The Marsh Berkeley: East 14th

Don Reed. Photo courtesy Aaron Epstein.

A sparse wooden chair and a beaten-up red vinyl seat sit on opposite sides of the stage of Don Reed’s autobiographical one-man show East 14th. These chairs, we soon learn, are a visual metaphor for Reed’s identity as he grew up in Oakland in the 70’s, torn between an early upbringing under his strict, religious stepfather and teenage years with his laissez-faire, fun-loving dad, who he realized years later was one of Oakland’s biggest pimps. East 14^th, now running at The Marsh Berkeley, is a masterfully written show recalling a funny, complex, and, most of all, unique coming of age.

There are a sizeable number of stories that end by saying it’s important to be yourself, but East 14^th is one of the few that approaches this message with nuance and charm. The teenage Reed becomes surrounded by smooth-talking players as he spends time with his father and half-brothers, but it’s obvious that he doesn’t quite fit in. Yet Reed’s character arc isn’t simple and neat; he doesn’t realize that his stepfather was right after all and go back to his stark religious life. Instead, he learns that he has to find his own path in the world, one that draws from both sides of his family.

Like many solo performances, Reed portrays dozens of characters over the course of the show, ranging from a sour-faced neighbor kid who burned down a garage to a poorly dubbed actor from the classic kung fu movie The Five Fingers of Death. Reed primarily uses physical tics, posture, and word choice to define new characters, which makes them recognizable without dragging them into the realm of caricature. Some of these changes are remarkably subtle, most notably Reed’s stepfather – Reed merely stands a little straighter and slightly alters the inflection of his voice to transition from nervous preteen to self-confident Jehovah’s Witness.

East 14^th is mostly a comedic play, and its structure reuses jokes to powerful effect. Reed will introduce something funny  – say, that he used to blink constantly as a child – and, just when the audience has forgotten, return to it using increasingly complex setups. It’s fairly similar to the work of Eddie Izzard, a cycle of humor that increases in both complexity and payoff the later it gets in the play. But within all the comedy lie genuinely painful and frightening parts of Reed’s life; he transitions into these with lightning speed and snaps out of them with a well-timed joke. These tense moments, tightly woven into the show, remind us that this isn’t a series of comedy sketches – this is Reed opening up and showing us a strange and sometimes difficult childhood.

Don Reed’s East 14^th at The Marsh Berkeley is an astonishingly well-crafted piece of theatre and one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. The solo performance combines a bittersweet look at life growing up in East Oakland in the 1970s with a nuanced exploration of personal identity and a barrage of excellent comedy. 

East 14th runs through June 4th.

Eureka!

Location: Several places; location reviewed is in Berkeley, CA

Food: American

Close To: Berkeley Rep, The Marsh

In many ways, the small chain of Eureka! restaurants scattered across the West Coast resembles the Ashland eatery Smithfield’s, which I reviewed here. Both restaurants elevate classic American dishes with upscale ingredients and bold flavors, sport a minimalist, masculine atmosphere, and feature a wide selection of whiskies at the bar. But, while Smithfield’s concentrates on a variety of meat dishes, Eureka! focuses on the classic American meal: The hamburger.

Eureka!’s enticing hamburgers range from the classic setup of lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles to the Bone Marrow Burger, topped with a bone marrow porcini butter that’s so popular it usually sells out by the end of the day. My personal favorite options are the Bison Burger, which combines hot jalapeño jam with the complex sweetness of grilled bell peppers on a lean bison patty, and the Cowboy Burger, an indulgent delight with bacon, cheddar, and barbecue sauce. The restaurant will accept most substitutions, so feel free to ask for different ingredients on a burger if what’s on the menu don’t quite suit your fancy.

Though burgers are the main focus at Eureka!, there are many other excellent options. Appetizers include Eureka!’s signature mac n’ cheese balls, Polish sausage lollipop corn dogs, and even ceviche. Other entrée items are also available, like orange-chili pork ribs and a selection of tacos. Not to be missed is a unique ginger-lime soda that provides the perfect combination of tartness and heat. Sweet potato fries are available with your burger, but Eureka!’s unique version comes covered in cinnamon and honey, accentuating the sweet potatoes in a way that’s almost dessert-like. And speaking of desserts, there’s only one on the menu: A warm, moist, unbelievably rich bourbon barrel cake served with caramel sauce and a big scoop of ice cream.

Most Eureka! restaurants are open late enough for you to catch dinner either before or after a show, and several are walking distance from theatrical venues. Eureka! is refined comfort food at its finest: The favorites you grew up with, given just enough of a twist to make them a new experience.

Theatreworks: Rags

Left to right: Kyra Miller, Danny Rothman, Jonah Broscow. Photo courtesy Kevin Berne and TheatreWorks.

Rags, according to its bookwriter Joseph Stein, is in part a follow-up to his previous work, the legendary Fiddler On The Roof. Both concern questions of Jewish identity and faith; however, while Fiddler was about life in the Eastern European shtetl, Rags takes place in America among a community of recently arrived Jewish immigrants. Combined with a score by Charles Strouse (Bye Bye Birdie, Annie) and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin), Rags is a work both emotionally provoking and immensely entertaining. Theatreworks’ production of Rags, directed by Robert Kelley, is an excellent opportunity to see a rarely produced Broadway gem.

The plot of Rags follows several groups of new immigrants scraping out a living on the streets of New York City in the 1910s. The main characters – if the play could be said to have them – are Rebecca Hershkowitz (Kyra Miller) and her son David (Jonah Broscow). Miller’s performance as Rebecca is outstanding. Despite exhibiting justifiable caution toward the new customs and dangers of the United States, she lowers her guard. Miller’s songs communicate her fear and insecurity, but are also beautiful to listen to thanks to her clear, powerful voice. Meanwhile, Broscow’s enthusiasm contrasts with his mother’s defensiveness, as he absorbs both the customs of his new country and the Socialist philosophy of the disaffected adults around him.

Multiple excellent performances round out the show. Julie Benko and Donald Corren play daughter-and-father pair Bella and Avram Cohen – Benko deftly navigates one of the most complex characters in the play, while Corren’s acting spans the gamut between goofy comic relief and intense pain. Saul (Danny Rothman) helps Rebecca and David adjust to life in New York while also pushing Rebecca to join a union. But far from being a perfect symbol of workers’ rights, Saul makes numerous mistakes that harm his loved ones. Rothman’s intensity in his commitment is balanced by genuine remorse for his errors.

The technical work is interesting without being overwhelmingly flashy. Set designer Joe Ragey creates a pent-in feeling with numerous tall structures combined with a projected backdrop that takes us from Ellis Island to the nicest parts of Manhattan. Pamila Z. Gray’s lights are often diffused through stage fog, adding to the sense of New York’s grimy industrial cityscape. Combined with Fumiko Bielefeldt’s down-to-earth costumes, the audience is drawn into the setting while focusing more on characters’ interactions rather than the surrounding stage.

Immigration and America’s national identity are complex topics addressed by some of the greatest modern plays. Rags at Theatreworks adds another voice to the conversation, drawing together the perils of new immigrants – especially at the turn of the 20th century – with the questions of Jewish peoplehood and assimilation also featured in Fiddler On The Roof. More than just pure entertainment, Rags lends perspective to a multi-faceted subject.

Shotgun Players: Nora

Clockwise from left: Erin Mei-Ling Stuart, Adam Elder, Michael J. Asberry, Jessma Evans, Kevin Kemp. Photo courtesy Pak Han.

In 1879, shocked audiences watched Nora leave her husband to pursue an education at the end of the first production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Since then, the play’s feminist themes and complex relationships have elevated it into the pantheon of modern dramatic masterpieces. But it’s not Ibsen’s version of A Doll’s House that Shotgun Players has chosen to start off their season – rather, it’s the theatrical adaptation by legendary film director Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal). The adapted script, along with Shotgun’s fascinating artistic decisions, cut away the chaff from the original to create a lean, tense experience.

Shotgun’s smartest move was not underestimating their audience; Nora is especially rich for theatregoers familiar with Ibsen’s original work. Although the basic story beats are the same, the production moves away from familial drama and into a character study of Nora herself, as she becomes increasingly pressured by a patriarchal society. Jessma Evans creates a nuanced view of the character: She takes lines that would normally indicate subservience and reinterprets them into strikes at the people who continually underestimate her. Evans’ acting is intentionally at odds with the other characters, a twenty-first-century woman stuck in a world with the masculine ideals of the nineteenth.

The most unusual character in the play, besides Nora, is Michael J. Asberry as Dr. Rank. In the original work, Dr. Rank is a dour, hopeless character, doomed both to a one-way infatuation with Nora and a painful terminal illness. However, Asberry’s poise and charisma lend the fatalistic doctor the bearing of a king, as he towers over the others in stage presence as well as height. Dr. Rank’s philosophy and motivations run perpendicular to the dignity-focused society of the play, but Shotgun’s production, backed by Asberry’s performance, asks if perhaps he was closer to the truth than the others suspected.

The other men of the play are not given such flattering treatment: Nora’s husband Torvald (Kevin Kemp) is a swaggering, condescending brute from his first line, and Krogstad (Adam Elder) is as much a villain as he was in the original text. These interpretations reflect director Beth Wilmurt’s commentary on both Ibsen’s work and modern toxic masculinity, and would be heavy handed in a more character-focused version of the play. However, in this production, which takes a more introspective, symbolic view of Nora’s struggles, these characterizations smoothly fit the broader tone. Erin Mei-Ling Stuart periodically drifts onstage as Mrs. Linde, Nora’s wife and closest ally. Though her life is difficult, Mrs. Linde is hardened enough to bear it, and is able to help Nora through her journey without pushing her. Stuart’s interpretation feels more like a force of nature than a person – a comforting breeze when needed, and a thundercrack when called for.

The technical work (Maya Linke as set designer, Allen Wilner as lighting designer, Matt Stines as sound designer) creates a sense of intense pressure as Nora’s marriage to Torvald becomes more and more unbearable. Dark ambient noise interrupts the usual theatre silence, never allowing the audience to relax; the bare, minimalistic set leaves no place for the eye to wander. However, the most interesting twist is the upstage wall, wallpapered with women’s faces and bearing a set of double doors that lead to Torvald’s office. The wall clearly delineates Torvald’s life from Nora’s, the man’s sphere from the woman’s, pushing slowly forward over the course of the show until only a few feet remain for the female characters to stand. It’s a brilliant work of nonverbal poetry that ties together the larger themes of the show.

Nora at Shotgun Players explores new meaning in a text familiar to theatre veterans, yet still presents a coherent story for newcomers. The themes and characters from the original are adapted to fit a modern context and the director’s vision, but not so much to be unrecognizable. While the base text is a Swedish play written over a century ago, Nora – and innovative companies like Shotgun – represent the future of American theatre.

Broadway By The Bay: The Producers

Left to right: Robert Lopez, Jocelyn Pickett, Marcus Klinger. Photo courtesy Mark & Tracy Photography.

In 2006, Hollywood comedy master Mel Brooks brought his legendary film The Producers to Broadway. The musical received rave reviews and broke the record for most Tony Awards won by a single show. Now playing at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, directed by Jason Jeffrey, Broadway By The Bay’s The Producers combines Brooks’ lyrics and characters with an outstanding cast and meticulous comedic touches. The result might be the funniest show to appear on the West Coast in years.

Jeffrey has a deep understanding of what made the original run such a smash hit – a constant barrage of jokes, ranging from subtle wordplay to acrobatic slapstick to prop comedy. The show is incredibly over-the-top, which is where it needs to be to truly shine; in fact, there is rarely a serious moment – but the comedy varies enough that it doesn’t become monotonous.

Marcus Klinger (who previously played the role at Diablo Theater Company) delivers a tour-de-force performance as Max Bialystock, a washed-up producer who hatches a scheme to oversell Springtime for Hitler and run away to Rio with the profits. Klinger knows that he’s playing a walking cliché and wholeheartedly embraces it, dominating scenes with his impressively loud voice and scenery-chewing performance. Klinger’s best moment is the Act 2 song “Betrayed,” where he impersonates all of the other characters in a summary of the story up to that point.

Serving as Max’s foil is Leo Bloom (Robert Lopez), a shy, neurotic accountant with dreams of becoming a big Broadway producer. Lopez adeptly switches between the only sane man in the scene and a hysterical, insecure man-child. Going pound-for-pound with his scene partner, Lopez holds his own comedy-wise, despite Klinger’s more numerous funny moments in the script. Also notable is Lopez’ clear, beautiful voice, which makes songs like “I Wanna Be A Producer” not only hilarious, but also delightful.

However, The Producers isn’t just a musical about two people, and the supporting cast is as funny as the stars. David Schiller’s Nazi runaway Franz Liebkind is hilariously uptight – slapstick is twice as good coming from a character screaming about order and beauty. Jocelyn Pickett plays ingénue Ulla, combining straight-up cabaret performance with Marx Brothers level wordplay. Last but not least, national tour veteran Eric Johnson as Roger De Bris – along with his entire entourage – steals the show with the most elaborate song in the production, “Keep It Gay.”

Accolades also go to the members of the technical team, who recall the golden age of midcentury Broadway while relentlessly mocking it at the same time. Leandra Watson’s costumes are not only technically adept, they’re funny – beyond the obvious prop comedy lies subtle touches like trimming all of Roger De Bris’ outfits with sequins. (Well, at least as subtle as anything trimmed with sequins can be.) Kelly James Tighe’s sets make extensive use of billboard lights and other parts of Broadway kitsch, which both solidify the show’s themes and provide a gorgeous visual effect. Most interesting are the dozens of floating screen fragments, which, combined with Aaron Spivey’s projections, deliver the public’s judgment upon Max and Leo.

With one of the funniest scores ever written, a wonderful cast, and Jasen Jeffrey’s deft hand, The Producers at Broadway By The Bay is a true masterpiece of comedy. If you love stage comedy, or even if you only dabble in it occasionally, get in line at the box office immediately – you won’t want to miss this production.