Stage Takes

All-Time Fringe List?

Top Hollywood Fringe Shows I have seen? It’s a growing list. I have to rethink, if anyone wants to dispute or add, I am open to suggestions.

My buddy reminded me how much I love making lists. I went back and looked at my Purchase History for the Hollywood Fringe Festival, but I know that some shows I paid cash too. Here is a list (out of hundreds of shows) of some of my favorites.

Dramatis Personae by Sean Dillon (2014)

The Spidey Project (2017)

The Joe and Joshua Show (2017)

Still: The Play Inspired by 4:44 (2018)

A Very DIE HARD Christmas (2018)

RESA FANTASTISKT MYSTISK (2018)

NIGHT OF THE ROOTBEER (2018)

REVENGE OF THE ROOTBEER (2019)

Mark Pleases You (2023)

Ronald (2024)

The Best Man Show (2024)

December 16, 2024
Tales From The Gatzbyverse review

11/23/2024

            Travyz Santos Gatz is at it again with his multimedia project, expanding the multiverse for Gatsby of Suburbia. Tonight, at Loft Ensemble I watched 4 one acts, a DJ set, and a rap performance surrounding themes of death and love, with standout performances and interesting concepts. The doors opened at 8 PM, with the DJ, Only Pleasures (Jess Elle) playing a DJ set. I enjoyed the set, but I was the only one dancing on stage as others sat and chatted. That’s a negative review aimed at the audience. Only Pleasures was great, but it was also a great way to start the show. I had forgotten that Travyz had told me that reception is one-hour long, but I. managed to conversate with a few attendees.

            I will jump into talking about the four pieces. Travyz’s piece, Liebestod is a German word that translates into two lovers’ consummation into their death, similar to the ending of Romeo and Juliet. It is a personal piece to Travyz, it seems, and Isabella Costa and Ignacio Navarro were exceptional in it. It is about a man that falls in love with Death (i.e the grim reaper), professing his love to her while she rejects to touch him. As I was watching it, I heard Isabella say “you can’t touch me,” but a minute later his hands were on her knees. Was that just a mistake in continuity or…? Also, I feel like I have seen this show. I have seen Travyz put it up already, but he played the character. Yes, it was for a different production and not Gatzbyverse. I am disappointed to see that he put up the same show for an experimental theater show, though it is a good show.

            Molly Sharpe owned the stage. She had so much fun with her show, Blood on the Floor and it was entertaining to watch her imaginative play. A solo show, she ran across stage playing multiple characters. Every moment was a laugh, and the twists took the audience by surprise. I am eager to see what she will do next.

            Man-Maid written by Liza Dealey-Thomason was an introspective take on abusive relationships. This couple, portrayed by Liza and Riley may seem to be having fun through roleplay, but the shadow makes an appearance as well. Liza had the audience laughing with the characters and gripping their seats out of compassion. I am always excited to see the subjects Liza brings to the stage. Both actors did a fine job transitioning from playfulness to aggression.

            The last show, by Chanel was the most complex. Death is on a dating app, swiping through audience members. She ends up with a few dates that all go awry. I loved the interactive nature of this piece.

            I am submitting this review late, so it is not as detailed as I would like. It has already been a week and Thanksgiving occurred. At the introduction, Travyz talked about the upcoming premiere of his movie, which will be emailed to audience members.. Stay tuned for any upcoming Gatzbyverse performances. If you have been to Gatzbyverse before, you will receive an invite for his movie premiere.

December 9, 2024
Interview with Travyz about Gatzbyverse

Interview with Travyz Santos Gatz:

I sat with Travyz in his artistically designed apartment as his cat, Puu, played on the table. His house is decorated with comics memorabilia and memories from his theater experiences. Books on the shelves that formulate his thinking process: progressive, multicultural, revolution. Posters of film, music, comics. Travyz rolled a joint for himself, though I do not smoke. He shut off the TV, which was playing Into the Spiderverse, one of his favorite films. I sat down, pulled out my 1920s audio recorder out and began:

AD: We’re getting a little warmed up here but uh alright so this is the interview for Stage Takes. Silas is here too.

Silas: hey

AD: Who played a minor role in the film, I suppose integral, though there are no small parts and (government name) is here, Travyz Santos Gatz

TSG: Not just starting off that bashing me my government name right away.

AD: Travis Santos, we’ll cut that out. Alright, alright so I watched the film earlier today. It’s a short 45 minute film, probably the most comic book movie I have seen since Sin City in 2006. I actually saw Sin City in 2007, on DVD, because I was a good kid and didn’t watch Rated-R films in theaters. So what is what inspired you to create this work and what was the process like in creating it?

TSG: I was really sad, so I wrote it. No, I’ve been wanting to do Suburban shit because that’s just where I’m from and I think it’s a representation of the Californian suburbs, especially compared to the rest of the country. So it intersected and in different ways so it represents a good quantity of what the world is and what like in our zeitgeist. Especially online. Ideas find a way to create how we as people connect with each other, and how technology influences, as well as social media and entertainment, and all that kind of affects us as a whole if that makes sense.

AD: hmm, I’m trying to see like how technology was used in the film and how that plays into themes. Could you explain more about that.

TSG: It’s about how we’re influenced by it. For example,

Travyz gives examples in the film which make me reconsider several scenes. He shows how characters have become inspired by pop culture references. I will include these in my review of the film, but will redact it from the interview so as not to spoil the project.

… We are trying to be what we’re influenced by because we’re preprogrammed by algorithms that cater towards those that just drive us deeper down whatever rabbit hole we’re interested in.

AD: Knowing you, I felt like the project was kind of personal.

TSG: Yeah, it’s personal. Everything I write is personal. I mean like the point of this is—I do gonzo-like writing, where I like to cast myself in the roles, in the world, so like not necessarily saying – everything is just going to be true to life. More of a what if scenario, or if I want to try that out, then I’ll try it out. Especially with the Internet today, I can be anonymous online and try out stuff if I need to. As long as I’m not going to **** somebody else up. Like with gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, stuff he would do would be like, Fear and Loathing wasn’t par for par of what he was doing, but like he would do stuff like see a very nice car and go, “how would people react if I take a watermelon and break it over this a car?” And maybe he’s not tripping balls but he will break that watermelon, see how people react, and then he’d write about it saying he was tripping balls and broke a watermelon and this is how people reacted. I think it’s true, I think a lot of it’s true to art, but like, it is fiction, it is part of a bigger like universe of what I’m trying to say. All my art kind of ‘is,’ you know, and by casting myself in the narrative it helps me build strong characters that are more relatable and also come from different places that we don’t usually see. Keeps it more true.

[Puu starts playing on the table again]

AD: Felt like there was a lot of absurdist influence in this, the endless search of meaning.

TSG: Yeah it’s very surrealist. My big inspiration for it like “If Bojack Horseman meets the end of Boogie Nights”. Being all sad in the suburbs was the A-Part of it and then I saw Boogie Nights and was like “oh yeah that’s what how it just put the other plot needs to be like and add action in it and stuff”

AD: how did you go how did you go about choosing a team that would amplify your vision in the way you wanted?

TSG: I just wanted to work with my friends, man. My biggest thing is, I just wanna work with my friends, to do show with my friends, because that’s where the best work comes. Especially if you can get everybody passionate about a project. The more people who see it as their own versus doing this to help somebody, or doing this project that’s not my project. I think there’s a difference and I think it’s easier to get that community built if you have people that you want to work with and that you work with consistently because they take that ownership. If I go on Actors Access then I happen to get this whole new repertoire with somebody, and like, that’s cool don’t get me wrong. I have been bringing new people in the fold, that’s dope. There’s some great new people in my life that I’ve been working with in Gatsbyverse stuff right now. I like being able to just be like “You can do this let’s ****ing do this”. And I have changed a script up before because I wanted to work with someone. Like Silas, I rewrote the character for him. I think, ‘who would be passionate about it and being able to cut loose if it’s not fitting, no shade.

AD: So with that, you had an original vision when you wrote the script.

TSG: OK.

AD: I suppose. And then I’m wondering like how that changed as Mikey gave input, as other actors came in. Did it change at all or did you let it grow let it be a process?

TSG: Oh yeah. The look of it changed a lot more with Mikey (the director) and a lot of the look stuff you really should talk to him about. He made it where it was his project and by doing that, I don’t care if you’re making it look like how I thought about it on paper. If it’s your project now and you’re gonna put in the work and as it as if it’s your project I’m not gonna stand in your way. I’m gonna make sure you know where I’m coming from, like, if it’s like going off the rails and stuff but I’m not gonna stand in your way from doing what you’re going to do. It’s the same thing like if you’re a director and the actor gives you something better, you need to be able to say that’s better.

AD: So I guess Mikey gave direction in a way that like allowed you to explore. What was the rehearsal process like, in terms of like the pre-production and planning everything?

TSG: Maybe that’s a question for Mikey, too. I mean we just planned everything within the shot. You could talk to him about the technical side, I handled all the organization and the cost of designing art direction.

AD: but was there an actors’ rehearsal or you just got on set?

TSG: We had a readthrough. Isabella and I would meet and rehearse because we had the very chunky scenes, and then the driving thing was people just driving in the car and they just kept repeating those scenes until we got it. Then trap house everybody just knew their lines, and as soon as we get in we’re gonna be rehearsing until it’s time to shoot. But rehearsal time wasn’t too crazy, we handled our shit, you know.

AD: this question it might be more towards my team but I’ll say it anyway because I wrote it and maybe if you have something to say about it if you can. Can you talk a little bit about the stylistic choices you made and how they interact with your original vision? Some shots felt like moving pictures in a way that I don’t normally see in film I’m more used to seeing like characters talk and talk and dialogue in a close up but you use the whole environment to make it feels like a comic book like scenes are yeah do you think your background in theater influenced that using the whole set design?

TSG: That would be a Mikey question. All I would say is like the big thing when we were talking about it was like, I wanted to do, “Atlanta meets the end of Boogie Nights” and then somehow we got to talking. Mikey brought in (David) Lynch, and that kind of stuff cause he’s a horror freak. Especially Inland Empire, which you know suburban this is shot in the Inland Empire. A lot of the shots are Lynch-inspired, his later works definitely. It’s simple but difficult to understand at the same time. Look wise, it’s mostly Mikey.

AD: So what was it like collaborating with others on a piece that was so personal to you.

TSG: It was great. It’s kind of weird how would everybody in my childhood home. Especially because it was like my childhood home that got remodeled like the week before we shot. Which is why that whole that house was so ******* clean was just like they just remodeled it so like I didn’t recognize it which made it a little more immersive for me, a little more method as you’d say. Would you like a hit of this joint?

AD: No, I don’t smoke.

TSG: We hit everything in that intro yet?

Silas: I think we’re close.

AD: It seems like you wanted to get a little bit of ideas out on this project, thinking specifically about a political statement by one of the characters. I’m wondering also like what was it like balance the character’s own inner lives with the agenda you had in the writing?

TSG: I mean like I just want to write what’s real, cause I feel like writing what’s real is how you can actually make a difference as a writer. What’s real is not pretty. We don’t live in a pretty world and there’s the reason like as you said I wrote Trump stuff. I didn’t know this election was gonna happen two years ago, but I still wrote it, cause it’s real. And that character would still be talking about Trump today. Even if he lost because he’s a revolutionary figure, whether we like it or not. In the left wing we don’t realize that, because we see him as a fool. But he’s a revolutionary figure to those guys. He’s the equivalent like Bernie Sanders for us, I guess.

AD: I guess we don’t know what it’s gonna look like in the long run.

TSG: Yeah, his revolution is still going. Ours got stifled. That’s the biggest issue right now.

TSG: I mean depends on who writes the history books. One of my favorite film makers is Spike Lee. Like something Spike Lee does is he doesn’t give a ****. How much Spike Lee do you watch?

AD: I’ve seen Black Klansman, and Do The Right Thing.

TSG: One of my favorite movies is Chiraq. He does the story of Lysistrata and gangland Chicago, where Lysistrata is like, “if y’all don’t start to stop this gang war, we’re not gonna have sex with you.” He goes from talking about this to rooting into our military industrial complex. To rooting that into school shootings. Shit like that like in this whole movie that’s ysistrata adaptation. You got shit like Bamboozled where it’s about a dude putting up a minstrel show and the whole world seems to be embracing this minstrel show. He’s unapologetic with what he has to say. Whether he’s right or not, and like, there’s some moments that I’ll disagree with what he has to say about like some games and shit. But like it’s valid what he says and he’s 100% passionate and confident behind it to where I just appreciate that and you need to be able to just say what you believe in but also know what the hell you’re saying. That’s what I’m trying to do with it and also the weird part is doing that and making it sound realistic.

AD: Were there any other inspirations?

TSG: Atlanta 100%, (Samuel) Beckett, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Lynch, Dune… Childish Gambino is the most inspirational thing on any of my work, I wouldn’t be doing multimedia stuff if it wasn’t for him and Because The Internet.

AD: Shout out Donald Glover.

TSG: Puu was my biggest inspiration as well. Puu, quit playing on the table. Do you want an ice cream?

AD: we got one more question, you’re ready?

TSG: and I got a fish Taco.

AD: So what is the future of the Gatzbyverse? where do you see this going?

TSG: The movie will have private screenings. That will pop up here and there but nothing official. If you have seen any of the other productions, like the one-acts, then you should be getting an invite. We want to take it on the festival circuit. It will be similar to the one-act format, like music first act then second act is plays. Or it could be movie first act, then second act plays. I might start experimenting with that as I go. Hopefully sometime next year, I’d be doing the full length play. I also need to figure out if I’m doing what I’m doing for Fringe.

The full length play is about 30 minutes too long but I’m trying to cut it down. I have a new play that I just finished over the past couple months called Goths and that’s the flip side of Suburban Limbo, which instead of people being stuck at their hometown, it’s people who made it out of their home town to the to the city or to their where their dreams are how their dreams crushed and find themselves yet again stuck in their dreams. Everybody’s looking to embracing the past too much because those were the golden days. I’m really trying to just figure out like how to make that work wanted to really be about like finding your light when you fall back Into Darkness, that’s kind of the goal. I need to do Limbo first.

AD: and you also have the ththe Gatsbyverse One-Acts this week.

TSG: it’s a good community builder and the people who have been involved have been really active. Everybody who wrote last time are all coming back again to either write or act in this one. I got a new group of folks coming in the new group of folks coming in who like we’re like ‘Oh, this is fun’ and saw Loft Ensemble and were interested. The goal is with these one acts I’m trying to just build an army. I wanna build a ******* army, to be real. But I don’t want to lead the army. That’s too much responsibility.

AD: Well it sounds like you wanna build a (theater) company

TSG: Nope. I don’t wanna build like a theater company. Theater companies are the reason theaters die, because it’s capitalistic, and it’s antithetical to making art, and it becomes clicky, it becomes political, and it’s all supremacist right now because it’s a business based model and like you know you can go all the way up to like Broadway and stuff like that Broadway is just owned by three families all running that business as all companies all work. But like you go as low as (names a company) that’s still a lot of business getting in the way of their art. Because now they could only do two or three shows a year if that, right? But even (company), to an extent, business ruins a lot of their stuff because they put that bureaucracy in there that folks it up especially when somebody like (friend) gets super overwhelmed it really will fall by the wayside.

AD: Makes me think of a quote by Immortal Technique, he says, “the problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it’s not you who changes the system; The system will eventually change you” You sound like you want to create a new system.

TSG: Yeah and I mean like that’s the idea like even with the film. Yeah, I’m gonna do the festival circuit, but with release I’m barnstorming. I’m doing pop-ups, I’m performing, I’m putting up shows, I’m getting people to do vending stuff, and I’m putting up that movie. Next month we have an entire performance happening at the reception. There’s gonna be shoegaze goth theme music in the in the background, live, played by our good friend Kyle.

AD: let’s see… OK. Alright anything else you want to talk about?

TSG: as long as you don’t make Puu like she doesn’t have manners.

AD: Well I mean she is walking around the house naked.

TSG: She has a scarf on!

I really enjoyed my talk with Travyz. I am excited to see how the Gatzbyverse will play out. He has a true passion for comics and is blending it into the production. Like I said, the film has a very comic book style to it. Gatz is very insightful and has spent a good deal of time working on his vision.

Catch Tales From the Gatzbyverse this Saturday, November 23rd at 8 PM at Loft Ensemble. Featuring a DJ set by Only Pleasures, Libestod by Travyz Santos Gatz, Blood On The Floor by Molly Sharpe, Man-Maid by Liza Dealey-Thomason, A Date With Death by Chanel Samson, and more!!

November 22, 2024

film, interviews, review, reviews, writing
A Thought About Reviews

It has been at least a few weeks since I have went to go show. I have been thinking about posting my old reviews from the Hollywood Fringe Festival and interviewing a few artists. But in thinking more about reviews, why do we do them? Do we do them to advertise/warn the audience what to watch? I want people to be able to pick what interests them, I don’t want to be their conscience.

One will say, “I am thinking of seeing this show,” and another will say, “It has terrible reviews.” Reviews according to who? No one opinion can be considered objective, I believe. Yet, there are standards to art. But where do those standards come from? Pure creativity should not be judged. But is a theater piece pure creativity? It is, in most cases, a collaboration. Sure, a director has a vision — but does that vision change once an actor brings in their own (creative) preparation, or a set designer brings in their own creation?

Reviewing, then, is creativity in itself. It adds to the original vision by its own interpretation. That is to say the reviewer themselves come from a creative standpoint and not an institutional knowledge of good/bad. Does the reviewer feel? Is the reviewer able to be moved by the dramatic action of the story? I sure hope so. There are times were I have watched shows with my mind — the little calculations of each choice. I strive to move forward in watching shows with my heart, and not my mind.

November 13, 2024
American Idiot presented by Deaf West at The Mark Taper Forum

Last night I went to see American Idiot at the Mark Taper Forum, presented by Deaf West. Green Day is one of my favorite bands of all time, but I had only heard of the musical and never became interested in it. I was emotional from the start, sitting up front, just thinking how far this album as come. The songs were similar to the album, with some stuff from 21^st Century Breakdown, I think. Dialogue was sparce (subtitles seen on projections), outside of the ensemble songs but a strong, cohesive story was told that stayed true to the mission of the music. It is about a group of friends who leave home in the midst of a propaganda-torn America, themes that resonate from 2004 to 2024, on an Into The Wild type adventure and end up getting involved with the military and substance use. Images of George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump felt interchangeable as they faded in the background. I could not help but think of Stella Adler’s comments, “an addict is someone who uses their body to tell society that something is wrong.” The show did a good job conveying teenage angst towards political authority.

Theater that is accessible is the future. I did not know what it would mean that Deaf West was putting up the production. Silly me thought that there would be an ASL interpreter at the show; but watching performances done in ASL adds another beautiful layer to the characters. The characters spoke in ASL, and other performers played music and sang in the background. The set design felt minimal, strong lighting, and a good use of projections. Stand Out performances by Daniel Durant, Milo Manheim, and Kaia T. Fitzgerald.

October 24, 2024

american-sign-language, asl, disability
The Polycule at Loft Ensemble

This play has been making the rounds of advertisements on my algorithms so I went to check it out. Introduced as a satire, the production follows a new relationship added to a polyamorous household, the Polycule. The action of the play takes place in a well-stage-designed living room. The play had funny moments and was an interesting take on polyamory.

In the beginning of the play I thought it was too formal, characters were describing the rules of their relationships like a textbook. It was an interesting choice to write the play in verse. It took me a few minutes to catch on that every line was written in rhyming couplets, but once it made sense then it felt obvious and dragged a bit. In a world were characters speak with this dialect, the approach needs to be both like a Neil Simon play, acting-wise, but text-wise like a Shakespearean play. There were a few performers that were standouts, and the mix of cartoonish characters with more subtle characters made for a fun experience. Mace did a great job with the awkward chemistry and Silas had deadpan humor to a tea.

It’s a good show, and it’s free. Tonight at 7 PM is closing night at Loft Ensemble, check it out! RSVP at LoftEnsemble.org.

October 6, 2024
Into the Gatzbyverse at Loft Ensemble by Travyz Santos Gatz

I have known Travyz since college and have observed his work on this project for over a decade, happy to see it come to fruition.

On September 24, 2024 at Loft Ensemble Travyz put up a collection of one acts written by him and a few of his peers; it was a great, fun night of artistic exhibition. Travyz opened the night with an introduction, stating that he instructed these writers to go inside his mind and these are the resulting pieces, and performed a few raps from his project. The Gatzbyverse, it seems, is a collection of plays, film, comic strips – maybe I will interview Travyz for more information.

The shows included I Love My Bitch by Molly Sharpe, Blather by Riley Smith, Subtext by by Liza Dealey-Thomason, and Travyz’s Roscoe’s Wetsuit. The show included performances that stretched the audience’s expectations and each actor/character did their job in evoking something out of us.

I thought the Jack Sharpe and Molly Sharpe were both excellent in her play, took big risks that landed with laughs and thought-provoking ideas. Mandy Rubeli commanded the stage with a ten-plus minute monologue, did a great job in making an annoying character enjoyable to watch. Liza’s writing had double meanings, and had the audience taking sides with characters. Roscoe’s Wetsuit got many laughs, a nice closing to the show; it had well-developed characters and funny moments.

I can’t wait to see what the next part of the Gatzbyverse will bring.

September 30, 2024
Red Light Winter at The Broadwater (Black Box)

I have known Ryan for a number of years and I’m pleased to say that he has grown tremendously as an artist.

A show I have seen recently, and which is still running is Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp, starring Ryan Lisman, Trenton Lee Culkin, and Natalie Valentine — and let me just say I was mesmerized at the flow of the production and the chemistry between the actors. I will do my best to talk about the production in general without giving away plot, because as always, the less you know the better.

I commend Ryan for carrying the show with a range of emotion, staying fully present in the most intimate parts of the show. The director Billy Ray Brewton facilitated for a natural connection between the cast, and the minimal set does wonders to keep our eyes on the interactions. Trenton crafted a character that brings humor to the show and forms the dynamic between characters. Natalie is excellent as well, surprises at many moments.

Highly recommend this show! You don’t want to miss it. It will run for one more weekend at The Broadwater, Black Box (9/27 to 9/29, 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2:30) and then play for two weekends at The Zephyr Theater, October 3-6 and 10-13, Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 2:30 PM.

Content warning: sexual situations, nudity, suicide.

September 27, 2024
Rectangles by Maddie Forrest (sample review from Fringe 2024)

I met Maddie at fringe Central, recently, and liked how she promoted her show.

This is Fringe! Yes! Exactly the kind of shows I want to see: Personal, experimental. She had multiple forms: comedy, monologues, singing, movement, music. I had no idea what I was gonna see going in. It kind of felt like karaoke at first, but the storyline was strong. I still wonder if it was all a metaphor.

One thing I have to say is that, in the beginning, the music felt too loud. Yes, she has some pre-recorded vocals, but her voice is just as great live. There was a projection, a lot of imagery in her speech. She commanded the stage and connected with the audience. Made us laugh and cry subject matter was raw, personal, unhinged.

September 26, 2024
Introducing Stage Takes

Hello everybody, my name is Alon and I consider myself an avid theater goer. I have had a keen interest in the arts since I was young: writing scripts in middle school and shooting short films in high school. I studied Theater at the University of La Verne over ten years ago, where I began to develop a sharper perception and taste of the stage.

This idea, of writing a blog, came to me over summertime during the Hollywood Fringe Festival. This year I had seen 40+ shows, the year prior probably 60+, and I have been attending Fringe since the year 2014. I find fulfillment in supporting fellow artists and peers (but can also be critical). I have written hundreds of short reviews of Fringe shows I have seen and, I ask, why should I limit this passion to once a year? I hope you will join me on this journey of finding well-done theater across Los Angeles, share your thoughts on my thoughts, and maybe even find some good recommendations.

Thank you and “Unto he breach, dear friends!” (I don’t know, still working on a tagline)

September 26, 2024

LA, reviews, theater