John Hutton and Jeanne Paulsen in the Denver Center Theatre Company production of "Absurd Person Singular". Photo by Terry Shapiro. And yes, that's a bra on his head.

“ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR”

When: 6:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 7:30p.m., Friday; 1:30p.m. and 7:30p.m. Saturday through Saturday, Dec. 19

Where: Space Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1245 Champa St., Denver

Tickets: $18-$53, 1-800-641-1222.

Grade: A-

Playwright Alan Ayckbourn has been described as the British Neil Simon. And I don’t know which one of them should be insulted more.

Sure, both write comedies. And their plays tend to examine the intricate mores of contemporary society.

But that’s where the similarity ends. While Simon’s characters rattle off one-liners like polished stand-up comics, Ayckbourn’s characters, he admits, haven’t told a joke in their lives.  Instead, they’re funny because they’re just so oblivious to each other.

“Absurd Person Singular” is a prime example. This play, which first opened on Broadway in 1972, centers on three British couples taking turns hosting three separate dinner parties over three consecutive Christmases. While much of the “action” takes place in the living rooms, the play itself takes place in the kitchens–the real center of any party.

The dialogue is so much not witty as it is filled with the intentionally funny observations of people going about being their potty little selves. Often, as in the first and third acts, this goes nowhere, drifting off to an unresolved conclusion like a ”Saturday Night Live” sketch.

Ayckbourn is at his best, however, when he focuses the humor toward some unattainable goal, as in the hilarious, farce-like second act. Here, the depressed Eva–played by the rubber-bodied Kathleen McCall–attempts to kill herself, only to have each attempt inadvertently defeated by the other partygoers as they systemically take apart her kitchen.

Jeanne Paulsen (shown above) got the biggest laughs as the boozing, pompous wife of a banker. In fact, she’s so good at delivering a line, she could make a phone book sound hilarious.

But the rest of the cast were almost as good, handling both the verbal and physical humor with finesse. Fans of dry, British humor will love this one.

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As part of the ongoing budget cuts, the city has proposed raising the daily rental rate for the venerable theater from $280 to $350 (according to the city web site, it was $175 as recently as the end of last year). And Alan Koch, director of AlleyCat, says the city will more than double his night rate for rehearsals. These combined rent hikes have driven him to search for a new venue.

I understand that with the defeat of 2C, the city needs to make budget cuts. And it’s reasonable for the city council to consider raising rental fees in order to cover the cost of actually operating a particular facility.

The problem is that in their budget proposals, the city is using a static, not dynamic, model. They assume that in order to increase rental revenues by 25%, they simply have to raise the rental rate by 25%. 

Obviously, this model breaks down if renters flee, as AlleyCat is about to do.

It’s hard for me to imagine who could make a go of it there. As a theatre company for kids interested in developing their performance skills, AlleyCat has a luxury few other theater companies in town have: they can charge parents tuition for their children’s training plus require a minimum ticket buy per family (full disclosure: I’ve been one of those parents).

Smaller companies like the Star Bar Players and the new Springs Ensemble Theatre, on the other hand, subsist almost entirely on individual ticket sales, which can be as little as $5 a person, and whatever donations they can drum up.

If AlleyCat Theatrics can’t make it, who can?

I hope the city wakes up and realizes it’s better to make $280 per day than $0.

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Playbill from the 1982 Broadway production of "Nine"

There’s been a lot of talk about Maury Yeston’s musical “Nine” lately, what with the Daniel Day-Lewis/Nicole Kidman film version coming out next month. So I was intrigued to see the Colorado College Music Department tackle this challenging, dream-heavy show last weekend.

It’s based on Federico Fellini’s film “8 1/2″, generally considered the greatest of this great director’s films (according to Yeston, adding music was worth an additional 1/2). The semi-autobiographical story centers on a famous Italian movie director named Guido who is struggling with a pair of mid-life crises: he’s emotionally torn between his wife, his mistress and his leading lady and–what proves to more debilitating to this highly-acclaimed artiste–he has no idea what his next movie should be about.

The production was put on by the school’s Music Department, not its Drama and Dance Department, which presented a couple of limitations. First, since the production was performed in Packard Hall, there were no spotlights to set the mood or direct the audience’s focus. There were only the very untheatrical overhead lights of your standard recital hall.

A more serious limitation was that the nearly nonexistent wing space forced director Ann Brink (a vocal instructor at the College) to offer only minimum staging, with no props and only the barest of sets. This wouldn’t hurt some musicals. But it made the already confusing story of “Nine”–in which the line between reality, memory and imagination is often blurred–even more confusing and robbing it of much of its power.

But, hey, the production was free. And approached as a concert version of the musical, it was very well done.

 Though obviously young for the role, Eric Einstein expertly straddled the line between comic self-centeredness of “Guido’s Song” and the tortured depths of “Getting Tall”.

I also loved Renee Armijo, who showed an infectious joy-of-life as the prostitute who first seduced the young Guido in “Ti Voglio Bene/Be Italian”, while Rachel Pizzie, who played Guido’s later mistress,  nearly melted the stage with her humorously sensuous performance of ”A Call from the Vatican”.

Still, it was the ensemble pieces where the production really shone, the combined voices adding plenty of musical and emotional depth in songs like ”The Bells of St. Sebastian”.

No one will confuse it with a professional production, of course, but for arts lovers trying to save money in these difficult times, the free music and theater productions at Colorado College are some of the best values in town.

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Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, by Terrence McNally
February 4 - 20, 2010

Terrence McNally explores the question of romance in this frank, quirky post-coital first-date interlude between two wary, weary veterans of the heart. They’ve already slept together; now they face the daunting prospect of intimacy. ”You just don’t decide to fall in love with people out of the blue,” says Frankie, but Johnny, a fast-talking short-order cook and diehard romantic, tenaciously disagrees. Star Bar luminary David E. Mason and stellar newcomer Kara Whitney heat up the stage this Valentine’s Day.

Please be advised that this production contains brief nudity, sophisticated adult situations and adult conversation.

Production will be directed by Alysabeth Clements Mosley. More information at www.starbarplayers.org.

Kara Whitney (Frankie, ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’, February 2010)

A Colorado Springs native, Kara recently moved back to town after living in Los Angeles and Seattle for over 15 years. She is thrilled to be making her Colorado theater debut with Star Bar in this amazing and challenging role. Some of Kara’s past work and favorite characters include: Artie in Eleemosynary, Lainie in Two Rooms, Emma in The God of Hell, Ellen, Packer and Kramer in Vinegar Tom and Oenone in Phaedra. She thanks her family and friends for their love and support and promises her adorable pug, Snack, lots of treats for putting up with those long rehearsal nights alone on the couch.

David E. Mason (Johnny, ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’, February 2010)

David’s last appearance on stage was three years ago in the SBP production of Night and Her Stars. Previously, David has appeared in many SBP shows over a twenty year span. Most notable roles include Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, Louis Keseberg in Devour the Snow, Detective Blore in Ten Little Indians, multiple roles in Later Life and John Merrick in The Elephant Man.

David has also directed for the PPCC summer theatre program, designed lighting and was co-producer and appeared in the CAST/Smokebrush production of Twelve Angry Men.

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All interested parties must submit a proposal for the production, including:

• A written overview of the play including brief character studies
• Challenges the production will present
• Your concept of the play and how you propose to create it
• Your projected production requirements: how many on your team? How much rehearsal?

Submissions can be sent by email to starbar@starbarplayers.org or by snail mail to:

Star Bar Players
P.O. Box 2488
Colorado Springs, CO 80901

All submissions must be received by December 31. Final interviews will take place in mid-January. Rehearsals will begin shortly afterwards.

The production will be performed April 29-May 16 at a venue yet to be announced.

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Photo by Tom Kimmell of the Civilians' "This Beautiful City" workshop at Colorado College

You may remember hearing about “This Beautiful City”, the 2008 play about the evangelical movement in Colorado Springs created by New York theatre troupe The Civilians and performed Off-Broadway as well as in Louisville, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

Well, the controversial play will finally make its way to our beautiful city next month. The Civilians will be performing it Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5 at 7pm and Sunday, December 6 at 2pm at the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center, 825 N. Cascade Ave.

You can’t beat the price. It’s free. (Can you say, “standing room only?”) But you will need to pick up tickets ahead of time at the Worner Campus Center Information Desk, 902 N. Cascade Ave.

If you need some refreshing, here’s a previous Gazette article on the show:

Play’s version of Springs is not all ‘beautiful’.

And to see what others have thought of it, check out the LA Times review and the New York Times review.

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The lead and two other parts have already been cast, but there are still several parts available for a variety of age groups.

The play will be directed by local veteran actor David Plambeck (Maurice in the FAC’s “Beauty and the Beast”, Fezziwig in the 2007 and 2008 FAC productions of “A Christmas Carol”). It will be performed Thursdays through Saturdays from February 11 to February 27.

See SET’s Upcoming Events page for more information or to reserve a time.

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The good news is that, through the miracle of YouTube, people who missed the show can see at least that part of it. And if you saw it and loved it, you can show all your friends what they missed.

Rick changed up some of the voices since this was taped and it’s not as good as seeing it live, of course, but it’s still amazing.

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Cast of "A Christmas Survival Guide" (Photo courtesy of the CS Fine Arts Center)

They recently announced their cast and sadly have already had to let one of the members go as Ken Robinson (Malcolm in the FAC’s “The Full Monty”) injured his knee outside of rehearsals. But they found a very capable replacement in another Robinson, a locally well-known one named Marco.

Marco, who is no relation to Ken, is best known for his comedic talents, getting glowing reviews as Neil Simon’s alter ego in the FAC’s recently completed Eugene trilogy (”Brighton Beach Memoirs”, “Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound”). But I saw him in Pine Creek High School’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain” in April and can attest to the fact that he’s more than up to the demands of this dance-heavy musical. You may also remember him showing off his musical talents as Young Scrooge in the 2007 and 2008 FAC productions of “A Christmas Carol”.

Rounding out the cast are two-time Ovation Award-winning actress Sharon Kay White and FAC veterans Sammy Gleason (Gaston’s sniveling sidekick Lafou in “Beauty and the Beast”), Halee Towne (Jerry Lukowski’s ex-wife Pam in “The Full Monty”) and Carmen Vreeman (Eugene’s girlfriend Daisy in “Biloxi Blues”).

The whole shebang is directed by Michael Gold, a Denver-area actor who once played Bundles in the 1997 Broadway revival of Annie and this year led the big parade as Harold Hill in the FAC’s “The Music Man”.

The show opens Friday, Nov. 27 and plays Thursday to Sundays through December 20 with special holiday performances on Tuesday, December 22 and Wednesday, December 23. Note this is now opening one week earlier than originally scheduled back in May. See the FAC web site for specific times and to order tickets.

Here’s hoping you get well soon, Ken!

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