Tommy Emmanuel drives new PBS Special & Ruthless, The Musical in Danville
Role Players Ensemble delivers a “Ruthless” musical in Danville in the Village Theatre that enjoys some really “killer” talent but is less than perfect, hampered by problems that will probably be corrected by the time you read this! Unfortunately, when a reviewer sees a show on opening night, often a number of things don’t work well and that tends to discolor the real potential of a terrific production. In this case, I have to temper my review by telling you that the potential is there, the talent is there and the solutions are there and that hopefully, my concerns will not stop you from going to see it. Many times, I am more critical than my readers will be, just because I see so much and my expectation level is many times, greater.
“Ruthless, the Musical” is a very funny musical parody that pokes fun at musical comedies and horror movies. Written by Joel Paley (book and lyrics) and Marvin Laird (music), this comedy sprang out of Paley’s love and obsession with Maxwell Anderson’s “popular but sinister” play, The Bad Seed! When Anderson’s widow refused to grant Paley the rights to write a musical based on the main ideas contained in the movie, The Bad Seed, he wrote a parody, which became a musical about a very talented, ten year old psychopathic girl, whose obsession with success as a theatrical sensation leads her to commit murder. This musical is somewhat of a maniacal cross between the characters contained in The Bad Seed, All About Eve, Gypsy, and Valley of the Dolls and presented with the silliness of a Saturday Night Live parody.
All of the characters are grossly overblown, cartoon-like characters, beginning with Tina Denmark (played superbly by Kathryn A. Foley), a ten-year-old who is competing with another girl for the lead in a musical about the popular Astrid Lindgren character, Pippi Longstocking. The class musical is written by her third grade teacher, Miss Thorn (Shannon Wicker-Mitchell), who selects another girl, Louise (Bevin Bell-Hall), for the lead. Tina’s mother, Judy (Jessica Magers-Rankin), reacts as most mothers would, telling her daughter basically to get over it, that there will be other opportunities. But, in the midst of this silliness, a promoter of child talent, Sylvia St. Croix (played in drag by John Blytt), arrives in the Denmark home, gushing over Tina’s great talent potential. Sylvia, a sort-of Auntie Mame type-character, convinces the teacher that Louise should have Tina learn Louises’s lines as an “understudy”, to which the teacher reacts, “but this is just a third grade play!” Never-the-less, Tina learns Louise’s lines, while full-filling the role of Pippy Longsocking’s dog in the school musical.
When Louise is found strangled by her jump-rope in the catwalk of the theatre, naturally, the lead role is passed to the “understudy” Tina Denmark. Though the air is filled with the tragedy of the situation, the musical is a success. When Tina’s mother finds evidence that her daughter is involved in the death of Louise, she turns her daughter in to the authorities, who eventually put her away in an asylum.
It is at this point that the play begins to get wildly convoluted, as Judy, the mother of Tina, discovers that she is the daughter of a once famous entertainer, Ruth Delmarco, and that she must be endowed genetically with the same gifts of star power that her real mother purportedly had. Talent promoter, Sylvia, now turns to Judy, promotes and pushes her onward and upward to Broadway stardom.
With the mother’s stardom comes another plot wherein a lesbian news reporter, again played by Shannon Wicker-Mitchell, delves into Judy’s past (now known as Ginger DelMarco) and the psychotic daughter, Tina, re-emerges, the truth about Sylvia St. Croix comes out and madness prevails everywhere.
It is one wild romp, the actors are really quite superb, but the little problems drove me nuts! First, it was hard to hear many of the lines because the piano and percussion accompaniment were too loud! Either the musical instruments needed to be toned down or the actors needed to have microphone amplification. Next, the set has a ridiculously narrow set of steps leading from a doorway landing down to the main stage and I frankly kept holding my breath, hoping that Sylvia (John Blytt) didn’t fall while trying to negotiate them in his high heels! Everyone was having trouble with the narrow steps, and frankly, the potential problem made me focus my attention on something that I shouldn’t have needed to worry about. The play uses a lot of voice-overs, via the speakers, which were too loud, too piercing and much too annoying. The timing was slower than it should have been, taking the edge off what should have been a very funny musical with some really great talent, leaving me with an overall “ho-hum” experience!
Hopefully, these minor problems will be rectified soon to make this production work properly.
On the other-hand, the costumes designed by Sandra Gardner were really quite outstanding. Jessica Magers-Rankin (Judy) and Shari Oret (who plays a theater critic, Lita Encore) really have excellent voices. The 12 year old Kathryn A. Foley (Tina) is a remarkable talent for her age and John Blytt (Sylvia) is really quite excellent.
Ruthless, The Musical, continues Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Sundya performances at 2 p.m., now through October 28th. The Village Theatre is located in Danville, at 233 Front Street, next door to the Danville City Hall Chambers. Tickets range between a very reasonable $15 and $25 and can be purchased at the door or at the Community Center at 420 Front Street, Monday through Fridays between 8:30 and 5 p.m.., and you may call 314-3400, or 820-1278, or visit their web-site at www.danvilletheatre.com for more information.
Tommy Emmanuel Rocks Chico PBS Special
Every once in a while, I discover a new artist or venue that truly excites me and I want to pass that information on to you. A couple of months ago, Bill, a friend of mine who is an actor, as well as my realtor, wanted me to hear a CD by an Australian guitarist by the name of Tommy Emmanuel, so he played it in his car while we were driving around looking as some properties. I was so enamored with this guitarist’s incredible sound that I had to immediately obtain three different CD, which I now play in my car every day.
In July, Bill called me and told me that Tommy was going to be appearing at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Theatre in Chico, California, and asked if my wife and I would I like to attend the concert with him. When I told Karen that we were going to drive up to Chico to see this guitarist perform, she somewhat hinted that I’d lost my sanity. It turns out the great little college town if Chico is further than I thought, about a three hour drive from Alamo, where I live. Sure, I’ve driven to Las Vegas to see a couple of shows or to Ashland, Oregon, to see several Shakespearean productions at one time, but I have never driven three hours (six hours total), approximately 165 miles to see a single performer entertain. Was it worth it, all I can say is wow!
Tommy Emmanuel is probably one of the greatest, and if not greatest, certainly one of the most diverse guitarist in the world. The sounds that he creates are almost beyond description. He can sound like several instruments at once, from percussion to bass, he does it all, confounding the senses. You can thrill to his music, but it is not until you see him perform, that you begin to realize what an incredible talent resides within this single performer. For over two hours straight, he entertained, non-stop. You have to see his fingers fly, his passion explode, his arpeggios dance like a whirling dervish before you can begin to appreciate his immense talent.
Was I impressed? Well, I am now on his mailing list and I bought another CD as well. No, I was not just impressed, I was literally blown away! Tommy Emmanuel is a world class performer you really ought to experience.
There were a bus load of Japanese fans that came from the Bay Area and as far away as Japan, just to see and hear him perform. This evening of entertainment was recorded by PBS (with multiple boom cameras and with sound trucks in the parking lot) for an upcoming PBS Special on Tommy Emmanuel. It is too late for you to see this man perform locally, but you can visit his website at www.tommyemmanuel.com and I guarantee he will be back. I learned that this is the second time PBS has filmed him and his third time he has returned to Chico, and the very beautiful and intimate Sierra Brewing Company’s in house theatre.
I suggest that you go to the Sierra Nevada Brewery website at www.sierranevada.com and take a look at the outstanding entertainers and shows they have coming to their venue over the next few months. Their website will tell you that “we love live music almost as much as we love great beer. That’s why we designed the Big Room with live music in mind. The 350-seat venue is located right at the brewery, and has been called one of the best live music spaces on the West Coast!” General manager Bob Littell plays a pretty mean harmonica himself, in addition to arranging for his terrific entertainers and making sure this venue is one of the best you will experience, anywhere!
I discovered that Chico is a really neat little town, with a lot of great restaurants, vintage stores, and lots haunts and sights to see. Sure, it’s a long drive, but, if you are going up north, past Sacramento to Susanville, Red Bluff, Redding or Paradise, for any reason, Chico ought to be on your radar. The Sierra Nevada Brewery is a great place to pull in for a cool brew (my father-in-law would like that!) and or a great meal, and maybe even a show!