The Happiest Medium » Amanda Thompson

Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:59:56 +0000

Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story (written by Mariah MacCarthy, directed by Amanda Thompson) is just that … “A” Romeo & Juliet story – not a 100% faithful retelling of THE Romeo and Juliet story. First of all, Romeo and Juliet are both women. So, right away, by making this a gender-issue play and bringing in questions of Juliet’s orientation – questions she must ask herself as much as we the audience must ask of the play – an entirely different layer is added to this tale which is deeper and more complex. And since this layer is deeper and complex, so is the love story. There’s an urgency that doesn’t -can’t- exist in a heterosexual telling of this story, and that adds to the thoughtfulness and despair. And the hope.

Sometimes, no matter what two people do to stay apart, fate will find a way to throw them into each other’s arms. And sometimes fate will even use trickery, deception, and camouflage in order to make sure that these two people don’t miss their meeting. Take rocker Romeo Montague (Lauren Hennessy) and homecoming queen Juliet Capulet (Brigette Choura) who both hail from fair Verona, Iowa. They are currently embroiled in a bitter family feud as their mothers – mayoral candidate Claire Capulet (Jeremy Michael Lagunas) and current mayor Evelyn Montague (Matt Welsh) – sling mud at each other and expect their daughters to do the same, while still acting with a modicum of decorum. Easier said than done.

Romeo (Lauren Hennessy) & Juliet (Brigitte Choura) Photo by Kacey Anisa

Romeo – an out and proud lesbian – professes to have a crush on the presumably straight Juliet and goes about getting her attention by penning a tune called “Hey Bitch” and then letting it go viral on YouTube. This move is tantamount to a boy pulling a girl’s hair in the school yard and then running away – with much the same effect; Juliet is intrigued, but feigns annoyance. And of course, she’s straight so there’s really no underlying interest. After all, she has a fiance doesn’t she? Never mind that Paris Roberts (Nic Grelli) is somewhat wimpy, rather spineless, and altogether sexless. (They’ve agreed to wait until marriage to have sex and he doesn’t seem to push the point much).

So when Romeo does herself up in male drag in order to pursue another woman (Rosalind), and finds herself instead romancing a masked, unrecognizable Juliet, this couple truly doesn’t know what they’re about to embark on. What they do know is, they’d have more luck stopping a freight train with their fist then they would stopping this attraction they both feel.

In this version, Romeo and Juliet do not pine for each other desperately and live in a far reaching fantasy of flight, fancy and fairyland (okay, okay, I know that they died in the end. But I’m making a point …) in Verona, Iowa these two gals are living it day by day and that means dealing with what it means when one is out and one is not, when one is proud and one is not, when one is willing to do anything for the relationship and one … well, one isn’t so sure.

The only thing I found more of a distraction than anything was the blurring of gender lines in terms of casting. While I applaud the idea that anyone can play anything and I agree with the intention behind it I just couldn’t quite understand what purpose was served by having the mothers played by men in drag … and was even further confused by the grandfather being played by a woman (Anna Savant). It was strange to insert gender-bending actors in a play that dealt so strongly with a character struggling with her orientation.

Lauren Hennessy and Brigette Choura are perfectly cast as the desperate, star-crossed lovers; Hennessy in particular. Her Romeo is confounded by this deep love which twists her in knots – making her feel unconquerable one moment (“Daisy Girl”) and crushed the next (“Plastic Girl”). She is breathtakingly real … often funny, sometimes sarcastic and deeply sexy … her chemistry with Choura (not only during their intimate moments but during her moments of longing as well) can be felt all the way in the back row, and considering this show is playing at The Ellen Stewart Theatre that’s saying a lot. When she sings she seduces and bewitches everyone in the room.

The music by Brian Kirchner is very good, not only standing well on its own but remarkable at underscoring moments in the play when words are not enough. The choir – Diana Oh, Julie Ek and Lauren Weinberg – have some wonderful moments and their “How Will It Happen To You” which closes act one is positively mesmerizing.

The great thing about Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story is that it will leave you not only entertained but with a lot to think about. And that’s what important theatre is all about.

~~~

Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story
Purple Rep
Writer: Mariah MacCarthy
Director: Amanda Thompson
2h 30m
www.purplerep.com
VENUE #9: The Ellen Stewart Theatre @ LA MAMA
Thu 18 @ 2 Sat 20 @ 12 Sat 27 @ 7:45

Fate, Fury and Musical Theatre: A Kind of Cabaret – That Would Be My Kind (FRIGID New York 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:04:45 +0000

You know how to get me to fall in love with your production within the first minute? Start off with a smooth cocktail made up of one part Lady Gaga and one part Sweeney Todd, mix it up with some hot choreography, garnish the hell out of it with a lavender back light, then have it served up hot and sweet by a trio of beauteous A Capella boys. Then, just keep going. Walk into Fate, Fury and Musical Theatre: A Kind of Cabaret expecting to be drunk on talent and damn – you’ll get your elixir and more. Much more. Written and performed by front-woman Liz Wasser, Fate, Fury is Fabulous, Fun and Fantastic.

So, back to these voices. These three beautifully blended voices are tethered to the bodies of Michael Hull, Ryan David LaMont and Kennedy Kanagawa, dancing the sleek steps of choreographer Chanda Calentine. The trio represent the three Furies – the three who are one (they not only sing in harmony but speak in perfect unison – intonation and all), and they welcome us – The Children of the 8^th day (which is the day AFTER the creator rested). We are special, because we heard the call and responded. What a warm greeting, Furies!

Soon to arrive upon the scene is the lady herself: Liz Wasser, and she makes herself known with a roar of talent, not so much “taking” the stage as “commanding” it. This gal’s got the soul of Aretha and the spirit of Midler – she’s got the pipes AND the three pips, out-Knighting Ms. Gladys herself. This is one hell of a force to be reckoned with so it make sense that the reckoning will be done by the likes of the mystical Fates and Furies.

Elizabeth Wasser

After blowing you away with her opening number Ms. Wasser takes you on a journey of how this all came to pass, this meeting with the Fates. Entertaining, clever, and not one bit airbrushed, Wasser’s monologue about being a non-equity grain of sand on the beach of equity actors around her is recognizable to both the actors as well as the non-actors in the audience. After all, doesn’t it feel like we’re all trying to swim upstream most days? But as she tells it, it was on one particular harrowing day that Ms. Wasser found herself all the way back in Long Island – Montauk . . . the end of the line. Facing her fate, her fury – her future.

The rest of the show is monologues mixed with music – perfectly paced by director Amanda Thompson and energetically devised by musical director Kristin Sgarro. Wasser’s “Poor Unfortunate Soul” number is so fiery, so electric, so powerful, that she literally transcends the small space of the Red Room and gives a performance worthy of Madison Square Garden.

Wasser brilliantly (and I’m talking from experience here) illustrates and encapsulates the relationship between the gay man and the chubby girl – two genres of social outcast bound together by the feeling that they are performing all the time. She and the Furies then do a fantastic mash up of Fat Bottomed Girls, Baby Got Back and Big Girls You Are Beautiful. Liz – thank you.

A slightly self-indulgent power ballad “How Do I Get You Alone” sung to pictures of Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch and a slide show of a few other Englishmen shows off her considerable vocal chops but slightly mis-fires. Still, this chick is a firecracker and at this point I was so enamored of her that she could have taken three minutes to go down to KGB bar, get a beer, come back up, and I would have applauded her. Yes, folks, she’s THAT GOOD.

Towards the end, just when I thought there was no more love left to give her Wasser found my secret passion for Hedwig and performed a deeply personal song to the tune of Wicked Little Town.

Finally, she leaves us with this last thought – despite everything it’s just you, but for this one hour, you’re not alone. So if all we have is our own voice . . . we might as well sing.

Liz Wasser and Furies – please don’t ever stop.

~~~

Fate, Fury and Musical Theatre: A Kind of Cabaret

Presented by The Furies Theatre Company New York, NY

The Red Room (85 East 4th Street) $15

Thu 2/24 @ 8pm, Fri 2/25 @ 11pm, Sun 2/27 @ 12:30pm, Thu 3/3 @ 9:30pm, & Sat 3/5 @ 8pm

The Happiest Medium » Amanda Thompson

Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story (Fringe Festival 2011)

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Fate, Fury and Musical Theatre: A Kind of Cabaret – That Would Be My Kind (FRIGID New York 2011)

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