À LAMITIÉ ET À ELLE EST LES JOIES No sooner than my soccer-mom van broke down the other day (in a parking lot in Pasadena of all places) and I missed not just one titan of the American theatre stealthily visiting Los Angeles, Ms. Morgan Jenness and one Ms. Naomi Iizuka, four more titans showed up to work on the ‘Chavez Ravine’ revival going up at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. I missed the first two with so much regret that my stomach hurt, but off I went with the others, van-fixed a day later, for a somewhat French dinner experience. I say somewhat because we met at the little French café in downtown Culver City and the server performed her Parisian duties backward - she was wonderfully attentive all through the meal, and then ignored us when it came time to pay the check. She might have been Buddhist. ‘Chavez Ravine’ is a work created by the joy and irreverence of Culture Clash, the iconic performance troupe composed of Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza (in alphabetical order by last name – I love these guys equally) is currently celebrating thirty years as an ensemble, and they have the wit and veteran skill to prove it. This show is going to rock. And it features a lovely turn by my wonderful colleague Sabina Zuniga Varela, once a student of mine at USC and I think the only actor to have been in all three of my Greek adaptations, ‘Electricidad’ at the New Mexican Arts Festival, ‘Oedipus El Rey’ at Dallas Theatre Center and ‘Bruja’ at The Magic Theatre. Sabina was escorted by a stunner, Miles Gaston Villanueva, I have no idea what is going on here, but we are due for a catch up soon, although for the present, their cheekbones match very well. The guys have been doing amazing work on their own. Richard continues to develop new plays with Campo Santo in the Bay Area. Herbert’s ‘El Henry’ was a gigantic joy for the San Diego Rep/La Jolla Playhouse in a site-specific production in downtown San Diego. Ric was a revelation a few months ago in a beautiful tight reading of Jonathan Ceniceroz’ hilarious cruise ship play ‘The Cruise’ at E.S.T. in Atwater. I once had the pleasure of helping produce Chavez Ravine in its first life at the Mark Taper Forum (I can still remember our first meeting with Gordon Davidson and the guys over a Pollo Loco lunch, although I did serve it on my Talavera plates, in the office I shared with Diane Rodriguez) and I am super happy to see it come to life again in a reimagined updated form. Anyway, Culver City at night is a little like a Champs-Élysées for Chicanos. Walking along the Washington corridor was none other than Jose Lopez, one of the few Latino lighting designers in the industry and whose light installations on the walls of LACMA and the Broadway Corridor still bring a smile to my face. And up comes Neza Cal, a ball of infectious joyful musical energy. But the night belonged to my eternal artist friends. Years now we have been making art in the theatre and loving the collective and collaborative life we share with one another. Designer Christopher Acebo, doing costumes this time out, is an amazing set designer as well and this year was represented on Broadway with All The Way, although many know Chris as associate artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to me he is a fellow juvenile delinquent who makes any evening a joyful one. Rachel Hauck is now firmly planted off-Broadway as a set designer, but to me I think about all the amazing regional theatre work she has done and the scope and body of her designs are inspiring, to think I knew her when she was the resident trouble-maker at The Actors’ Gang when their space was on Santa Monica Boulevard and El Centro. Paul James Pendergast is not only a sound designer of the highest, the way he creates a score for a play is art in itself. He becomes one with the production, sitting in rehearsal with you, dreaming with you and creating in the process of the play coming together. I had no idea he now lives in Joshua Tree, I always see him peeing over his balcony on hipsters in the arts district, gone are the days. Finally, no dinner is complete without terrific long time friend and collaborator, Lisa Peterson, a vet with the credit of having been mid-wife to so many new plays she should have a Lisa Peterson New Plays Theatre named after her. It used to terrify me how much Lisa worked, and now I find it extraordinary to see her ease and greatness with creating something like her ‘Iliad’, which has gone all over the world now. I should be terrified, intimidated and shrinking at the talent of this collective bunch, but in truth, they are when I am at my most relaxed, resting in a kind of spirit of friendship, ease and familial familiarity. It’s joyful to be sitting with such long time colleagues, deep friends, confidants and bon vivant’s each and every one of them. The mussels were rich, broth-y and delicious, the happy-hour half-priced appetizers and wine made everything taste more delicious, pricing does that. French cafes do that to you, don’t they? They conjure a kind of time when you could imagine sipping wine like Anaïs Nin, somewhat erotic and not look like a primate while you tug on a steamed artichoke. In the French cafés of Culver City, along with your long time theatre pals, we laugh about how long it took to get a show at the Douglas and I am left to ponder whether the crab cake is made with crab with a C or with a K. Mais naturellement. Aux amis.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 22:37:37 +0000
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