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Transcript
MAIN~16 of 56 • MAIN~16 of 56 • MAIN~16 of 56 • MAIN~16 of 56 • MAIN~16 of 56 • AmbushMag.COM • August 14-27, 2007 • The One & Only Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM• August 14-27, 2007 • The One & Only Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM• August 14-27, 2007 • The One & Only Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM• August 14-27, 2007 • The One & Only Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM• August 14-27, 2007 • The One & Only Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM
GayNewOrleans.COM • GayMardiGras.COM • GayEasterParade.COM • August 14-27, 2007 • GayNewOrleans.COM • GayMardiGras.COM • GayEasterParade.COM • August 14-27, 2007 • GayNewOrleans.COM • GayMardiGras.COM • GayEasterParade.COM • August 14-27, 2007 • GayNewOrleans.COM • GayMardiGras.COM • GayEasterParade.COM • August 14-27, 2007 • GayNewOrleans.COM • GayMardiGras.COM • GayEasterParade.COM • August 14-27, 2007 • AmbushMag.COM • MAIN~17 of 56MAIN~17 of 56MAIN~17 of 56MAIN~17 of 56MAIN~17 of 56
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Louisiana State Gay Rodeo Association(LSGRA) members host Beer Bust at
the Phoenix
Lords of Leather Capt. David & LSGRABoard’s Mike at the LSGRA Beer Bust
hosted by the Phoenix
Ed, Steve & King Amon Ra George takein the LSGRA Beer Bust at the Phoenix
Michael, Matt & Kevin cocktailin’at Lafitte’s
Cory & Joey serve it up at Good Friendsfor the Saints game
Bartender Chris celebrates his b-day atStarlight By The Park
Bartender Stephen welcomes you toDouble Play
The Men ??? of Amon Ra at Cowpokesfor Crescent City Divas
Crescent City Divas emcee LaurenBrown, Brittney O’Brian & Opal Masters
at Show Club of the Year Cowpokes
The Boys Next Door contestants atDance Club of the Year Oz
paparazziambush
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Actors Cooperative Theatre hasnot disappointed with itsmounting of what is an-
nounced unashamedly as a simple sillysummer entertainment. Mr. Caire directedthe show with a sense of great fun andvitality. The show was well paced and theactors bring sparkle and skill and a crispand comic interpretation of their charac-ters to the stage.
ACT did a fine job bringing to life acharming and funny farce which was alovely diversion for a change from ourtown’s awful and tragic daily events of late.As “Butch” Caire told me, “This play openedin about 1935 and flopped, but we thoughtit might be a lot of fun to do.” The actors didseem to be having fun on stage; and itcertainly was not a flop the night I attended.
Oddly the play was not that dated,although a bit politically incorrect but I thinkPC is a lot of phoney nonsense anyway. MyGod, it’s a farce; lighten up. So what if itstereotyped the entire nation of China inone character, played with his usual flairfor wonderfully insane character parts byour town’s beloved “Uncle” WayneDaigrepont (a.k.a. One-Foo-Old) who doesthe role of the Chinese Cook, Charlie OneLung. He filled the house with laughter ineach of his manic scenes.
Be that as it may, who really caresabout the plot of a farce. Just so it’s funny.And it was watching as the repressed/oppressive Aunt Tille goes to town leavingher home open to all kinds of absurdsituations. It was a happy time watchingsome of our best local actors prance andprattle around Aunt Tillie’s lovely sunnybright yellow living room set, a well doneand solid piece of work designed with skillby “Butch” Caire with touches of Orientalia.It even had the requisite three paneleddressing room screen prominently placedstage left for those necessary momentswhen one of the characters must hidequickly and/or change into a hilariouscostume, such as from a barrel to a ladiesdress or man’s suit. (Is there anythingfunnier than a man in a woman’s dresswho looks like either an ugly woman or ahairy man in a woman’s dress?) It workedfor Milton Berle and Flip Wilson to mentiontwo of many who used the ruse of drag forlaughs. And we get lots of that plus “mis-taken identities” as unexpected visitorsdrop in while Aunt Tillie has left her homefor the city for one day because a de-ceased relative has left her something -the Maguffin of the plot.
The bedizened housemaid, Lucinda,played with maniacal man-crazy madcapnuttiness by Taryn Vinet, set the tone forthe farce as she makes the first entrance.Aunt Tillie tells her to keep the house inorder; not to let any men inside; and to takecare of her niece and new husband whoare expected to arrive that day. Both pre-dictable and perhaps unpredictable con-fusion ensues as the plot unfolds fromone farcical scene to another.
Aunt Tillie Task was played with el-egance and grace as a no-nonsense but
charming lady by Linda Hubchen whoends up winning the heart of our town’slegendary Stocker Fontelieu, who playedLuther Lorrimer. Fontelieu lit up the stagewith his suave presence and his familiarmellifluous voice. Eye candy even in h iseighties, he was a handsome suitor.Hubchen and Fontelieu had a bright andswinging stage presence; a crisp profes-sionalism in their scenes together. AbbyLake trod the boards with finesse playingthe role of Mrs. Tillie Tucker - who had oneof the best groaner exit lines.
Jeff Ramirez played Mervin Tuckerwith style as did Jonathan Mares whoplayed Roland Howland. Both handsomemen played each vigorous characters witha good sense of comedic timing.
Even Jimmy deMontluzin had mefooled when he stormed on stage as Dr.Hattie Bing, in a drag ensemble that hadme wondering who she/he was. And whata drag debut! He ranks among thosementioned masters, Flip Wilson andMilton Berle. Mr. deMontluzin has such ajoie de vivre both off and on the boards, healways illuminates the stage with fluores-cent energy. His scene was like a mini-skit (and though he was in a long skirt, I bethe is impressive in a mini-skirt) from agood Saturday Night Live presentation.
Joy Chun was funny and effective asLizzie Parsons, and as stylish on stage asPauline Boudreaux who played biz-lady,Ellen Neeland. Miss Boudreaux was thesoigne fashion model of the play as sheentered wearing a very chic and glamour-ous outfit. She was quite convincing in herrole as a worldly attractive business ladywho of course gets a handsome husbandas the final curtain falls and the farce endson a high note.
Excellent Light and Sound Designwas done by Gerald Lester with Cos-tumes by Gwen and Alex Caire, all of whichadded to the wit and charm of this smartproduction.
High Society
High Society the recent pro-duction done by Tulane Sum-mer Lyric is one of the weak-
est vehicles ever put together patchworkstyle with songs by Cole Porter based onThe Philadelphia Story by Philip Barryabout a rich family’s silly attempts to growup among the trappings of gold. Themusical is also based on the film of thesame name.
Trying to wrap a dull plot around 18songs that simply don’t fit in just did not
work for me. Many people left after the firstact, and more than usual number wereseen sleeping in their seats.
It was like watching a bird attempt tosore with one misshapen or broken wing.There were a few moments of actual flightbut not enough to say the show was anywhere near a soaring success.
With so much excellent talent on thestage we were happy to witness a few highflown moments among the crashes: KatieHowe in the role of Tracy Lord lookedlovely, sang beautifully and acted with acertain charm. She was sweetly effectivein her duet True Love with handsomeChristopher E. Carey playing the role asher first husband C. Dexter Haven. Mr.Carey did his role with a suave natural-ness, and a beautiful strong singing voice.
C. Leonard Raybon as Mike Connor,the reporter, was very sexy lying around onstage wearing his 1950s bathing suit insome scenes; and later singing espe-cially well the song You’re Sensationalwhich he does both seated, on his knees,and lying in Ms. Howe’s lap.
Dan Garvey was another performerwho rather then appear dull as the scriptdictated in the role of George Kittredgewas a sexy hunk on stage with a beautifulbaritone singing voice. In the smart role asthe one who loves him unnoticed, JessicaGordon played Liz Imbrie with insight andedgy charm.
Louis Q. Barroso did a splendid jobplaying the role of Uncle Willie with ascene stealing technique which made hischaracter lovable and convincing. In aminor role as the kid sister Dinah Lord,Catherine M. Rodriguez was absolutelyamazing. This young lady shows greatpromise. She was one of the most illumi-nating and convincing characters on thestage.
Susan Barrett Smith was very good inthe role of Margaret Lord. Reggie Hendrydid a good job in the role of her philander-ing butt-pinching hubby Seth Lord.
The 20 members of the ensembledid their best to make the EdmondKresley’s clunkey choreographed tapdancing work; but it mostly looked likestampeding herds of buffalo en masssimilar, without the tapping, to the evengreater dancing hoards in the film Hello,Dolly!. The choral singing did soar beau-tifully.
Kenneth L. Leach conducted the or-
chestra with discipline and taste. JulieWinn’s glamorous 1950s period gownsand costumes were beautifully conceived.Smooth lighting was created by Peter Pfeilfor the lovely set pieces by Rick Paul. Thesound by Stewart Becnel required someadjustment.
B. Michel Howard’s direction was
somewhat off key this time. Consideringthat Mr. Howard pulled this show togetherin only two weeks perhaps such a re-cycled-song show resists even his tal-ents. One must marvel at the many othershows that were resplendent and soaredwith beauty above the wide stage of DixonHall. Something went wrong this time.That bright bird of musical theater had abumpy flight. This vehicle just does notgive all these wonderful talents a lot offlying space. With nowhere to go they weredestined to bump into each other in theirlovely attempts not to.
Cobalt Blue, DisasterNumber 1604, Parts 1 & 2
The Marigny Theatre and Godsand Gators Theatre Companyhas an excellent production on
stage with its world premiere of Play-wright/Director Louie Crowder’s two re-lated, post hurricane Katrina themed, oneacts under the title of Cobalt Blue, Disas-ter Number 1604, Parts 1 & 2.
Handsome, young, and well edu-cated Playwright and Director LouieCrowder has an interest in and knowl-edge of esoterica, the occult, voodoo,myths, magic and religious sects. Heputs this interest to work in his well writtendramas without excess. Just enough tomake his audience wonder; just enoughto keep them on track with the elements ofmystery.
In the first of the evenings plays, WhenThere Came A Knock At The Door. Mr.Crowder presents us with a post Katrinadrama that manages to catch the terrorand tragedy of this on going horrifyingevent in a net that lets some of the inexpli-cable slip through making for a tight wellconceived script that doesn’t overwhelm;that leads us to ponder and think. A coupleof memorable lines come to mind: “45skill killers; it’s the gun of choice for the sideof good....” and ...”love has to be saluted...”In this play two young gay men living nearFrenchmen Street get caught up in a streetriot where guns are fired, bullets fly every-where and looting may be taking placeduring the Hurricane Katrina hell. Whowas shot? Who is the man who knocks ontheir apartment door to discuss love andchaos with them (played with a delicateenergy and convincing presence by GlennMeche as Victor). And does the name
Victor imply victory of some sort? Are thetwo gay lovers dead or alive?
Devin Michael plays the role of AlexRainwater with a natural grace and a lovelybaritone voice. This handsome AfricanAmerican actor does an excellent job of
