The Glider

I don't very often read movie or theatre reviews. I find that I seldom agree with the reviewers, I think they are often politically-motivated, and, even those reviewers who are competent enough not to write as though composing a book report still manage to give away a few "spoilers" in their effort to fill column-inches.
However, when I saw that John Moore (one of the better reviewers in town, in my opinion) was actually bothering to review And Toto Too Theatre Company's mid-week show at the Denver Vic, The Glider, I couldn't not read it. With something like a hundred theatre companies producing in Colorado each season, it's fairly easy for smaller companies like And Toto Too to go unnoticed -- especially by the major papers.
Well, the review was a little less than favorable. Two stars. Mostly he went after Katherine Snodgrass's script and left the actors (two of whom are pretty good friends of mine) alone.
Still, two stars for the overall production, even if that's primarily for flaws in the script, doesn't bode well for an enjoyable evening of theatre -- particularly when it's a show that friends are in.
Those are the performances where I start making note of the available exits in order to avoid that awkward, "Sooo . . . what did you think?" from the friend in the show.
Well, I went to the show last night with a degree of reticence, but comfortable in the fact that I knew that, even if the script left something to be tired, my friends were far more than competent enough actors to pull off a worthy show.
I am happy to say that I think, in this case, John was between two and three stars off the mark. "The Glider" is a deftly-written, tightly-woven script. Comparison's to Beth Henley's over-rated and meandering script Crimes of the Heart are a bit unfair. (Chekov and Shakespeare wrote plays about three sisters, too, you know.)
In the interest of "equal time," (even though his readership is like 100,000 times that of mine) here's John's review. (Be warned. Even John is not immune from throwing in a spoiler or two.)
Now, while John didn't criticize the performances or the direction, he didn't spend many inches on praising them, either.
Let me take a moment to do that now. Rita Broderick as Fran finds every level in a character whose dark secret is hinted at often, but never fully revealed. Rebecca Remaly manages a fascinatingly steady simmer as the middle sister whose future seems completely out of her hands. Perhaps the most compelling performance (and in this trio, that's saying something) comes from the actress who seems to be given the least to work with in the script. Amanda Von Nostrand as Chrissy moves (glides?) adroitly between vulnerable younger sibling and statuesque family leader.
Now, crisp as Snodgrass's script is, one could see how the potential for melodrama could be exploited. Director Susan Lyles keeps tears and screaming outbursts just as they ought to be -- to a minimum. These characters are not on a reality program. There's no posturing for the "camera." They're just three people trying to simply maintain, in the middle of a very bad situation. The story is all the more moving then for the grounded performances.
There's a saying in theatre that the best tech is the tech that goes unnoticed, and I agree with that somewhat, but it's worth noting that designers Darren Smith and Karalyn "Star" Pytel (with the help of Scenic Artist James Holley) so effectively created a boathouse overlooking a moonlit lake, that I could not help myself but to periodically look over my shoulder expecting to see a bright silver moon and fish jumping on the water.
I don't have a rating system of stars or thumbs-up or anything because I don't really consider myself a reviewer, but let's just say, "I got five on it." (No, wait, I think that means something else.)
Anyway, good show. Great show. Go see it.
The Glider runs Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays through July 10th at the Denver Victorian Playhouse.
Here's a bit of fun: this is a video of the set change between The Vic's set for Catch Me If You Can into the set for The Glider.

George Carlin and Me

George Carlin died yesterday. I suppose the proper way to say that would be to say that he "passed away" or that he "is no longer with us," but knowing George's hatred for all things euphemistic, he's dead. He didn't expire or fade away or crossover or anything else. He just f***in' died.
I hate that I had to use asterisks there. Blogspot's bandwidth. Blogspot's rules. That's fair, I suppose. (I'm going to be hard-pressed to find a video of George that I can embed here, though.)
I learned to curse from my dad and uncles and older cousins. I learned how to curse well from George Carlin.
I learned a lot more from George Carlin, though, too. What I know about critical thinking, I learned from watching George's stand-up routines (late night on my cousin Bart's HBO.)
Reductio ad absurdum.
That means (essentially) reducing an argument to the point of absurdity in order to explode it completely. I don't think anybody did that better than George.
I recognized very early on that my brain didn't work the way that everyone else's that I knew did. I was less willing to accept statements as facts. I questioned a lot, which was a point of much consternation among my Sunday school teachers. (Can you imagine trying to explain the story of Adam and Eve to a six-year-old who insists upon logic?)
I think I was about eight years old (maybe seven) when I first saw a George Carlin HBO special. (Also the first week I saw boobs on television. Thank you, HBO! That was a big week.)
I remember thinking: "See? This guy gets it! A lot of stuff that we're just supposed to accept in life doesn't make any sense."
All my life I have always felt a certain kinship with George Carlin. I have found other philosophers (and I do consider him a philosopher) along the way who have helped me to form my world view (still a work in progress, by the way), but George was the first person that I ever encountered who seemed to be "my kind."
My world changed when George Carlin entered into it.
I will miss him. I will miss him a lot.

Come Look at the Phreaks

Okay, for those of you who did not heed my advance advice here and here and have still not managed to get down to the Denver Center to see PHAMALy's production of Side Show, please now look up and to the right (on your computer screen, dope!) at that image of the wise and wonderful wolf. Now imagine him rolling his eyes, sighing, and looking at you reproachfully as he shakes his head.
Great show! Thought-provoking and entertaining!
Great cast! Jenna Bainbridge (recent Henry nominee) and Regan Linton are absolutely stunning as conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton!
I told you it would be, now, didn't I?
Say it with me now:
"Big Bad Wolf told us so."
Now, get yourself down to the box office or just go online and get your tickets now. The show closes June 29th, so don't dilly-dally.
Yes, I said "dilly-dally." I have a whole pocketful of colloquialisms, and I will use them if forced to do so. Don't let's bring it to that point, hmm?
Buy the tickets.
See the show.
23 skidoo.
You know what I'm saying.

Fresh Homespun Theatre

Ahhhh . . .
I love the smell of the air after it's rained. It smells fresh. It suggests newness and possibility.
Appropriate then that I should find myself at The Crossroads Theater after yesterday afternoon's rain showers, because it was the opening night of Jonson Y. Kuhn's latest theatrical endeavour, 4 Days in Bed, a new play co-written with Ariel Marks.
Those of you unfamiliar with Jonson Kuhn's previous work, Denver, missed something pretty special. I am not alone in saying that Kuhn is one of my generation's most promising playwrights . . . and, folks, he's right here in the 303.
The evening's festivities start off with a "first act" with live music by the band Cosimo and performances by Denver Slam Poets, creating an atmosphere of urban Bohemia that perfectly sets the stage for the second act of the night: a clever and frank examination of twenty-somethings in love (sort of . . . maybe) penned by Kuhn and Marks and brought brilliantly to life by actors Patrick Ryan and Ariana Griffith.
Ryan highlights the autobiographical nature of the play with a spot-on impersonation of high school chum Kuhn. However, Ryan's performance isn't merely clever artifice as he also masterfully captures the soul of his playwright friend. Ariana Griffith is so natural and strong on stage that I might have been inclined to think she had written her dialogue herself were it not for the sight of the real wordsmith, Marks, sitting nervously in the front row. Griffith is eminently watchable as the flawed, but adorable heroine.
The "dry spell" is over. This is One Big Bad Wolf who is excited about theatre again. Get yourselves down to Crossroads and see why, but do it quick: 4 Days in Bed runs through June 28 only.

A Shot in the Arm

That, in my opinion, is what the Denver theatre scene could really use.
I have been mulling over John Moore's recent article about the strengths and weaknesses of Colorado theatre, and I must say that he echoes many of the sentiments that have kept me away from my blog here. That is largely because, well, I don't think I would have put things as nicely as he has. If you've not read the article yet, I highly encourage you to do so. John has a good deal more access to facts and figures than I would have. If I could add anything to the article, it would be to point out that, in addition to seasons becoming "progressively more banal" (to use John's well-chosen words) I believe that there is a lot of "copycatting" in that banality.
Can we not rest until every theatre company in the area has mounted their very own production of Escanaba in da Moonlight?
I do also agree with much of John's praise of this theatre community, though, as he pointed out the many strengths of theatre in our state. The support for theatre is here. The talent is here. However, 97 companies in the state all mounting at least one production in a given season leads to:
1) a lot of repetition
2) unnecessary competition for audience
3) a "thinning" of the available talent pool at any given time

Last year I saw somewhere in the neighborhood of seventy plays or musicals -- that's more than one per week on average -- and I barely saw a quarter of what was produced in town, if that.
The less ambitious theatre-goer won't be able to see anywhere near that many.
The 97 producing theatre companies in Colorado need to, I believe, take a long hard look at just why they exist.
As with non-profits (which a great majority of theatre companies are) the question should be asked, "Are we filling a need that is not already being filled?"
Yes, every baritone wants a crack at playing the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and every ingenue wants to play Belle, but after how many separate productions do we acknowledge that it is now merely a vanity production. Now, I'm not pointing the finger at any particular productions of that show that have been or are about to be produced. I'm simply using it as an example. At the same time, for the intensely curious, it might be interesting to count just how many productions of that particular show have been (and will be produced) inside of five years and inside of 100 miles of the Front Range.
Just a thought.
And speaking of a shot in the arm, check out this trailer for Performance Now's upcoming production of Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical:

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

Maybe some of you have already heard this story. I just heard about it today.
It made me pretty angry.

From TCPalm.com:

Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5
By Colleen Wixon
Saturday, May 24, 2008

PORT ST. LUCIE — Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex — who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism — out of the class.

Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said.

Port St. Lucie Police no longer are investigating, but police officials are documenting the complaint, she said.

Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place.

Portillo could not be reached for comment Friday.

Steele said the boy had been sent to the principal's office because of disciplinary issues. When he returned, Portillo made him go to the front of the room as a form of punishment, she said.

Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully.

Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and eccentric behavior..

Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disability, Barton said. After the family moved into the area and Alex and his sibling arrived at the school in January, Alex spent much of the time in the principal's office, she said.

He also had problems at his last school, but he did not have issues during his two years of preschool, Barton said.

School and district officials have met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan to address his difficulties, she said. Portillo attended these meetings, Barton said.

Barton said after the vote, Portillo asked Alex how he felt.

"He said, 'I feel sad,' " Barton said.

Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office, she said.

Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school Wednesday, he was leaving the nurse's office.

"He was shaken up," she said.

Barton said the nurse told her to talk with Portillo, who told her what happened.

Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to drop off his sibling at school.

Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special" over and over.

Barton said Alex is reliving the incident.

The other students said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton said.

"He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."

St. Lucie School's spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment.

Vern Melvin, Department of Children and Families circuit administrator, confirmed the agency is investigating an allegation of abuse at Morningside but said he could not elaborate.

I was absolutely fuming after I read this. I hope you were, too. That's why I posted it. I also want to point out that -- while families living with autism is an important subject to me -- imagine if this was done to a 5-year-old without Asperger's -- any 5-year-old for that matter.

What kind of a cowardly person places the onus for dealing with a difficult child on a room full of five-year-olds? Shame on this "teacher." 

Here's a link to the story (including a family photo of little Alex).

Thanks to the MySpace Page "Autism Awareness" for bringing this story to my attention.


EDIT:
Again, thank you to the Autism Awareness MySpace page for the following:

CONTACT INFO for the Port St. Lucie School District:

Morningside Elementary School Principal:
Mrs. Marcia Cully
cullym@stlucie.k12.fl.us
(772) 337-6730

St. Lucie County Schools Superintendent:
Michael J. Lannon
4204 Okeechobee Road
Ft. Pierce, FL 34947-5414
Phone: 772/429-3925
FAX: 772/429-3916
lannonm@stlucie.k12.fl.us

St. Lucie County School Board Chair:
Carol Hilson
772-519-0397
hilsonc@stlucie.k12.fl.us

Vice Chair:
Judith Miller
772-528-4545
millerj@stlucie.k12.fl.us

Where's the party?

I have been out of school now for just about a week but have not blogged until now.
Partly, I needed to re-group, and, partly, I just haven't known what to write about lately.
I'm holding off on writing about the theatre scene at the moment, because, in my present frame of mind I would probably over-use words like "pandering", "limpid", and "shallow," and, I'd rather not do that right now.
I expect that I will soon fall back in love with Denver theatre, but, for the moment, we're "taking a break."
It's not you, it's me. Really.
As for movies, Iron Man was great, in my opinion, Speed Racer was a lot of fun (no sequels this time though, please, Wachowski brothers) and Dan in Real Life was well-acted but predictable. I haven't mustered up the courage to see the latest Indiana Jones yet. I'm a big Harrison Ford fan, but I'm just not sure that this movie needed to be made.
So, today, dear readers, I am going to broach a subject that I normally eschew: politics. The DNC is coming to Denver in August, and there are some bloggers up in arms that they aren't invited because they have been critical of party leadership.
Now, I'm not a Democrat (or a Republican, for that matter), but I think I can see both sides of this.
On the one hand the DNC wants to throw a big mutual admiration, pat-each-other-on-the-back, ain't-we-just-grand, feel-good family shindig, and they'd just as soon not have the bickering cousins sitting at the head table. Well, it's their show. I guess they can invite whomever they want.
On the other hand, these bloggers show their loyalty to their party through their willingness to yell "BS!" from time to time, to keep everyone on track. They are just doing their part, and should probably be allowed to join the fiesta.
Honestly, though, I think that this country's inexplicable need to be an "either/or" when it comes to political affiliation is a great hindrance to democracy and efficiency.
Ideologically speaking, there are moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans who are nearer to one another than they are to the center of their own parties, not to mention the extremists. Yet, these two individuals of nearly identical minds will vote completely opposite of one another simply because they identify themselves as being part of one "club" versus another because of their upbringing or their geography. Plus, they're lazy.
"I don't have to know the platforms of every candidate on the ballot. I just need to know their party."
Democracy in action. Democracy inaction.
Add to this the fact that, once elected, the representatives of each side spend so much more time throwing mud (on-camera whenever possible) at the other team that not much really seems to get done. At this point, there are only two ways for government to be more fruitful under the current system:
The first way is for one side to dominate another in the elections and seize power. The major downside to this is that a significant portion of the population will feel highly under-represented, and we don't need another "Mason-Dixon Line" in this country.
The second way is through the "miracle" of bipartisanship. This is a big deal when this happens, it seems, because it always manages to get plenty of coverage in the press.
"Oh. look! One of the red guys is shaking hands with one of the blue guys! They're working together, isn't it amazing?"
(Do yourself a favor. Look into the etymology of "Congress" sometime.)
Am I saying that we need a third party? Yes, and a fifth, and a seventh. (Odd numbers tend to work out better when one reaches an impasse.)
It's time that we ask ourselves why am I in this club? If you know the answer and like the answer, then cool, be a DNC'er or a GOP'er, by all means. However, if you find yourself with doubt in your heart, embrace that doubt.
Take responsibility for your vote, a lot of people fought very hard that you may have it. Vote for people and ideas, not "colors" or "animals."
Do your representatives represent you? If not, then you've got nobody to blame but yourself.
Okay, I'm going to step off of the soapbox now.
It's a good thing, too, because you don't want me to get started on the electoral college . . .