Possibly one of my personal favorites! Aaron Pang takes the concept of inspiration-porn, as commonly referenced in stories of people with disabilities, and smashes it out the window to create a whole new approach. A truly genuine, authentic experience that had me tearful as I walked out by the way he playfully punches us in the gut. Aaron is such a charismatic storyteller, taking us on the wild ride of his life, and have you thinking about it after for days. This is a “love story” like no other; it is about finding love within, and gives us a new concept of what it means to be a hero. This rewrites the common story of disability, the hero’s journey; instead of coming out of a low point, as most stories of disability are structured, we learn to make life whole at the present moment. Aaron made us laugh, and even better, he would laugh with us. I liked his interactions with the audience, too, and how the play can change with each audience.
The American Dream at Zephyr Theater
I met the writer at Office Hours and was excited to see political theater making a comeback. A series of vignettes to portray the current state of the political times we are in. This has good moments, good acting, and the touching message at the end had me tearing up. Some of the concepts worked very well. I was particularly interested in the sketch of the AI police officer who struggles to connect with his mission, and also the teaching assistant, for the special needs student, who loses his job. I would really like to see these developed and I think the production was a nice experimental piece. Some of these scenes felt like I was watching the Saturday Night Live skits that are exact transcripts of what happened in the news or the latest thing Trump/Musk did. Perhaps it is just a sign of our times that we can no longer tell the difference. I did not like the characterizations that actors ended up chose to do; not that I was offended, it just feels like that has been done before, too often.
Slay Me at The Hobgoblin Playhouse
A show that evolves throughout, shows different sides to anxiety. Tremendous performance by Veronica Rosas, who also writes the production. What appears to be a fun getting ready for date night turns much darker. Great writing, but felt longer than it needed to be.
One Up at The Actor’s Company
An underdog story of a young intern trying to make her creative dreams come true; I’m sure many can relate. Super fun musical with great songs and a strong storyline. This is the second musical I have seen at the space, and I’m not sure if there is an issue with the venue, but the music was too loud. It is campy, if you are into that. Wow, Alanna Hernandez can sing and gave a very solid performance! Great performances all around, with strong and silly characters.
Catharsis Theater Collective is the theater company set up by Ryan Lisman. Ryan has a selective taste, yet allowed members of this company to preview scenes from projects that they eventually hope to produce. I have been eager to see this project. The scenes did not disappoint. Similar to my most recent reviews from the 30 Or Less Fest, I will write a few sentences for each show. Ryan did a good job hosting. One night was filled with audience interaction, the other he set up a stand-up comedy set. I would have liked to know a little more about the scenes before they started, such as, at what point in the plot do they take place or where the characters are coming from. The following reviews are just my opinion and not a fact, for entertainment purposes only:
“The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog” written by Thomas Yungerberg was a great opener, and one of my favorites. The show was about a man who appeared nervous to bring a girl into his life. I thought Isabella Costa and Spencer Weitzel made really interesting choices and tapped into the inner lives of these characters; also their chemistry was great. One thing I thought was super unnecessary was the spotlight that shone on the characters during their monologues; took us out from the realism.
“A New Testament” written by Ryan Lisman was quite weird. Very hard to alllow the suspension of disbelief with this one. It is about a nun who battles with her sexual desires. She gossips with Sister Imogen about their disagreements with the suppression of desire, and then Dylan, a student, reveals the affair they have together. Hayley Keenen is very talented, as seen in another show, but this character left her with some cartoon-like, awkward choices to make. Heidi is a great choice to play the the nun, as evidence by the powerful use of silences, aggressive stares. But I felt this piece needs more subtly, less on the nose action.
“Sub Rosa” was written by one of Ryan’s friend’s from grad school, Christian Krenek and directed by Veronica Matthews. Being a therapist myself, I had trouble viewing this play objectively, with regards to ethics. It is about a therapist, played by Marilyn Sanabria, trying to get information about one of her client’s sexual desires from a man/trainer, played by Casey Alcoser, that the client used to role play with. I really liked Casey Alcoser’s performance, the character was calculated and Casey was able to portray the seductive persuasion of the character very well. Although, when we look at a script, we probably analyze what these character’s objectives are and how they will achieve it. Therefore, I was confused at Dr. Emily Kendall’s approach. I felt that there was a weird sexual tension between these characters that was unnecessary. Sanabria, nonetheless did a good job with what she had to work with. Kyle, played by Alcoser, concluded the play with a very thought provoking monologue and I thought that was what made this play work.
“The Conquered” is written and directed by Audrey Cirzan. I really liked the concept, and Audrey [Cirzan] is perhaps one of my favorite writers that I know personally, with her Fringe show The Roost being a hit. Yet, I felt like the actors were reading the script rather than interpreting it. Theo Fay and Scout Gutzmerson are both terrific actors but it seemed this show did not allow them to explore. It was very dialogue/conceptual heavy, and I found myself listening to the words rather than the emotions in between. The characters spoke in such a way, without pauses, that didn’t give space for feeling in between. I wondered what this would have looked like under different direction.
“Must Come Down” was a very nice piece. It is hard to suspend disbelief when seeing adults playing high schoolers, but they did a good job. Two students, one had tried to kiss the other and got punched in the face for doing so. In their dialogue, the bully comes in touch with his own sexuality. S.E Perry knocked it out of the park with his comedic relief, as he plays the principal who struggles with wanting to keep the school’s inclusivity and projecting a classical army sergeant type.
“Dog of Carnage” by Benjamin Schwartz and directed by Natalie Nicole Dressel was another favorite of mine. A court scene where a couple battles out for custody over their dog. Absurdist, wacky, and a social commentary on contemporary culture. I thought the actors, Spencer Weitzel and Hayley Kennan, gave strong performances that mixed in with the flavor of goofiness in the writing. Really great physical humor, dance breaks, and commitment to the bit. Good use of lighting as well.
“Walking Shadows” was excellent. A piece that leaves you thinking. Both Scout Gutzmerson and Brandon Pascal gave excellent performances. Absurdist, two characters rummaging through the craziness of writing. A play that is rminiscent of David Ives’ “Words, Words, Words”.
Closing out was Ryan’s piece “And What of the Children?” which he plans to bring to Hollywood Fringe. I don’t know what to say of this — maybe that’s a good thing? Courageous, controversial subject matter. Just because I do not agree with some of the character’s points of views, does it mean I cannot take in the story? Having known nothing of the plot — it is probably not a show I would go see: a family upset that one of the individuals has a secret Only Fans account. Could be a lot more comedic, now that I think of it. Good performances by Isabela Costa, Audrey Cirzan, and Riley Introcaso. but now that I think of it, why do the characters not see the comedy in all of this? [On a side note, I have heard a criticism about the film, “Rabbit Hole,” based on the play by David Lindsay-Abaire, where it failed in not finding any of the humor of the original play). I will say, having seen this scene, I am excited to see how the full play will turn out.
What Ryan did was very special, a chance for artists to experiment with their work. I spoke with Ryan, who said he has not seen any of the shows until opening night, which is interesting, and I’m glad artists were given freedom to experiment. Excited to see what’s next for Catharsis Theater Collective.
Welcome back to StageTakes of weekend 2 of the 30 Minutes or Less Festival presented by Combined Arts / Asylum Theater at the Stephanie Feury Theater in Melrose. It was a busy weekend of shows, one after the other, and I right away want to apologize to any shows that I missed. I have heard great things about all of them and I hope I will get another chance to see them. Second weekend attending shows and writing little blurbs about them.
Day 2:
Permanent Objects: Reb Powers greeted us at the door and brought her charming personality to the show as well! This was a personal show and very fun, it felt as though we were witnessing inner child work. Very spontaneous, I don’t know how much was pre-planned yet the show included tech cues. She pulled objects out of a bag, and had stories to tell about each; a simple premise yet universal and therapeutic in that she had us think about what objects define or defined us for a period of our lives. This could be a great exercise, and I would like to extend the offer to you, dear reader, to think about which objects defined you throughout your life.
The Cancer Comedy Hour: What a show! Really special one-person show created by a Lili Ignon, a two-time cancer survivor battling with the desire to live a “normal” life with the requirements expected of her by caregivers. She opened with “Don’t be afraid to laugh at the traumatic stuff” and her warm heartedness set us at ease. Excellent storytelling and fun impressions. She talked about her father sharing his history of being punk rock to her having to miss classes for treatments. She sprinkles in humor by poking fun at the disparities she faced; we may never be able to truly understand what she has gone through but she is able to make us feel a plethora in 20 minutes.
For You: Personal and powerful, a show that will widen your awareness to the experience of motherhood. I met Melissa Lugo slightly before the show and was pleased at how generous she was to myself and all of the theater patrons The show seemed very well-crafted. Lugo hit every beat on the spot. It made me wonder if a show could be over-rehearsed. As the show went on, a phone went off, shuffling ensued in the crowd, but Melissa kept going. I thought, this is polar opposite to Reb Powers’ Permanent Objects the actor knew her mark and played the sequence; different style is all. A strong show about grief, addiction, and motherhood.
Ain’t I/Ain’t It/Ain’t We: I’m getting tired now, but this really got my energy up! Latrice P. Young writes and performs in a powerful piece that questions the social structures of today. Poetry that opens the mind. She gets the audience riled up and has us singing along. I found myself waking up this morning with the groove of “Ain’t I Ain’t Us Ain’t We”.
Mise: Great energy from the young performer, Henry Tsai, who brings a range of characters and emotion to this work. “A young cook in his father’s restaurant survives the worst service of his life.” (I saw too much today, burned out).
Day 3:
Still Alive: Super interesting and brilliantly directed! An experience you rarely get on stage, parallel storylines, a live music score, a thriller that keeps you on edge. The play moves in a way that needs no explanation; everything is clear and well-constructed. Play ends with a cliffhanger and I read that this is Act 1 to a longer production, can’t wait to see where it goes.
Alligators of Malibu: Another fun show by Michael David-Kerr, who did Shame On Sundays last week. He has endless stories of hilarity. This time he spoke about being a teenager in Malibu, new kid on the block, and trying to fit in. The show takes its title from Lacoste shirts, I hope I don’t get sued for mentioning them. Great company, great shirts. I could listen to Michael’s stories all day.
Woody Allen’s Mr. Big: A staged reading that had a lot more spirit to it than I expected! Just about ready to be performed without scripts, it seemed. Good use of set and props. Brian Knusden and Catherine Allison create delightful characters and Woody Allen’s script is filled with a mix of laugh out loud comedy and philosophy references.
Top Picks: Still Alive, The Cancer Comedy Hour, Ain’t I/Ain’t It/Ain’t We
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)
Stage Takes 