“MOULIN ROUGE” DAZZLES BUT LACKS COHESION

 The long awaited North American tour of “Moulin Rouge”, winner of 10 Tony’s including Best Musical, has finally arrived at San Diego’s Civic Center just days ago. 

Set in Paris, 1899, Moulin Rouge, the nightclub was famous for the likes of bohemians, aristocrats, artists, the brilliant and starving artist Toulouse-Lautrec, (Jahi Kearsh) various down and outers and street walkers. 

Into this gathering, lovesick and passionate American writer, dreamer Christian (Jay Armstrong Johnson) and star performer of the Moulin Rouge nightclub, Satine (beautifully charming Arianna Rosario) meet, fall in and out of love but are stopped in their tracks by the very wealthy and menacing (read Devil) Duke of Monroth ( Andrew Brewer) who pimps Satine off the highest bidder.

While the story lacks cohesion and it is rough around the edges the overall production to look at is dazzling: The choreography (Sonya Tayeh) phenomenal, sexy tangos, high kicking Can Can Dancers, the entire cast and company are pretty much in constant motion, but the sad love story itself is just choppy and in the end several in the audience were chuckling rather than feelings bit of pathos for the lovers. 

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a jukebox musical. Hits from the last  150 years; I recognized one from Nat King Cole, Mama Mia, Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? Quite a mashup from Adel to Lady Gaga, David Bowie to  Mick Jagger and  Elton John.

With Alex Timbers directing and Justin Levine’s musical Supervision, co orchestration arrangements and additional lyrics, Derek McLane’s scenic design, Catherine Zuber’s costume design, Justin Townsend's  lighting, Peter Hylensky’s sound David Brian Brown and Sarah Cimno’s hair and makeup and based on the 2001 film of the same name, this Moulin Rouge might satisfy some, but sadly, this reviewer was not one of them.

See you at the theatre.

Enjoy.

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Through July 6.

Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown

Tickets: $56.25 and up

CYGNETS “OKLAHOMA” NOT YOUR AVERAGE RUN OF THE MILL ROGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN MUSICALS.

Call it what you will: a rehashing, a renewing, a reimagining or a revival, Cygnet’s last show at The Theatre in Old Town,  “Oklahoma” by Rogers and Hammerstein II, still has the original Hammerstein lyrics and Rogers’ book and music. What’s different is it brings out a darker, oft more modern take on our star crossed lovers of Oklahoma,  Curly and Laurey. 

Cowboy Curly McLain (Michael Louis  Cusimano last seen on Cygnet’s stage in “Natasha, Pierre” in 2024), is one hell of a handsome leading man with vocals and smooth guitar playing.

Ariella Kvashny and Michael Louis Cusimano

He and Kvashny (Laurey), who make beautiful music together, (“People Will Say We’re In Love”) have this on again off again relationship, but it’s clear she only has eyes for Curly even though she flirts with hired hand, Jud Fry, (Jacob Caltrider), a misfit in both the cowman and farmer’s world. It’s a three way relationship that can only end in tragedy.

With music by Richard Rogers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (the first of their collaborations), the story unfolds in what was Indian Territories before Oklahoma became a state, pitting the farmers against the cowboys (“Farmer and the Cowmen”) as the basis for the big picture. (“Kansas City”, “Farmer and the Cowman”. “Oh, What a “Beautiful Mornin’” and of course “Oklahoma!” are but some of the great Rogers and Hammerstein tunes from this show that are forever etched in our collective memories. 

Paul Morgavo, Eli Wood, Jaxon Smith, Marc Caro-Willcox 

It’s tough keeping a good show down and every now and then it’s good to bring it back to the fore for some good old fashioned folk lore, lively entertainment and just plain great music. It opened on Broadway in 1943. 

Director Sean Murray, swaggering in his red cowboy boots and big black cowboy hat, directs this new take on what some are calling part classic and part reimaged, in combining the old with the new. And it works, overall!

Love stories and comedy (some tongue in cheek) abound in the triangular relationships between cowboy Curly McClain and farm girl Laurie Williams and the petulant Jud Fry, and Ali Hakim, Ado Annie and Will Parker. 

Based on the Lynne Riggs play “Green Grow the Lilacs”, “Oklahoma”, when it was still called Indian Territory,  sails or should I say dances (Jill Gorrie choreographs this show with original choreography based on Agnes de Mille) and sings its way through one musical number after another (some seventeen).

Jacob Caltrider

There is darkness:  In Jud’s smokehouse, where Curly seeks out Jud and taunts and teases him (“Poor Jud is Daid”) and a Dream Sequence with Laurey, who imagines the conflict within herself, recoils.  (“Dream Ballet” choreographed by Jordan Miller).

There is also much lightheartedness:  The silly romantic comings and goings of Ali Akim ( Ricky Bulda)  and Ado Annie (Jazley Genovese  (“I Caint Say No”); the on again off again romance of Curly and Laurey and the cowboy/farmer riff; the auctioning off of the goodie baskets, (“Farmer and the Cowman”).

Company

Ranking high on the Richter scale of outstanding performances Jacob Caltrider whose  presence wasn’t as much frightening (as others I’ve seen) but was rather sympathetic.  Looking young and vulnerable, he is almost awkward as he peruses Laurie, but changes on a dime when Curly gets in his way. 

Eli Woods’ Will Parker shines through in every direction with his strong dancing and acting. Wood’s trips all over himself trying not to get shot by Annie’s father, Andrew (Manny Fernandes) who is doing his due diligence, shotgun in hand aimed at Will, in case Ali, the traveling salesman,  (Ricky Bulda) does something to dishonor his daughter’s reputation. 

Ariella Kvashny, Michael Louis Cusimano

Cusimano and Kvashny, where the chemistry is there and the romance rings true to form, allow  the ongoing struggle between Jud Fry and Curley to reach a climax while both vie for her attention as it  reaches  a predictable, yet hokey take on the way the law worked then. It was interesting to watch as Aunt Eller held court.  (I hate to say it, but some things never change in some states.)

Linda Libby is Aunt  Eller, Laurey’s aunt who sings, dances and is part of the chorus. Along with the band on stage, she  is the first person we see sitting in her rocking chair , churning butter. When next Curly comes from the back of the house singing “Oh, What a beautiful Mornin’”, followed by “The Surrey With The Fringe On Top”. 

Linda Libby

As I mentioned at the outset, this is not your run of the mill Oklahoma, where everything happens around Aunt Eller’s farm house (scenic designer Mathys Herbert). If anything, this is truly an ensemble work of art where each character has his/her own place on stage and dances, sings, and acts to the hilt. 

Patrick Marion is musical director as well as playing Accordion and Mandolin. Kyle Bayquen on Bass, Erika Boras-Tesi on Cello, Sean LaPerreque on Violin/Viola, Dave Pschaida on Percussion, Cliff Thrasher on Sub Cello and Michael Reyes on Guitar/Banjo. All excel. 

Linda Libby Holding it together

Credit Lighting designer Anne E. McMills, Sound, TJFucella, Props, Jessica Cuoto, Wigs and Makeup Peter Hermann and Zoë Trautmann, Costumes to make this one of the most ‘interesting’, ‘different’ and colorful production of an ‘oldie but goody’ that’s OK  LA HOMA…OK! 

See It!

See you at the theatre. 

When:  Runs through Aug.31st. 7 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays; 2  p.m. Sundays.

Where: Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old 

Town San Diego

Photo: Karli Cadel

Tickets: $30 and up

Info: 619-337-1525

Online: cygnettheatre.org

 

DEANDRE SIMMONS SHINES AS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING IN NEW VILLAGE ARTS “THE MOUNTAINTOP”.

 At New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad, under the direction of Durwood Murray, Jr., and starring DeAndre Simmons as MLK JR. , Katori Hall’s Oliver Award Winning play “The Mountaintop”, is in a stunning production.

The 1963 shooting of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Baptist Minister and civil rights activist, whose passionate 1963 “I Have a Dream” (before 200,000 at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.) and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” sermons put him in the spotlight as #1 shaker of the Civil Rights movement. He was on the rise to becoming one of the greatest outspoken orators of his time. 

DeAndre Simmons

His ‘Mountaintop’ sermon was delivered at a rally in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee in 1963. The very next day he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with the striking workers. To say that his life was in danger at all times would be an understatement. “Fear is his companion, his lover”. 

In what Hall conjures as a conversation between King and the pretty little chambermaid, Camae (Taylor Renee Henderson) sent (supposedly) by the hotel upon his request for room service, the play unfolds somewhat like a TV sit-com. 

The play opens as King (Simmons) is ushered into the room by his most trusted deputy and best friend Ralph Abernathy, whom he immediately sends out to get a pack of Pall Malls. Left in the room alone, he deadbolts the door pulls the curtains over the windows, turns on the lamp and he starts reciting the beginnings of his next sermon. (“Why America is going to hell…”) He then calls for room service.

When King gets a good look at the young lady holding a cup of coffee, with a newspaper covering her head against the evening’s rainfall, his eyes just about pop out of his head.  Both have no trouble flirting as in “I like what I see’ at a glance. This is her first day on the job. She tells him that while the coffee is on the house, any advances that he can pay her for ‘gettin’ my press ‘n curl wet out in this rain” would be appreciated. 

They jibe and play. He wants cigarettes with his coffee, she scolds because he doesn’t take care of himself. We glance at his frailties, his non-violent marches; does she like him better with or without his moustache? They debate seriously about the work he has yet to finish.  

He is paranoid about his room being bugged and she reminds him that he has FBI files thicker than a bible. His concerns about his role here on earth as a leader and Civil Rights Activist are contrasted against his playful self as a womanizer; a fragile human being who flirts with the chambermaid while speaking to his wife and children on the phone, has holes in his socks, likes to add a little something to his coffee and chain smokes.

Finally, after some bantering about his being afraid of the thunder and lightning she holds him close and refers to him by his childhood name. He’s suspicious she was sent to spy on him, but she admits that she was sent to help him make it through the night. 

 For those in the know, history left its mark for all to see as the television cameras rolled outside on the balcony of room 306 at 6:01 PM, April 4th 1968. Yours truly will never forget those moments.

Both Simmons and Henderson play beautifully off one another. Simmons is natural and easy; not trying to impersonate King or look larger than life. 

He was after all flesh and blood with many shortcomings.  Henderson is playful funny and delightful, cautious and with a purpose.  The chemistry flows from one to another and the laughs and chuckles are frequent as one might see in a sit–com.

But this play is anything but funny. It is thoughtful, riddled with emotions; enough for  the ending words of King to bring a tear or two to everyone’s eyes especially with his booming opera trained voice:

“God said I gotta get you ready to come on home”. And while he begs for more time she has to convince him that someone else will have to pick up the baton. 

“Will I die at the hands of a white man, too. Yes. Speak by love. Die by hate. Where will it be?

On the balcony just right there. How? Surrounded by those who love you. Will you be there to clean up the mess? It would be a honor, Preacher Kang”. 

Director Durwood Murray, JR, making  his directorial debut, surly knows his way around a theatre stage. Every movement, intonation and look is picture perfect.

Christopher Scott Murillo’s set is a copy of Room #306 at The Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tenn., with  a visual of the balcony behind the windows. Credit to projection designer, Michael Wogluis, props, Carter Vickers, sound Andre Buck, JR, lighting, Mashun Waits, and costume and wig’s Kevane La’Marr Coleman.

How many times must we live through these throat-paralyzing sequence of days of gun play, grief and muffled drums?” (Life Magazine, June 14, 1968.

This question, written after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (on June 5th 1968), followed by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, and of course before that, John F. Kennedy in 1963, and the attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan in 1981 seems eons ago. We are still asking the same question today after 26 young children were gunned down at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Conn! 

If you are old enough to remember the Texas School Depository Building, the Grassy Knoll, the Lorraine Hotel, and The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, I’m sure you are aghast at what’s happening in 2025.

I’ve seen “The Mountaintop” several times in the past. This one, by far, stands above the rest. 

Enjoy. 

See you at the theatre.

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through June 22

Where: New Village Arts, 2787 State St., Carlsbad

Photo: Jason Sullivan

Tickets: $25-$50

Online: newvillagearts.org

“ONE OF THE GOOD ONES” AT OLD GLOBE HAS AN IDENTITY CRISIS.

 In the 1967 controversial movie, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, starring Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier and Katherine Houghton, the plot revolves around a white woman bringing a Black man to dinner.  

It was at the height of the Civil Rights movement. MLK was assassinated a few months after that and  the family is thrown off balance. 

Benito Martinez, Angelique Cabral, Cree, Nico Greetham

But  in 2025 when  the Gomez Family, in Gloria Calderó Kellett’s eighty + minute sitcom, “One Of The Good Ones” now playing at The Globe Theatre through June 22nd.    discover that their recent college graduate daughter Yoli (Cree) has invited her special boyfriend, Marcos (Nico Greetham) for dinner, they all assume that he is Mexican because of his name. 

The Gomez Family has an identity problem, and I must say, one of their own making. It seems Mom, Ilana (Angelique Cabral) is of Puerto Rican and Latin-American heritage but doesn’t speak Spanish. Enrique is Cuban and he and Yoli, who studied Spanish in school,  speak it together all the time, much to Ilana’s chagrin. 

Nico Greetham, Benito Martinez, Angelique Cabral, Cree

When Marcos comes calling with a bottle of wine and a colorful piñata, the family is aghast to see that his skin color is white; and we are off and running! 

He has much splanin’ to do about how his parents are white but he was born in Mexico  and speaks fluent Spanish. And the battle of who is what and what  is what continues until Yoli tells her parents that she and Marcos are secretly married…and more. 

Nico Greetham, Cree, Benito Martinez and Angelique Cabral

Now the focus is on respect and the generational gap of how this generation has no respect for their elders as they did in Enrique’s day. Ilana, on the other hand, is thrilled for her daughter; wants to know everything about the relationship between the two young’uns, things even tho' Marcos doesn’t know the half of it. 

Here’s where the piñata comes in where everyone gets to vent their anger and frustrations out on the paper mache puppet filled with candy. Everyone has a go at it until it’s in shambles, causing uproarious laughter. 

Cree, Nico Greetham, Benito Martinez and Angelique Cabral

Kollett knows how to write a sitcom coming from a sitcom background and director Kimberly Senior surely has the knowhow to stretch out the laugh lines even though beneath the surface serious issues like  assimilation and privilege wait to come to forefront, but never do.  

Overall the cast works hard to make this sitcom work. Of the cast Beto Martinez stands out as the the most consistently funny and on target, Angelique Cabral shows signs of softness and understanding of her young daughter but Cree and Nico are all over the place. 

Takeshi Kata’s set, an upscale Pasadena Gomez residence makes a stunning background, with Sarita Fellows costumes, Jaymi Lee Smith’s lighting and Andrea Allmond and Jeff Gardner’s sound design complete the picture of this LOL comedy where the laughs come fast and furious making it almost impossible to hear half of the dialogue. 

And as for ‘the good ones, it's anyone's guess. 

Enjoy.

See you at the theatre. 

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through June 22

Where: Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park

Tickets: $29 and up

Photo: Rich Soublet II

Phone: 619-234-5623

Online: theoldglobe