theater
BY ANNA GRACE
Joey (Bill Hulings) and
Vera (Siri Vik) in Pal Joey
Lessons in Lounge Lizardry
Reflections on OFAM’s Pal Joey
T
wo-bit affairs, a bored socialite, a nightclub
emcee wannabe, a whole gaggle of
dissatisfi ed chorus girls and a straight-
laced, strip-teasing reporter — Pal Joey is not your
average musical. Based on a series of short stories
by John O’Hara, it follows the dreams and failures
of a charmingly self-centered young opportunist
working his way through the Chicago nightclub
scene.
“If it is possible to make an entertaining musical
comedy out of an odious story, Pal Joey is it,” said a
1940 New York Times review. That was far and away
the kindest commentary. Pal Joey has been revived
off and on since then with moderate success. It has
a few truly great songs, a lot of good music and
some seriously messed up characters. You probably
haven’t heard of it because it’s a tough show. It’s
hard to identify with the leads; the plot is dismal yet
couched in fun song and dance numbers. Essentially,
it’s the As You Like It of musical theater: too good
Caesar (Vilma
Silva) cannot
shake the fearful
night visions
to be gathering dust on the stacks, too diffi cult to
stage often.
Thus OFAM offers us an In-Concert experience.
Less expensive and with greater focus on the music, it
was advertised as having “everything but the set.” But
with actors reading lines off music stands and a full
orchestra on stage, some aspects of the production
were very much enriched while others suffered.
The music was a fi rst-rate treat. So often when
musicals are staged purely for their entertainment
value we forget that there is great music slipping out
from somewhere behind a curtain. Not so with an In-
Concert production. Having the orchestra assembled
on the stage with Robert Ashens conducting brought
the focus back to the music and allowed us to really
appreciate what we were hearing. Part of the mission
of OFAM is to perform great American classics in
their original context. “Bewitched” is the big song
here, but there are so many other wonderful numbers
that I may have overlooked as merely steps towards
resolving a plot had the musical been performed in a
traditional manner.
The effect of the In-Concert production on the
acting was fascinating. While I think many of the
simpler characters of the early American musical
would hold up well in a concert setting, Pal Joey
happens to house two extremely complex human
souls. Bill Hulings, although wonderfully charming,
just wasn’t sleazy enough. Similarly consummate
show-woman Siri Vik made a delightfully edgy
society maven, but did not have the time to soften
Vera’s sharp edge and give the character a delicacy
that had not yet been decayed by money and beauty.
On the other hand, the actors playing the
comedic leads were able to really let loose in this
easy setting. Erica Jean as the dour, bespectacled
newswoman who lets it all hang out, Melba Snyder,
was fabulous. Laura Sue Hiszczynskyj was tearing
about having a great time as the havoc-wreaking
chorus girl Gladys Bumbs. These two almost made
it impossible for Chas King to steal the show, but
he rallied in a red hat and striped suit as the slick
and very quick talking Ludlow Lowell, an “artist’s
representative.”
This In-Concert production boasted fabulous
choreography and occasional set pieces for musical
numbers. While I wouldn’t pass up Richard H. Jessup’s
choreography for anything, it was a little disconcerting
to watch actors step around their scripts and break out
into a dance at the front of the stage. Yet, the chatter
and discontent of the chorus girls and the authenticity
of their movement completely enriched the rehearsal
hall feel of the production.
“It’s interesting, once you get over the music
stands,” I overheard an audience member comment.
As a community, we need to get over them. In-
Concert productions are a great way to bring little-
known works to Eugene audiences, if we can get our
expectations straight.
Ultimately, theater can best be judged by a
production’s ability to make us feel acutely and sweep
us up in its world, and on how it leads us to think.
As with all OFAM productions, I walked out a little bit
smarter, my understanding of American music being
carefully enriched summer after summer. I was not
so much pulled into the story as I was invited to fl oat
in its music for a while, the misguided dreams of a
socialite and a scammer sitting in my heart.
ew
Nowhere to Hide
An electrifying Julius Caesar in Ashland
I
JENNY GRAHAM
gasp, quickly going cold with horror as the fi rst blade
slices into the fl esh at the back of her neck. Another
falls upon her, and another, brilliancy of blood seeping
through her white gown. I am riveted, having come to
believe that surely this Caesar, so confi dent, so charismatic,
could not be killed.
Vilma Silva plays Julius Caesar. That a woman should
captivate us in the role of a might-be dictator feels in no
way forced in the modern, sparse setting. She takes our
hearts by right, with that peculiarly Roman capability
tinged with infallibility fl ashing in her ready smile.
From the moment you enter the New Theatre, nay, even
before that, the line between audience and performer
is blurred. We become her Roman crowd willingly,
caught up in the bloody politics of a country in fl ux. I am
uncomfortable and uncertain in my role as both a viewer
and de facto cast member.
This uncertainty is echoed in the questions of the play;
what is the line between a hero and a tyrant, a liberator and
a murderer? Julius Caesar is uniquely brilliant in the way
the Shakespeare uses language and rhetoric to sway us
from one opinion to the next. Gregory Linington (Cassius)
28 JUNE 23, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
and Danforth Comins (Mark Anthony) let the words roll and
thunder in a clash of ideology (or self interest). Jonathan
Haugen is compelling as Brutus.
The events in Julius Caesar are public, a fact we are
never allowed to forget. With few exceptions, each actor
rarely leaves the stage and plays several characters. They
are constantly watching, ready to jump back into the fray.
Gina Daniels works her roles with ease, giving a particularly
striking performance in her turn as Portia.
Clean of pageantry and fl ashy tricks of staging, this show
is not the wildly crowd-pleasing kind of play associated
with the larger, more well-known (and currently closed
due to damage to a support beam) Bowmer Theatre. More
than once I cover my lips, trying not to physically cry out
for fear it will wake the patron sleeping in the seat next
to me. But if the snoozing gentleman was not impressed,
the middle school girls across from me were nearly
vaulting from their seats in enthusiasm. Julius Caesar is
an intense, intellectual experience for the passionate lover
of Shakespeare. — Anna Grace
Julius Caesar runs through Nov. 6 in the New Theatre at the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival in Ashland.
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