A Charlie Brown Christmas

Olympia Family Theater’s Holiday show

Published in the Weekly Volcano, Dec. 17, 2015

Korja Giles as Lucy and  Isaac McKenzie Sullivan as Charlie Brown. Photo by Dinea DePhoto

Olympia Family Theater’s A Charlie Brown Christmas is the same show that’s been running on television as an animated story every Christmas season since 1965. I would venture to guess that at least 90 percent of the adults who bring their children to see this show have already seen it, as have a lot of the children. It doesn’t matter if it’s not original; children love to see their favorite TV shows come to life on the stage. There’s a special kind of thrill that comes from knowing what’s going to happen next and then seeing that indeed it does, just as you expected.

This production of A Charlie Brown Christmas is a fun show for all ages, but it does not quite come up to the level of excellence I have come to expect of Olympia Family Theater. With a few wonderfully obvious exceptions, these lovable characters come across as slightly wooden. That’s not the fault of the cast or the director, Jen Ryle. It is that other than Charlie Brown (Isaac McKenzie Sullivan), Lucy (Korja Giles), Snoopy (Jesse Morrow), and to a lesser degree Linus (Steven Wells) and Sally (Mandy Ryle), these cartoon characters brought to life, do not provide the actors a lot to work with.

But about those exceptions — wow! How good they are. Sullivan truly embodies the spirit of Charlie Brown, the put-upon blockhead who gets depressed every Christmas season, never gets a Christmas card and can’t abide the commercialization of the holiday. Who can’t identify with that?

Giles is marvelous as the self-satisfied, smarty pants, Lucy. She is as expressive as any of the best actors I’ve seen on stage, displaying a broadly comical range of facial expressions and physical gestures that perfectly capture the infuriatingly impish Lucy.

Perhaps most enjoyable of all, as he is in the cartoon, is Snoopy the all-too-human dog. Morrow, a newcomer to Olympia, shows a repertoire of physical moves that are as delightful as those of silent movie stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keeton. If Morrow does not dance professionally, she probably should. She’s definitely got the moves.

Mandy Ryles doesn’t have many moments in the spotlight, but when she does, she milks them for all they’re worth, and Wells does a great job portraying poor Linus with his admirable sincerity and his ever-present security blanket.

“Peanuts” creator Charles Schultz is as much philosopher and psychologist as he is cartoonist, and his stories always have a deeper message than what appears on the surface, which is why they appeal to adults as much as to children. The message of this show is that the true meaning of Christmas is love for one another.

People who believe in the birth of Jesus story from the Bible will love that it is given prime importance in this production. I wonder, however, how Jewish or Muslim or other non-Christian audience members will react. I guess that since the story is so well known, they should know what to expect and how to talk about it with their children.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is a short show. The matinee I attended started at 2 p.m., and by the time I walked to my car six blocks away it was only 3:12, and that included an intermission and a brief sing-a-long before the second act.

As of Monday of this week all shows are sold out, but the theater hopes to add one show the final weekend, so calling in advance of going is a must.

A Charlie Brown Christmas  runs Thurs.-Fri., 7 p.m., Sat.-Sun. at 2 p.m.  through Dec. 20, 612 4th Ave E, Olympia, 360-570-1638

Theater Review: Sleeping Beauty at Centerstage

Katherine Jett and friends as Carabosse and her ghouls. Photo by Michelle Smith Lewis

Published in The News Tribune, Dec. 11. 2015

Katherine Jett and friends as Carabosse and her ghouls. Photo by Michelle Smith Lewis

Centerstage in Federal Way continues its holiday tradition of presenting a traditional English Panto. This time it is Sleeping Beauty again. They did it in 2010. Repetition is part of the Panto tradition – same fractured fairy tales, same Vaudeville style humor, but updated with variations.

For those who don’t know, Pantos are farcical fairy tales for children and adults with bawdy jokes that, presumably only the adults get, new lyrics to pop tunes, tons of local references and audience participation. Kids love the wild costumes and sets and props, and are usually ecstatic about the larger-than-life puppets; this year a giant but not frightening dragon built by Steffon Moody and operated from inside by Assistant Stage Manager Kira Zink.

Princess Aurora (Sarah Mather) a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty. Photo by Michelle Smith Lewis

Traditionally there is an ugly “Dame” played by a male actor in drag, and a tall and beautiful woman playing “the boy,” a swashbuckling hero. In 2010 the boy was Prince Michael of Normandy Park played by Hilary Heinz, who also played Prince Charming in Centerstage’s Cinderella. This year it’s a man for a change, Cooper Harris-Turner as Prince Peter of Puyallup.

And the dame, played almost every year by Roger Curtis, is Nurse Nellie, played by Centerstage Artistic Director Alan Bryce. The only other actor returning for this one is Dale Bowers reprising his role as the king.

The bawdiness has been toned down a bit this year, perhaps in an attempt to appeal more to children, but in every other respect it is the same old tried-and-true insanity including groaner puns, and as a bonus, many good-hearted digs at that other well-liked local theater, Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

Sarah Henley Hicks is fabulous as the good fairy Moonbeam who narrates much of the story and uses her magic to counteract the bad magic of the evil fairy Carabosse (Katherine Jett). Both of these actors give it their all and are lovable, or in Jett’s case lovably evil, and they both sing beautifully.

Bowers is bumbling and likable as the king, and Harris-Turner plays good Prince Peter of Puyallup as strong and dependable. He also sings nicely, but I wish his voice was a little bit stronger.

Josh Williamson is marvelous as Jangles, the clown of Hamalot – yes, the name of the kingdom is indeed Hamalot. Jangles adores his best friend Princess Aurora (Sarah Mather) a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty, and is willing to do anything in his power to save her from the evil Carabosse. Williamson’s acting is a comedic treasure, and he dances with a natural style and grace that is a pleasure to watch.

Mather is a young actor, the same age as her character, Princess Aurora, who celebrates her 18^th birthday in Act One. Despite her youth, Mather has already built an impressive acting resume with performances in Carousel and Spamalot at the 5^th Avenue Theater in Seattle. As Mather plays her, Princess Aurora is sweet, delicate and innocent.

Bryce proves to be an audience favorite as the outrageously flirtatious Nurse Nellie. In every performance he picks some (lucky?) man in the audience to flirt with, which provides quite a few of the many comic delights in Sleeping Beauty.

The audience participation reaches a delightful climax near the end when children from the audience are invited on stage to help perform a song about a bird with the longest name in the history of ornithology, and finally when the cast throws handfuls of candy to the audience.

The music provided by Musical Director and Arranger Deborah Lynn Armstrong is rocking and raucous, with recognizable hit tunes reconfigured to apply to the story and filled with funny local references.

It is a long play, just short of three hours including intermission. Some scenes could have been shortened for the sake of the adults in the audience, but it is so much fun for the children that I would hate to see anything cut.

Check Alec’s blog at alecclayton.blogspot.com for reviews of other area theatrical productions.

WHAT: Sleeping Beauty

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Dec. 20

WHERE: Centerstage at Knutzen Family Theatre, 3200 SW Dash Point Road, Federal Way

TICKETS: Adults: $30, Seniors (65+) and Military: $25; Youth (25 & Under): $10; VIP: $50

INFORMATION253-661-1444, www.centerstagetheatre.com

(Re)Presenting Native Americans

A new look at art by and about Native Americans

Published in the Weekly Volcano, Dec. 10, 2015

"Plains Warrior with Breastplate,” acrylic on canvas by John Nieto, gift of Christopher and Astrid Forbes in honor of Erivan and Helga Haub, courtesy Tacoma Art Museum

(Re)Presenting Native Americans is one of three new exhibitions in the Haub Family Galleries at Tacoma Art Museum. The other two are Artists Drawn to the West and Northwest Cowboys in Art. The Native American show features paintings and a single sculpture depicting the lives of Native Americans from the 1800s to modern times by both Native- and European-American artists. (The single sculpture is Sally James Farnham’s bronze “Will Rogers on Horseback.” Rogers’ parents were of Cherokee descent, but I still think his likeness belongs with the other bronze sculptures in the entry to the Haub Galleries.) 

Many of the artists who painted American Indians, including Native American artists, romanticized and mythologized them almost as much as did Hollywood movie makers. A few of the more contemporary painters poked good-natured fun at this tendency to romanticize.

Included in the show are works by famous and lesser-known artists including Catherine Critcher, Joe Fedderson, James Lavadour, Marie Watt, Shaun Peterson, John Nieto, Frederick Remington and Charles Russell. What struck me most tellingly about this show is that in terms of style and technique the art is practically indistinguishable from art by European-American artists such as John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart (famous for his portraits of George Washington) and Charles Willson Peale. There’s even a painting called “Indians, Salmon Falls, New Hampshire” by an unknown artist circa 1850s that is stylistically like Edward Hicks’ famous painting “Peaceable Kingdom.” It’s an odd painting that I like because of its oddity.

There’s a great minimalist painting by contemporary Seneca Indian, Marie Watt, with some outstandingly nuanced color changes.

Neito’s “Plains Warrior with Breastplate” is one of the strongest pieces in the show, with outstanding design for a simple portrait and some wonderful color combinations.

Equally powerful is Lavadour’s almost totally abstract painting of an Oregon landscape, “Release the Sun.” I also liked his little picture in aquatint, soap ground etching and drypoint, “Dreaming of Whirlwinds.” This one depicts rocky landscapes in a grid of six rectangles with a nude woman in most of the rectangles — the only nudes in the show, by the way.

I love the paint application in E. Irving Couse’s 1911 painting “Music of the Waters.”

Another favorite is Bill Schenck’s “An Ancient Place,” depicting a lone and sad woman in a barren landscape painted in a pop art style reminiscent of paint-by-numbers pictures. His work has been shown previously in the Haub Galleries, and the more I see of his work the more I think he has been sadly overlooked by art historians.

Overall it is an exhibition with many interesting historical references that are nicely executed.

 (Re)Presenting Native Americans, Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Spring 2016, $12-$14, Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave. Tacoma, http://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/

AIDS, Friendship, the Internet: Life in the Bonus Round

Note: This is a story that I read at a World AIDS Day event at Tacoma Art Museum sponsored by Pierce County AIDS Foundation.

AIDS and the Internet brought us a friendship that has lasted twenty years. It began when my wife, Gabi, set up a one-page website in honor of our son Bill with a small photo of Bill and three brief paragraphs:

Bill was openly bi-sexual. In April of 1995, he was assaulted in a hate crime here in Olympia, WA (USA). On May 8, 1995 Bill committed suicide, despite loving support from his family, friends and many wonderful people in our community. Bill was 17 years old. He was a bright, warm and creative young man. He is greatly missed.

Please remember him, and speak out to end discrimination, hate speech and violence against people who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered — and against anyone for any reason. This website focuses mostly on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality and safety issues, but it is all connected. We are all connected. And silence is where the hate grows.

Not long after she uploaded the website, she got this email from Steve Schalchlin:

I just found your home page and when I saw the picture of your son and story that went with it, I wept right here in the living room. I can't tell you how much it affected me, that someone so beautiful and obviously so loved by his mother would still be crushed by the hatred in this world. If only these bigots truly understood how much damage they cause.

I invite you to view my web site. I am a gay man living with AIDS and as part of my own struggle to survive I have created this site the centerpiece of which is my online diary where I detail what I'm living with. For some reason, people all over the world are being drawn to it and it has helped many people, especially many Christians to stop and think about what they do.

I appreciate your fight, dear lady, and I want you to know that I am in anguish over your loss. That you took this pain and turned it into a fight against hatred moves me and reminds me that there are great people out there. And you are a shining example.

Your Friend,
Steve

We found out that Steve was a songwriter, and that he was dying. He posted words about his journey toward death in the online diary. His partner (now husband), actor and playwright Jim Brochu, encouraged him to set the things he was writing to music. He said, “Take the pain and put it into song.” Steve discovered that music had the power to heal. No, writing music did not miraculously cure the disease that was destroying his body, but it gave him the will to go on.

Steve built a musical around the songs he had been writing with his partner, who wrote the book. They called the play The Last Session. Steve could barely get out of bed, but he wanted to see, at the very least, a reading of his play before he died. He did get to see a reading of the play and even got to play the lead role when it was workshopped in Los Angeles in the spring of 1996 — singing, playing piano, and acting (which he had never done before) despite living with full-blown AIDS. Others saw it too and were impressed enough to raise money to produce it Off-Off Broadway. It premiered at the Currican Theater in New York in 1997. It got rave reviews. Peter Marks in the New York Times called it "Blessed... haunting... exquisite... exuberant” and “from the heart."
Matthew Mirapaul, also with the Times, wrote, "There are large doses of humor... The Last Session... is as dramatically engrossing and warmly human as Angels in America and Rent."

And then through random sheer luck Steve’s name was drawn in a lottery to choose patients living with AIDS who were to receive new drugs, and these drugs have saved his life.

The Last Session later played in Los Angeles and then back to New York for a celebrated Off-Broadway run at the 47^th Street Theater. It has been produced by both professional and amateur companies all over the country, including Houston, Dallas, Denver, Baltimore, Omaha, Rochester NY, Indianapolis, Boston, and most recently a long run in London.

 Steve, still alive and in good health despite horrid side effects to drugs, continues to tour the country telling his story of living with AIDS and playing in venues large and small.

Our friendship has continued. He has traveled to Olympia four times to do benefit concerts for the local PFLAG chapter and once to play the piano that John Lennon composed “Imagine” on as part of the IMAGINE Piano Peace Project. Steve played and sang “Imagine” and “Gabi’s Song,” which he wrote in honor of our son. That experience inspired him to write his peace cantata “New World Waking.” He explains: “I'm sitting there beneath a shade tree in the front yard at the Clayton's home in Olympia, Washington about to put my hands where John Lennon's hands once were, the instrument whose sound inspired the song 'Imagine', and I knew in that moment what ‘New World Waking’ was meant to be: A journey to find a simple song of peace.”

“New World Waking” debuted in San Francisco at the 30th anniversary concert of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus at Davies Symphony Hall and has sense been performed in music halls and cabarets in New York and other cities, including South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia.

Steve and Jim now live in New York and continue to collaborate on musicals including The Big Voice: God or Merman and Jim’s one-man show about Zero Mostel, Zero Hour. Gabi and I continue to advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. And we will always the grateful that Steve Schalchlin read her one-page post on the Internet.

Links:

http://newworldwaking.com/

http://www.bonusround.com/

http://www.thelastsession.com/

http://www.gabiclayton.com/BillsStory/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-lennons-iconic-imagine-piano-to-be-photographed-in-blacksburg-va-58596132.htm