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I have heard about ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ my whole life and don’t know why I waited so long to see this musical. I remember bits and pieces from seeing it as a child, but probably couldn’t begin to appreciate how true-to-life the play really is. ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ embodies the same challenges, struggles and changes that families have had for hundreds, I’d wager thousands, of years; from breaking arranged marriages, to falling in love with a teacher, and even falling in love with an outsider not of the same faith. The themes portrayed in this musical and set to amazing musical numbers and scores you can find in modern society.

For those who have never seen the play, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is a musical about Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman, and his five daughters living in the 1905 Tsarist Russian village of Anatevka. Tradition is a way of life in the village, where fathers are the bread winners and teach their sons their trades, like tailoring, butchery and farming; the mothers are the keepers of the household and teach their daughters to sew, cook, clean and maintain a household for their husbands. Throughout the play, Tevye attempts to maintain his religious traditions and his family’s happiness while outsiders, and outside forces, threaten their simple way of life.

The most prominent storyline focuses on Tzeitel, Tevye’s eldest daughter, who objects to the village matchmaker’s ‘match’ for her with the butcher. She confesses to her father her love for the village tailor and beseeches her father to allow her to marry him, thus defying tradition of matchmaker’s making matches for young girls (matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match, find me a find, catch me a catch). But what if you were forced to walk away from the one you love to marry someone your father chose? It was a harsh reality for girls, and a tradition that was thankfully broken long before my generation. In the play, it’s Tevye who must decide if the proposal of marriage with the butcher (a match that would ensure prosperity and financial security) be broken for his daughter’s happiness or if he sticks with tradition and deny his daughter’s heart (but inevitably save her from a life of a tailor’s wife and financial hardship). Sweetly, he rescinds the offer and he allows Tzeitel and the tailor to wed.

Don’t think that sounds scandalous? Well let’s put this into perspective, shall we? In 1905, males ruled the household, tradition ruled the day, and beggars were not choosers. Tzeitel and the tailor were defying a father’s decision, a big no-no in patriarchal society. Also, a ‘match’ like one that Tevye and the village matchmaker struck, would allow a poor man’s daughter to marry into a rich and prosperous marriage. It was one of the greatest things a man could ask for; the betterment of his children (and his female children at that). Tevye embodies a man who chose the happiness of his daughter over that of his better judgment. Which leads him to one of the best numbers in the musical, “If I Were a Rich Man,” a song so true and timeless that Gwen Stefani sampled it in her 2004 hit ‘Rich Girl,’ (a fact which an enthusiastic twelve year old in our audience was too happy to share with us). It was challenge enough for Tevye to allow his daughter to choose her husband, but Tevye is challenged further when his second eldest daughter, Hodel, falls in love with her tutor, Perchik, the idealistic outsider from Kiev. In the second act his next eldest daughter, Chava, elopes with the Russian gentile, Fyedka, whom her father has forbidden her to see, let alone marry. A Jewish girl marry an outsider and a man not of their faith? It was Tevye’s breaking point which made him disown his daughter. Don’t worry, Tevye makes amends before his family and the villagers are viciously cast out of their homes and village by the Tsarist Russians.

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is a wonderful show that captures Jewish and family culture and the happiness and hardships that eclipsed the village of Anatevka. The humor and love in the musical are timeless, the humor priceless, and the lively Jewish Klezmer tunes will have you dancing on the Auditorium Theater’s roof. Let’s hope the wandering Fiddler hitches a ride to Chicago on Tevye’s wagon soon, and when he does you won’t want to miss it.

When it comes to bringing Rogers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” alive on stage, of course the surrounding cast is utterly essential, but most important of all, the show would need a vibrant “Maria” who absolutely exudes true spirit and fun. Drury Lane’s Production of “The Sound of Music” has not only put together a brilliant surrounding cast from top to bottom, but has also struck gold with leads Larry Adams as “Captain Von Trapp” and Jennifer Blood as “Maria Rainer”. Not only are the two vocally right for the roles; their chemistry together is nothing short of magical, adding a very believable element to this timeless story of love for family and country.

It’s not always easy to bring classics to the stage since we already have such a preconceived notion as to what we expect from certain characters or are often saddled to such a familiarity to a particular role that we don’t want to stray away too far from what we’ve come to know. However, in this case, Drury Lane Productions has succeeded and then some.

To no lack of vocal prowess, the jury still seems to be out on Blood after her opening number, “The Sound of Music”, as it is not yet clear where this “Maria” will take us. But it doesn’t take long to find out. During her next song, “I Have Confidence”, her talents really shine at the same time her personality beams throughout the house and it is apparent she has captured the entire crowd. Each of the seven children is immediately likeable and, like the rest of the cast, more than vocally efficient. Patti Cohenour adds a tasty punch as “The Mother Abbess” boasting her incredible vocal range while Peter Kevoian is entertaining as can be as “Max Detweiler”.

The set design is stunning as the audience is taken inside the Abbey then into different areas of the Von Trapp mansion and its courtyard. One highlight has the stage transformed into the very festival in which the performing Von Trapp Singers escape from Nazi occupied Austria. So detailed is the setting that Nazi soldiers walk up and down the isle on the look out for any foul play, placing audience members into the festival itself.

Many productions of “The Sound of Music” have come and gone and some have stood out more than others. This current production is one that stands at the top. A perfect holiday treat or a family night out, “The Sound of Music” at Drury Lane in Oakbrook is a memorable experience that you can enjoy over and over again.

I remember reading about the turn of the century medical trend that attempted to cure “hysteria” in women (and men) by stimulating them to orgasm or “paroxysm” by a doctor using manual or electrical (vibrator) stimulation and thinking that this would make a fascinating subject for film or stage. 

The reason I found this subject matter so important to explore and rediscover is because at the turn of the century the only other treatment options for mental illness, depression, and actual hysteria in women involved, toxic drugs like laudanum, the barbaric practice of partial lobotomy, ice baths, shock therapy and routine involuntary committal to an insane asylum.
Playwright, Sarah Ruhl, has brought out all of the many facets of this important subject and time period in a funny, touching, and liberating way right down to the restrictive nature of the clothes the women had to wear including bustles, steel corsets, and heavy high necked dresses tightly secured with a multitude of tiny buttons.

In the play, the appropriately named, Dr. Givings, a well to do physician in a spa town in New York, is pioneering the intimate new therapy in his home “operating theater”, which along with his parlor room has just had the magical glow of electricity installed for the first time.

Dr. Givings' young wife, Catherine, has recently given birth and is unable to nurse her own child. As she sees patient after patient leave smiling and glowing, she feels more and more lonely and neglected and becomes curious about the treatment. While her husband is at a convention watching the experimental electrocution of dogs, she secretly tries the therapy on herself with the help of a female patient, Sabrina Daldry.

Sarah Ruhl makes many wonderful feminist points in this play without ever losing the light, airy sense of humor, playfulness and poetic wonder that she is so good at infusing into her plays. 
It is interesting that even though Dr. Givings is a forward thinking pioneer, at first he refuses to give the therapy to the one person in his life who most obviously needs it, his own wife. He refuses her the treatment on the basis that it might make her “ more excitable” as he fears that this will empower her sexual nature too much. Dr Givings fears that he personally will be unable to satisfy her normal sexual urges and the resulting emotional desires once they are restored.  The first time he relents and begins applying the vibrator treatment to his wife, Catherine, she begs and cries out for him to kiss her as she builds towards “paroxysm” but he vehemently refuses, as he is unwilling to combine natural sexuality with sympathetic emotionality. Her angry response is a simple, “YOU are inadequate.”

Ruhl also brings up many fascinating points about the restorative effect of the orgasm on men and women alike in terms of releasing creativity in their lives through music and art.  The character of Leo Irving, a painter from Paris, who is experiencing depression and inability to create new art, i.e. “painters block” finds his inspiration and enthusiasm for life completely restored after just one treatment.  

Ruhl also plays up to great effect the natural improvement in one's general sense of humor and well being that having sufficient orgasmic release causes in the human nervous system. Ruhl's characters show the orgasm triggers the release of psychological repression and frustration through tears and the loud cries of the breath.  I like how Ruhl shows that this “induced release” causes increased emotional flexibility and stability in female and male conscious awareness equally.

There is also an interesting sub plot that develops between one of the patients and the doctors nurse, Annie, in the play, regarding the homo erotic feelings that may come to surface between individuals when orgasm is achieved without the additional onus or burden at the time of actual sexual contact, especially during such a repressed Victorian time period. 
There is also a very funny and poignant scene where the doctor's wife and patient are describing the sensations of an orgasm to their black nursemaid, they mention the feelings of hot coals illuminating their feet, colored light flashing behind their eyelids etc, and when the maid suggests that they are possibly describing what occurs during “relations with their husbands” they both scream in laughter and disbelief that they have never experienced anything like the miraculous sensations they experienced  in the medical treatment. One tells that she has experienced nothing but physical pain and emotional distance during relations with her husband.

In the end, the women help each other and their husbands in some degree, to rediscover the power of friendship, and the giddy joyful freedom that comes when one is enabled to rule ones own sexual life and infuse it with the romance and healthy emotions of warmth and equality.

Ruhl also does not show the cure to be a “cure all”, that is, the vibrator' assisted orgasm as the answer to all marital misunderstanding.  Instead she shows how the satisfaction of the most basic and natural urge particularly in women is a first stepping point, that leads the women and their husbands right back into touch with the blocked love and emotional needs that they are unable to satisfy in each other without first releasing their own “excess” sexual energy or “fluids”.

I must say, I have never seen so many orgasms acted out on stage with such realism and humor. 

I enjoyed the entire cast in this piece, including the very funny, Kate Fry as Catherine Givings, Patricia Kane as Nurse Annie, the poignant, Tamberla Perry as Nursemaid Elizabeth and Lawrence Grimm as the hapless husband of Sabrina Daldrey.  

Polly Noonan as the patient, Sabrina Daldry, was very funny and really embodied the process of the path from depression and over sensitivity to healthy affection for life and sex. Joel Gross as Leo Irving, the inspiration blocked artist, resembles a young Robert Downey Jr. in his energy and presentation.  Gross has a great natural stage presence and stole many of the scenes he was in. 

I highly recommend seeing Tony nominated “In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play” as it is a funny and surprisingly important piece on a par with “The Vagina Monologues”. It includes some personally empowering messages for men and women alike in a humorous, light hearted and poetic way.

“In the Next Room” is playing at Victory Gardens Theatre through October 9th. For more information visit www.victorygardens.org.

"Breeze it, Buzz it

Easy does, it

Turn off the juice, boy"

But the juice is not turned off in this production.

If you are looking for high-energy dance numbers performed with grace and precision, powerful harmonies engulfed in beauty and emotion, a story of tragedy, hope and passion, and, a whole lot of "Cool" - then look no further than "West Side Story", now playing at Cadillac Palace (151 W. Randolph St) through August 14^th.

For those of you who do not know the story – a brief synopsis. It’s the early 1960’s in New York where local gang, The Jets, are not taking kindly to the newly populating Puerto Ricans, who now have an outfit of their own – The Sharks, led by "Bernardo". Following along the lines of Romeo and Juliet, the two gangs attend a community dance where former Jet leader, "Tony" instantly becomes infatuated with "Bernardo’s" sister, "Maria" who expresses the feeling to be mutual. Hopelessly in love, the two realize they must break past the hate-filled racial barriers set up, and maintained, by others if they are to find happiness together.

Directed by David Saint, the production grabs audience members instantly and does not let go from its opening scene where Jets leader by proxy, "Riff", leads his gang in a spirited version of "Jets Song" ("When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way – from your first cigarette to your last dying day…" you know the words). Each number is choreographed with style and exquisiteness, encompassing the perfect sassiness, defiance or romanticism when called upon. While intensity prevails in such numbers as "Dance at the Gym" and "America" we are also taken to a dreamlike bliss in "Somewhere" and "One Hand, One Heart".

As talented as the dancing is the singing. Kyle Harris ("Tony") and Ali Ewoldt ("Maria") display operatic vocal range, delivering each note with meticulousness accuracy and command. The two shine throughout but really leave a lasting impression in their duet, "Tonight". Taking nothing away from the many amazing performers that make up the Jets and Sharks, Michelle Arevena ("Anita") also deserves a special nod. Doing it all with her dazzling footwork and gifted vocals, Arevena makes for a highly entertaining "Anita".

Jets leader by proxy, "Riff" (Joseph E. Simeone), and head Shark, "Bernardo (German Santiago) lead one of the production’s most memorable scenes as the two gangs engage in a rumble below the highway. Joey McKneely, who reproduces the choreography, does an extraordinary job in combining ballet and modern dance with the actions of a street fight, turning the stage into a spectacle of fast moves, vicious turns and yet, the refinement and poise found in "Swan Lake".

"West Side Story" is one highlight after another. This particular production stays true to the essence of the original and is a slam-dunk when it comes to entertainment value. Tickets range from $32-$95 and there are also a number of premium seats available. For more information on show times, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com or wwwBroadwayWestSideStory.com.

The only proper response to a Will Eno play is suicide. The existentialist, Brooklyn-based playwright enjoys holding a mirror up to his audiences so they can watch themselves slowly die. He is also very funny. The 46-year old, whose Thomas Pain (based on nothing) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama back in 2005 has penned an equally engaging piece that explores life and death, humans and animals, space and time, and everything in between. Middletown, a darkly humorous play first produced at the Vineyard Theater in New York last November, is taking up residence at Steppenwolf as the last play of their season devoted to exploring public/private lives.

Two windows in two houses stand on opposite sides of a circular median where the residents revolve like planets around the sun, living humdrum lives that are simultaneously boring and profound. Mary Swanson, the newest Middletownian, lives in the left with her distant and never-seen husband; John Dodge, a graying lifer in the town, lives on the right. They meet in the middle, and their odd, hesitant friendship forms the central relationship of the piece. Facilitated by the Librarian (played regally by Artistic Director Martha Levy), their bond anchors of the show, as a Cop, Mechanic, and Astronaut wax philosophical about existence. The result is a powerful thought piece, poetically written and masterfully acted by some of the most talented performers in Chicago.

 The characters, despite divergent professions and stages of life, all speak as Eno. For that reason, Eno is at his strongest when his characters speak directly to us. From the first monologue which brilliantly invites and alienates each audience member to the speeches scattered throughout where characters welcome and warn us about their home, Eno’s poetic and tragic chunks of language are powerful. Michael Patrick Thorton, who plays the the mechanic philosopher in a wheelchair, provides the bulk of this deadpan that kills – with both laughter and true, biting pain. Tracy Letts, fresh off his groundbreaking and Broadway-bound performance as George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, storms the stage as the weathered George. While Brenda Barie, the female lead, seemed a bit nervous at her Equity debut, no one can fault her while playing opposite the Tony Award winning playwright and performance.

Middletown isn’t just a staged suicide note, but a twisted love letter. While painfully aware of his characters’ and his own death, Eno celebrates these individual’s lives and the loose connections we make on our sojourn to the grave. His language walks the fine line between comedy and tragedy, suggesting everything worthwhile is in between. Don’t give your attention to the individual, but to the untouchable and empty middle that floats between us all.

In celebration of Pride month, the About Face Theatre has launched the world premiere of The Homosexuals by local playwright Phillip Dawkins.  Dawkins weaves a familiar tale of friendship, lost loves, and how that impact helps define our current selves. It's funny, heartbreaking, and oh so relatable… even for Breeders.

The play begins with Evan, played by Patrick Andrews, sitting alone at a skating rink.  He's strikingly handsome but, for a yet to be disclosed reason, appears discontent. That is until Peter makes his appearance. Peter, aptly played by Scott Bradley, is over-the-top, can't deny his love of musicals, and is perhaps tittering on the edge of being a stereotypically flamboyant gay man. Off the bat, the two men don't appear destined to be together. In sheer moments, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, their relationship unravels leaving only questions of why and how they got to this point. Thus begins the ten-year retrospective of Evan's comical yet dramatic life since venturing out of the closet and into the big city.

Starting in the present, the play works back to a party in the year 2000. Aside from being the dawn of a new millennium, it also marked the beginning of Evan’s journey as an openly out gay man and his introduction to the people who would have the largest impact on the person he becomes in the future. Director Bonnie Metzgar brilliantly transitions between years by having the character Evan be undressed, redressed, and having him move backwards to a compilation of pop songs.

Each scene cleverly introduces a friendship while tackling certain significant aspects of being homosexual. These topics run the gamete from the incestual nature of a group of gay friends to creating one’s own definition of what a gay person should be. As the clock rewinds, the layers of Evan are peeled back exposing his insecurities with himself and his overwhelming need to be loved and feel he belongs.

Catty one-liners, insightful perspectives, and a hag (Elizabeth Ledo) I wish to emulate made this performance truly enjoyable. Simply stated, the cast delivers wit, charm, and everything that makes a production worthy of a rave review.

Presented by About Face Theatre

Regular Run: Jun 18 - Jul 24, 2011

@ Victory Gardens Biograph Theater

2433 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Box Office: 773-871-3000

I love a good film festival for an exciting and enriching way to spend a few days working for Buzz Magazine in Chicago. Although a large festival like CineVegas, which lasted a full 10 days and had many glamorous parties and red carpets to cover can be exciting, a smaller festival in a quaint, spiritually rich town like Santa Fe can be just the remedy to soothe frazzled city nerves and enjoy some spa pampering while taking in great new and classic films.

2010 was the anniversary of Mark Twain’s death and the much-awaited release of Twain's autobiography for "Twainiacs". When I read that Val Kilmer was named the Honorary Chair of The Santa Fe Film Festival, I decided to attend and try to do the interview I had been planning for Val about his own independent film project on Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy while in Santa Fe.

I arranged my visit with the amazingly helpful and nice, Santa Fe Film Festival staff member, Gunther Maier, to cover the entire festival. This was a last minute decision and I was really lucky that La Posada, one of the most beautiful and luxurious spa hotels in Santa Fe agreed to provide the luxury accommodations for my three-night stay just 48 hours before my arrival.

As at any film festival there are just too many good films to see, and when you are in a beautiful destination like historic Santa Fe, you need to pick and choose which showings you can take in personally and which films to watch on DVD while you explore the shops, art galleries and local scenery. The following were my choices for this weekend:

THE ATHLETE (ATLETU)
Davey Frankel’s and Rasselas Lakew’s drama ATLETU tells the inspiring and incredible true story of Abebe Bikila, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the marathon in 1960 and 1964. An Ethiopian, Bikilia was the first African to win a gold medal and the first repeat champion in the marathon. Bikila was later involved in a tragic car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. And thus, began the greatest struggle of his life. Told on film as a hybrid of travelogue, biopic and documentary. Bikila’s first Olympic triumph was unprecedented, but his athletic conquests after a paralyzing car accident only add to his legend and impact.

CATCH-22
Director Mike Nichols’ and screenwriter Buck Henry’s 1970 adaptation of Joseph Heller’s scathing satire of life in the Air Force during World War II is the pair’s boldest cinematic display. A brilliant black comedy with an all-star cast including Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Orson Welles.

LENNONNYC
Marking the 70th anniversary of his birth and the 30th anniversary of his death, Michael Epstein’s documentary LENNONNYC traces the experiences of John Lennon and Yoko Ono upon their arrival in New York City in 1971. After an initial heady period of music, politics, culture and creativity in their new home, a dark period followed for both Lennon’s career as well as their relationship. However, the intertwining of man, artist and adopted city righted itself before the musical legend’s untimely and tragic death.

THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER
Directed by the legendary Bertrand Tavernier and based on a short story by Madame de La Fayette, THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER is a French period romance set during the French Wars of Religion. As he experiences his own forbidden desire for the irresistibly beautiful and much-courted Marie, soldier-scholar Chabannes must also protect her from the dangerously corrupt court dominated by Catherine de Medici. Tavernier translates de Lafayette’s novel into a brilliant evocation of the tragic conflict between duty and passion. The film’s exceptional cast includes Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, Gaspard Ulliel, Raphael Personnaz.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (LUNG BOONMEERALUEK CHAT)
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES is a fable about a tamarind and honey farmer named Uncle Boonmee who is slowly dying of kidney failure, and finds the ghosts of departed family members coming back to visit him. The film stars Sakda Kaewbuadee, Jenjira Pongpas, Thanapat Saisaymar.

It goes without saying that the highlight of the Santa Fe film festival screenings for me had to be the special 40^{th Anniversary Screening of the classic film, "Catch 22".}

It was a very special feeling to be enjoying and reacting to the brilliant performances in "Catch 22" on a BIG screen, while sitting just a few seats away from two of the film’s great stars, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss.

I had just enjoyed a fantastic VIP festival brunch with them at Val Kilmer’s own Pecos River Ranch. Richard and Paula told me that neither of them had seen the film in well over a decade.

There were also a number of very interesting and informative film festival panels going on at various art galleries over the weekend. I chose to attend the one on Women Film Producers. I loved that the panels were held in art galleries so that I could multi-task and enjoy the fantastic array of local artists after the seminars end.

Festival organizer, Gunther Maier, drove me to Val’s Pecos River Ranch for the VIP Party and luncheon. It is about a half hour away from Santa Fe’s center and it is a beautiful drive. The Pecos River Ranch is really impossible to find if you don’t know it’s exact location, there is only one tiny sign at the end of the twisty, hilly, drive that leads to it to let you know that you have made it. I wouldn’t want to attempt this drive in the dark or in winter, when Gunther says few of the roads are plowed to clear snow away.

The land around the house on the drive up to it is very pretty, dotted with barns for the horses and cows.

We arrived before all the guests’ buses, so I was able to wander around a little and see the ranch and river in all its quiet glory. The main house looks very cozy and is not pretentious at all. It is a rustic yet modern adobe style home with two modest buildings connected by a great outdoor porch walkway. I loved that his caretaker’s dogs, came right up to me and plopped down at my feet for petting as I walked to the front door. I was missing my own dog back in Chicago and it was great to see dogs with so much beautiful out door space to play in.

Val had already called me to arrange a phone interview and let me know in advance that he would not be there for the festival party because he was on location shooting his new film by Francis Ford Coppola, "Betwixt Now and Sunrise." But I was still very excited to visit his home of over twenty years. I seemed to be the only guest at the festival party who knew in advance that Val Kilmer would not be able to attend his VIP luncheon, because as I clambered up the hill to the luxury outdoor restroom the fest had set up, Richard Benjamin asked me if Val was coming and looked so forlorn when I said he wasn’t.

The ranch house is lovingly decorated in a clean Southwestern style and is perfectly situated to take in panoramic views of the river and more than 6000 acres of lush wilderness belonging to the ranch that surround it on all sides. There is an adorable full sized teepee hut across the shallow part of the riverbed that children can play in.

It looked gray and rainy when we arrived but by the time lunch was served the sun started shining again and all of the guests had a wonderful, relaxed time wandering down the rocks to the riverbank, enjoying a glass of wine and a cigarette or pipe in the open air to the wonderful sounds of a superb Jazz trio.

The Santa Fe Film Festival VIP party was a great casual event for making new friends like Cynthia Canyon, the beautiful and accomplished owner and publisher of Trend Magazine, and meeting with all of the festival’s stars and long time supporters. Variety magazine also sent a writer to cover the VIP luncheon.

Kilmer’s many fans want to know when they will hear my interview with Val. When Val and I talked, I realized that the in-depth interview I had prepared about his film on Mark Twain, Mary Baker Eddy and the precepts of Christian Science, was premature as the project was still in the planning and fundraising stage. Much to my delight, because theatre is my professional forte’, Val asked me to assist him with his compelling one-man show about Mark Twain nationwide.

In his show, "Val provides a rare look into the mind of a true genius, whose stories are more relevant than ever. From politics, to death, love, money, watermelons, God, racism and cats no topic is left untouched. Doors open at 7, trouble starts at 8."

If his already packed film schedule will permit, Val is currently considering a weekend run here in Chicago that I have arranged for November of 2011. The working title for his play on Twain’s work is " I’m Your Huckleberry". Don’t you love it!

So if you are an avid Kilmer fan or traveling "Twainiac" and eagerly anticipating seeing his play you might want to visit him at his website or send him a tweet to let him know you will attend.

I highly recommend attending the next Santa Fe Film Festival in October of 2011 to everyone who enjoys seeing a great selection of film projects in a rich, and natural setting with all the amenities of a five star hotel and spa just footsteps away.

Check out my photo gallery of this event for more great photographs and video of my visit to the Santa Fe Film Festival, and the celebration at Val Kilmer’s Pecos River Ranch at www.flickr.com/photos/kimkatz.

For more information and to purchase tickets for The Santa Fe Film Festival 2011, visit www.santafefilmfestival.com.

For more information on Val Kilmer and his film project or live show about Mark Twain visit www.valekilmer.com and www.twaineddyfilm.com .

For more information on La Posada de Santa Fe Hotel and Spa visit their website at www.laposada.rockresorts.com.

La Posada has had many star visitors including Kevin Costner, Colin Farrell, Bill and Hilary Clinton, to name a few. The hotel is filled with gorgeous and valuable art and there is a delightful afternoon tea served to guests along with an in depth tour of the art and the hotel’s ghostly history. Yes, the beautifully renovated hotel has a delightfully rich history and is believed to be haunted.

The October weekend that I was there was unusually rainy and cold so I did not get to enjoy the pool and garden setting outdoor Jacuzzi very much but I was given the most incredible, gentle "Flowing Water" massage I have had in recent years by the gifted masseuse, Rita Bergmann. Rita is a childhood cancer survivor and is an accomplished master of the intuitive healing touch. Be sure to request and reserve her services way in advance just like stars, Kevin Costner and Colin Farrell have in the past. I followed this much-needed massage healing with a cup of organic tea and a restful steam in the Rock Resort’s Spa eucalyptus steam room.

The La Posada offers a free local destination shuttle van to it’s guests which turned out to be indispensable to me for attending the various film festival parties and screenings which were nearby but a little too far to be considered walking distance. Every driver I received for the shuttle, which I used at least five times a day, were super friendly and informative and really made me feel at home while traveling alone. Two of them even waited for me outside of restaurants or stores while I ordered food or bought groceries to take back to my suite fridge.

Every adobe room or suite at La Posada is very unique in size, shape, and bath amenities so I suggest you ask them to see two or three rooms before you decide, and ask for a newly renovated room if like me you must have a room with a spa tub and quick in/out access- no stairs, near the entrance of the lovely and rustic, sprawling resort.

As The thunderstorm rolls through to Lord Rancour’s mansion, all the guests disappear unexpectedly one by one. But did the butler do it? “Something’s Afoot,” a campy, delightful musical comedy, running at Citadel Theatre Company in Lake Forest, tells the story of 10 dinner guests, who disappear one by one. But no one knows who murdered who!

Brilliantly directed by director Wayne Mell, he allows the characters to let loose and have fun with it. Talking with Mell, he told me, “This is the first show we’re doing in a new space. We used to be in a basement of a church. But with a show like this, we needed a much bigger space.”  Tightly choreographed by Marianne Brown and wonderful music direction by Nick Sula, the show was fun to watch.

Set in 1935, the show reminded me a lot of “Clue” meets “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” The cast blended tightly on such ensemble numbers as “Something’s Afoot,” “Suspicious,” and “Carry On.” Every actor was cast perfectly in their role including Debra Criche Mell (Miss Tweed), Dennis Murphy (Clive), and Kaitlyn Andrulis (Lettie).

The comedy relief came from Mario Mazetti, who played Lord Rancour’s nephew Nigel, and from the clumsy handyman Flint, played by Edward Kuffert. Sarah Breidenbach sounded beautiful as the naïve, but sweet Hope Langdon. Her song “You Fell Out of the Sky” was fantastic. Along with her lover Geoffrey (Christopher Davis), the two highlighted the show with their duets together.

Other great highlights of the show were Flint and Lettie’s hilarious duet “(Tiny Little) Dingy.” Other notable performances were from Ellen Phelps as Lady Grace Manley-Prowe, and Andrew J. Pond as the hysterical Col. Gillweather.

Walking into this theatre, I didn’t know what I was going to expect, but as I looked at the gorgeous set that made you feel like you were in a mansion, and the amazing special effects brought the house to life. I definitely recommend this show for anyone that loves British humor, and loves a great comedic farce. This truly lives up to that.

‘Something’s Afoot’

Citadel Theatre Company, West campus of Lake Forest High School, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays with one Wednesday matinee at 1 p.m. May 18, through June 5

$35/$32 for students and seniors.

(847) 735-8554 or visit www.citadeltheatre.org.

Hairstyles are a quick way to get a read for the age of an audience. “The Zoo Story” at Victory Gardens late last year boasted mostly grayed combovers; “God of Carnage” at the Goodman had shoulder-length cuts and shaved necklines; even “Sex with Strangers” was mostly a salt-and-pepper type of crowd. But at Monday’s opening night of Passing Strange, the 2008 Tony-Award winning rock musical-memoir conceived by musician Stew, the audience was filled with locks of a different color: died porcupine perms and spiked, jet-black up-dos. This was a young crowd.

Youth, rather appropriately, is also the name of the protagonist of Passing Strange; the Black teenage musician, raised in Los Angeles, struggles to find his creative voice and fears becoming too comfortable artistically. So the young artist trips – geographically and psychedelically – from Amsterdam to Berlin, from weed to speed. Watching over Youth’s juvenile delinquencies is the Narrator, peering down like an omniscient father, supplying exposition and exposing cracks (both logical and wise) in the boy’s life. Played on Broadway by Stew, the Narrator here is J.C. Brooks, lead singer of Chicago-based post-punk soul band The Uptown Sound, who energetically supplies all the show’s sound from upstage.

Passing Strange was a critical and commercial success on Broadway, and its Midwest reincarnation by Bailiwick Chicago demonstrates just how universal this story of a young artist is. In short, the dish works without Stew. Brooks is a commanding yet tender narrator; his voice, warm like a wool blanket, channels the pain and longing of an older, wiser artist. Despite his impeccable performance, though, he looks young for the role. A shiny, wide-shouldered black blazer ages him slightly, but weathered nostalgia does not come with only a costume. A younger Narrator does allow Brooks to be more actively engaged with the narrative than Stew was on Broadway. Perched on a stool with a wireless mic rather than cut off by a desk and micstand, Brook’s Narrator intervenes in the story, sitting on the set and occupying the same space as his younger self. He speaks swiftly and carries a wireless stick.

The show is smart, dealing with issues of class, race, gender, sexuality, art, reality, identity, and all their messy and magical intersections. Osiris Khepera stands out amongst the ensemble, embodying shameless commitment and raising all these themes in a speech as the son of a preacher man that that reaches everyone.  Beneath these intellectual themes, though, smashed PBR cans and Heinekens remind us this is a rock show. The director’s note quotes Shakespeare, while the playbill is shaped like an album track list. Through its own shifting identities, Passing Strange emerges as a complicated, emotional, and entertaining work of art. Whether it is a rock concert passing as a musical or a musical passing as a rock concert is still up for debate, but both performance forms are challenged though this blurring of the lines, like a streak of red tearing through heaven-pointed, spiked black hair.

 Fans of Point Break(the movie) and oddball irreverence are being given a rare treat at New Rock Theater. I use the term 'fans' loosely, in the way that arts and entertainment can be enjoyed and respected in ways not always intended. Among other things, Point Break Live is just what it's titled – script and scenes taken from the 1991 major motion picture brought to life in front of a live audience. In case you've never seen it, (very basically)Point Break tells the tale of quarterback gone FBI agent Johnny Utah, who must go undercover to bust a gang of surfing bank robbers. Putting on a comedic focus, it turns into a zany production.

To start - arguably the best idea in the show is that Johnny Utah, the main character, is played by a different audience member each night. This idea is at the same time risky and ingenious. Despite whatever experience the Keanu participant might have in acting, he could easily be rendered inept by the cumbersome cue cards, onstage admonishments, and other abuses. Indeed, many of the memorable parts of the evening were when the actors would break character to berate or molest Johnny into an awkward stumble. Here I must add a notable mention of the hyper-impassioned cue-card girl(also playing as the Keanu stunt double) designated to help the Utah deliver, whose outrageous motivation so often provided an excellent counterpart to the superflat Johnny Utah.

The show overall was aggressively engaging, sparing no one from becoming a liquid - or verbal - target. To the relief of most, ponchos are provided from the start. Reliable for most of the show, but don't count on this plastic covering when commences the 50-year storm. The concept of a stage is also repeatedly dismissed through interactive fights, chases, and robberies.

The type of humor used in PBL is best enjoyed with a thorough knowledge(or at least a viewing) of the film beforehand. My experience would not of been nearly as enjoyable had I not watched Point Break during the week I planned on going. While that might make it sound limited to referential/inside humor, it is the loose, spirited mood that makes attendance worthwhile. Shirtless characters doused in bro-love take on a bizarro likability from what they were in the movie. Favorite lines get shouted from the seats. The whole cast seems to be up on having fun, and participates naturally in moments of improvisation between and during scenes. All that and a conveniently located bar offering (reasonably-priced)drinks throughout the show makes this a cool, casual event to check out.

There are still a couple weeks left to catch Point Break Live!. The show will continue to run on Friday and Saturday nights at 10pm through May 7^th.

(773) 866-0200