{"id":3508,"date":"2014-04-16T23:17:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-16T23:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/?p=3508"},"modified":"2014-04-24T05:57:21","modified_gmt":"2014-04-24T05:57:21","slug":"vanity-fair-la-weeklys-and-the-end-of-jacob-sidneys-mustache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/vanity-fair-la-weeklys-and-the-end-of-jacob-sidneys-mustache\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Raden had the nerve to visit NYC this week. Stage Rows returns next Wednesday."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stage<\/a><\/h1>\n

Vanity Fair<\/em>, the LAWees, and the End of Jacob Sidney’s Mustache<\/h1>\n

Vanity Fair<\/i><\/b> to Los Angeles Theater: Drop Dead!<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are many metrics that one may use for judging the relative health and wellbeing of any city\u2019s live theater scene. For example, one can count the gross number of annual stage productions<\/a>, a method regularly employed by LA Observed<\/i> critic Don Shirley<\/b> when he wrote for LA Stage Times<\/i>. By that admittedly rough measure \u2014 628 above-the-Equity-radar shows in 2013 according to Don \u2014 the city stages appear to be in fairly robust shape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Others, like celebrity-befuddled Vanity Fair<\/i> scribe Jimmy Im<\/b>, prefer to count how many stage shows feature Hollywood star spawn Rumer Willis<\/b> cavorting in breezy West Hollywood cabaret homages to pedigreed movie directors like Baz Luhrmann<\/b>, Martin Scorsese<\/b>, the Coen Brothers<\/b>, Garry Marshall<\/b> <\/b>and Quentin Tarantino<\/b>. Not surprisingly, L.A. theater rates pretty \u201cbad\u201d<\/a> on the Im meter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To be fair, Jimmy isn\u2019t what we at \u201cStage Rows\u201d would strictly call a \u201ctheater critic.\u201d Neither, in fact, have any of his primary employers, such as Business Traveller<\/i>, Travel + Leisure<\/i>, Out<\/i> and Hollywood Reporter<\/i>, where Jimmy has exclusively drawn paychecks as a travel writer. Such distinctions were apparently lost on VF<\/i> editor Graydon Carter<\/b>, who ran Jimmy\u2019s fawning write-up of a show called For the Record: Tarantino<\/i> at the nightclub DBA<\/a> on Santa Monica Blvd., under the headline \u201cCan Quentin Tarantino and Rumer Willis Save L.A. Theater?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Any intended irony by Carter fell flat for those that have spent the better part of their professional lives toiling on both sides of L.A. stage curtains. LA Weekly<\/i>\u2019s chief theater critic (and SRAW<\/i> editor) Steven Leigh Morris<\/b>, who quickly fired off a sharply-worded rejoinder<\/a> on the paper\u2019s \u201cPublic Spectacle\u201d arts blog, noted that L.A. stages are already chock-full with both movie and TV actors, thank you. And, Steven added, Los Angeles regularly feed NYC\u2019s voracious legitimate-stage appetite with highly regarded shows.<\/p>\n

\"Off-Broadways<\/a>
Off-Broadways most recent L.A. import<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For their part, Boston Court\u2019s executive director Michael Seel<\/b> and Colony Theatre\u2019s ex-executive director (and current head of Hollywood\u2019s imminent Immersion Theatre) Trent Steelman<\/b> penned a Facebook protest over the magazine\u2019s slur on behalf of the Theatrical Producers League of Los Angeles. In an open letter<\/a> addressed to Carter, the producers took issue with Carter\u2019s glib attempt to revive a rather tired and ill-informed Manhattan-centric prejudice and invited Im to explore the actual theater that exists in abundance beyond the bars of WeHo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

L.A. Theater Saves Itself (Again)<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unlike Vanity Fair<\/i>, when we at \u201cStage Rows\u201d wish to take a single-evening measure of L.A.\u2019s relative stage quality, we simply turn up at the LA Weekly Theater Awards for the short list of any year\u2019s best of the best. And this year was no different.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Production<\/a>
Production of the Year: “We Are Proud to Present . . .<\/em> ” Matrix Theatre Company (Photo by Bill Raden)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cLAWees,\u201d which likes to tout itself as the West Coast\u2019s kissing cousin to NYC\u2019s Obies, turned over Monday\u2019s 2014 edition at downtown\u2019s Exchange LA to the horror specialists at Zombie Joe\u2019s Underground for what by the end of the night had already been unofficially declared the best LA Weekly Awards show ever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As \u201cStage Rows\u201d wandered among the Exchange both during and after the show, we overheard such superlatives repeatedly echoed \u2014 not the least from Deborah Lawlor<\/b> of the Fountain Theatre, who briefly joined \u201cSR\u201d on the sidewalk, where she was smoking. Although fuming might be a more accurate word \u2014 over the fact that Fountain\u2019s revival of The Normal Heart<\/i> didn\u2019t reap a single honor despite multiple nominations. When we reminded her that the Fountain has harvested more LAWees in top categories over the years than probably any other stage in town, Deborah admitted that she was maybe being a bit unfair. She then began talking about the show itself and how blown away she was by this year’s edition, adding that she has been at every LA Weekly Awards show since its inception in 1979. (Is there a LAWee for that?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Excellence<\/a>
LAWee Excellence in Criticism laureate Myron Meisel of “The Hollywood Reporter”<\/em> and L.A.’s dean of critics Don Shirley (Photo: Bill Raden)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Written and directed by Zombie Joe<\/b> and Denise Devin<\/b>, and choreographed by Devin, the evening was marked by a brisk pace and spectacular production numbers. In-between, the Zombie crew doled out this year\u2019s awards<\/a> to deserving winners in record 90-minutes, while turning the tables on usually stage-shy critics by forcing them out in front of the footlights as presenters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An incandescent Colin Mitchell being supported by ZJU’s Sebastian Munoz and Corey Zicari as Debbie Devine accepts her best director’s LAWee (Photo: Bill Raden)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most notably, these included non-voters Colin Mitchell of Bitter Lemons<\/i> and critic Steven \u201cI Never Met a Show I Didn\u2019t Like\u201d Stanley of Stage Scene LA<\/i><\/a>. Stanley, of course, lives and breathes small-stage theater, so it was somewhat endearing to see him up on stage soaking up the spotlights. What actually surprised us was how aglow the oft-cynical Colin was. Part of that incandescence was the degree to which the Bitter<\/i> pundit was lit up by whatever he was ordering at the bar. Most of it, we realized, was from the symbolism of being onstage \u2014 that after founding Bitter Lemons<\/i> five years ago as a soapbox and the city\u2019s aggregator of critical opinion, Colin was somehow finally not only being officially embraced by the community but was being taken to the very bosom of its most \u00fcber-cool core.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"LA<\/a>
“LA Weekly”<\/em> and “SRAW”<\/em> critic Lovell “Been There, Seen That” Estell takes in the glamor (Photo: Bill Raden)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The awards also proved to be a reunion of sorts, which we discovered when we bumped into Celebration\u2019s co-artistic director Michael Sheppard<\/b> at the bar.\u00a0It turns out that we both used to be denizens of the same notorious Chicago nightclub, Berlin, which recently celebrated its 30th<\/sup> anniversary back in the Windy City.\u00a0 This, of course, was back in the mid-\u201880s when we were but a pimply college student and Michael was \u2026 Misty<\/b>, the most notorious drag queen of the North Halsted Strip!\u00a0 Sadly, though we knew of<\/i> Misty, we never actually \u201cknew\u201d Misty back in that day, if you know what we mean. Now we can only fantasize.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2014\u2019s Uninvited<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One show noticeably thin on either LAWee nominations or wins this year was the critically acclaimed Rogue Machine production of One Night In Miami<\/i>. But don\u2019t believe for an instant that Miami<\/i> star Kevin Daniels<\/b> is losing any sleep over it. The show scored big at the recent Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards, taking away prizes for Best Production and Best Ensemble. Additionally, The Ted Schmitt Award for world premiere of an outstanding new play was awarded to first-time playwright Kemp Powers<\/b>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
“One Night in Miami”‘s\u00a0 Kevin Daniels <\/em>scores at LADCC (Photo: Jayne Calucag)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we spoke to Kevin at the LAD Sissies, he was high on the March 6 premiere his new USA network comedy, Sirens<\/i>, the Americanized version of the hit Britcom about paramedics. Kevin\u2019s character is openly gay, which doesn\u2019t remotely faze him. \u201cWhat\u2019s cool about the show,\u201d Kevin told us, \u201cis that the two guys \u2014 Johnny, played by Michael Mosley, and Hank, my character \u2014 are friends and it\u2019s totally natural. . . They\u2019re just best friends.\u201d Really. We don\u2019t know about USA\u2019s show-runners, but back where we hail from there\u2019s an expression that goes something like, \u201cwhere there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s usually fire.\u201d Which, as it concerns the priggishness of American TV, is another way of saying, hope springs eternal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jacob Sidney Makes the Ultimate Sacrifice to the Max<\/b><\/p>\n

We at \u201cStage Rows,\u201d who have been a big fan of the great Jacob Sidney<\/b> were saddened to see that the Theatre Movement Bazaar star was recently driven to the extreme act of cutting off his trademark handlebar mustache in order to kick off his crowdfunding effort<\/a> to mount his dream production of Hamlet<\/i>, which Jacob is calling Hamlet Max<\/i>, for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Jacob says that his 90-minute cut has been taken from the Second Quarto (Q2) rather than the more canonical Folio for an overall effect that he promises is more efficient and emotionally raw. According to his Indiegogo site, he\u2019s also taking character inspiration directly from the Bard\u2019s source \u2014 the Norse myth of Amleth, in which the funeral that Hamlet encounters on his return from England is his own. Sounds terrific, Jacob. The good news is that Jacob turns out to be just as dashing \u2014 albeit in a less old-timey way \u2014 with a naked upper-lip. So, please, get out your checkbooks! Don\u2019t let Jacob\u2019s mustache pass into history in vain.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob<\/a>
Jacob Sidney before (Courtesy of Jacob Sidney)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jacob<\/a>
Jacob Sidney after (Courtesy of Jacob Sidney)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

L.A. Theater Goes Global<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite a less than hospitable reception by L.A. critics, we made it to the closing weekend of Playwrights Arena\u2019s production of Cinnamon Girl,<\/i> the original musical about the travails of a Ceylonese plantation worker (played by Jennifer Hubilla<\/b>) and featuring a book and lyrics by playwright Velina Hasu Houston<\/b> and a score by Nathan Wang<\/b>. It turns out that even mostly tepid reviews don\u2019t necessarily translate into the end of the line for an L.A. musical. Or at least according to the show\u2019s director Jon Lawrence Rivera<\/b>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cinnamon<\/a>
“Cinnamon Girl”<\/em> (Photo by Blake Boyd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

During intermission, Jon broke the news the production has been invited to an international musical theater festival in Beijing, China. It seems that the Chinese have offered Playwrights Arena $17,500 to cover expenses for the August festival. They’ll be taking four of the L.A. actors \u2014 Hubilla,<\/p>\n

Leslie Stevens<\/b>, Peter Mitchell<\/b> and Anne Yatco<\/b> \u2014 and the Chinese will supplement the production on their end with English-speaking\/singing actors that Wang will cast and whom Rivera will direct in what\u2019s described a shorter \u201csynopsis\u201d rendition of the show. Rivera also said he\u2019d be willing to send SRAW<\/i>\u00a0daily dispatches from the festival, which we think sounds like a better gig for Vanity Fair<\/i>\u2019s travel-theater writer Jimmy Im.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BILL RADEN<\/p>\n

Bill Raden was out of town this week, so “Stage Rows” returns next Wednesday with the latest news-about-town. Posted here is last week’s edition about the long and winding road to the LAWees, got really mad at “Vanity Fair,” and got really sad when Jacob Sidney removed his handlebar mustache. That, and other tidbits from the gutters (uh, trenches) of L.A. theater<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_custom_body_class":"","_custom_post_class":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stage-rows-bill-raden-los-angeles-theater-reviews","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3508"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3654,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3508\/revisions\/3654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}