by Shirley Lorraine

Joseph Rocks Simi Stage

Ready for some high energy, off the charts action and exciting stage work? Then Actor’s Repertory Theatre of Simi’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is where you need to be.

Playing now at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center through August 21, this staging is exciting, colorful, surprising and filled to the brim with high-quality talent.

Extracted from the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Joseph is the story of a young man heralded, banished, enslaved, heralded again and finally triumphant as he and his dreams lead Egypt to glory.

The sung-through play marked the first staged collaboration of the uber-successful team of Tim Rice (lyrics) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and ranks as one of the most staged productions world-wide. Why? Because not only does it tell a story well, it is also simply a rocking fun time. The musical styles vary widely, costuming is vibrant, and the choreography is outstanding, keeping the audience enthralled throughout.

A live orchestra accompanies the operetta, although frequently the electronic instruments’ amplified volume drowned out the strings completely. The singers, while equipped with microphones, really had to push to be heard over the accompaniment. As a result, much of the actual story line was masked under the music. Take a synopsis with you to get the whole story. Or just enjoy the sheer velocity of the piece.

You’ll be swept up immediately even if you miss a few details.
My guest, a degreed musician, commented about the need for balance among the instruments. When the story line is sung, to get the full effect it is imperative that the words can be heard. By the second act our ears had acclimated to the volume some, but we found the most enjoyable moments by far to be Joseph’s solo songs when his clear voice shone, and the beautiful message could be heard in full.

In this version there are two narrators, Siena Avila and Mia Vavasseur, who complemented each other quite well. Both have strong stage presence and quality voices. Vincent Perez as Joseph is a force of nature. His portrayal is powerful, compelling and spot-on vocally. An extremely entertaining performance is given by George Chavez as the Pharaoh, who commanded the audience expertly.

The large ensemble cast carries off their multiple personas with verve. The spotlighted character moments give many individuals their opportunity to show additional talents. The bevy of beautiful wives and dancers, along with the highly capable men and the children’s chorus round out the action nicely.

Direction by Jesse Saywell is creative and tight, choreography by Becky Castells is well suited to the dancers and well executed. The eclectic mix of costuming styles is a delight. The entire crew is to be commended for their contributions to this greatly enjoyable presentation.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues through August 21. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. on August 13 and 20. www.svvac.org, 805-583-7900.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Jerry & Marge Go Large – Paramount +

Jerry Selbee (Bryan Cranston) had worked at the same cereal factory for 42 years until changes forced him into retirement, which was not a lifestyle he was comfortable with as he was a math genius and big picture problem solver. He felt his talents would go to waste until the day he stopped in his local quick stop for his regular cup of coffee and decided to check out the odds of his local lottery. Scribbling the math on a napkin, Jerry realized that to his surprise the odds were in favor of the players when the Windfall was triggered, where if no one won and the jackpot went above $2 million that it would drop down to increase the lesser winning number tickets.

Jerry tested his theory with $8,000, all the savings he and his wife Marge (Annette Bening) had, and didn’t tell her his plan but won $15,000 which he hid in a cereal box in the pantry. Jerry finally told Marge, who surprisingly was excited and supportive of his new idea. The Michigan lottery canceled their Windfall game, but Massachusetts still had Windfall and was only 10 hours away so they booked a motel in a tiny town where the spent the day printing tickets at the local market and the night separating the winning tickets that totaled over $21,000.

Marge helped Jerry realize that if he shared what he knew he could help the town and the people, especially due to the fact that the more money they bet the more they win with Windfall. Jerry decided to start a legit corporation where his friends could buy in for $500 a share and earn an equal percentage of the profits. Jerry and Marge’s winnings and the group investment totaled just over $40,000 and ended up winning $82,000.

Shortly after their first big win a Harvard student named Tyler was doing his thesis on the odds of winning POWERBALL vs MEGAMillions, and in checking smaller games for comparison discovered the same loophole Jerry discovered with Windfall. Tyler organized a student group to buy tickets but felt their winnings were too low, and they determined after hacking into the lottery there was another group. Tyler tried a couple of times to get Jerry’s group out of the game, but was never successful as while Tyler was in it to get rich, Jerry was in it to help his community.

A reporter named Maya from the Boston Globe was doing a story on the lottery, and after getting a long awaited report from the lottery office found Jerry and Tyler’s names repeatedly in the payouts. She decided visit Jerry to see what was happening, but Jerry had nothing to hide as he wasn’t cheating was up to printing tickets for eleven days to cover their investors buyins. Maya’s interview with Tyler showed their differing reasons for playing, and she felt compassion for Jerry.

Maya decided to print the article featuring Tyler and the Harvard group, basically leaving Jerry out of it, and the lottery immediately removed their machines and canceled the game so Jerry had to tell the group it was all over. Unbeknownst to Jerry and Marge the group got together and played the last Windfall, going to stores all across the state and even organizing a bus for the townspeople to buy the thousands of tickets. They brought the tickets back on a flatbed for Jerry and Marge to count, understanding how much the whole experience meant to them.

Jerry’s winnings totaled $27 million, and Jerry and Marge took their winnings and started a construction loan company for Evart, and like many of their friends and neighbors put their children and grandchildren through school. Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening are perfectly cast in their roles and to learn more about this incredible true story, here’s a link to the 60 Minutes interview from 2019 with the real Jerry and Marge Selbee: https://youtu.be/TTYnHr_-wcY

Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 30m

by Shirley Lorraine

Elite Tackles Complex Issues
Humanity is inherently flawed. In judgement, in morals, and in using honesty as a compass for life. This is the basis for the drama/dark comedy Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan now on stage at the Elite Playhouse in Channel Islands through August 7.

The extremely strong cast of four takes hold of their given dilemmas and attacks them with vigor and confidence. Solidly directed by Cate Caplin, the cast features Rosie Gordon, Herb Hall, Gabriel Tejeda-Benitez and Bill Walthall. All are compelling in their commitment to their characters and each one pulls the audience into their world without apology.

The action takes place in the lobby of an up-scale apartment building in Manhattan. It is the graveyard shift and Jeff (Tejeda-Benitez), a young man struggling with housing and money issues, is on duty. He is a security guard and a rather lax one at that. His supervisor, William (Hall), is a no-nonsense man with a high sense of propriety in life. The “Captain” has been a security guard for a number of years and expects his underlings to be equally diligent in their duties.

An affable neighborhood police officer, Bill (Walthall) is a frequent evening visitor to the building, supposedly to visit a friend. On this night, his rookie partner Dawn (Gordon) accompanies him and waits in the lobby with Jeff. New to the job, Dawn is at once reluctant to engage in conversation with Jeff, and yet is drawn in to learn that all may not be what it seems.

Bill has secrets. William discovers that his brother may have been party to a crime. Both find themselves in a moral quagmire and must decide where their loyalties lie as well as accept the consequences that must be faced. Dawn is disappointed in Bill, her mentor, as he reveals that he is a flawed, entitled officer nearing retirement who is within sight of the coveted “golden badge” for his service which will be lost if his indiscretions become known. Jeff’s thinking is adrift as he says both too little and too much at the wrong times.

The play is complex and substantive. The actors are all superb. Direction is tight. The audience is faced with all-too real situations that could easily skew an individual’s moral compass when push comes to shove.

The frank dialogue is peppered with expletives, and is often uncomfortable as the characters each grapple with the depth of their dilemmas. Although their situations differ, they are linked with one another through common knowledge, making decisions even more difficult to process.

The portrayals are so natural that it was easy to commiserate with each of the characters as they attempted to justify their actions. But rationale does not necessarily equal right. Each is acutely aware that how they cope with the circumstances will affect their futures and their friendships.
A well-written, well executed piece of theater.

Lobby Hero plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday matinees. (805 483-5118, www.theElite.org. Proof of vaccination required, masks recommended.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Snowflake Mountain – Netflix Series

In Snowflake Mountain, ten overly emotional, easily offended young adults are sent by their parents to what they believe is a resort vacation, only to discover they’ve actually been sent to a wilderness survival retreat to help them to live their own adult lives with all the responsibilities that entails. Their parents are tired of them not meeting their potential so they tricked their giant babies into going far far away and “grow the hell up” under the guidance of Survival Experts Matt Tate (army combat engineer for almost 10 years) and Joel Graves (former navy ordinance disposal, bomb squad), along with Cat Bigney (primative skills expert and survival educator).

The camp is completely off grid and the group, which includes 5 men and 5 women from across the globe, must learn to adapt and change their snowflake ways of being lazy and feeling entitled or suffer consequences, which is a very new concept to this eclectic group of young adults. The women include: Rae, 25 Kent, UK; Deandra, 24 New York; Derriea, 25 New York; Devon, 20 New York; Olivia, 25 Ohio (who quit day 1); and Francesca, 21 New York who came to camp half way through the series to replace Olivia’s spot. The men included: Liam, 21 Warwickshire, UK; Carl, 23 California; Sunny, 26 Pennsylvania; Randy, 23 Florida; Solomon, 26 Virginia.

The first day they were all in complete shock when they were driven into the mountains and dropped off with their luggage on a dirt road. Matt and Joel arrived in ATVs and told them to put their essential items in the dry bags supplied and hike back to camp. Matt and Joel gathered their luggage and met at camp for their first lesson in being flexible and adaptable. They then blew up all the luggage as a lesson in overcoming setbacks, making them stronger because sometimes in life there’s unexpected loss, and also sometimes material things weigh people down. Their motivation to stay was a $50,000 prize that would be awarded to one of them at the end, but the catch was that for every person that decided to quit, $5,000 would be taken from the prize money.

Matt and Joel started with simple things to help them begin to take care of themselves such as finding food caches in the woods or chopping down a tree for firewood. They were guided to be self-sufficient by doing things many of them had never done their entire lives such as cooking and cleaning, but also had to embrace using outhouses and showering outdoors. There were wilderness lessons like using a compass and skinning a deer, along with confidence building exercises like climbing a tall tree with climbing gear and breaking a board with their hands.

Those who needed extra help in being a part of the experience ended up at Last Chance Lake, where they had the choice of sleeping in the woods in a primitive shelter, or seeking shelter in a warm RV which would also mean they had quit and would be sent home. The end goal that all their experiences in discipline and teamwork was preparing them for was a 22 mile, 2 day hike to the top of a high mountain peak – the first day to basecamp being very physically challenging and the hike to the top the second day actually being perilous for skilled climbers.

To make it to the summit and for someone to win $50,000, they’ll have to challenge themselves, grow as individuals and work together as a team, concepts completely foreign to all of them.

Runtime: 8 – 40m Episodes

by Shirley Lorraine

Spellers Put to the T.E.S.T.

Even though school is out county-wide, the Spelling Bee must go on. That is, the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee now being held on the Conejo Players stage in Thousand Oaks through July 17.

Competition is never easy, but for six middle school age students in Putnam County facing their fears as they work to overcome their insecurities, their myriad family issues and peer pressure to attempt to triumph in the Bee, it is especially challenging. The six quite disparate students each have their own singular ways of coping and recall, providing the audience with a great deal of laughter and empathy.

The students are played by Paige Pensivy as the confident, several-time winner; Jack Cleary the eccentric, homeschooled Leaf Coneybear; Hannah Saltman portrays a shy and insecure Olive Ostrovsky. Aaron Ellis is the Boy Scout Chip Tolentino (who ultimately suffers an embarrassing attack of inopportune puberty), Jacob Coners is William Barfee (pronounced Bar-Fay), and Jenna Lay is Logainne SchwarztandGrubenierre. Each one gave distinct and delightful characterizations, tackling their individual shining moments with verve and enthusiasm.

Three “adult” characters, the Bee organizer and town realtor (Rona Lisa Peretti), Vice-Principal Douglas Panch, (played wonderfully androgynously by Leilani Toone), and Mitch (Jeremy Matticks, a man serving community service hours, hold the students to the task at hand.

One tricky element of this play is the opportunity for the actors to improvise, adding often hilarious lines and actions to the play. Audience members are encouraged to “sign up” to be in the Bee as they enter the theater. Several are then chosen to participate in the Bee on stage, offering additional unknowns and opportunities. The audience immediately becomes a part of the Bee itself, rooting for everyone. Lots of fun.

To the cast and director’s credit, these elements were all handled seamlessly. Word definitions provided by Vice Principal Panch become a highlight of the action. Because of the unknown elements that can affect timing, the song order is not announced as it can change. Lots for the actors to keep track of! When a speller is eliminated, the character renders a “goodbye” song, is given a juice box and ushered off the stage.

Several of the “kids” and Mitch reappear as additional characters to add flavor and substance to the spellers’ backstories. The musical numbers are lively and feature some outstanding voices among the cast. The songs themselves are not particularly memorable but are appropriate to the action.

The ubiquitous school gymnasium setting, complete with climbing rope, posters and bleachers, is just right. The single microphone center stage is almost a character into itself. The production is tight and worthy of attendance. Go. It’s a fun show.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. only through July 17. A full program can be accessed on the CPT website, www.ConejoPlayers.org. Make reservations via the website or 805-495-3715.

by Shirley Lorraine

Music Man Brings in Summer in Ojai

The Ojai Art Center Theater is now running what may be the quintessential summer musical – the ever popular The Music Man by Meredith Wilson. Since first introduced in 1957, The Music Man, encapsulating the innocent charm of a bygone America, has been a favorite for both audiences and actors alike.

Perennially popular songs including seventy-Six Trombones, Till There was You and Trouble in River City, are once again brought to life by the inimitable Professor Harold Hill and others.

The story begins on the Fourth of July 1912, in the small town of River City, Iowa. Harold Hill, a charming conman, comes to town with a scheme to hornswoggle the citizens into believing he can teach the local youth how to play instruments in a marching band. The plan is to get the parents to buy the instruments, uniforms and instructions. Professor Hill plans to leave the area with the money before the wares are due to arrive. However, local librarian Marion Paroo catches Hill’s eye and, despite knowing his true motives, she persuades him to stay. Ultimately the positive influence of hope pervades, and the town rejoices. All is well in River City.

Directed by OACT’s Executive Director Tracy Williams Sutton, the large cast is filled with seasoned and up-and-coming talents alike. Larry Toffler leads the band as the charismatic Professor Hill. His performance is energetic, and he delivers the rapid-fire patter quite well. He is paired with Darrienne Lissette Caldwell as Marion the librarian. Caldwell has a beautiful operatic voice which does not need a microphone to be heard clearly. Vocal blending still needs some refinement, in my opinion, as Caldwell’s vocal strength frequently overwhelms any other musical action.

Watching the younger members of the cast shine was a treat. Abby Duclos as Amaryllis, Lily Giuliani as Zaneeta Shinn and Benny Schurmer as Tommy Djilas are particularly of note. Kai Maal-King is wonderful as the reticent Winthrop, delivering his song Gary, Indiana with precision.

The show features live musical accompaniment situated at the rear of the set. This enabled the front of the stage to be useful in many ways and the audience to enjoy the music as opposed to straining to hear the actors over the musicians. Good move, Director Sutton.

A featured highlight, for me, is always the quartet. As Professor Hill entices the school board members to experiment with their voices, the quartet quickly becomes a unit to favorable effect. There are some wonderful voices in there.
The Pick-a-Little Ladies also add concise delivery and comic flair. Several quite strong voices carry the songs, and with a few more performances under their belts, their blending should also settle in.

Also of note are veteran actor Bill Spellman as the befuddled Mayor George Shinn, his wife Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn played to the hilt by Marisa Miculian, and Andrew Eiden as Marcellus Washburn.

The Music Man will lift your spirits and provide a family-friendly entrée to the summer in Ojai.

Performances continue Fridays and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 26. Reservations www.ojaiact.org or (805) 647-8797.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande – Hulu Originals

3 out of 4 palm trees

In Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) was a retired religious education teacher that never experienced an orgasm, having spent her life faking them for her husband during the passionless, predictable sex they had for 31 years. Her husband, who died two years prior, had been the only man she had ever had sex with so she decided to hire a compassionate sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), who gently worked to disarm her insecurities about sex and her own physical appearance.

During their first meeting, Nancy was very apprehensive spending most of the time asking Leo questions about his life and work, though they did eventually end up in bed together. A week later Nancy booked Leo for a second time with a bucket list of sexual acts that she wanted to do having never experienced. Her past as a teacher was why she used a list, giving her discomfort a matter of structure and also having a sense of accomplishment being able to “check things off her list”.

Leo tried to help Nancy understand that her reservations weren’t about sex in general, rather that she needed to work on letting go from what holds her back and her own judgment. To relax her, Leo put on some music and despite her initial objection got Nancy to start dancing and feeling free in her body. Leo started with a simple massage that relaxed Nancy enough to ask Leo if he would take off his shirt so she could explore the contours of his chiseled physique, and ultimately were able to check one thing off Nancy’s list.

Leo explained he had many different types of clients: one that wanted to just watch TV, another wanted to have quick ten minute sex with no talking at all, one just wanted him to dress up as a cat and ignore him for an hour, another was a woman who couldn’t walk that wanted him to bath her and join her in the bath, and that he never judged any of them. Nancy said he was some kind of sex saint. Feeling more comfortable with him, Nancy shared she had always been ashamed about her body but Leo’s charm and charisma helped her to begin to see herself differently.

During their third meeting, they still spent most of the time talking due to Nancy discomfort, through which they discovered they were both using aliases, not their real names. Nancy asked Leo to reveal his real name and confessed that she actually did some internet sleuthing and knew who he was, which to Leo had crossed his boundaries. It was apparent that Nancy had become attached to Leo due to their intimate conversations, even offering to explain to his mother about his life as a sex worker, which made him angry and leave telling her to never contact him again.

A short time later Nancy requested a fourth meeting at the hotel coffee shop just to talk, which to her surprise Leo did oblige. She thanked Leo for what they shared, telling him she felt more alive and powerful in their month together than she could remember and told Leo she even recommended him discretely to a few friends. She apologize having realized that she became emotionally invested in the situation and also told Leo her real name. All seemed to clear the air between them and reignite their casual friendship gained through their unique situation.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is an insightful, compassionate look into sex positivity and to say there’s a big reveal at the end would be an understatement, though not in the way most would assume from the storyline, and actually is extremely heartwarming and triumphant.

Rated: R
Runtime: 1h 37m

by Shirley Lorraine

Lonesome Traveler Hits All the Right Notes

Lonesome Traveler: Generations, now playing at the Rubicon Theater, is an inspiring, uplifting, renewing and timeless concert experience. The magic doesn’t just happen when the curtain goes up. Musicians tune, strum, and greet the audience. The audience immediately becomes a part of the experience. The performers aren’t performing “at” us or “to” us – they are performing with us. We are involved. The concert embraces the audience with warmth, welcome and a sense of pride in the heritage brought forth by the chosen musical journey.

The featured trio, The Folk Legacy Trio, commandeers the continuum, leading both musicians and audience through familiar favorites of the folk song era. Listen to the lyrics carefully as many are just as relevant today as they were at the height of their popularity. As stated in the title song Lonesome Traveler originally sung by Pete Seeger in 1950, “this old world is in a sad condition.” A statement for the ages.

The Trio is comprised of George Grove, long-time member of the Kingston Trio; Rick Dougherty, also with the Kingston Trio and The Limeliters, and Jerry Siggins, best known as lead singer of The Diamonds. Sylvie Davison, Trevor Wheetman, Alexcia Thompson and Andrew Huber add their considerable musical talents to the mix. Both the musicianship and vocals are spectacular throughout. The audience is even encouraged to sing along, which many did.

The harmonies are angelic and, as one song intones, “sweeter than wine.” At times I closed my eyes just to concentrate on the delicious purity of the sound. A particularly moving rendition of the Sounds of Silence was amplified by the telling of what stirred Art Garfunkel to write it. Simply stunning.

Most of these songs were ones with which I grew up. They haven’t lost their charm. Instead, if anything, through this staging, the songs are more meaningful than ever. I was thoroughly transported. In fact, just before intermission, I was thinking “I could listen to this over and over.” Lo and behold, at intermission, there at the newly spruced up snack bar (which is beautiful) there were CD’s available including one of the original Lonesome Traveler production, now playing in the background as I write.

The audience is also treated to an original song by Sylvie Davidson which blends in beautifully to the rest of the tapestry.

The performance is augmented in style with projected historical references and backgrounds that embellish the emotional impact of the songs. Lighting and Projections Designer credits are given to Brian Gale.

The World Premiere Lonesome Traveler musical events, conceived by George Groves and Rubicon Co-Founder and Artistic Director James O’Neil are taking their place in the Rubicon’s history as a vital and integral unifying element of theater. I, personally, am eager for the next installment.

Lonesome Traveler: Generations continues through June 26. Wednesday and Thursday performances begin at 7 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturday shows are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday matinees are 2 p.m.www.RubiconTheatre.org, (805) 667-2900.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Hustle – Netflix

After a car accident in college destroyed his future as a pro basketball player, Stanley Sugarman (Adam Sandler) found a life in the NBA as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. Though he loved the game, he found himself weary of years on the road looking for the next undiscovered superstar and yearned for a coaching position on the team. Team owner Rex Merrick (Robert Duvall) believed in Stanley and offered him an assistant coaching job, but passed away shortly thereafter leaving his son Vince (Ben Foster) in charge, who immediately sent Stanley back out on the road.

Stanley went to Spain to check out one of the last prospects on his list. While there he came across a pickup game where he found an incredible streetball player named Bo Cruz (NBA player Juancho Hernangomez), a mild mannered construction worker that played basketball in his work boots. Stanley was unable to catch Bo before he left, so caught the bus he was on and followed him home. Bo felt threatened when he found Stanley at his door, but Stanley used Facetime to reach out to Dirk Nowitski (Dallas Mavericks special advisor) who verified that he was legitimate.

Stanley arranged for Bo to play in a scrimmage with the Spanish National Basketball Team and though his performance was impressive, Vince remained unconvinced. Stanley decided to take matters into his own hands and personally pay to bring Bo to the U.S. and told him that he would be signed by the 76ers or enter the NBA draft. At the airport it was discovered that Bo had an aggravated assault conviction in Spain, and though he was released was warned that he could be deported if he were to be arrested in America.

Stanley took Bo to play at a showcase organized by his former college teammate Leon Rich (Kenny Smith, sports commentator and former pro NBA player) but unfortunately Bo was not up to the challenge as another player Kermit Wilt-Washington (Anthony DeVante Edwards, pro basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves) trash talked him and threw him off his game. Vince didn’t like what he saw of Bo on the court, so refused to support Stanley’s recommendation to bring him on the team and even shared information about Bo’s assault charge with the media.

With the support of his wife Teresa (Queen Latifah), Stanley quit the 76ers and put all his effort behind getting Bo ready for the NBA Draft Combine six weeks away. Teresa helped by preparing meals for Bo and their daughter Alex (Jordon Hull) assisted by video taping the workouts, which with Stanley’s coaching helped Bo to improved tremendously. Unfortunately Leon was unable to get him into the Draft Combine after Vince shared Bo’s assault charge with the media, but Alex had an idea to help get Bo recognized with social media.

Stanley and Teresa reached out to their friend and former pro basketball player Julius Erving (Dr. J) to create a video of the “Boa Challenge”, where anyone, including 76ers player Tobias Harris, tried to score on Bo for cash money. The video ended up going viral and Bo was eventually accepted into the Combine, where Stanley had arranged a surprise visit with his daughter Lucia and mother Paola to support him, but having only trained six weeks was Bo ready for the NBA?

Hustle captures the passion and pure joy of pursuing and doing what you love, while sharing a glimpse into sports team politics and what it take to make it in the NBA. It also features dozens of actual current NBA players, past NBA players, NBA coaches and other well-known sports pros.

Rated: R
Runtime: 1h 58m