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
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, July 16, 2007
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.
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
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
Saturday, July 14, 2007
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.
Let's try this blog space and see if we can make it work for us.
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