Hank Williams tribute, Looking for love & Sweeny Todd, looking for revenge!
Two musicals this week, one a reverent tribute to the short-lived country musician whose music seems to be popular forever, Hank Williams, Lost Highway, and the other an stunning, abeit highly unusual re-envisioning of the dark and wonderful tale of The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sweeny Todd.
Hank Williams, Lost Highway opens in Walnut Creek
Hank Williams, in just seven short years, wrote 36 top ten Country and Western music hits, 11 of which went to number one on the Bill Board charts. He is described by many as an enigma, a shooting star that shot meteorically into the country-western heavens, burned bright for a few years, then burned out and crashed almost as quickly. He died from a “heart attack”, according to his doctor, at age 29, in the back seat of his car. The truth be known, alcohol and drugs, and a broken heart probably contributed significantly to that “heart attack”.
Hiram “Hank” Williams was born on September 17, 1923. His father was unable to provide the family any type of consistent income as he was constantly in pain, suffering from injuries incurred after being gassed during World War I. Young Hiram had to find any kind of work he could to contribute his pennies and dimes to the family purse, so the family could hang on and meagerly sustain itself. At age 6, he sold peanuts and shined shoes to help provide another meal.
Hank loved music and a year later, when he was only seven, his mother bought him a second hand guitar for $3.50. A black street performer by the name of Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne taught him to play and by age 16, Hiram (now known as Hank) had already formed his own band, the Drifting Cowboys. He and his group had begun playing on radio station WFSA in Montgomery, Alabama, and before his 16th birthday, Hank’s reputation as an outrageous drinker was well known. What was not well known was that he was born with a spinal defect (diagnosed in his later years as Spinal Bifida) that caused him constant pain, except when he was drinking or taking painkillers.
Unfortunately, the tail of that comet called success burned hot with beautiful women, booze and more money than this very young man knew what to do with. In 1943, he met and married a beautiful gal by the name of Audrey Mae Sheppard. She played standup base well enough to join the band, but she wanted in the worse way to become a singing star, like Hank. Unfortunately, she couldn’t carry a tune in a trash can. She did however play a major role in managing his band and in helping him to meet musical mentor, Fred Rose. It was Rose who engineered the band’s true rise to success, including Hank’s first guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. It was that one guest appearance that helped break Hank out of the Honky-tonk bar circuit and find his natural national audience. From there on, the Hank Williams story was a brilliant white heat until the alcohol and sedatives destroyed his reliability and reputation.
Hank’s greatest hits spawned in those last great years (1947 to 1953) included such greats as: Move It On Over; I’m a Long Gone Daddy; Why Don’t You Love Me; Cold, Cold Heart; Hey Good Lookin’; Jambalaya; Lonesome Whistle; Lonesome Whistle; Honky Tonk Blues; and of course, Your Cheatin’ Heart!
This tribute to Hank Williams, written by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik, moves along very well, incorporates some of William’s best known songs, and provides a truly upbeat evening of music and song, and just plain great entertainment. Michael Butler, who directs this outstanding production, is indeed fortunate to have found a truly superb group of musicians and actors to bring this melodious and tragic story to life. Robert Brewer is quite excellent as Hank Williams, even sounds and looks a bit like him. Megan Smith is superb as Audrey “can’t-sing-a-note” Williams, his wife. Hank’s mother, Mama Lilly, is played very well by Mary Baird, and Zehra Berkman plays the attractive waitress who goes on a picnic in some tall grass with an inebriated and amorous Williams. Tee-Tot, Williams’ musical mentor, played by Clinton Derricks-Carroll, is absolutely excellent. Obviously due to some strong language and adult topics, this is probably not a show for anyone under 12 years of age.
The band, led by musical director Tony Marcus, is worth the price of admission alone. They are pluperfect in every respect, and Tony plays fiddle, mandolin and banjo - - among the best you’ve ever heard. What a sound! I’d go back again just to hear these guys play! The band includes Chuck Ervin, Sam Misner, J. D. Nelson, and of course, Tony Marcus (as Leon), musician and master of many talents.
The memorable set was designed by Melpomene Katakalos, costumes by Melissa Paterson, sound design by Jeff Mockus, and with lighting design by Scott Denison.
Hank Williams: Lost Highway, plays Wednesdays at 7:30, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p/m., with Sunday performances at 2:30 on the 23rd and at 7:30 on the 30th. Performances continue through Saturday, October 30th. Ticket prices range between $14 and $38 per person. Call (925) 943-7469 (SHOW) or visit their website at www.centerREPertory.org . The Dean Lesher Regional Center for the arts, in which this Center Repertory Company produces this play, is located at 1601 Civic Drive, in Walnut Creek.
Looking for love - - try the Onstage Theatre in Pleasant Hill
I received a phone call today from a Walnut Creek Rossmoor Resident who lamented the fact that I was unable to work in a “delightfully funny” comedy that she saw Saturday night at the Onstage Theatre in Pleasant Hill by Norm Foster, entitled, simply “Looking”. While I have not seen this show, I think Norm Foster is a terrific story teller who tells stories in a very funny way, about people who seem very real, people who we can truly relate to. I will try to see this show next week, but in the mean time, I was told I should recommend it very highly, by this lady who goes to a lot of theatre at Onstage.
The story is about the woes of middle-aged dating. The merriment begins when “Andy” (played by Mark Hinds) tells his friend, Matt, that he hasn’t had much luck in the dating scene, so he has put an ad in the personals column of his local newspaper. An attractive woman, Val, responds and the fun begins. Nina, a friend, joins the merriment. Val’s a nurse, Andy’s in the storage business, Nina’s a police officer, and Matt’s a radio morning show host. They’re middle-aged, single and “looking.” Val (played by Babette Bilger) agrees to meet Andy after answering his personal ad in the newspaper, and Nina (June McCue), and Matt (Bill Schneider), are coerced into coming along for support. The result? Norm’s irresistible, true-to-life blend of humanity, romance and laughter ring through! While I haven’t actually seen this show, I have read part of the script on-line, and it appears true to Foster’s typical down to earth blue-collar humor.
This should be a delightful evening of entertainment, so I will pass on the recommendation!
Performances are on Fridays and Saturdays through September 29th, and curtain times are always at 8:30. Tickets range between $12 and $15 with a Thursday special price of $7. There will be one additional Sunday performance on the 23rd at 2:30 p.m. and one remaining Thursday performance at 8 p.m., on the 27th. Call the Schoolhouse Cultural Center (also known as the Onstage Theater) at (925) 944-9006 or purchase tickets at the Theater’s door at 2030 Oak Park Boulevard (at Pleasant Hill Road) in Pleasant Hill.
Sweeny Todd, the Deamon of Fleet Street, mesmerizes audiences in San Francisco
Sweeny Todd’s dark exploits have actually been around the British literary landscape for over one hundred years, appearing first in the late 1840’s in a Victorian Tabloid called the “Penny Dreadful”. The first play about the vengeful barber actually emerged in 1847, but the most notable version, Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, was a musical version created by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, an adaptation of Christopher Bond’s play (written and produced in 1973). The Sondheim and Wheeler musical version took the stage in 1979 and was instantly recognized as a magnum opus.
It wasn’t until nearly 20 years later that a British theater director by the name of John Doyle, was asked to direct Sweeny Todd (in the mid 1990’s) on a tiny stage, and was provided with few financial resources, that a new and innovative style of professional theatre emerged. Doyle had previously worked with the concept, “All Hands On Deck”, which meant everybody was required to do everything to pull the production together. In other words, if this was a musical that required acting, then the musicians would also have to be capable of acting as well.
The show that I saw in San Francisco in the ACT Theatre at 415 Geary Street is brilliant, abbreviated in some small aspects, but superbly cut from similar cloth, but much more austere than the previous “grand” productions. I simply loved it. Macabre and merciless, moody and magnificent, all rolled up into one superb show.
Each of the 10 actors has to play a musical instrument and act at the same time on the same stage. Director Doyle engaged Sarah Travis to assist him with converting a piece designed for 27 instruments into a piece that allows ten actors (who have to stay on stage the entire time) to perform a comparable musical work, to Sondheim’s original extremely complex masterpiece.
The story is about an escaped prisoner, who, as a young barber by the name of Benjamin Barker, was falsely accused, tried, and sentenced to a life in prison for a crime he did not commit. The story begins as the former prisoner returns by ship to England 15 years later, after having escaped from the penal colony at Botany Bay in Australia. The man has changed his name to Sweeny Todd and returns to Fleet Street, to the same commercial flat where his previous barber shop once stood.
In the process he encounters Mrs. Lovett, a pie maker, who occupies the eatery below his old shop. She knows of his unjust prison sentence and recognizes Barker, now known as Todd, and offers to aid him in his quest for survival and revenge.
She tells Todd that his wife died at the hands of judge Turpin and that his daughter has been raised and cared for by the judge, as his ward. Now that the daughter, Johanna, is approaching womanhood, the Judge sees her in an amoral light. Todd hears of the judge’s plan to wed his daughter through a sailor, by the name of Tobias. This is the same young man that he had befriended while shipboard, returning from Australia.
Todd encounters another enemy, a barber named Pirelli, who tries to blackmail him. Todd dispatches him quickly with his silver handled “friend”, his razor, while shaving him. Mrs. Lovett can’t see anything go to waste, so she convinces Todd that they should take advantage of the victim’s remains to fulfill another need, a dire shortage of “meat” needed to plump up her meat pies!
The story is much the same as the Sondheim musical, but in this production, Mrs. Lovett (Broadway sensation Judy Kaye) plays a mean Tuba; Sweeny Todd (David Hess) plays a turbulent trumpet, the young sailor who befriends Todd, Tobias (Edmund Bagnell) plays a sweet violin and clarinet; Todd’s beautiful daughter, Johanna (Lauren Molina) plays a sonorous and sweet cello as well as singing with the voice of an angel. The actor/musician accompaniment actually enhances this production, adding a new dimension and depth.
While this production will probably not change forever the nature of Sweeny Todd, it will forever change the possibilities with which we envision future musicals.
This terrific, thrilling, chilling, “Must See” production has just been extended because of a torrent of ticket sales, for 16 additional performances, through October 14th. Then it will leave on a national tour. Tickets for Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street can be purchased at ACT ticket services at 405 Geary Street, or by calling their box office at (415) 749-2228 or via the ACT website at www.act-sf.org . The ACT (American Conservatory Theatre) is located at 415 Geary Street, about 6 blocks up hill from the Powell Street BART station. Tickets range in price from $30 to $82 each. Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., now through the closing date , Sunday, October 14th.