by Shirley Lorraine

Powerhouse Nuns Pack a Punch in Ojai

The wildly popular musical Nunsense by Dan Goggin is now on stage at the Ojai Art Center Theater. Translated into numerous languages and spawning several equally successful sequels, Nunsense has won many awards over the years, and deservedly so. It does, however, require a strong and talented cast which director Tracey Williams Sutton has certainly supplied.

Nuns are on patrol in the aisles as patrons enter, greeting parishioners and possibly lapsed angels alike with hugs and smiles which sets the tone even before the lights go down.
The setting is incongruously that of the musical “Grease,” being staged by the teens of the fictional St. Mary’s parish. It seems that the nuns have a problem on their hands and need to stage an emergency talent show to raise funds to complete an urgent project, so they use what they have.

The Reverend Mother (Sindy McKay) explains the reason for the show they are about to perform. It seems that a slight mishap with a batch of soup felled most of the convent’s inhabitants resulting in quite a number of burials. Unfortunately, the monetary need proved more than the available funds and the remaining nuns (who were, luckily, not at the dinner table that fateful evening) must find a way to finish the job before the inspectors arrive.

Those left to take care of business include Sister Mary Hubert (Darrienne Lissette Caldwell), Sister Robert Anne (Dianne Miller), Sister Mary Amnesia (Anna Kotula), and Sister Mary Leo (Brianna Turner) as well as the Reverend Mother herself. Each has something unique to offer.

The Sisters are clearly having a blast singing, dancing and revealing secrets. Opening night, the audience participated fully when prompted and then some. Performed with no intermission, the Little Sisters of Hoboken display an astonishing array of talents performed with a seeming endless abundance of verve. If this energy could be harnessed, it could light up all of Ojai.

Sister Mary Amnesia cannot remember who she really is, having been recently clobbered by a falling crucifix. Oh, the irony.

Ms. Kotula, also credited with choreographing and co-producing the show, appears suitably dazed and confused throughout. Sister Mary Leo dreams of being the first nun ballerina. Ms. Turner displays her dancing skills both en pointe and sporting tap shoes. The sight of all the nuns tap dancing in unison is a treat. Ms. McKay gives the others a run for their money at every turn.
As Sister Robert Anne, Ms. Miller delights the audience with her surprise talent and Ms. Caldwell as Sister Mary Hubert displays her impressive vocal skills. There are many beautiful harmonies throughout and continuous opportunities for laughter.

Cleverly disguised in the background of the set is Father Pianus, AKA Andy Street, Musical Director, who even has a few lines! Well done, Father.

For a good time this summer, call (805) 640-8797, Ojai Art Center Theater, to reserve your seat for Nunsense, a musical production suitable for all ages, religions and genders. www.ojaiact.org.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:00 matinees on both Saturday and Sunday. Runs through July 23.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Wham! – Netflix
4 out of 4 palm trees

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were childhood friends that created the band Wham in 1982 with dreams of touring the world and topping the charts when they were only 18 years old. Due to their meteoric rise in fame and pop culture in the early eighties, it’s a surprising fact that the band Wham was only together four years, playing their final show at Wembley Stadium on June 28th, 1986. Their magical journey is shared primarily through the scrapbooks that Andrew’s mother made that included press clipping, chart ranking, photos, art from fans and more, starting with their very first record deal with Innervision Records in 1982.

George was eleven he moved to a new school where he met Andrew who was a year old. George’s birth name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou and was very awkward, shy, a little pudgy and very studious. Andrew was the opposite, being very confident and outgoing, just wanting to have fun. Together they had a good time making up skits, listening to music and dreaming of one day being famous. In 1979, when they were both about 16 years old, they started their own band playing ska music called The Executive.

In 1982, they changed the band name to Wham and moved toward pop music and songwriting. The first song they recorded was a political statement about what was going on with youth in Britain at the time called “Wham Rap”, followed by “Club Tropicana” and then “Careless Whisper” which was eventually released in 1984 reaching number one in ten countries and selling 6 million copies worldwide. Contrary to the general assumption by most, it was Andrew who was guiding the band’s direction musically, as well as choosing their fashion. They added two girls to the band for background vocals and dance routines, one of which was Andrew’s longtime girlfriend Shirley.

Their first big break was in November 1982 when Wham was asked to perform due to a last minute cancellation on the well-known UK show Top of the Pops, which televised music stars like Elton John, Queen and the Rolling Stones. They performed “Young Guns” which rose to number 3 and by 1984 had their first number 1 single “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. They had a string of hits and a successful UK tour but had no money due to their contract with Innervision where they got 4% a piece on singles in the UK, 2% in the rest of the world and no money on the 12 inch records which was the biggest selling. They decided they needed management to change the trajectory of their earnings, so hired Simon Napier-Bill and signed a new deal directly with CBS.

In 1984 George produced and released Careless Whisper as a solo artist, something Andrew had anticipated happening and was fully supportive, and it was released in the US as Wham featuring George Michael. In October November 1984 they launched their hugely successful US tour with their album “Make It Big”. They then came back to the UK and decided to do a world tour including Sydney, Japan and mainland China, where they were the first rock band to ever be allowed into the country.

Though they achieved great success, George was stifled by struggles in his personal life, being primarily that he was gay but unable to express that part of himself, so he internalized the issue by making music his life and basing his worth on his achievements in music. By 1986, after performing in Band Aid’s “Feed the World” and doing a performance of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” with Elton John at Live Aid, it was clear that George’s talent had moved far beyond Andrew’s and the band Wham.They amicably decided to do a final show at Wembley Stadium in June 1986, after which George pursued his solo career selling over 120 million records.

Runtime: 1h 32m

by Shirley Lorraine

Drawn down the Rabbit Hole

Everyone deals with grief in their own way and in their own time. How one family handles a particularly affecting death is the center of the Santa Paula Theater Center’s current production of “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire. This sensitive work garnered a Pulitzer Prize in 2007.

Lindsay-Abaire’s characters are instantly recognizable as members of one’s own family. Each carries their own perspective ranging from anger to introspection to humor. It all works to highlight humanities ‘coping methods and how disparate they can be in effectiveness.

There is no right or wrong in dealing with loss. There is only the reality of how each individual processes their grief.

Skillfully directed by Taylor Kasch, the ensemble of highly capable actors takes the audience on a journey into a dark subject that is not often brought to the forefront.

Becca (Jessi May Stevenson) and Howie (Ron Feltner) have lost their four-year old son in an unfortunate accident. Any loss is devastating and this one threatens to shatter everyone involved. Stevenson is adept at the emotional changes required of her character and imbues her with an immediately likeable, sympathetic persona. Feltner gives the masculine counterpoint solid footing in his retreat from acceptance.

Becca’s sister Izzy (Rosie Gordon) brings her own life-changing issues to the table, further complicating Becca and Howie’s ability to cope. Gordon adds just the right touch of lightness to balance her sister’s negativity.

The girls’ mother Nat (Cynthis Killion) brings an earthy, if somewhat skewed, framework to her interactions, as she is still grieving over the loss of her son some 11 years ago. Grief has no timeline and for some, no end. Although Becca finds the constant comparison to her own loss a relentless source of irritation, she also recognizes that the feeling of loss is one that becomes an integral part of a person. Killion provides not only comic relief, but also a useful, pragmatic viewpoint.

Attempting to cope in his own way is Jason (Ryan Garces), a young man caught up in the drama by unfortunate and unavoidable circumstance. He blames himself for the accident and is reluctant to be absolved, although not for lack of trying.

Each scene brings forth another element of the grieving process and how one person’s viewpoint affects those of the others in the circle. This play will directly affect anyone who has suffered loss of a loved one in its stark approach to the arc of the grieving process. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross introduced the stages of grief years ago. It is not uncommon for these stages to occur in random order as outside influences are present.

This extraordinary cast weaves the delicate story in ways that are all-encompassing. They take us down the rabbit hole of grief, up to the top, and once again plunge to the depths. It is quite a journey and one that everyone will take at some point. This production is not to be missed. Adult themes and language.

Rabbit Hole continues through July 30 at the Santa Paula Theater Center. www.santapaulatheatercenter.org or (805) 525-4645.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
To Leslie – Netflix

When West Texas single mother Leslie “Lee” Rowland (Andrea Riseborough) won a $190,000 lottery using her son James’ (Owen Teague) birthdate as her lucky number picks, she thought it would be a chance at a good life for her and her son. Unfortunately, six years later she would find herself being evicted from the local motel and estranged from her son, who she ended up leaving with her friends Nancy and Dutch (Allison Janney, Stephen Root) when she squandered it all and was penniless.

Leslie was also challenged with being an alcoholic, which was where most of her money went buying rounds of drinks for everyone in town at the local bar. To support her need for alcohol, she started hitting on strangers that visited the bar in hopes of free drinks, but this was a dangerous game as she was assaulted and had no shelter to go for protection so she reached out to her son James for help.

James was now 20 years old living in a city nearby and working in construction. When his mom Leslie got off the bus, she looked as though she hadn’t showered for weeks and was wearing dirty, tattered clothing. James took her to get some new clothes and told her that she could temporarily stay with him and his roommate, but she had to come up with a plan for a job, her own place, and absolutely no drinking was allowed, though he told her it was alright to smoke marijuana.

Leslie ended up stealing money from James’ roommate and after finding her drunk with empty alcohol bottles under the bed, he put her on a bus back to Dutch and Nancy, who reluctantly took her in with the same rule of no drinking. Unable to manage her alcoholism, Leslie got drunk and found herself locked out of Dutch and Nancy’s who left her suitcase on the porch to insure she knew she was no longer welcome.

Leslie found a spot outside a local motel to sleep that night, but in the morning the motel manager Sweeney (Marc Maron) found her outside the motel and told her to leave, but when she ran off she forgot her suitcase. She slept in an abandoned ice cream shop that night and returned for her suitcase and Sweeney felt the need to help her, so offered her a job cleaning rooms at the motel in exchange for a small wage and room at the motel.

Leslie was not ready for that level of responsibility and showed up for work late the first two days and was not doing a good job cleaning, which frustrated Sweeney. She asked for a pay advance and ended up getting drunk, then broke into the home where she used to live with her son and scared the family that was living there. They called Sweeney who brought her back to the motel, but decided that was enough and planned to fire her in the morning.

Leslie knew she screwed up and pleaded with Sweeney for a second chance, which he did decide to give her. She also gave up drinking, cold turkey, and Sweeney was there to help her through it having dealt with an alcoholic wife in the past. With Sweeney’s help she completely turned her life around and asked Sweeney to help her with her lifelong dream and turn the old ice shop into a diner, but would the town turn their back on her or also give her another chance.

Rated: R
Runtime: 1h 59m

by Shirley Lorraine

Elite Offers Delicious Food for Thought

Theories of connectedness are explored in Elite’s current stage offering of “Six Degrees of Separation”, a complex play by John Guare. Nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for Best Play, Six Degrees tackles class discrimination, relationships, honesty, desires, self-awareness, facades and much more.

The play is unusual in several ways. The actors frequently address the audience, involving them in the action not just as observers, but ultimately as partners in the deceptions being portrayed.

Skillfully directed by Brian Robert Harris, the tightly choreographed action centers around Ouisa and Flan Kittredge (Aileen-Marie Scott and Bill Walthall), a couple flirting with high society as art dealers while barely maintaining their own tenuous social position. Entertaining a potential investor (John Medeiros), their evening is abruptly disturbed by the appearance of Paul (Remy Muloway), a young man who professes to have been mugged and to know their children from college. A smooth conversationalist, Paul impresses them all with his detailed story of being Sidney Poitier’s son which rapidly envelopes the Kittredges, causing them to offer their home as temporary respite.

Paul takes advantage of the situation and is asked to leave. Soon he meets a young couple (Stephanie Blaze Bates and Christopher Robin Rubin) just relocated to New York from Utah and repeats a version of his story to gain entrance to their lives ultimately causing destruction. The Kittredges learn that another couple in their circle has also been led astray by Paul, now recognized as a manipulative con man.

Presented with no intermission, the circles become intense as all the affected people realize how easily their trust was compromised and how connected they became because of this man. Despite Flan’s protests, Ouisa is unable to resist attempting to assist Paul, whom she sees as a fellow victim of a tenuous grasp on reality.

The complexity of the play was, at times, a challenge for me to follow. However, I found each character to be so interesting in themselves, how they merged and withdrew to the situation, and the ways in which they were connected that I was nonetheless fully engaged throughout. Several actors, including Amber Shea Hodge and Will Palo take on several personas to fill out the action. All were excellent in their portrayals.

This mind-stretching production deserves full houses. Employing a minimal setting and involving the audience fully allows the actors to tell the story, which reminds us that we are all susceptible to being conned, as we continually con ourselves into certain ways of thinking or perceiving others. This is a deep work presented with a twinkle in the eye and a nod to our need for acceptance and truth, despite our surface misgivings.

The play continues through July 2 with Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with one special Thursday evening performance on June 29. www.theelite.org,

by Shirley Lorraine

Calendar Girls Bloom on Conejo Stage

To usher in Spring, Conejo Players in Thousand Oaks bursts forth with humor, pathos and the solidarity of friendship in their current production of “Calendar Girls.”
A delightful lightweight romp based on a real event, Calendar Girls centers around a stalwart and staid British women’s organization, the Women’s Institute Association, referred to as the WI.

Their fundraising goal for the present year is to raise money to purchase a settee for the currently dismal waiting area in a hospital cancer wing in honor of one of the members’ husbands who recently succumbed to the disease.

As members of the WI of Knapely Village in Yorkshire, the ladies are less invested in the traditional than they are in finding new ways to achieve the same ends, having more fun in the process. When the subject of their annual calendar comes up, members of the group opt to stray from the usual fare of churches, bridges and other landscapes. Instead, a handful of forward-thinkers decide to take a chance on a more intimate layout using themselves as models with props representative of the group’s standard focus of baking, knitting and gardening. Cleverly framed behind these items, the ladies bare “most” to the delight of all.

With the encouragement of a specific cause, the ladies engage a young photographer (David White) to make the project a reality. The success of the project ultimately surpasses their wildest dreams.

Although the action is set in England, director Deidre Parmenter opted to forego the accents which worked well for this ensemble. The cast delivers a spun-candy froth with emotional undertones that periodically bring the audience back to terra firma and the task at hand. The meaning behind the effort struck a chord with many in the audience.
Cast members include Lynn Thorne, Dana Weisman, Joanne Zahorsky-Reeves, Rita McCaffrey, Carla Ames, Mary Alice Brady as the “calendar girls”. Erin Fagundes, Robin Rassell, Jeff Ash, Daniel Krause, Elena Mills and Katie Gordon fill in the rest of the story, each adding flair to their roles.

All the participants embrace their characters with enthusiasm and spice that emphasize the realism they are portraying. The cast works as an ensemble, providing unique skills and body language, and each one adding to the storyline in both minor and major ways. Every character has at least one moment to shine in the spotlight, securing the feeling of unity and friendly rivalry that belonging to a women’s group can elicit.

The staging employs a complicated wheeled setting change involving a church meeting room interior and an outdoor garden with a view, a plethora of props and myriad costume changes which keep the actors and crew on their toes throughout.
This staging has added value in the contribution of original music by Kyle deTarnowsky which accents the scenes and mood changes nicely, filling in otherwise blank pauses providing a nice finishing touch to a solid and endearing production.

Calendar Girls runs through June 17 with performances Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. www.ConejoPlayers.org or (805) 495-3715.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Missing – Netflix

When her mother Grace (Nia Long) went on a vacation with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) to Colombia, June (Storm Reid) did as many teenagers would do and had a great time partying with her friends, but when she went to pick her mom and boyfriend up from the airport they never arrived. June contacted the hotel where they had been staying and was told that they left but had left everything including all their luggage and belongings at the hotel, so she contacted her mom’s friend Heather (Amy Landecker). They contacted the U.S. Embassy in Columbia and spoke with FBI Agent Park (Daniel Henney) who told them that unfortunately the issue was not within their jurisdiction, but that they would try to help in any ways they could to locate June’s mother.

Stuck in a sea of bureaucratic red tape, June used her tech savvy skills and set out to find her mother. She was able to locate images of the hotel online, which showed security cameras, but the manager said the tapes were overwritten every 48 hours and would have to be looked through in person. This was obviously impossible with June in L.A., so she used the TaskRabbit app and hired a Columbian local named Javier (Joaquim de Almeida) to be her boots on the ground in her search. Javier found out that Grace and Kevin were seen in a hardware store nearby purchasing a padlock, and when June searched nearby tourist sites, she found a place called the Walled City Love Lock Bridge.

June searched through live cam footage in the area, and saw her mom’s new boyfriend propose to her on the bridge, but unfortunately a short time later as she followed them on webcams throughout the city she saw them both abducted by several men who grabbed them and drove away in a white van. June knew she needed to find out more about her mom’s relationship with her new boyfriend and after hacking both their email accounts discovered that several years ago Kevin had gone to prison for several years in Texas for conning women while using multiple fake names. June immediately contacted Agent Park, but he said he was already aware of that information and that Kevin served his time and was currently using his real name.

As June dug deeper into Kevin’s information, she found out that he had actually contacted another woman who looked similar to her mother just prior to the trip and assumed they were having an affair. When June shared the information with Agent Park, he told her that legally they could not use any information June got from Kevin’s hacked email and asked that she just be patient and let them handle the situation. Agent Park said they was much more going on than June was aware of that he was not able to share, but asked June if she knew if her mother had ever gone by any other name. June said she didn’t know anything about that, but told him she had tried to reach out to the other woman and discovered she had also been missing for two weeks.

June kept digging through emails, credit card accounts, uber tracking and the online dating app where Grace and Kevin met which all raised more answers than questions. June also had to contend with an international media frenzy over her mom’s disappearance when the video of them being abducted went viral. The whole story blew up around the world when it was discovered that her mom had other identities than Grace Allen, and appeared to at some point in her past had disappeared to start a new life. This was news to June who only knew her life to be that her father passed away when she was young and her mom raised her as a single parent.

This would not be the last thing to surprise June in this ever changing story which would result in her learning her mom’s friend Heather was more that just a friend and that it seemed a possibility through the evidence they discovered that Grace may not had even been in Columbia, that she may never have left L.A. and that June’s own life may be in danger from the past.

Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 51m

by Shirley Lorraine

Ojai Stages Original Work

Ojai writer, director and artist Peter Fox offers up his play “Disappearing Act” now on stage at the Ojai Arts Center Theater.

Fox’s work features a young man who ostensibly makes his living as a magician. With this background in mind, the body of the work centers around a man struggling with old familial resentments, a curious and surprisingly naive scholar and an older man who magically appears bringing a few skeletons from his own closet.

Woven into this are some bits of magic as well as references to magic history and personalities in the world of magic, many with which the general public is unlikely to be familiar. Fox’s fascination with “inspired magic” is evident. However, from my point of view, it was not fully realized, but did provide a new scenario twist in which to explore disappointment, disillusion and long-buried anger.

The acting by all three is by-and-large adequately done, particularly Buddy Wilds as Frank. He fairly carried the second act which had more depth. However, the three characters did not seem to have developed chemistry between them.

Max Budroe as Donny, the young man, failed to convince me that his skills were honed enough to make a living as a magician, either in presentation or performance. Budroe seemed unsure and tentative opening night handling the cards and basic tricks. His rather shaggy look never said “professional” to me as a performer. There seemed no difference between the man who lounged on the couch or the man who was performing “at a gig.” He delivered the written material well enough although the actual magic performed seemed quite entry-level. Perhaps his confidence will build as the run goes on.

Emily Vallance gives a strong presence to Molly, a student drafting a thesis on the psychology of magicians. There is a wealth of writing on this subject that seemed given little depth. It was unclear to me what information she was seeking and how it related to the action.

Buddy Wilds’ character was crusty and interesting. The dialogue pace picked up considerably after Wilds entered the action.

Some technical aspects seemed to still be in rehearsal phase. Long pauses when lights either did or did not come up in a timely fashion and uncertain sound cues caused pacing to be somewhat choppy. The audience did react favorably throughout, and pacing should smooth out over the run.

Magic Consultant James Lantiegne, owner of The House of Magic in Santa Paula, no doubt lent several props, set decor and instruction but the director and actors must put the polish on, which I found lacking. I was eager for more performance shine to convince me of Donny’s acumen as intimated by the script. Sadly, I was disillusioned.

Disappearing Act continues through May 28. Note Friday and Saturday curtain times are 7:30 p.m., Sunday matinees 2 p.m. ojaiact.org or 805-640-8797 Not suitable for children.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
AIR – Amazon Studios

“AIR” shares the incredible true story of how Nike and Michael Jordan created a brand with a partnership that completely changed the sports industry, athletic branding and even popular culture. Just after the NBA draft in 1984, Nike only held 17% of the basketball shoe market, far behind the leader which was Converse with 54% followed by Adidas with 29%. Nike’s basketball shoes division had to do something big with a comparatively small budget or risk being cut by the board. The film stars Matt Damon as Nike athletic scout Sonny Vaccaro and is directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars as Nike CEO Phil Knight.

Sonny Vaccaro held the unique position of basketball athletic scout with Nike and was responsible for finding talented athletes that would promote the Nike brand. He worked with Nike Basketball Division Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) who picked the talent pool for the scouts and was mainly focused on the players from the recent NBA draft. Michael Jordan was 4^th in the draft going to the Chicago Bulls and had been a vocal supporter of Adidas shoes and track suits, which were very popular at the time.

Nike CEO Phil Knight assigned the team an annual budget of $250,000 for three athletes, which made it difficult for Sonny and the team to get top athletes that were being offered more money by their competition. Sonny requested $500,000 but Phil said no, so Sonny suggested they use the entire budget to try to sign Michael Jordan. Phil was resistant at first, but then agreed and Sonny set off to meet with his friend George Raveling (Marlon Wayans) who coached Jordan in the Olympics and could offer some support in bringing him to Nike.

Howard White (Chris Tucker) was VP of Nike basketball athletic relations and had told Sonny that when dealing with black families that it’s always best to go through the mothers, so Sonny set off to North Carolina without notice to meet with Michael Jordan’s parents. Michael’s father was out front working on his car when Sonny arrived and felt it was a very bold move for him to show up unannounced. Michael’s mother, Deloris Jordan (Viola Davis) came out and Sonny was able to convince her to allow him to discuss the potential of a deal with Nike.

Sonny told Deloris the contract would be for $250,000 and that Nike had an advantage in that they could devote much more attention to Micheal than the other brands that carried some very well-known athletes. Deloris told Sonny she would consider his offer and get back to him, but a short time later he had heard that Adidas matched the offer and included a Mercedes-Benz 380SL so thought that the deal was not going to happen.

Sonny got a call from Deloris who said regardless of what he had heard that Michael was going to sign with Nike but under one additional condition, that along with the $250,000 he would also receive a percentage of any Nike product sold under his brand. Sonny knew this had never happened before and felt it would definitely be the deal breaker, but after talking with Phil they decided to go for it and began immediately to develop a prototype shoe to show the Jordans.

Their chief designer had been working on a line he named “Air”, and named Michael’s shoe the “Air Jordan”. Though the NBA had rigid standards on color, they designed a colorful shoe based on the Chicago Bulls colors and agreed to pay the fine of $5,000 a game for Jordan to wear the shoes. The Air Jordans were like no other shoe on the market and a record-setting instant hit selling $162 million in its first year. Currently the Air Jordan brand represents $4 billion in annual sales for Nike, and Micheal is reported to have made $400 million a year in passive income as a result of the revenue share with Nike.

Rated: R (Language)
Runtime: 1h 52m