Lou Harrison’s Opera “Young Caesar” that played at the Yerba Buena Theater for a couple of nights is a good example of when no one tells the Emperor (in this case the late Mr. Harrison) that this is not a good Opera. It all started out, as a Puppet Opera and that didn’t go anywhere. Then they reworked it and added live performers. And guess what? …That hasn’t helped either. They looked and moved like puppets without strings.
The story is about a time when the young Caesar meets King Nicomedes and has a love affair with him. But Harrison’s vision does not transfer well to the stage. At the beginning the cast appears all in black with white face. It is like the Noh stories. There is posing, sitting and drifting off into the wings. All of this could have been tolerated if the score and the singing could have thrilled and inspired. Where were the Arias? I didn’t hear one. It’s like the Opera “Dead Man Walking” – with its recitative talk singing. Everyone hates ‘recitative’ – and the writers of these Operas know that everyone hates it. So – why do they continue to write this stuff? Well, I’ll tell you. They write it because they can’t come up with Grand Opera. No one is around to write Grand Opera anymore.
The minimal set consisted of a bunch of hanging screens that the men in black kept pulling from one position to another. And when they finished it looked like they were back in the position to where they started. It is all a diversion. Something to make it look like something was happening, when actually – nothing was happening. Only near the end of Act one did you get a semblance of Operatic sound, which sounded like the opening of “Phantom of The Opera”. …Da, Da, Da, Da — Da Da – Da Ta Da, Da.
The good news is that this new Opera still may have a life. But to survive it needs another complete re-working with more melody, less hocus pocus and a set. As it stands now –it’s not “Rome” set to music.
RUST – Hot House Series
An African American Football Player is obsessed with an Aunt Jemima Cookie Jar. He sits near it in his living room so that he can be near it as he contemplates what to do with his basketball career, that he has lost interest in. The play is a mix of voodoo, African American superstition and Slavery artifacts like Lawn Jockeys and other folklore from the slavery years. The Football Player begins to collect these now expensive items. He paid over $600 for the Cookie Jar. There is some pretty denigrating language in the play spoken by the mostly African Cast. “Why do you collect that ‘Coon’ stuff?” – is one example.
Like the movie “Crash” this play has many stories running at the same time. What could have been a very provocative play becomes a jumbled mess. It’s confusing and uneven. Out of the stories that we get involved with, I suppose the most intriguing is the one about the Basketball Player, who is about to give up his lucrative career, because he is waiting for a sign or something from Aunt Jemima. But even that is uneven and not totally worked out to satisfaction.
While there might be a future for this play, I doubt that it will go very far in its present state. Also, it is way too long and needs to be pruned. After a couple of hours, I said to myself — “Is this ever going to end?” And – like magic, it did. It ended so abruptly that I was stunned. This was the ending: The cast from all the stories are on the stage at the same time. They stop action and say: “Go Knights” (The Basketball Team). That’s it. The end was like the playwright couldn’t think of a way to get out of it. Another problem that I had trouble with is that the play did not transgress from reality to superstition easily. There were too many distracting things going on at the same time. Perhaps the playwright Kirsten Greenridge was burning too much incense when she wrote the play. Didn’t anyone read it before putting it on the stage?
On the other hand, the cast was fantastic: They are…April Matthis, Makaal Sulaiman, Donald Lett, Nicole C. Julien, Cathleen Riddey, L. Peter Canender, Lance Gardner, and Erick Frasher Hayes. I would like to see them again in something that makes sense. The Costume Design by Cassandra Carpenter is perfect. Matt McAddon’s Set Design Rocks. At the Magic Theater. Next “Hothouse” play is ‘Bot’.
RATING: ONE GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE! – trademarked-
FLICKER BIT
MAXED OUT
You’ve heard the phrase before. It generally refers to Credit Card Debit. Well here comes a new documentary that shows what Credit Card Quick Sand is all about. It reveals how the Credit Card companies actually target people with the mailers who they know or hope won’t be able to keep up the payments. That way, they can charge outrageous late fees. And also report you to the Credit Agencies, who spy on everyone so that they can show that you are a bad payer, which can raise your mortgage rates when you buy property.
There is not escape from what they will do. There have even been instances when they deny that you ever sent a check to them. Some have even shredded you check. All the time you think that you have paid, and you did, but they want to sock you with a late fee. It’s scary how they plot and scheme to keep you in debt.
Well, yes, there used to be an escape – but that was taken away by the Republicans. You can no longer get away from Credit card debt by filing for bankruptcy. Perhaps when you see, this sometimes-hilarious film that shows those numb nuts in Washington buttering up the Credit Card C.E.O’s you will get the picture of how you are being manipulated. Of course, some of the stars of the film are George Bush, Ronnie Reagan and the Reaganettes. The beloved rouged leader. Great name for a rock band – don’t you think?
MAXED OUT! …IS A HOOT. The screening that I saw was a D.V.D. of the movie. The only complaint I have is that is was hard to read to recurring script. Plus, there are some scenes that looked like they were shot thru Linoleum. Credit Cards are predatory lending at outrageous rates. The only way to escape the debt is when you die. The Credit Banditos know this and that is why they constantly fill your mailbox with offers urging you to charge your groceries, gas, and cough drops. The film shows that it should be used only for big-ticket items that you buy maybe once a year. Don’t use it for the small stuff.
The final message is that you should demand change. Contact your legislators and tell them “your mad as hell – and that you’re not going to take it anymore. Credit Card companies treat the Rich differently. When you are rich the Banks say: “You have so much money – here take some more”. They throw money at the Rich. As Robin Leach, host of “The Lives of The Rich and Famous” sez in the film. “That’s why they don’t have a T.V. program called ‘The Life of The Poor and Unknown’.”
RATING: THREE BOXES OF POPCORN!!! –trademarked-
SEEN AND HEARD
1940s Actress Janet Blair Dies at 85
There was a lot of response and questions to the last column, where I mentioned the name change of the Ramada Plaza, so here is what I know. It is now officially called The Whitcomb. They have already changed some of the signage. The Whitcomb was the first name of the hotel, and it served as the temporary S.F City Hall after the 1906 Earthquake. In the basement of the hotel they still have the prison that was used at the time. Given all the History of the Hotel, they have decided to take advantage of this mystique by going back to that time. The Whitcomb, a registered national treasure is going through a remodel to restore it to its original look. Hopefully they will display some of the photos of the Celebs that have stayed there throughout the years. The beautiful Lobby is pretty much the way it was in 1907. The Hotel was finished after the Earthquake. The Whitcomb is at 1231 Market at 8th Street.
She sang with Hal Kemp’s band at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, in 1941 when she was spotted by a Hollywood Talent scout. She signed up with Columbia Pictures making $100 a week (a fortune then). Her name is Actress Janet Blair and she went on to major stardom in pictures with Gary Grant, Don Ameche and Jack Oakie. Later she toured in the Mary Martin role of South Pacific and did over 1200 performances. Blair was also on T.V in “Caesar’s Hour” with Sid Caesar. She has left us at age 85. Another bright light gone.
The Photo of Lee Hartgrave Boy Reporter is by Jim Ferreira – Film Noir & Hollywood Glamour. www.lafterhall.com.
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