My good friend Troy Heard has done it again. Troy is artistic director for Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company. Mind you, Chatt Shakes is no ordinary theatre company. It is, rather, a "gypsy" organization of talented, inspiring people who work damned hard to bring quality entertainment to this area. And I'd venture to say they are most successful in their endeavor. This lot of inimitible spirits travels from pillar to post, lighting where they can for long enough to take us away from it all for a couple of hours, to share their talents and the fruits of their labor with us.
I attended 'The Santaland Diaries' last night at City Market located at 1031 Broadway. I made my way through the long, hard wood floored dining area to the very back of the establishment, where the play was being performed. The set up is fantastic, with a small, simple, set and huge Christmas ornaments hung from the track lighting. The front row opposite stage left is a wrap around chesterfield (sofa), immediately behind that a couple of rows of seating and on the left, small tables winding around to the area in which I was seated. It is a small, intimate setting, which works well for this production, as it makes the experience more personal for audience member and actor alike. There is a simple red backdrop with snow capped mountains in front of which sits Santa's "throne", a bejeweled red velvet and gold creation with candy canes protruding from the top. The stage is a series of step up platforms, which the actors incorporate well into their blocking.
Stephen Sisson, whom, I must say, is near the very top of my uber all time fave bitchinest fab actors list, is wonderful, as usual. He never fails to keep me in stitches in his comedic roles. His timing is spot on, and his costume is layered with shirts, a vest type garment, and a shriner's fez. He speaks to us of fat children with pushy parents and retarded theatre goers, among other things, all the while taking breaks to go and hit up the flask containing his 'no doubt' favorite Christmas spirit of all. Stephen commands any stage he is on, let me tell you. He moves like a big cat in a jungle full of helpless creatures, his audience. We are defenseless against this stalwart, with his silent but ever present power to bring us to tears by way of seducing us into laughter, and then moving in for the 'kill' with great aplomb. Stephen's detailed description of various people he is discussing in his monologue makes us "see" them, and realize we have known these people, at church, at school, in life. The use of varied and sundry interesting hand gestures to enhance his words is such a strong point for Stephen. So many actors simply don't know what to do with their hands. Stephen USES his, and uses them well. It takes a very special kind of actor to command a stage alone for any length of time, and Stephen, with his perfectly timed gestures, keen vocal intonations, and sweet, cherubic face, without a doubt, falls into that category. Thank you, Stephen, I enjoyed your performance immensely.
Crumpet, the hired Christmas elf, is played by Ethan Everett, a quite talented young man whom I've had the pleasure of seeing in two previous productions. Ethan has so much potential, and I hope he taps into that. There's a lot to say here concerning young Ethan. First on the list is his presence. Presence is either something you have or something you don't. Ethan has it. In previous productions, I sometimes detected a bit of nervousness, uncertainty in Ethan. Sometimes when one has a gift, they are not sure what to do with it. It is a common thing in young actors. It's almost too powerful, rather like a vehicle one must learn to control. This is not a bad thing, however. It takes time and work to learn the acting vehicle's many idiosyncrasies, when to accelerate and when to slow down, when to turn and when to coast. In 'The Santaland Diaries', it is quite apparent that Ethan has been studying his vehicle. There seemed to be no uncertainty here, or if there was, I did not detect it.
Secondly, Ethan seemed very comfortable getting close to his audience, delivering lines right in the faces of some of us. Bear in mind our comfort zone in this country is about eighteen inches between ourself and a stranger. It takes a lot to be able to get in someone's grill. His movement from the set to the back of the audience and everywhere in between seemed comfortable, natural, and real. His gestures were not in any way stilted or over the top. They were right on time, meshing with the dialogue in a fluidity like that of a hot lava lamp. It takes guts to do roles like Stephen's and Ethan's. Stephen is older and quite perfectly seasoned, while Ethan is young and discovering all the brilliant colors inside him that make for an unforgettable performance. The thing that struck me was how conversational his performance was. His vocal intonations are interesting, with a strong range of highs and lows. He might just have been sitting at a table with a few of us telling the same stories, or in front of a massive audience. That in itself speaks volumes, as it is not an easy thing to pull off. Mission accomplished, Ethan. Ethan's minor bits of blocking and business were well thought out and executed. I adore when an actor can eat onstage comfortably. It's ironic that the things we do in everyday life, such as smoking or eating, become obstacles to overcome onstage. I remember the first time I smoked onstage. I'm a long time smoker, and here I was fumbling around with the damned thing like I was holding a grenade with the pin pulled out. Crumpet, Ethan's character, kept returning to a cookie tin and nibbling as he was delivering his monologue. It was as if he were just 'that guy', telling us all his stories while grabbing a bite or two in between. Also, the martini business was fabulous, down to eating the olives out of the bottom of the glass. Awesome job with that. Again, not as easy as he made it look. Crumpet's thoughts seemed to appear like lightbulbs behind his eyes. One thing that drives me nuts is not seeing the cogs turn in a character's brain through his eyes and facial expressions. Ethan never seemed to be standing there spitting out lines and thinking "Okay, this is where I make this face or that gesture or here is where I must change gears." If he was, he had me snowed, because I swear I could SEE the thoughts occurring to him in his eyes and movement.
Ethan has a wide range of vocal inflections he seems to be able to summon up fairly easily. He actually does several different voices, and does them well. I would like to see Ethan go 'bigger' with Santa breaking into song over the pretty girl, as this is such a great scene. Another thing I'd like to see is a softer impression of Billie Holiday. I'm a huge Billie fan, so I know her voice like I know how to find the refrigerator in the dark. Pull back, Ethan, and listen to Billie some more. Study someone using heroin, as well. It is a very slow, relaxed, process from injection to full blown high. This bit needs to be more fluid, I feel. Slow your roll.
I loved the 'I love Satan' thing, and the kid peeing in the artificial snow bank, following with the line "It looks like the great outdoors, but on careful inspection, you'll notice FOUR WALLS AND A CEILING!" The father calling Santa a faggot for not reciting 'The Night Before Christmas" to his kid was hysterical.
When Crumpet (Ethan), begins to talk about a particular Santa and his idea of Christmas, things take a bit of a turn. There is a line where Ethan is telling us "I'm not a good person." For a short time, I was saddened, watching this young person questioning himself in such a way. It's something we all do from time to time, and Ethan made the transition during this scene beautifully.
I want to mention the scene where Crumpet is changing into his elf costume behind the set wall. Ethan's projection was quite good, and I could hear him from my seat in the back of the audience. Well done, Ethan.
Jackie Kappes, who played the woman, plays many parts within the show, from frazzled mother to foreign, language challenged shopper to over zealous elf employee, turned in some interesting offerings. There were many different characters she had to jump into and out of very quickly, and this is a challenge for even the most seasoned actor. The most memorable were the woman explaining to the female elves that they must wear panties under their costumes and why, and the motivatioinal "Santa" employee, who shouts out the old, "Gimme and S....can I get an A"....and so forth until she spells out Santa's name, in an attempt to motivate the elves. Both of these characters were unbelievably obnoxious in different ways, the first aforementioned exuding a bitchiness that can only come from working too long in one place, and the second dripping saccharin sweetness, both with voices to match. Jackie has an interesting look, with tons of wild, unruly dark hair and a lovely complexion. She is a handsome woman, so watching her is a hard thing not to do. I'd like to see Jackie go bigger on some of her voices, and develop a stronger sense of individuality with each one. She has some ear pricking inflections, though I think this is an area in which she should be less afraid to burst through the doors versus merely speaking through an opening in the crack. The foreign lanuage bits were hard to understand, and it seemed as though she felt uncomfortable in these areas. She needn't be if she would push it out, rather than rush through it in order to get those scenes out of the way, as it appeared. I like her voices and her ability to change from one character to another so quickly, though the lines between them, I feel, should be sharper. I would say the same thing concerning time actually spent in these scenes to convey their character's meanings to both Ethan and Jackie. Don't be afraid. Push it up and out, and focus on some modicum of control without imposing so many limits on yourselves. Jackie, you have raw talent and I'd like to see you "shove it out there".
I really enjoyed the way Jackie matched her physical body to the characters, she was playing, ie, the old foreign woman, the frazzled mother of an overtired tot, and so on. I felt she rushed through some of her scenes, however, and I'd like to have seen more character development in those characters that just pop in and out of some scenes. Also, some more varied costume choices and perhaps wigs or different hats might help to achieve this as well. I enjoyed Jackie's performance overall and would love to see her in future productions.
Troy's direction and work with his actors shows through, and makes its mark. I can tell he took time with them, and a great show is his (and our) reward. Thank you, Troy, Stephen, Ethan and Jackie, for a lovely show. I will recommend it to everyone and I'm coming next week, in fact, with my good friend Cindy. I'll even bring a pan of my famous homemade cinnamon rolls and a log of potato candy. Enjoy the rest of the run, break a leg, and thank you for making this community a nicer place to be.
What: “The SantaLand Diaries,” written by David Sedaris about his adventures as a Santa’s Helper at Macy’s in New York City
When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; also, 8 p.m. Dec. 11-12, Dec. 18-10 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 13
Where: City Market and Bakery, 1031 Broadway
Tickets: $8-$10
Parental advisory: PG-13, with some adult language and situations
Information: Troy Heard, 702-423-6366
Much Love,
Deborah
Posts
Copyright Unless otherwise stated, the contents of this blog are the property of Deborah McGillicuddy and protected by international copyright law. Please contact the author before reproducing any part of the material herein.
