Holding to the Ground

They say you always remember your first time....

The nervousness, fumbling, trying to remember where one part goes, the other people, bright lights...

WHAT?

I am talking about my first stage experience, I don't know what the rest of you sickos thought I was talking about. heh. For the long time readers of this blog - which may total a number of 3 people (and I'm being optimistic here) - you may remember my excitement then disappointment then nervous hyped up energy of nearly 4 years ago, when I was tagged to understudy SquirrelMonk in 'Falsettoland'. As a lesbian doctor.

Well, the fabulous folks over at Theater Rhino (now the oldest running LGBT based theater in the country) including some ex-Rocky cast mates have restaged a thoughtful, wells-sung and delightful version of this James Lapine/William Finn classic.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story: Yuppie Jewish couple have young son, husband realizes he is gay and leaves wife for lover, wife ends up marrying ex-husband's psychiatrist, son is caught up in all of the hulabaloo, son turns 13 (puberty and all) and has bar mitzvah catered by lesbian kosher caterer from next door, caterer's lesbian lover - internist doctor - discovers more men living with the AIDS virus as they are dying in her ER, lover develops AIDS from his HIV and dies in the middle of son's bar mitzvah at hospital.

Good times.

Originally built as a trio of plays with music (In Trousers, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland) the Theater Rhino troupe does a true to original version of Falsettoland - which does make the production rather long. but luckily the artists keep the action and scenes moving rapidly. Falsettos was also one of the very first musicals to bring the 80s major conflicts and misunderstandings of homosexuality, the AIDS epidemic and the rise of divorce to the forefront of people's consciousness. Those men and women who lived through the 70s and 80s were just beginning to understand and accept: therapists, dealing with feelings out in the open and non-traditional gender roles. So for many people, Falsettos also represents a revolution much as Pink Floyd's, "The Wall" did for others.

Leanne Borghesi as Trina is spellbinding. Her clear, gorgeous mezzo and belt rings through the black box space clear as a bell and she is the most fascinating to watch as the equally caring and neurotic woman and mother. She is best as a soloist - her earthy voice tinged with emotion during, 'Holding to the Ground' as she cannot define her feelings for Whizzer as she watches him slowly and painfully deteriorate. And also during that incredible tour de force that is, "Breaking Down" - Borghesi's chops as comedic actress don't go overboard while she is flinging chopped pieces of produce around the stage and you can tell she is loving, loving playing this role.

As Marvin, Christian Bohm has a sweet, Irish cover to his voice. In the original versions, Marvin is both conflicted and arrogant; trying to keep his semblance of a tradional 50s nuclear family while lusting after his best friend. Throughout the play, his over-bearing father figure is tempered greatly by his son's wisdom - and eventually, the audience can feel that Marvin finally understands that love is not some definition or but in all it's complexities, the man knows how to love.

Scott Gessford as Whizzer does some of his finest work here. While in Rocky he was only the dumb hottie, he brings warmth, depth and honesty to Whizzer - which was more believable in Act I than II. His gorgeous tenorial voice soars during numbers like 'The Games I Play' and 'What Would I Do'. The love-hate-lust relationship between Gessford's Whizzer and Bohm's 'Marvin' also plays wonderfully on stage and it is during these scenes that Whizzer allows his mask to fall away to reveal gentle emotion.

David Kahawaii as Jason, has a sweetness to him that is made more hilarious by his admissions to the blossoming of puberty. He is a tousled headed voice of reason and is particularly good during both renditions of 'Miracle of Judism'. His preference for Whizzer as father figure frustates and angers both Trina and Marvin - but in the end, Jason proves to be the one who is right as the death of Whizzer brings all ends of the family together.

Additional ensemble members: Christopher Nelson, Amanda Dolan and Laurie Bushman are delightful. Christopher Nelson makes a particularly convincing Mendel the lusty psychiatrist and some of the best couple scenes are between him and Borghesi. His initial attempts to provide fatherhood to Jason are also quite hilarious. and Nelson seamlessly blends acting chops, vocal accumen and physical comedic timing. Dolan, as the kosher catererer Cordelia, is lovingly sketched out - both as clueless eye candy for her more butch partner, Dr. Charlotte - and as a true homemaker trying to come to grips with caring for people the only way she knows how, through food. Her voice is best during the stirring quartet, "Unlikely Lovers"; Dolan also gets a fantastic turn as the self-absorbed, faklempt client of Mendel demarkating the difference between 70s culture and 80s culture.

Bushman does fine as Dr. Charlotte - though many of her big numbers, "Something Bad" and "A Day in Falsettoland" seem to have been sung an octave lower. The relationship between doctor and caterer is nicely sketched out and again, "Unlikely Lovers" is a wonderful group number shared between the two couples. The entire musical is underscored simply by an upright piano in the corner that more than covers the show (double covered by Mark Hanson and Mark O'Brien).

Falsettos runs for two more weeks through Feb. 8th
Theater Rhino
2926 16th Street (btw. Capp and S. VanNess)
San Francisco, CA
www.TheRhino.org

He stands.

Embedded video from CNN Video

In the frigid air
Of palid morn
In roused wakefulness
Or sleepy patience
We stood together to see
Our collective come to light
In one man
Who now stands
Belief, hope, future, change
For the things we wish to place on his shoulders
War, poverty, pain
Fear, greed, neglect
The long night
The late night phone call
Simple things we take for granted, til their shadows loom
Yet
He stands

Wake up the dawn and ask her why...

you’re so obsessed with trying to find love that you don’t even remember how to live, how to truly live, let alone what love even is. or possibly worse, you think that since you have already found love that you no longer have to live, have to grow and change and fail and learn anymore.

love life. love the things that you’re passionate about. love yourself. genuinely and whole heartedly love life. then work on finding others to truly love too. dilaudid:katietower:meganmcisaac:unicornology

Do you ever feel like your life is on hold at the starting line? For whatever reason you’re raring to go and for unknown reasons – you’re being held up? Right now, I keep feeling that there’s something so RIGHT out there for me, but the paperwork isn't done yet. Paperwork - such a minute thing that humans created to make sure that our asses are covered. And then there is flow, when everything is going amazing. Believe or not, there was a time when even a control freak like me let events and people flow in and around her. Part of it was an inner self-confidence that reminded me that the only opinion that REALLY counted was my own. It was that same inner confidence that allowed me the freedom to look stupid, to fail and fail again – with the ultimate goal being more important than my more immediate ego or looking good.

Flow is what happens when you are working at your optimal best. You move from pace to pace with no effort. There is no thinking about the next step, the next step is just there. I miss being in the state of flow. I feel like the flow in my life has just sort of taken a vacation that I didn’t know about. Perhaps it’s a silly thing to complain about, and I’m working on getting it back – but I keep thinking about my life last September and how much in love with it I was. There’s no living in the past though. I just have to remind myself that when those moments happen – love them while they are happening, the easier it will be to let them go.

It was just one of those programs that clicked. I mean everything went right, everything felt good…it’s just such a rush, like you feel it could go on and on and on, like you don’t want it to stop because it’s going so well. It’s almost as though you don’t have to think, it’s like everything goes automatically without thinking…it’s like you’re on automatic pilot, so you don’t have any thoughts. You hear the music but you’re not aware that you’re hearing it, because it’s a part of it all.
From the Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi lecture on flow (these are the words of an ice skater describing a performance – TED Talks)

• 1. Completely involved in what we are doing-focused, concentrated.
• 2. A sense of ecstasy-of being outside everyday reality.
• 3. Great inner clarity-knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing.
• 4. Knowing that the activity is doable –that our skills are adequate to the task.
• 5. a sense of serenity 0 no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego.
• 6. Timelessness-thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes.
• 7. Intrinsic motivation – whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.

Glick-tastic.

Hey guys, so remember when I wrote this post back in May about how I had a friend made of win cause he had written this rock opera about Beowulf and it was quite possibly my favorite theater event of the entire year?

Well it seems like the world agrees! Malfoy + Banana Bag and Bodice aka Jessica Jeliffe, Rod Hipskind and Jason Craig have just won the Glickman award honoring the best play/theater piece to have originated or had its world debut in the Bay Area! (and the $4000 prize is nice)

BEOWULF ROCK OPERA WINS COVETED GLICKMAN AWARD

They are currently on their way to NYC, so if you are out there, this is not a piece of theater to be missed! (and for some reason, I cannot link to my original post right now, Blogger did something funny to all my entries that I'm going to try to fix. The original post date is 5/19/08)

My original comment on Beowulf?
Overall, I heart this show and it's lusty, no holds barred take on a traditionally dismal classic. It's exciting, high energy and overall-well done. I was envious watching these people play together. It's bringing sexy back.

I still concur.

All done with the run of the day

I miss you. The sound of your song, the curve of your back, the seagreen of your eyes. I wish you would tell me when your gig was. I wish for a lot of things, that in a year will seem a million miles away and out of place and what was I thinking?! But right now...weigh heavily on my heart. If I don't get to see you, I wish you luck.

"Been a busy day...with some heavy seas.
But you've done your best, sleepy man."



the rest of you should try to check it out. Thursday night, Beale Street Bar, I dunno what time.

let's rock universe.

i refuse to sit on my ass.

i am doing laundry, blogging, listening to 'the Nutcracker', filling out the EDD form, calling my old place of employment to find out my gross earnings, applying for jobs, pestering my ex and going on a date today at samovar! (so even if it's a crappy date, at least i went to samovar which is amazing!)

and i'm about to write more of my book. let's rock universe.

btw, universe? thanks for yesterday, this is why i love living in san francisco. this is what the scene was like at ocean beach...in the middle of friggin' january.

Nove

in the middle of all this ridiculous chaos, i've actually been doing a show!

Nine is the musical based upon Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 which is based upon a quasi-true version of Fellini's real life. The original (1982) starred Raul Julia and the revival won the Tony award for Antonio Banderas and starred several Broadway and Hollywood hard hitters like: Chita Rivera, Mary Stuart Masterson and Jane Krakowski. The movie is coming out this year, directed by Rob Marshall.
Nine is one of those amazing musicals that features 7 powerhouse roles for women and a killer score, but of course the entire musical focuses on one man and how he affects the relationships that surround him. There's his loving, long-suffering wife, his saintly mother, his lover, his muse, his producer, his first sexual experience and a bevy of groupies. Oh, and um...then there's the part I get to play, the film critic. It's such a DELICIOUS role to play - she's wickedly caustic and snarky and has a killer song. And she has an amazing name; Stephanie Necrophorus. I'm just having fun with this role, since a lot of my blocking...well, it involves me strutting around majestically and sucking on a cancer stick. hee.

Anyway, if you're around, come see it! Like I said, the music is wonderfully addictive and complex. And the show a mix of humor, sophisticated emotion and pathos.