered the auditorium. I still was able to follow the complex storyline and the laugh lines to boot. Credit that to the amazingly clever renditions of these classic Greek characters by Gary Mahoney (aka Garrick Garcia) and The Kastroupel Sisters (Jessie Barkl, Molly Kohl and Susan Stroupe). Now if you are thinking “How do these four pull off a multiple character cast for over three plays?”, then the answer is “Brilliantly”. In the legacy of Orson Welles complete with reporter types modeled after Carl Phillips, the North 4th Arts production has authentic 40’s looking microphones from the Golden Age of Radio. The talented foursome who make up the cast of this production sing and dance their way into more larger than life characters than Eddie Murphy in the Nutty Professor I & II.

So if you are looking for something to do this weekend, how about a tale of Athenian democracy in a post-war Grecian society? A tale of justice rather than vengeance, a message of hope in these current times of war. Join the Kastroupel Sisters and Gary Mahoney, LIVE, crowd participation is encouraged…and enforced. Brought to you by Lysolia All Purpose Cleaner and Hephaestus Weaponry & Cutlery. Don’t ask? You’ll get it when you see the show. Find out more about prices and show times at www.vsartsnm.org.

Hakim Bellamy is Social and Community Programs Director, NM, State Office of African American Affairs and Albuquerque Slam Poet. reach him at www.myspace.com/hakimbellamyazhizelf or www.digiflowz.net

Response to “Reviewers” posted by JH on August 3, 2007.

I've just posted a review of “Body Burden” to the blog that was broadcast on KUNM. It's the third review I've written in the last couple of months. All three have been “positive.” But, unlike JH, I don't think that means that my credibility as a critic is either compromised or that people will stop paying attention to my reviews.

Between 1990 and 1999 I was the regular on-air film critic for "The Women's Show" on WMNF FM in Tampa, Florida. Over those years I wrote hundreds of film reviews and only a handful of them were negative. Was that because I'm not a discerning, discriminating critic? Not at all. It's because I was very careful about the films I chose to review. Unlike a paid film critic for a newspaper who has to review everything that comes along, I, as a volunteer, was able to pick and choose the films I wanted to review. If it sounded like a stinker or a waste of my time I just wouldn't bother. I went to see films I thought were going to have significant content and that had a good chance of being something my audience might want to see. Sometimes I was disappointed and when that happened I said so and said why. But mostly I liked the films I saw, and, importantly, I had good, thoughtful things to say about those films. My listeners didn't discount my reviews because they were largely "positive." Rather, they came to rely on my reviews as a guide to films that they might want to see.
(You can read these old film reviews, if you like, at http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/FilmReviews/ or on the Rotten Tomatoes website at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-4017/).

I'm not "afraid to call a spade a spade," I just try, as the public does, to select shows that I think I might want to see. If the acting is bad or the production values weak, and it detracts from my theater-going experience, I'll be disappointed and won't be afraid to say so. So far, in the plays I've reviewed, that hasn't been the case. Obviously different people are going to disagree in their reactions to shows. One that speaks to one person may not speak to someone else. That's a function of your taste or your life experience, perhaps, but not a reason for calling the credibility of the critic into question. Nor should the fact that a critic may know some of the cast members call the integrity of the review into question. Anyone who has worked in the theater community in Albuquerque very long at all is going to know people in our community. If you don't want to offend your friends, you probably shouldn't be a critic! -Linda Lopez McAlister

“Body Burden” at the Adobe Theatre.

Reviewed by Linda López McAlister

Playwrights who write about the development of nuclear weapons and the aftermath seem to like to invoke ghosts. Michael Frayn called up the ghosts of Niels Bohr and Werner Heissenberg in his play Copenhagen about the race to develop the atomic bomb. Now New Mexico playwright Dale Dunn has conjured up the ghost of J. Robert Oppenheimer in her new play Body Burden that had its world premiere last weekend at the Adobe Theater in Albuquerque. Perhaps they do this because the moral dilemmas that this subject matter poses are so enormous that our struggles with them will last into eternity.

Body Burden explores these dilemmas in relation to a little known program carried out by scientists at various atomic research facilities in the 1960s that sought to determine “the Maximum Permissible Body Burden” for various radioactive materials on the human body. According to playwright Dunn, it has been documented that some of these experiments were conducted on children growing up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where she grew up. The program is called “Project Sunshine.”

The play’s protagonist, Kate Pendleton, left Los Alamos after high school, and now returns twenty-five years later—after having had a miscarriage, a failed marriage, a cancerous thyroid gland and finding herself unable to continue her career as a journalist. On her journey back to New Mexico, she stops at night in the desert and cries out in despair, thereby conjuring up two spirits, the ghost of J. Robert Oppenheimer and a lost, time-traveling, Girl Scout from 1966 who could have been her at that age. What she finds when she returns to her mother’s home in Los Alamos are gut-wrenching revelations about her parents and her old high school friends, all of whom are haunted in varying ways by their relationships to the work of the laboratory. These revelations and her interactions with Oppenheimer and the lost Girl Scout begin to help her make sense of the course of her life and, possibly, provide a way to move on.

Director Lou Clark has done an enormously skillful job of bringing this complex and thought-provoking play to the stage. She has cast some of Albuquerque’s finest actors and they give moving and truthful performances throughout. Laurie Lister as Kate Pendleton and Vernon Poitras as the ghost of J. Robert Oppenheimer created what I thought were particularly engrossing and insightful characterizations. The scenic and lighting design by Leonard Madrid and the beautifully realized sound design by Clareann Despain added immeasurably to the overall effectiveness of the production.
Body Burden is a play that will continue to haunt you long after the lights go out and the audience leaves the theater. This production at the Adobe Theater that runs through October 7th may be its first, but I predict that it will not be its last. It makes an important contribution to our ongoing understanding of the human condition, for good or ill, and deserves the widest possible audience.

REVIEW: King Lear at the Adobe

Raving Richard Radio Review for live broadcast on 8/15/07, KKIM, 1000AM

This week my focus is on the show that just opened at the Adobe Theatre here in Albuquerque, Shakespeare’s King Lear.

To set the stage, let me paraphrase director Richard Adkins: “The play tells of an aging monarch who wants to put aside the burden of high office, while retaining its pomp. Foolishly, he dismisses his youngest daughter, who truly loves him. The play is further complicated by his manipulations with his two older daughters, plus palace intrigue and a parallel plot involving the Duke of Gloucester, then rises to a violent climax.”

Typical of Shakespearean plays, all sorts of interaction takes place, with many characters involved. The cast is mostly made up of former students of the director, each a talented performer making great progress in theatre, their true love. But to single out one among the many for well-deserved accolades, I would wager there is no one on London or New York stages or film in Hollywood who can exceed the overall sense of identity for the title role displayed by Ron Elguera. How could there be a more irascible codger than this person Shakespeare made Lear out to be? Ron fulfills every element of passion in the script and director’s intent.

A footnote about the director, to whom I was introduced by distinguished actor and Adobe Liaison, Hugh Witemeyer: Ralph Adkins also heads the drama program for Albuquerque high schools.

King Lear continues weekends at the Adobe through Sept. 2. This is indeed an outstanding performance: acting, staging, costuming, and all other production aspects. No matter whether you are a Shakespeare aficionado or not, this is an opportunity to appreciate the Bard’s dramatic writing.

Seniors! You need theatre as much as it needs you!

Research: Singing for Dear Life

A recent year-long research project shows that engagement in cultural activities makes for happier, healthier seniors. The project focused on people with an average age of 80 who either volunteered to join a singing group that met once a week at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., or they were recruited to be in a comparison group.

The music group sang in a professionally conducted chorale for 30 weeks, and in addition they gave several concerts during this period. Baseline measures of physical health and medical treatments were taken, as well as scores on a morale scale, a loneliness scale, a depression scale, and a survey of social activities. Participants kept a journal of doctor visits and lists of medications they were taking. Researchers took care that the differences between the groups were controlled for in all analyses. While at baseline there were 166 participants, 12 months later there were 141. About 80 percent were women, and most of the participants were white (92 percent).

The results from this year-long study were highly favorable to those who participated in the musical program. They reported a higher level of physical health, had fewer doctor visits, used less medication, and had fewer falls and other health problems. They also reported better morale, less loneliness, and they had a more active social life at the end of the year; the comparison group's social activities showed a decline.

This study supports the view that serious engagement in cultural activities, such as music and artistic programs, supports healthful behavior in other realms as well. A lively culturally-engaged older population is one that is more likely to be self-directed and fulfilled, and less likely to require long-term care.

From an article in The Gerontologist, 2006, 46, 726-734, by Gene D. Cohen, Susan Peristein, Jeff Chapline, Jeanne Kelly, Kimberly M. Firth and Samuel Simmens

REVIEWERS

It's a wonderful idea to have reviews on the web site. However, this raises a credibility issue. Every show so far has gotten glowing reviews. It gives one pause. In the first year of the A.T. G.'s existence we should be careful about a perception of self gratification. I have heard reports that the reviewers are almost to chummy with the actors the minute they walk into the theatre. This does not bode well towards the objective approach that a reviewer should have. We must be careful. Too many glowing reviews is just as bad as too many bad reviews. People stop believing that they should see a show based on that reviewer's comments. Arthur said it at the last general meeting. Creditability is sacrificed. If there needs to be more people to review, I might be able to suggest some that would have a better eye and understanding of looking at a show from the perspective of production values and won't be afraid to call a spade a spade. Remember, Credibility. -JH

REVIEW: Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL at ALT

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL adapted from a Disney Channel movie, directed by Will Klundt at Albuquerque Little Theatre through August 5.

Greetings from Theatreland! Sunday I saw the Disney show at Albuquerque Little Theatre called High School Musical. This is fun for all—the cast as well as the audience—but strictly for youngsters and teenagers to enjoy, plus parents or chaperons who are young at heart. Sunday’s audience was 100% children up through high school age, and was virtually a sell-out. By all means take your kids to this show. They’ll love it and love you for taking them.

What a treat this show is for the performers—most all teenagers—as this is probably their first chance to appear on a large community stage. Almost everyone sings, dances, and acts to a story about a high school audition for a musical. And it was obvious that each was thoroughly enchanted with their big opportunity at “Show Biz!”

The actors weren’t the only ones relishing the experience. The audience, too, were likely seeing live theatre for the first time—enjoying a show to which they can relate in a friendly and receptive environment. And who knows, maybe some of these same young folks will be so infatuated with live theatre that someday we’ll see another Neil Patrick Harris performing! When I see his parents at Sandia Pres, where we both attend, I’m going to ask if he got his start in a similar situation. Look where he is now: on a TV awards show viewed by millions across the country.

- Ravin’ Richard Radio Review for live broadcast on 7/25/07, KKIM, 1000 AM, Albuquerque

REVIEW: Ayvazian's HIGH DIVE at the Vortex

High Dive by Leslie Ayvazian at the Vortex Theatre,
July 20 – August 5, 2007,
by Linda Lopez McAlister

It’s August, 1998, in a resort hotel near the Aegean Sea in Greece and it’s 112 degrees. An Armenian-American woman, Leslie, is in crisis. She’s standing on the high dive platform while her husband, son and hotel guests watch. Two things terrify her: the thought of jumping into the pool and the thought that she’s turning 50 in just three weeks.

That’s the initial moment of Leslie Ayvazian’s delightful one-woman play that opens tonight at the Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque (because of other commitments, I attended the final dress rehearsal). It leads to one of the most enjoyable evenings in the theater you can imagine. For one thing, even though it is a “one-woman show,” it has a very large cast—members of the audience who, before the show, are given scripts and lines to read at the appropriate time. They are augmented by three members of the “ensemble” who “play” Leslie’s husband, son, and various others from their seats in the theater. This audience-participation adds enormously to the fun and camaraderie of the evening, blurring the line between stage and audience.

Leslie will do anything to avoid the decision to jump off that high dive, so what she does is end up telling us, basically, her whole life story—including her previous disastrous vacation trips with her husband who loves to travel (she doesn’t), her checkered and hilarious work history, and her relationships with various family members.

Leslee Richards gives a wonderfully warm and winning performance as Leslie. She’s very funny in the way she recounts these stories and very believable when her fear of heights and fear of aging, and fear of what people will think of her grabs her and pulls her back to the present moment. Director Tish Miller has found all the nuances in the piece and made sure that the material is played for all it’s worth, moving things along briskly and in a way that keeps the audience entranced and rooting for Leslie (and Leslee).

Does she jump? Or not? I won’t tell you. But I will tell you that, in the end, both of the things that terrified her at the outset come to a very satisfactory resolution.

REVIEW: A.R. Gurney's LATER LIFE at the Adobe Theatre

As I previewed last week, Later Life describes the meeting of a man and woman who had met briefly many years before on the Isle of Capri--only this time at a cocktail party in Boston, also attended by five other couples. In this play, written by A.R. Gurney, all these others are performed by just two actors, Kate Chavez and Richard Boehler, who portray their different roles very effectively--in fact, hilariously funny--with disguised voices, appearance, and mannerisms.
The principal characters are played by Dave McDowell and Lori Stewart, whose acting is so good that you feel as though you are actuallt eavesdropping on their conversations, while they reminisce on old times and contemplate a future life together--hence the title, Later Life.
This is a most entertaning play, both in script as well as the acting, and runs weekends all this month at the Adobe, 9813 Fourth NW. That's a few blocks north of Alameda. The number for tickets and information is 898-9222.
- Ravin' Richard, broadcast live on KKIM on 7/11/07.

REVIEW: Siegmann's THE FENCE at NHCC

A chain link fence 50 feet high, 50 feet deep, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico in order to close the border between Mexico and the United States is some people's idea of a solution to the immigration question. For playwright Johanna Siegmann, it's an idea that made her want to take a closer look at the lives of people who might be affected by such a Draconian measure. The result is a new play, "The Fence," a smart, funny look at people on both sides of the border whose daily activities come to an abrupt halt when such a fence suddenly appears one day on a rural stretch of the US-Mexican border.
Gina, who lives with her husband, 3 month-old baby, and extended family on the Mexican side of the border, goes to work in the US one day and can't get home because The Fence has appeared with its array of high tech cameras, lights, laser beams and Officer Wilcox, the disembodied voice of the US Border patrol officer over the loudspeaker. Soon Gina's family and an amazing array of other people arrive at the site with all kinds of reasons for being there, ranging from the practical to the scurrilous to the hilarious.
Director Michael Blum and set designer Antonio Aragon have created the perfect opening for the show as the audience watches the fence being constructed right before our eyes. Blum then finds creative ways to deploy his actors on a stage now divided in half by the fence. He has cast many Teatro Nuevo Mexico regulars, including Amy Archuleta who turns in a convincing performance as Gina, and James Chavez, whose highly nuanced performance as the unemployed husband, JoJo starts out as broad comedy but becomes quite moving as he reveals his true feelings in the second act. Clinton Chadwick's voice performance as two border patrol officers and Santiago Candelaria's comic turn as an unconventional priest also deserve special comment.
"The Fence" has an amusing surprise ending that should leave audiences both chuckling and thinking, perhaps some new thoughts, as they leave the theater.

"The Fence" can be seen on Friday and Saturday nights, July 6 and 7th, at 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday July 8 at 2:00 pm in the Albuquerque Journal Theater at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
By Linda Lopez McAlister for KUNM

ATG FORUM

At ATG's early public meetings, attendees expressed the hope that ATG could provide a space for exchange of information and opinion relevant to the Albuquerque theatre community.

Let's try this blog space and see if we can make it work for us.