Friday, December 21, 2007

Dallas Voice‘s top local theater of 2007

By Arnold Wayne Jones of Dallas Voice

The silent film parody "The Boxer" -- performed entirely without dialogue -- was one of the funniest shows of 2007.

"Dying is easy," Sir Donald Wolfit remarked on his deathbed. "Comedy is hard."

If that's so, then North Texas theater companies had a hard time of it in 2007: Many (but not all) of the best shows were comedies, or at least had comic edges along their dark interiors. It was a good time to laugh as these productions, our favorite of the year, attest. But it was an intense new drama that really made its mark.

10. The Big Bang and My Own Private Diva (Theatre Three). Uptown's most established troupe -- it's in its 47th season right now -- has never made better use of the downstairs space than they did this season, with Gary Floyd and Doug Miller frantically funny in the musical parody "The Big Bang." And the revival of "Diva" allows me to remedy the injustice caused by neglecting to name it one of 2006's best shows. It was even better this year. (You can even include "Season's Greetings," on stage there for a few more performances.)

9. Right, Ho, Jeeves (Contemporary Theatre of Dallas). Witty British humor has rarely been performed with such elegance as in CTD's version of P.G. Wodehouse's trouble-making fop and his unflappable manservant. Gorgeously decorated and expertly acted by a gifted cast, Jerry Russell's staging moved at a clip that was almost dizzying.

8. The Ladies of the Camellias (Echo Theatre). A play about the real-life rivalry between two of the early 20th centuries most temperamental acting divas (Sarah Bernhardt and Eleanora Duse) could come off as brittle as a cinnamon stick, but director Pam Myers-Morgan trusted her cast -- especially the men -- to play it up big, and big worked. A behind-the-scenes play about a play that doesn't feel clubby, "Camellias" was the sleeper of the fall.

7. Valley of the Dolls (Uptown Players). Dallas' own Bob Hess and Doug Miller took their passion for one of the worst, but gayest, movies ever -- Jacqueline Susann's landmark of melodramatic Hollywood dreck -- and by removing overt camp references reimagined it for the stage in such a terrific way, you wonder why no one has done it (successfully anyway) in the past. The script undeniably has flaws, but seeing this world premiere production was exhilarating. (On the other end of the spectrum, Uptown let the camp soar in "Die Mommie, Die!," a dandy version of Charles Busch's tribute to Hollywood -- and it was equally wonderful.)

6. Carousel (Lyric Stage). This enormous production of the rarely-revived Rodgers & Hammerstein musical (almost an operetta) features a giant cast and a sizeable orchestra in a full-blown production that luxuriated in the beauty of the music. (The set even included, for a single scene, a real merry-go-round.) Director Cheryl Denson proved that Dallas can do Broadway as well as Broadway.

5. The Boxer (Bootstraps Comedy Theater). Local actor Matt Lyle wrote this play, staged like a silent film, about a woman who poses as a man in order to train a boxer and ends up falling in love with him -- even though a relationship would be taboo. Touching and inventive, it showed how you don't need dialogue to tell a story onstage.

4. Mr. Marmalade (Kitchen Dog Theater). Noah Haidle's wickedly well-observed story about a 4-year-old girl (played by adult actress Tina Parker) who creates an imaginary world filled with age-inappropriate cliches culled from pop culture is as darkly scary in its portrayal of consumer culture as Network. It's also unspeakably funny, especially owing to a terrific ensemble, led by the pitch-perfect Parker.

Cedric Neal, Courtney Franklin and Joshua Doss made up the entire cast of Uptown Players' "Tick, tick... BOOM!," one of the best chamber musicals Dallas has seen in recent years.

3. Glengarry Glen Ross (Dallas Theater Center). David Mamet's quick-and-dirty dissection of real estate salesmen in the 1980s is less about the art of the deal than about the dynamics of male interpersonal communication. It's a play of rhythm and language, directed sharply and performed just as well.

2. Tick, tick... BOOM! (Uptown Players). Perhaps the best staging of a chamber musical in recent memory, this early work by the late composer Jonathan Larson ("Rent") was Uptown Players' most unqualified success of the season. Bruce R. Coleman directed the close-knit cast with clever little touches that really made the play resonate.

1. End Times (Kitchen Dog Theater). Although comedy predominated in 2007, the best production of the year didn't contain a moment of humor. Kitchen Dog's production of Alison Moore's new play, about a Dust Bowl family and the horrific decisions they allow themselves to make in the name of faith, burrowed into you like a tick. Of all the plays of 2007, no other stuck in the memory like "End Times."

_____________________

Coy Covington

Regan Adair

James Crawford

ACTOR OF THE YEAR

Good acting can be the salvation of questionable plays and can make great productions even more memorable. Here were the best in 2007.

It's difficult to imagine a Charles Busch play with anyone except Coy Covington portraying, with glamorous extravagance, the female lead, which he did expertly in "Die Mommie, Die!" Marco Rodriguez returned to producing this year, writing a variety of roles for himself in "Heaven Forbid(s)!," all of which he played to perfection.

Ian Leson didn't do much in 2007, but two performances, in "Lawrence & Hollman" and "Our Lady of 121st Street," were unforgettable. Newcomer Nicholas Venceil and Rick Espaillat matched wits excitingly in "Popcorn," and their co-star, Emily Gray, did terrific work alongside them and in "Season's Greetings," also at Theatre Three.

Indeed, several shows had exceptional ensembles: Joshua Doss, Courtney Franklin and Cedric Neal sang gorgeously in "Tick, tick... BOOM!;" you could not take your eyes off Sally Nystruen-Vahle, Barry Nash and Lee Trull in "End Times;" the casts of "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" and "Valley of the Dolls" took hysteria to absurd levels; and the men in "Glengarry Glen Ross" were a well-oiled machine.

Perhaps best of all were three bravura turns. Regan Adair, at Stage West and Contemporary Theatre of Dallas, played Bertie Wooster in "Right Ho, Jeeves" with jaw-dropping energy. Tina Parker so immersed herself as a petulant child in "Mr. Marmalade" that you could forget it was even acting.

But the best of the year was James Crawford, whose one-two punch last spring of "Shadowlands" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf�" raised the bar early -- and no one exceeded it.

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas Voice, the community newspaper for gay & lesbian Dallas.

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