Novelist Thomas Wolfe’s famous admonition of one “not being able to go home again” (he was speaking literarily and metaphorically) doesn’t hold up when it comes to the current production “Into the Woods” now on the stage at The Old Globe’s Donald and Darlene Shiley Theatre.

One, can indeed go “home again” as the venerable San Diego theatrical landmark, The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park, has proven time and time again.  The magic that took place at the Globe in 1986 that sent the production to Broadway has come full circle.  Almost twenty-eight years later, the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine blockbuster Broadway smash hit musical returns to its birthplace – The Old Globe.

The musical has seen many script versions and hundreds of stagings by theatres all over the world in last twenty-eight years.  It’s considered to be one of the greatest musicals of all time.  “Into the Woods” 2014 version, is once again a reimagined, inventive and energetic co-production this time partnered with the critically acclaimed Fiasco Theatre that originated at the McCarter Theatre Center.  Fiasco is an ensemble-driven acting company that usually produces Shakespearean productions but was drawn to Sondheim for the sheer genius of how he crafts his musicals and lyrics – much like the Bard did in the writing of his plays.

Everybody loves a story, and fairy tales are especially good source material for musicals. Most stories begin with “Once upon a time” and end with “and they all lived happily ever after”.  In Sondheim and Lapine’s world that’s just the end of Act One.  The audience has identified the characters in Act One from a half-dozen of the best loved fairy tales that have been stitched together into a narrative text that is brilliantly complemented by the music and lyrics of Sondheim.  In this show the characters have to be careful for what they ask because in Act Two, they may just get those wishes fulfilled and not like the results.

The Fiasco Theatre Company of ten ensemble players perform four familiar Grimm Bothers fairy tales to form the backbone of the production: “Jack and the Beanstalk”; “Little Red Riding Hood”; “Rapunzel”; and “Cinderella” are the most familiar.  As a way stringing all of the disparate story elements together, a fifth tale of a baker and his wife who long to become parents, was written by Sondheim and woven into the plot in order to make it all work.

Fiasco’s take on the 1986 story is to bare-bones the 2014 version with s spare set design and technical elements; allowing the energy and inventiveness of the actors to perform the heavy lifting and let the performances carry the day.  It was a wise decision.  The production under the deft co-direction of Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld (who also play multiple characters) is fresh and creative and from the look of their production, is one the actors truly seem to enjoy performing.  That kind of feel and energy carries right over the footlights into the audience and is priceless from the producer’s point-of-view.  Chalk up another winning production and another notch on Artistic Director Barry Edelstein’s theatrical holster for the 2014/2015 Season.

The acting company performers also are musicians, dancers, and singers, who if required could probably build, paint and decorate the set and they include: Jessie Austrian as the baker’s wife; Noah Brody as Lucinda, Wolf, and Cinderella’s Prince; Alison Cimmet as the Witch; Paul L. Coffey as the Mysterious Man; Andy Grotelueschen as Milky White, Florinda, and  Rapunzel’s Prince; Liz Hayes as Cinderella’s Stepmother and Jack’s Mother; Claire Karpen as Cinderella and Granny; Patrick Mulryan as Jack and Steward; Ben Steinfeld as The Baker and Emily Young as Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.

A great deal of credit for the success of the performances surely must go to Matt Castle, the on stage performance pianist and music and orchestrations director. He keeps everyone one on-point when it comes everything musical. Together they are a dynamite ensemble team, and lucky for us, are selfless to a fault. Their performances are nothing short of an exhilarating display of individual brilliance within a team format.

The technical team is top tier as well.  The set design by Derek McLane, Lighting design by Tim Cryan, with sound by Darron L. West and costumes design by Whitney Locher perfectly match the vision of co-directors Brody and Steinfeld.  This “Into the Woods” production is appropriate for all ages. Eight-year old Sarah Shapiro sat next me enthralled with the story unfolding on the stage.  Her parents told me how much she loved it.  I asked her which one was her favorite character.  “All of them” she smiled.  A born diplomat, no question about it.

“Into the Woods” runs through August 10, 2014.  Don’t Miss it!

Musicals are usually the barometer of what the younger adult set likes when it comes to telling a story to which they can relate.  There have been many wonderfully produced musicals over the last several years, but the young adult audience demographic really took off after “Spring Awakening”.

The musical theatre scene definitely has been moving into another somewhat edgier gear. “Avenue Q”, “The Book of Mormon”, and Neil Patrick Harris’s 2014 Tony win for Best Actor in a musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, confirms that younger playwrights, composer’s and lyricists are better positioned to reach this inevitable Regional theatre demographic than their legendary predecessors.  It should be noted, however, the 2014 Tony for Best Musical went to “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”, a more or less traditional book musical that saw first light on the stage of San Diego’s Old Globe.

“Dog and Pony” now pleasing audiences at the White Theatre stage, is written by Rick Elice and composer Michael Patrick Walker – both award winning artists.  Elice for “Jersey Boys” and “Peter and the Starcatcher”, and Walker for his musical “Altar Boyz”.  Both have the good fortune to have their show directed by stage, screen, and TV star Roger Rees. Also the company is blessed with a stellar cast that includes: Heidi Blickenstaff as Jane/Bonnie; Beth Leavel as Rhoda/Doris; Eric William Morris as The Host, Jeff and Joe; Nicole Parker as Mags; and Jon Patrick Walker as Andy.

The wobbly story that Elice and Walker have fashioned comes from a meeting the two had discussing the idea of a workplace romantic comedy.  In an interview with Old Globe Literary Manager and Dramaturg Danielle Mages Amato, Elice and Walker talk about work-spouse kinds of relationships – “these very intimate, very intense, all-consuming relationships between men and women that become somehow more intimate than the relationships that they have in their “real lives” (the full interview is available in Performances magazine) was the starting point for a modern-day musical that should appeal to the 25 to 40 age demographic.  It’s an intriguing premise.  We’ve all been thrown together to work closely with a colleague at one time or another.  A young 27 year-old teacher sitting next to me confessed, at the intermission, that she was witnessing her working life taking place on the stage.  Priceless comments like that are music to theatrical producer’s ears. No doubt, that co-worker will be at a performance sometime during the run. One still can’t beat word of mouth as the best form of publicity.

This particular musical-yarn about working screenwriters Mags and Andy, however, is a tad long on dialogue and somewhat short on plot and back-story.  Elice really never explores their working relationship.  Nor do we see or hear them “working” like listening in on brain-storming sessions on their current project, which appears to be on writers-block hold.  Yet the lyrics to one song references how Mags made Andy a better writer when he sings, in another flash-back sequence “she made me better”.  Andy is a shameless taker and user while Mags prefers the martyr-for-love-role in their relationship. Besides, Andy is already married to Jane.  If we have to rely on vain and self-absorbed Andy for veracity, the play is on shaky ground.  Frankly, it’s hard to pull for either of the characters.   If I had to make a choice it would be for Mags to dump Andy and move on in her career with another writing partner.  Yes, I know Americans love happy endings as in “Mags and Andy finally realize they love each other and get married.  End of play”.  The truth to that scenario is they would probably get divorced within one year.  Show biz is a tough and demanding gig and they have already invested 13 years in their writing partnership which appears to be running out of ideas for new projects, so any marriage plans wouldn’t necessarily work.

The good news is that each cast member has their moment to shine with Heidi Blickenstaff as Jane and Bonnie, nabbing some the best lines in her hippie-like, laid-back, Bonnie character that is chock full of malapropisms.  The wonderful Beth Leavel who plays Mom to both Mags and Andy is spot on. I still remember her and Adam Heller as the co-writing team in the Globe’s “Dancing in the Dark” production in 2008.  It’s also important to note that all of the performers boast wonderful voices and give their numbers extra oomph under the baton of Music Director Adam Wachter.  Nicole Parker, in particular has an appealing quality as Maggs with her gifted soprano range.
In the technical department led by Director Rees, Scenic Designer Kris Stone provides maximum stage space for the performers who do their stuff in the round at the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre.  Lighting Designers Cory Pattak and Jeff Croiter provide just the right amount of light to appreciate the costumes of Emily Pepper.
“Dog and Pony” runs through June 29, 2014.

Donald Margulies’ world premiere new play now on stage at LA’s Geffen Playhouse is an exploration in both comedy and angst; sort of like Neil Simon meets Anton Chekhov in its style and tone with the audience getting the best of both playwrights and their insights at times.

“The Country House” deftly directed by the award winning Daniel Sullivan, however, is a bit of a mishmash when it comes to knowing what it wants to be when it grows up.  Is it a comedy?  Well, maybe.  On the other hand, perhaps it’s a melodrama.  The First act plays like Neil Simon.  The Second act slips into the familiar angst of Anton Chekhov.  There are too many signatures to check in order to determine a single label.  Suffice it say the comedy appellation carries the day.

Purists of both Simon and Chekhov will probably not be happy with Margulies dichotomous play being it’s neither fish nor fowl.  But overall, it’s an enjoyable evening at the theatre thanks to a wonderfully strong ensemble cast led the elegantly ageless beauty that is Blythe Danner.  The lady still turns heads when it comes to making an entrance on stage, or just walking down the street.

The story revolves around stage star Anna Patterson (Blythe Danner) and her family of actors who have gathered at the family’s summer home in the Berkshires (a theatre-rich area that Ms. Danner has played many times over the years) to commemorate the first anniversary of her daughter Kathy’s death at age 41.  The guests include Anna’s conflicted, whiny, and unlikable son Elliot (Eric Lange); Kathy’s  wise-cracking daughter Susie (Sarah Steele) who has eschewed a career in the family business instead opting to study at Yale; and Kathy’s widower husband Walter (David Rasche), a rich and famous television producer who brings his new and vivacious girlfriend Nell (Emily Swallow) to the family affair.

Not to be up-staged, even while learning her lines for an upcoming revival production (there is only one Queen Bee in the Patterson household), Anna has invited Michael (Scott Foley) a former young and handsome leading man from an earlier show in which they both starred to accompany her to her Williamstown summer home for the family gathering.  The additional arrival of the unexpected guest Michael, throws all of the familial relationships off-kilter, and everyone is forced to reevaluate their roles within the family.

Danner and her cast mates are solid and fun to watch as they display their individual talent within a team/ensemble framework.

In the technical department led by the highly talented award winning director Dan Sullivan, Scenic Designer John Lee Beatty has fashioned a richly-textured country house Set worthy of any Berkshire wealthy family.  Lighting Designer Peter Kaczorowski’s light plot ranging from full up to dark shadows and midnight moments create moods that complement the costumes of Rita Ryack, along the weather effects of Sound Designer Jon Gottlieb.

“The Country House” by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies (he won for his  play “Dinner With Friends” in 2000) may not be his finest play, but his body of work is formidable and includes: “Time Stands Still”, “Collected Stories” and the delightful “Coney Island Christmas” among others. Margulies has a string of successful plays to his credit which certainly qualifies him to be listed as one of America’s finest playwrights.

“The Country House” now on stage at LA’s Geffen Playhouse runs through July 13, 2014.

If the name David Suchet doesn’t ring a bell right away, regroup and think Agatha Christie’s famous detective Hercule Poirot.  The British actor has portrayed the quirky Belgian detective in all 74 episodes of the Christie canon on PBS Masterpiece Mystery series.

Now he sheds his Belgian detective costumes for the robes and red hat of a Roman Catholic Cardinal in the powerful drama “the Last Confession”, written by first-time playwright and lawyer Roger Crane.

“The Last Confession” is a tale of intrigue, surrounded by mystery, and wrapped in the panoply and ritual of “great theatre” that is the Catholic Church. Lawyer-playwright Crane sets his play not only, inside the Vatican, but squarely inside the Papal chambers where the disagreements and ambitions of the Princes of the Catholic Church come into sharp focus as various factions within the powerful governing body, known as the Curia, continually lobby each other and align themselves with various cliques in an effort to choose the next Pope, and even succeeding Popes.

One doesn’t have to be Catholic to understand the core story. One can easily identify with the various characters because the Curia is structured along the same lines as an American business corporation.  The Pope is like the chairman of the Board, and the men who actually write and implement the policy decisions in the day to day running of a worldwide Church are the Pope’s college of cardinals, and in particular, the Curia, the Pope’s inner circle of advisors.

In the production currently on the boards of LA’s Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre, David Suchet portrays Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, a friend and advisor to the recently crowned caretaker Pope John Paul I, the successor to the conservative Pope Paul VI.  According to program notes by playwright Crane, the powerful conservative Curia now begin their maneuvering campaign to undo the 1962 reforms of John XXXIII and the second Vatican Council.
Much like an ecclesiastic chess game, the cardinals of “The Last Confession” politic, strategize and lobby one another in Machiavellian fashion on the selection process of future Popes.  If this storyline sounds familiar, it’s because we also run our US Congress much the same way, except there is more compromise in Rome than in Washington DC.

When Pope John I dies thirty-three days into his reign, the paparazzi and the Italian media begin a campaign suggesting that his death is a Vatican mystery that needs more transparency.  It is common knowledge the Mafia-connected Vatican banking advisors have been defending charges that the bank has been involved in inappropriate financial practices.  Against this backdrop, Cardinal Benelli (a commanding David Suchet) takes over the investigation and delves into resolving the issues while at the same time, promoting his own candidacy to become Pope.  As G.K. Chesterton said, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The cast of nineteen men (how apropos) and one woman, Sheila Ferris, who plays Sister Vicenza, are uniformly outstanding in their portrayals as Princes of the Church.  It’s an outstanding ensemble cast of actors that literally inhabit the skin and minds of the characters they portray.  Playwright Crane is very careful in laying out his story and plotline, as the play is based on actual events and actual individuals; albeit with lot of literary license thrown into the mix.

“The Last Confession” is a visual feast for the eyes as well as the ears.  The blood-red robes of the cardinals set against the papal chambers and the gleaming white robes of the Pope make for great theatre.   There are twenty in this splendid cast, but there are always standouts and they include: Nigel Bennett as Cardinal Villot; Kevin Colson as Cardinal Baggio; Philip Craig as the Confessor to Cardinal Benelli; Donald Douglas as Pope Paul VI; Roy Lewis as Cardinal Bernadin; Bernard Lloyd as Cardinal Ottaviani; Stuart Milligan as Bishop Marcinkus of the United States; Richard O’Callaghan as Cardinal Albino who becomes Pope John I; John O’May as Cardinal Felici; and George Spartels as Cardinal Lorscheider. Like leaders of any worldwide body, these people are formidable, fascinating,and always interesting to watch.

Director Jonathan Church, has the technical arsenal of the Ahmanson Theatre to command and he utilizes its full potential with a visually stunning stage design by William Dudley along with the clever lighting plot of designer Peter Mumford who gives us the cathedral-like shafts of light and flickering candles that renders the stage in the action and feel of its 1000 years of ritual and pageantry. The costumes designed by Fotini Dimou, are both familiar and spot-on.

“The Last Confession” is an enthralling piece of great theatre that’s not to be missed.  The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, is the only venue in the United States to present the production as it continues on its world tour.  The production runs through July 6, 2014.