A Very LOoPy Ruddigore by Tina Arth

Picture shows Lindsey Lefler, Chad Dickerson, Laurence Cox, Casey 
Lebold, and a Chorus of Professional Bridesmaids

Light opera should be fun, and by that measure alone, Light Opera of Portland’s

current production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore is a clear success. However,

LOoP’s return to the Multnomah Arts Center after a five-year absence is a delight

on every level – and with only a two-week run, and three performances left, I

recommend that plan your weekend around this gem. It’s clearly a labor of love,

and several players are doing double duty – there’s Director (and set designer,

and Robin Oakapple) Laurence Cox, Music Director (playing keyboard/synthesizer)

Reece Sauve, Costume Designer (and Rose Maybud) Lindsey Lefler, and Producer

(and Dame Hannah) Sara Rivara. These key players and the rest of the 21-person

cast work together seamlessly to wring every drop of humor out of this bawdy

parody of conventional melodrama.

Not unexpectedly, the plot is convoluted and fairly silly. Many years ago, a witch

placed a strange curse on the Baronets of Ruddigore which rendered them wicked

and required them to commit at least one crime each day (the first Baronet of

Ruddigore had rudely burnt her at the stake). Failure to fulfill the rules of the

curse doomed the Baronet to die in agony. After the death of the most recent

Baronet, Sir Ruthven, his younger brother Despard inherited the title and its

attendant wickedness. In the meantime, the exceptionally proper Rose Maybud,

fairest woman in the village, has no suitors – all of the eligible men are afraid to

speak their hearts, and none will wed another if there’s a chance of winning Rose.

A chorus of professional bridesmaids yearns for the day that Rose will wed, as

their careers have been stunted by the absence of any weddings for the past six

months.

Timid, lovestruck young farmer Robin Oakapple has caught Rose’s eye, and she

his, but her obsession with etiquette and his timidity make courting impossible –

until Robin’s foster brother, the dashing rake Richard Dauntless, offers to speak

up for Robin. Richard takes one look at Rose, falls in love, and proposes to her –

and she accepts. Side plot alert: the evil Sir Despard Murgatroyd, wicked Baronet

of Ruddigore, has broken the heart of Mad Margaret, a crazed maiden – and she

fears that Sir Despard will carry Rose off as one of his daily crimes. Rose assures

her that she is betrothed to another and that Mad Margaret need not worry.

There’s lots more, much of it entertainingly preposterous, but you’ll have to see

the show (or consult Wikipedia, I suppose) to find out how it all turns out!

The Professional Bridesmaids, led by Zorah (Dominique Garrison), are marvelous

as they flit about the stage dancing and singing their little hearts out (and flirting

madly with any man in sight). Their male counterparts, the chorus of sailors,

bucks, and blades, are hilarious as they gamely attempt to execute the

choreography – the sailors’ hornpipe and other dances juxtapose nicely with their

flawless vocal harmonies. Sara Rivara’s dry performance as Dame Hannah delivers

a dose of (at least by G&S standards) relative sanity, and she plays a central role in

delivering the back story of the Wicked Baronets, plus her contralto stands out

nicely on a stage full of sopranos.

For me, Chad Dickerson’s “Richard Dauntless” clearly takes top honors for

comedy – he never misses a chance to express his character’s insuppressibly

bawdy and self-serving nature; while delivering his vocals in a blameless tenor, he

makes the most of the nickname “Dick” at every opportunity. Laurence Cox uses

his marvelous voice as well as the comic timing needed for Robin Oakapple as he

switches convincingly from timid hero to a reluctant, ineffective villain and back

again – Dauntless may be the family seaman, but Cox navigates the show’s most

improbable plot and character twists. Finally, there’s Lindsey Lefler’s “Rose” – as

always, Lefler’s soprano vocals are impeccable, but it is her straight-faced

expression of the character’s bizarre addiction to etiquette that really makes the

role.

The costumes and set are perfect – elaborate costumes, simple set – with a huge

thumbs up for the clever Act II portraits! Sauve’s work on the synthesizer stands

in nicely for a room full of instruments, and the frequent interplay between Sauve

and the cast adds another level of humor to an already funny show. Quite

honestly, I was shocked that the production didn’t get a massive standing ovation

– perhaps when you see it you can remedy this grave injustice!

Light Opera of Portland’s production of Ruddigore is playing at the Multnomah

Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway, Portland through Sunday, October 30 th ,

with shows at 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday and a 1:00 pm Sunday matinee.

B&B's The Last White Man Defies Categorization by Tina Arth

 

Photo by Casey Campbell Photography shows Tim Gouran and James Luster

When Bag&Baggage founding artistic director Scott Palmer left town in 2018 to try out life in Sun Valley, Idaho, his departure left a massive crater in the Washington County theater scene. Undaunted, B&B stepped up and produced some absolutely marvelous stuff after his departure - then, of course, Covid hit and threw a massive monkey wrench into pretty much everything, definitely including the arts scene. In fact, the last live production I reviewed before the shutdown was Measure of Innocence at The Vault in March of 2020 (fun side note: I still remember with horror the woman who sat next to me, coughing throughout the show!). As the local area emerged from strict lockdown, I was able to see a couple of B&B’s outdoor productions, but I had been pining for some serious Vault time when I got the invitation to see playwright Bill Cain’s The Last White Man directed by – wait for it – Scott Palmer! Leave it at this: I am delighted that Scott is back, he has assembled a remarkable team and managed the B&B resources to their best effect to present a play that grips the audience from beginning to end. I don’t know what role he’ll be playing in the local theater scene, but I will follow his reintegration enthusiastically.

 

Since the current production is the Pacific Northwest premiere of The Last White Man it is not surprising that I knew nothing about the show when I walked in the door. When you go to see it (you will, right?) you’ll have a better handle on what to expect! A major production of Hamlet is in the works, under the guidance of Xandri (Janelle Rae), a Black woman director. Theirlead is big-name film star Charlie (Khail Duggan), sporting a shiny new Oscar but plagued by paralyzing doubt about his ability to do justice to the iconic role. He is driving the amazingly patient Xandri nuts with his reluctance to rehearse, and he wants to modify the script – e.g., why not say “To be, or not” and cut out the second “to be” since it’s superfluous? However, Xandri has covered their bases – there’s Rafe (James Luster), an ambitious understudy who would love to see Charlie disappear, and Tigg (Tim Gouran), a venerated older actor willing to step in for a final crack at one of theater’s greatest roles to close his illustrious career. Cain puts a lot of drama in this play within a play about a play within a play, but laces it with so much humor that I really can’t call it tragedy, comedy, or dramedy – it’s all of the above, a tasteful dose of commentary on diversity issues in theater, and more, plus a sporadic soundtrack playing homage to the greatest hits of Gloria Gaynor and Bonnie Tyler. What’s not to love?

 

Khail Duggan grabs focus immediately; he’s a lithe, muscular, and brooding James Dean wannabe whose juvenile outbursts and tantrums initially come across as spoiled egotism. Duggangradually reveals the crippling insecurity at war with his determination to succeed that makes “To be, or not to be” much more than a line in a play – his indecision blurs the line between actor and role until we can hardly separate the two. Luster’s “Rafe” moves smoothly between eager fanboy, touchingly sincere friend, and master manipulator – figuring out who he is at any point in the play poses an interesting challenge, and in the final analysis Luster convinces us that he is all three.

 

Tim Gouran is masterful as Tigg – funny and even whimsical, sometimes sardonic, sometimes laconic and sometimes intense. He gradually reveals how much this final Hamlet means to him, yet how much it takes for him to tackle the role – Touran inhabits Tigg’s skin completely as he slowly breaks our hearts. 

 

Finally, there’s Janelle Rae’s “Xandri” – perhaps easily overlooked on a stage filled with attention seeking white guys, yet as director they actually hold the reins of this turbulent Hamlet. Rae creates a character who is confident, strong, and determined to get the performances they need without resorting to the bullying they have seen from male directors – somewhere between a kindergarten teacher and a fight referee. As the only Black, only female character they carry the show’s social justice messages on their shoulders with aplomb.

 

Technical Director Jim Ricks-White uses the Vault’s tech capabilities to spectacular effect, teaming up with Projection Designer Mandy Khoshnevisan to create a rich theater world from a relatively bare stage. 

 

Bag&Baggage’s The Last White Man is playing at The Vault, 350 E. Main Street, Hillsboro, through Sunday, October 30th. 

 

Little Shop of Horrors at Theatre in the Grove by Tina Arth

Picture shows Max Powell and Audrey II

It can be tough for me to review a show I know really well, especially when it occupies prime
real estate in several parts of my heart – so many Audreys (both I and II), Seymours, and
Mushniks (including two of my favorite actors, Darrell Baker and Darren Hurley). Every telling is
familiar, yet still new. My standard is to look for a show that is faithful to the spirit of the
original musical (for me, first experienced via the movie) without simply mimicking the iconic
stylizations of stars like Ellen Green, Rick Moranis, and Steve Martin. Theatre in the Grove’s
current production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s gem definitely achieves this goal.
Director Ken Centers, along with his cast and production team, delivers the essentials along
with enough fresh elements to please even the pickiest fan. Special credit to Jeananne Kelsey
for fine choreography and music and vocal director Tiara Herr for managing the complex
arrangements that define the Little Shop of Horrors sound.

Looking around the theater last Sunday, I was once again surprised at how many audience
members were clearly new to the show – I sometimes forget that everyone’s path into the
world of theater is individualized, and reflects a personal history. For readers who are not Little
Shop veterans, here’s a brief overview (sans spoilers). Setting: Mushnik’s Skid Row Florist, a
flower shop teetering on the brink of failure in a seriously depressed slum. Principal characters:
the bullying owner, Mr. Mushnik; shop assistants Seymour, an orphan plucked off the streets by
Mr. Mushnik, and Audrey, a good-hearted and tackily glamorous woman who shares Seymour’s
pathetically low self-esteem; Orin Scrivello, Audrey’s sadistic boyfriend; Chiffon, Crystal, and
Ronette, a trio of local urchins with amazing doo-wop chops who serve as the show’s Greek
Chorus; Seymour’s discovery Audrey II, an eerily fast-growing, sentient plant with unusual
appetites that has the potential to confer fame and fortune, but at an awful price.

I was delighted by the work of Shae Bedford, Jade Tate, and Abigail Wallace (as Chiffon, Crystal,
and Ronette), three young women with great pipes and tons of attitude. They work well
together as a team, but each displays her own personality as an actor, dancer and vocalist,
giving the audience lots of smooth harmony punctuated by moments of distinctive styling and
impressive runs. I was especially struck by how central they were to the action – I’ve seen
productions that relegated the trio to mere chorus, but they were front and center at TITG.
Nick Serrone (as Orin Scrivello and “others”) undoubtedly has and delivers the most fun, as he
literally and figuratively pops up all over the production. His “Dentist” is solid, but he really hits
his mark in the “Now (It’s Just the Gas)” duet with Seymour, and his cameos as the local bum
display some brilliant physical comedy. Travis Schlegel’s “Mushnik” is vocally powerful, and he
is despicable enough to deserve whatever fate might befall him, but the high point for me was
the clever and surprisingly lithe choreography with Seymour in “Mushnik and Son” (one of the
best songs in the show, imho).

TITG newcomer Abbe Drake is a fine Audrey, notable in part for her decision (which I applaud)
NOT to imitate Ellen Greene’s breathy and squeaky delivery. Her plaintive “Somewhere That’s
Green” is lovely, and sets up the song’s second act reprise nicely, but it is the “Suddenly
Seymour” number (with Seymour, Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronette) that really establishes the
transition in her character. TITG regular Max Powell is perfect as Seymour, the poor guy who,
like Audrey II, experiences dramatic growth (in Seymour’s case, from schlub to mensch).
Schlegel, Drake, and Serrone are all at their best when singing/acting with Powell, whose
performance holds the whole show together and sets the emotional tone and the pace for all of
the action.

Finally, of course there’s the plant, Audrey II, voiced by Zachary Centers and animated by
puppeteers Gabriel Russell and Hank Smith. At its largest, Audrey II dominates the stage, yet
moves beautifully – kudos to Jeremy and Heather Van Fleet for a stunning bit of prop
construction.

Zach Centers’ set design is up to his usual standards – a very high bar to clear – and the
revolving set is smoothly effective. Sandy and Tom Cronin’s lighting design rendered me
occasionally breathless with its ability to shift the mood to match the play, and the band
(Vanessa Jump Nelson, Dave Newdek, Shannon Nelson, and Ralph Zazula) was superb.
Little Shop of Horrors is playing at Theatre in the Grove, 2028 Pacific Avenue, Forest Grove
through October 23d, with performances Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30
p.m.

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare Done Right By Tina Arth

Cast of Much Ado About Nothing

I rarely laugh out loud while watching productions of Shakespeare’s comedies. Don’t get me wrong - it’s not that the prolific playwright didn’t write some funny stuff in the late 16thcentury, or that his comic sensibility is now so out of date that the jokes just cannot land some 400+ years later. The problem is that contemporary companies don’t always put in the necessary work to make sure that I and my fellow audience members will see and respond to the humor.  That said, I laughed my ass off at the closing performance of Canon Shakespeare Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing. Yeah – it was that good. Director Ira Kortum definitely “put in the work” – which includes acknowledging that most of the folks in the audience don’t even begin to approach his grasp of the material, and going above and beyond to ensure that his cast members bring everything they’ve got to their roles.

 

Kortum’s curtain speech set the tone brilliantly – he was informal, humorous, accessible without being patronizing, and expository without being didactic.  The show that followed never dragged despite its length – in large part, I think, because the actors were allowed to take their time and put as much effort into physical comedy as they did into delivering (not just reciting) their lines.

 

The story is somewhat less convoluted than many Shakespearean comedies, and there are serious moments where the actors convey real depth of emotion. To briefly summarize, Don Pedro and his men, Claudio and Benedick, visit Leonato, Duke of Messina. Claudio falls in love with Leonato’s daughter Hero, while Benedick engages in a vicious war of words and wit with Leonato’s niece, Beatrice – both of them claim to hate the idea of romance and marriage. The company conspires to trick Beatrice and Benedick into falling in love, while Don Pedro’s brother Don John plots to prevent Hero and Claudio from marrying. Shades of the earlier Taming of the Shrew? Yes, but without the misogynistic overtones – a much more satisfying tale for 2022!

 

For rofl comedy, the Tony (or its NoPo equivalent) definitely goes to Lauren Pickthorn (Beatrice) and Alec Henneberger (Benedick). They set the stage for their frenemy relationship from the beginning and took the physical humor as far as it could go – Lauren hurling herself over the platform/backdrop was a real show-stopper, and Alec’s wide-eyed lurking and peering from stage left was mesmerizing.

 

As mentioned above, there is a serious side to the play – the romance between Hero (Ariel Huntley) and Claudio (Rowan Dery), which is nearly derailed by the truly evil Don John (Kari Warfield). While Warfield’s broad performance is reminiscent of the classic villains of melodrama, Huntley and Dery play their roles with enough sincerity to make the audience care about their plight – in particular, Huntley’s agonized professions of innocence are really quite moving.

 

21st century productions of Much Ado are frequently updated in both time and place, presumably to make the story more relevant and engaging for the audience. Kortum’s choice which I much prefer, was to render the story essentially timeless – neither the set nor the costumes evoked any particular era or locale, which speaks to the timelessness of the principal conflicts. Couples still grapple with the tension between independence and loving partnership, infidelity/jealousy still haunt relationships, gender-based double standards still plague young lovers, and wise elders still try to mediate family disputes. Kudos to Canon Shakespeare Company for being confident enough to serve their Shakespeare up straight!

 

Canon Shakespeare Company, hosted at North Portland’s Twilight Theater, ran from September 22 through October 2. Watch their website for future offerings.