I finally got a chance on Sunday afternoon to see the California Arts Academy school-edition production of "RENT" -- and I'm sure glad I did. (Thanks to the buzz-building Beehive commenters, including Stephen, who saw this show during the Rogue Festival and talked it up.) I thought the production, which I saw at its closing performance, was passionate and powerful. Director Daniel Chavez Jr. truly soared in this effort. In many ways this version affected me as deeply as professional productions I've seen of "RENT."
One thing that surprised me was how true this "school edition" was to the show's original themes. Yes, the profanity is pretty much excised, and the stylized "orgy scene" is of course gone. This production faded to black instead of delivering a male-male kiss, and the overall optimistic raunchiness in such lyric-intensive numbers as "La Vie Boheme" was toned down.
But, with all that said ... It was still "Rent" through and through, which such themes as AIDS, drug use, gay relationships -- not to mention the show's cheerful soak-the-capitalist fever, which trips lightly off the tongue in these economically grueling times -- as strong as ever. Indeed, the New York Times recently had a story about how the "RENT" school edition has stirred controversy in various parts of the country. (But not Fresno! Yet.)
I haven't yet seen the California Arts Academy school edition of "RENT," now in its last weekend at the Severance Building, but this show certainly got a lot of buzz during the Rogue Festival. (CAA cleverly positioned this production as both a Rogue offering and then a standalone show, which certainly helped expand its audience base.) Beehive commenter Stephen had some issues with the sound design, but he gave the show a rousing recommendation on the reader-review Rogue Beehive post:
RENT the junior edition features some amazing talent, both in the cast and band. I was worried the 'junior' edition would cut too much from the meat of the show, but amazingly all it does is cut the cuss words (replacing them flawlessly...only huge fans will notice, and still won't care). Also cut the orgy number, but duh, of course they did ... Director Daniel Chavez has stretched these kids to a new level for each and every one of them, and it's very impressive.
Here's the info:
Friday, March 13, 8:00pm
Saturday, March 14, 8:00pm
Sunday, March 15, 2:30pm
$12, for ages 15-up. At Cal Arts Severance Theater, 1401 N. Wishon, at Floradora.
(559) 222-6539 or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54678
On the jump: The choral music of Brad Hufft at Fresno State, a second look at "Footloose" and curiosity about the Vienna Choir Boys.
UPDATE 3/13:Another passionate response has come in from a classical-musical fan in response to Gabriela Montero's recent concert. Thomas Sawyer writes that "after sitting [through] the first half I had to get out!!!" You can read more on the jump.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Pianist Gabriela Montero packed the house Friday night for the latest installment of the Keyboard Concerts series at Fresno State. This accomplished musician -- who recently gained fame as a member of the quartet that played a new adaptation of "Simple Gifts" at President Obama's inauguration -- scrapped her announced concert program and opted to play an entirely improvised concert. (She's become quite well known for her strong improvisational abilities.) Here's how it worked: Members of the audience volunteered musical themes by singing a tune for her. She then proceeded to play a five-minute-plus piece based upon that theme, totally impromptu.
Sound impressive? It was. (I was there working on a general feature story on Keyboard Concerts and its artistic director, Andreas Werz, and I thought it was remarkable how smooth and fluently Montero conjured her improvisations.) Not everyone was pleased at the change in program, however. Local classical pianist Shirley Kirsten offers this view:
After noting that Montero had originally programmed Baroque and Romantic period works from the mainstream piano repertoire as part one of her concert, I was disappointed that she served our audience only a portion of what was promised. It was an evening of only impromptu offerings and not a complete and satisfying sharing of the artist's towering talent.
Friday's ticket freebies, Part 2: The Knuckledraggers
UPDATE 10 p.m. 3/13: Looks like we have two winners. Emails are out to confirm. Thanks for playing.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: And now for our next two sets of free tickets. We've got two pairs of seats to a show by the comedy improv group The Knuckledraggers, which will be performing 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Clovis North High School drama room. (Here's a handy link to explain how to get to this brand-new campus.) I'll give the first pair of tickets to the SECOND commenter to this post and the second pair to the THIRD commenter to this post. You can pick up your tickets at Will Call. No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have the winners. Rules are on the jump.
UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: Looks like we have two winners. Emails are out to confirm. Thanks for playing.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: In an effort to live up to my intent to raise the profile of high-school theater on the Beehive, we're offering two sets of tickets to Clovis High School's new production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," which plays 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday and March 19-21 at the Mercedes Edwards Theatre. The tickets are good for either tonight or tomorrow night's performance. I'll give two tickets to the FIRST commenter to this post and two tickets to the FOURTH commenter to this post. You can pick up your tickets at Will Call. No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have the winners. Rules are on the jump.
In just a few minutes, I'll post our other ticket giveaway for the morning: four free tickets to the comedy improv group The Knuckledraggers, which is performing Saturday night at Clovis North High School.
UPDATE 8:50 p.m.: We have two winners. Emails are going out to confirm. Thanks for playing.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Here's a brand-new ticket opportunity on the Beehive: Fresno Filmworks. I've got four tickets -- two sets -- of screening passes good for the Filmworks screening on Friday of "A Night at the Oscars" at the Tower Theatre. The 5:30 p.m. screening features the Oscar-nominated short live-action films of 2009, and the 8 p.m. screening features the Oscar-nominated short animated films.
I'll give two tickets to the SECOND commenter to this post and two tickets to the SIXTH commenter to this post. You'll need to pick your tickets up at the Bee's front lobby on Friday. No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have the winners. Rules are on the jump.
STILL MORE TICKETS: Be on the lookout Friday morning for two more ticket giveaways: Clovis High School's production this weekend of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; and The Knuckledraggers comedy improv group show Saturday at Clovis North High School.
UPDATE 4:17 p.m.: Looks like we have a winner, folks. It's Lisa Stritzel. Thanks for playing.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Vienna Boys Choir has been around since 1498, when the ensemble was created by Emperor Maximilian I. (I'm guessing that the term "fly by night" has never been used in conjunction with the group's appearance.) You'll have the chance to hear this world-renowned choir at a 7:30 p.m. Thursday concert at the Saroyan Theatre sponsored by the Fresno Philharmonic.
I have two good orchestra seats to give away to Beehive readers. I'll give them to the FOURTH commenter to this post. No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have the winners. Rules are on the jump.
I've become a pretty big Magnus Chhan fan recently. Rail-thin in appearance and gentle in stage demeanor, this biology/theater double major at Fresno City College has really spiffed up the last two plays I've seen him in. First there was his hilariously low-key turn in Fresno City College's "Jack Goes Boating." (You can see him in a photo from that play on the jump.) And now, he takes one of the cleverest gimmicks in the college's new production of "A Flea in Her Ear" and cheerfully keeps the laughs coming.
Chhan's turn as Camille Chandebise -- a character who, alas, cannot pronounce his consanants, which makes him sound more mushy mouthed than Marlon Brando in "The Island of Dr. Moreau" -- is one of the highlights of David Ives' adaptation of Georges Feydeau's classic French farce. Other strong components of the show include a wacky production design and some well-calibrated comic performances.
Still, "Flea" is not as madcap and fluid as I'd have hoped. It's a little lackluster when it comes to the farce department. Director Debbi Shapazian comes close at times to reaching the zany impact that the play needs, but the overall impact is much more cute than giddy.
Purple Hat, the nom de plume for the Fresno photographer who is one-half of the new March show at Spectrum Gallery, doesn't take photos of anything he can drive to.
This self-imposed manifesto puts him beyond the limits experienced by amateur weekend photographers content to traipse the highways and byways of the Valley seeking the glories of nature. Purple Hat prefers the kind of locales that are accessible only by sweat and calories. In a 21-day trip he took last August to the high Sierra, Mr. Hat conquered California's highest lakes by swimming (and photographing) them. The highest, situated a bit over 13,000 feet, was 51 degrees. "I was really glad when I got out of it," he says nonchalantly.
The swimming was secondary to the photography, however. Purple Hat's show, which he calls "The Source," features the artist's massive panoramic landscape views. He's joined by Madera photographer Bob Barks, whose "Terra Homini, An Exhibition of B & W Nudes" has a completely different emotional feel than P.H.'s big, enthusiastic glimpses of nature. It's an interesting combination.
A few days ago I publicly pondered the mystery of the People Next Door Theatre Company's "Chronicles of Death," a Rogue show that was hard to get much information about. (All you really find out from the program is that it includes "bad language, suicide and even some nudity.") Well, I trooped out Wednesday night to see it. Mystery solved.
"Chronicles of Death" is an original play. The People Next Door Theatre Company is local. The main character is a blustery guy in a leather trenchcoat and thick black eye makeup named Grim D. Reaper. The format is vignette-style: We get to see a typical day in the life of Death.
Pianist Gabriela Montero performs Friday night at Fresno State's Concert Hall as part of the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concert series. A little over a month ago, she was playing at Barack Obama's Inauguration as one of four acclaimed musicans performing a new John Williams arrangement of "Simple Gifts." I write about Montero's Fresno appearance in the latest issue of 7. Here's a clip from the Inauguration:
Win tickets to Saturday's Fresno Philharmonic concert
UPDATE 5:20 p.m.: Looks like we have a winner, folks. It's Beehive regular Wet Towel (who used one of his sneaky aliases this time, Cello Towel.)
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Cello fans, this is your moment: Acclaimed cellist Wendy Warner will play the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Fresno Philharmonic Saturday and Sunday at the Saroyan Theatre. I have two prime tickets to give away to the 8 p.m. Saturday performance. I'll give the pair to the SECOND commenter to this post. No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have the winners. Rules are on the jump.
It's Thursday and there's still plenty of Rogue to experience. Changes do get made at a festival like this, so it's best to verify the performance grid at the back of the program. Let's recap the updates, which can be found at the Rogue Festival site:
The Rogue Map listings for Dianna's North on Friday 2/27 -- "Dream of Scheherazade," "That 80s Show" and "Spider Baby The Musical" -- are actually performing this Friday.
"Cupid is a B*tch" has added a performance time -- tonight at 5:30 p.m. (Wow, that's early.)
Baba Brinkman's show "The Rap Guide to Evolution" has added a performance at Dianna's South Saturday 3/7 at 4 p.m.
My favorite part of Tony Blanco's Rogue show came when the little girl he'd hauled up on stage for inclusion in his act got a look of wonderment on her face so vivid that I couldn't help but grin. The magician had transformed an ordinary handkerchief into something with handprints on it, or something like that, and the moment so charmed the little girl that she looked like she'd just been granted permission to eat an entire chocolate pie.
Blanco has a nice rapport with kids, no doubt about it. He doesn't treat them too sticky-sweet, but he's also not in any way curt or dismissive with them as he tries to inject a small dose of grown-up humor into the proceedings.
The quote of the Rogue comes from Andrew Corcostegui, who paused midway through his intriguing reading last weekend as part of the "Poetry and Prose from Fresno State" performance at Spectrum Gallery, looked up at the assembled listeners and wryly observed:
"No one's left yet."
There you go, Rogue artists. There's something to aspire to: Perform something that just might make you wonder if you're going to completely freak out and alienate your audience. Isn't that what a fringe festival is all about?
In the case of Corcostegui, the subject matter had to do with, well, bleaching a certain part of one's anatomy that would normally never be exposed to the sun. As part of an assignment to research a topic, the Fresno State MFA student took it upon himself to dive into a subject for which the literary possibilities were rich indeed. (It isn't often that you get to work in the words "high definition anus" into a manuscript.) It turns out that porn stars are among the procedure's most enthusiastic supporters.
One of the new things this year at the Rogue is a formal "Meet the Artists" format in which some of the festival's featured visual artists get a turn in the spotlight. I attended the Saturday afternoon session, which included mini-presentations by Aileen Imperatrice, Edward Stewart and Rattananan K. Moerdyk. (Three more sessions are scheduled, including one at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday).
It was an interesting 45 minutes. I'm not sure if it should be classifed as a "show" or belongs as a scheduled event for a ticket price in a performance festival. Imperatrice shared her decision to go the "pop art" route for the Rogue, including enormous homages to the old-fashioned-style TV dinners. (Remember with the foil on top and the cherry cobbler in the dessert slot?) Stewart explained some of his newest work of specific Fresno locations, including a view of the City Hall and an intriguing burned outline he made of the Fresno Water Tower. Moerdyk, originally from Thailand, offered some insights on her bas relief art -- a style that she developed in part because it's cost effective, always a concern for artists and one that sometimes results in fascinating results -- and shared some of its personal meanings.
More of Frenchie, in fact, than I was expecting. A couple of women sitting in the audience behind me gave out little yelps every time that the big-voiced actress engaged in a raucous deep-knee bend or high-leg kick, thus revealing a flash of undergarment from beneath the confines of her knee-length skirt.
To say that Davis belts it out in this musical tribute to Fats Waller is an understatement. It's more like she booms. Her notes are like sassy artillery blasts that detonate with maximum impact on the back walls of the balcony.
The show is a well-sung, enjoyable musical romp with the kind of big performances that give this oft-performed show (now in a 30th anniversary tour) its zing. The five-person ensemble is strong. While some in the audience were undoubtedly enticed to the show by the presence of "American Idol" celebrity Ruben Studdard (pictured above with Davis), this is in no way a star vehicle for him -- just a nice, smooth tribute to Fats.
Every year it seems there's one Rogue show that has a dark, mysterious veneer to it. No one seems to know who's putting it on, the description in the program is vague and the subject matter is murky. Last year I can recall trooping out to a "Bring Your Own Venue" -- a facility called Superior ATM -- out in an industrial park that was hosting a show titled "Brass Ring Presents a Night of Musical Scenes." Hey, it turned out to be bunch of college musical-theater buffs putting on a pretty decent show.
This year, the unknown show for me is "Chronicles of Death" presented by The People Next Door Theatre Company. It plays for the second time 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Ashtree Studios. The program describes it thus:
Come along on a journey with Death himself. Experience the full spectrum of death. There'll be bad language, suicide and possibly nudity. What's the worst that could happen?
Other than the fact that "Death" in this production opts for both the swanky-personified-metaphor-route as evidenced by the capital "D" and the more reserved, unobtrusive, I'll-just-hang-out-in-the-corner-till-I'm-needed small-d approach, I don't know anything about the show. The myspace page listed in the program (www.myspace.com/thepeoplenextdoortheatreco) seems to be, um, d/Dead. So I'm wondering: Did ANYONE see this show? Or can tell me who's putting it on? Or at least give me a tease? Or should I just expect a pitch from Amway?
A busy Tuesday in Fresno Theater Land: We've got the opening tonight of the national tour of "Ain't Misbehavin', " otherwise known as "American Idol" meets Fats Waller, at the Saroyan Theatre; and the kick-off of the second week of the August Wilson play "The Piano Lesson" at Fresno State.
Because of my jam-packed schedule and the vagaries of the Spotlight section deadline, I opted to watch a rehearsal of "Piano Lesson" last week so I could write a column about its special guest artist, Tucker Smallwood, pictured above. That meant no official review. (I do hope to get out to see the show again during its run; it plays 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at the John Wright Theatre.) But I'd love to hear from people who have thoughts on the performance. Submit your reviews as a comment on this thread.
As for "Ain't Misbehavin'," I do plan to get out to see opening night at the Saroyan. The production not only features Ruben Studdard, who won the second season of "American Idol," but also his fellow "AI" contestant Frenchie Davis. It plays 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. If you'll recall, I had a phone interview with Studdard a few weeks back and asked Beehivers for some help with questions, but I can't say that it went too well. Studdard was rushed and distracted. I'm sure he'll be a lot more focused tonight.
The Fresno community theater scene doesn't often get a dose of "big name" syndrome -- the marquee fever that occurs when a well-known actor adds excitement to a cast. (In New York, it seems these days that nearly every Broadway show tries to snag a TV or film star to boost attendance.) For me, at least, that was my feeling opening night at "The Man Who Came to Dinner," directed by Nancy Miller, at the 2nd Space Theatre.
The man of the hour is Brad Myers, longtime Fresno State theater prof, accomplished director and a professional actor who has done most of his acting gigs outside the area. Now, courtesy of Actors' Equity Assocation, to which Myers belongs, the audience gets to experience his wry, commanding stage presence in this Good Company Players production. Supported by a large and well-directed ensemble cast, Myers helps make this classic Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman comedy -- which has some interesting things to say about fame and celebrity -- a pleasant theatrical diversion.
THEATER REVIEW: 'RENT'
I finally got a chance on Sunday afternoon to see the California Arts Academy school-edition production of "RENT" -- and I'm sure glad I did. (Thanks to the buzz-building Beehive commenters, including Stephen, who saw this show during the Rogue Festival and talked it up.) I thought the production, which I saw at its closing performance, was passionate and powerful. Director Daniel Chavez Jr. truly soared in this effort. In many ways this version affected me as deeply as professional productions I've seen of "RENT."
A few days ago I 
