Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Moon Over Buffalo: to perform farce well

"Like living in an asylum on the guards' day off."

Moon Over Buffalo: Replete with farce's bull horn vocals and stretched-taffy gestures.
Moon Over Buffalo: Replete with farce's bull horn vocals and stretched-taffy gestures.

Moon Over Buffalo

Ken Ludwig’s farce Moon Over Buffalo takes place backstage at the Erlanger Theatre in 1953. For the North Coast Rep, Marty Burnett’s set is so authentic, it could have been transported by time machine from the original green room. Along with the requisite five doors for farce, he has a wall of fame: so many photos (Brando, Hepburn, Bogart) and posters (Oklahoma!, Show Boat) there’s no room for more. The set’s so dense with period detail, surely it’s been fixed in place longer than the North Coast Rep.

Then it moves.

A turntable spins the middle half of the set around and loads in the Earlanger stage, where a despondent touring company is rehearsing Cyrano. Only the Pinocchio-nosed lead shows any interest. The rest slouch and mumble, as if on their last legs.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Moon takes place in one day, with enough pratfalls and faux pas for many a nightmare. Everything’s about to break up. Television is stealing audiences from small touring companies. George and Charlotte Hay’s troupe is near collapse in Buffalo. They can’t meet payroll, and the actors are disgruntled. Their marriage is no better. He’s been philandering; she’s on the verge.

George and Charlotte may be past their prime. He calls her “the world’s oldest ingénue,” and when he says he’s getting old, she replies, “No dear, you’re just falling apart.” To hear them talk, they could have been major stars, but never got that big break. George must have something, however. Frank Capra needs a lead actor to replace Ronald Coleman in The Twilight of the Scarlet Pimpernel (no such beast; that the great Frank Capra would stoop to such schlock shows how TV also threatens movies). In fact, Capra’s coming to Buffalo to watch George and Charlotte in a matinee. Capra’s coming! That’s the tipping — make that “tripping” — point for the shenanigans that follow.

Farces often bring in an outsider — in this case, George and Charlotte’s daughter Rosalind — for a sane view of the antics. But Rosalind’s only temporary. She swore off acting for a “normal” life in advertising (advertising, normal?). Plus she’s engaged to Howard, a TV weatherman (he “does precipitation”), and is apparently happy.

Then Rosalind runs into Paul. The stage manager trying to hold things together is her ex-fiance. Rosalind wanted to quit acting, but the vortex, to paraphrase Michael Corleone, pulls her back in. She whirls with the rest, including Richard, who has eyes for Charlotte; Eileen, who loved George and now is “two weeks late;” and Ethel, Charlotte’s near-deaf mother, who “hates every bone in George’s body.”

What follows, says Ethel, is “like living in an asylum on the guards’ day off.”

Another thing about backstage farces: no matter how melodramatic the acting on stage, behind the scenes, it’s doubled. To perform farce well, actors need to take Mania 1A so they can learn the requisite bull horn vocals and stretched-taffy gestures. Director Matthew Wiener’s a maestro of the craft. His cast is both spontaneous and precise. And they don’t sprint on a bare stage. The set has more than antique eye appeal. Chairs, stairs, and misplaced memorabilia become hazards when the race is on.

As George and Charlotte, Arthur Hanket and Katrina Ferguson relish histrionics, the one drunk, the other sober. In any other genre, they’d get a quick hook. Here, they excel. The rest of the cast provide strong support, especially Roxane Carrasco, who gets comic mileage out of mute Ethel, and newcomer Arusi Santi, as the weatherman turned General George S. Patton. Elisa Benzoni’s costumes shout 1953. And Jacque Wilke’s a wonder as perplexed Rosalind, especially when she’s on stage alone and must improvise, since George is late. Her hesitations, deer-in-headlights looks, and growing frustration are a wall-to-wall hoot.


Marie and Rosetta

On the Beatles’ Let It Be album, the song “Get Back“ is a live take from their rooftop concert. Paul says “Rosetta,” then John sings, “Sweet Rosetta Phat thought she was a cleaner…” Then Paul sings “Sweet Rosetta Ma…” and adds one more “Rosetta.”

They're paying subtle respect to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) the “godmother of rock n roll,” who influenced everyone from Little Richard to Elvis. To the horror of traditionalists, Tharpe combined gospel with urban and Mississippi Delta blues. She played electric guitar and injected a jolt of earthy spunk into church music.

George Brant’s Marie and Rosetta begins in a Mississippi funeral parlor in 1946. Tharpe has heard young Marie Knight perform, and wants them to become a duo. This is their first rehearsal. The overly talky, overly long play, which takes at least 40 minutes to warm up, is about freeing modest, stiff Knight from her formal roots.

As Rosetta, Noel Simone Wippler can belt with the best, but needs to vary her deliveries and plays only a passable guitar (Cygnet Theatre’s opening night had several glitches, the too-loud piano foremost). The ongoing highlight is Amaiya Holley’s Marie. She begins in a cultural straight-jacket. But you sense she can cut loose. When she finally does, with “Peace in the Valley,” she almost loosens the rafters at Cygnet Theatre.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Moon Over Buffalo: Replete with farce's bull horn vocals and stretched-taffy gestures.
Moon Over Buffalo: Replete with farce's bull horn vocals and stretched-taffy gestures.

Moon Over Buffalo

Ken Ludwig’s farce Moon Over Buffalo takes place backstage at the Erlanger Theatre in 1953. For the North Coast Rep, Marty Burnett’s set is so authentic, it could have been transported by time machine from the original green room. Along with the requisite five doors for farce, he has a wall of fame: so many photos (Brando, Hepburn, Bogart) and posters (Oklahoma!, Show Boat) there’s no room for more. The set’s so dense with period detail, surely it’s been fixed in place longer than the North Coast Rep.

Then it moves.

A turntable spins the middle half of the set around and loads in the Earlanger stage, where a despondent touring company is rehearsing Cyrano. Only the Pinocchio-nosed lead shows any interest. The rest slouch and mumble, as if on their last legs.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Moon takes place in one day, with enough pratfalls and faux pas for many a nightmare. Everything’s about to break up. Television is stealing audiences from small touring companies. George and Charlotte Hay’s troupe is near collapse in Buffalo. They can’t meet payroll, and the actors are disgruntled. Their marriage is no better. He’s been philandering; she’s on the verge.

George and Charlotte may be past their prime. He calls her “the world’s oldest ingénue,” and when he says he’s getting old, she replies, “No dear, you’re just falling apart.” To hear them talk, they could have been major stars, but never got that big break. George must have something, however. Frank Capra needs a lead actor to replace Ronald Coleman in The Twilight of the Scarlet Pimpernel (no such beast; that the great Frank Capra would stoop to such schlock shows how TV also threatens movies). In fact, Capra’s coming to Buffalo to watch George and Charlotte in a matinee. Capra’s coming! That’s the tipping — make that “tripping” — point for the shenanigans that follow.

Farces often bring in an outsider — in this case, George and Charlotte’s daughter Rosalind — for a sane view of the antics. But Rosalind’s only temporary. She swore off acting for a “normal” life in advertising (advertising, normal?). Plus she’s engaged to Howard, a TV weatherman (he “does precipitation”), and is apparently happy.

Then Rosalind runs into Paul. The stage manager trying to hold things together is her ex-fiance. Rosalind wanted to quit acting, but the vortex, to paraphrase Michael Corleone, pulls her back in. She whirls with the rest, including Richard, who has eyes for Charlotte; Eileen, who loved George and now is “two weeks late;” and Ethel, Charlotte’s near-deaf mother, who “hates every bone in George’s body.”

What follows, says Ethel, is “like living in an asylum on the guards’ day off.”

Another thing about backstage farces: no matter how melodramatic the acting on stage, behind the scenes, it’s doubled. To perform farce well, actors need to take Mania 1A so they can learn the requisite bull horn vocals and stretched-taffy gestures. Director Matthew Wiener’s a maestro of the craft. His cast is both spontaneous and precise. And they don’t sprint on a bare stage. The set has more than antique eye appeal. Chairs, stairs, and misplaced memorabilia become hazards when the race is on.

As George and Charlotte, Arthur Hanket and Katrina Ferguson relish histrionics, the one drunk, the other sober. In any other genre, they’d get a quick hook. Here, they excel. The rest of the cast provide strong support, especially Roxane Carrasco, who gets comic mileage out of mute Ethel, and newcomer Arusi Santi, as the weatherman turned General George S. Patton. Elisa Benzoni’s costumes shout 1953. And Jacque Wilke’s a wonder as perplexed Rosalind, especially when she’s on stage alone and must improvise, since George is late. Her hesitations, deer-in-headlights looks, and growing frustration are a wall-to-wall hoot.


Marie and Rosetta

On the Beatles’ Let It Be album, the song “Get Back“ is a live take from their rooftop concert. Paul says “Rosetta,” then John sings, “Sweet Rosetta Phat thought she was a cleaner…” Then Paul sings “Sweet Rosetta Ma…” and adds one more “Rosetta.”

They're paying subtle respect to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) the “godmother of rock n roll,” who influenced everyone from Little Richard to Elvis. To the horror of traditionalists, Tharpe combined gospel with urban and Mississippi Delta blues. She played electric guitar and injected a jolt of earthy spunk into church music.

George Brant’s Marie and Rosetta begins in a Mississippi funeral parlor in 1946. Tharpe has heard young Marie Knight perform, and wants them to become a duo. This is their first rehearsal. The overly talky, overly long play, which takes at least 40 minutes to warm up, is about freeing modest, stiff Knight from her formal roots.

As Rosetta, Noel Simone Wippler can belt with the best, but needs to vary her deliveries and plays only a passable guitar (Cygnet Theatre’s opening night had several glitches, the too-loud piano foremost). The ongoing highlight is Amaiya Holley’s Marie. She begins in a cultural straight-jacket. But you sense she can cut loose. When she finally does, with “Peace in the Valley,” she almost loosens the rafters at Cygnet Theatre.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Next Article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.